Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.40.5
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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trayyā
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by the threefold Vedic knowledge
Trayī — the three Vedas (Ṛg, Yajur, Sāma). The Lord is the antar-yajña of all three; Gauḍīyas note that this karma-kāṇḍa path is real but preliminary to the bhakti-mārga of Akrūra's own life.
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vaitānikāḥ
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those who maintain the three sacred fires
From vitāna (sacrificial arena). The orthodox householder-brāhmaṇa with gārhapatya, āhavanīya, and dakṣiṇāgni fires lit. A full life of Vedic karma — yet still only one route to the same Lord.
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nānā-rūpa-amara-ākhyayā
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by the names of demigods of many forms
Compound: nānā (various) + rūpa (form) + amara (deathless = deva) + ākhyā (name). The plurality of devas is acknowledged, but the verse and the next four collapse all that plurality into the one Bhagavān they serve.
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yajñaiḥ
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by sacrifices
Instrumental plural. The yajña-puruṣa of SB 5.3 and Gītā 4.24 is the Lord Himself; every fire-offering is finally His.
Akrūra has now described how those who follow the paths of Sāṅkhya, yoga and the three Vedas worship the Supreme Lord in different ways. In the various places where the Vedas appear to recommend that one worship Indra, Varuṇa and other demigods, these demigods are stated to be supreme. But at the same time the Vedas state that there is one supreme controller, the Absolute Truth. That is Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead, who expands His potency through material creation into the forms of the demigods. Thus worship of the demigods goes to Him through the indirect method of karma-kāṇḍa, or fruitive religious rituals. Ultimately, however, one who wants to achieve eternal perfection should worship the Lord directly, in full Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
This verse describes those following the path of karma. The karma yogis (vaitanikah) actually worship you. "But they worship Indra and Varuna, not me." "Whatever forms with various weapons in their hands they worship, actually is worship of you. Thought the vedic suktas praise Indra and others as having full power of the lord, the scriptures also do not state that there are many supreme lords. (therefore those names indicate the supreme lord only.) Thus through the names of the devatas, you, the supreme lord, are actually worshipped. Sruti says, "He is first, he was prakrtih, he was visvakarma. He was the first mitra, varuna and agni. He was the first brhaspati. In this way offerings were made to Indra (supreme lord)."
Śrīdhara Svāmī explains that the last verse showed how the followers of Sāṅkhya worship him. In this verse he shows how the followers of karma worship him, and in the next he shows how the jñānīs worship him. Or the verse can illustrate what is said in the Gītā: te taṁ bhuktvā svarga-lokaṁ viśālaṁ kṣīṇe puṇye martya-lokaṁ viśanti | evaṁ trayī-dharmam anuprapannā gatāgataṁ kāma-kāmā labhante || Having enjoyed the vast pleasures of Svarga and exhausting their merit, they return to this planet. Following the rites of the three Vedas, desiring objects of enjoyment, they take repeated birth and death. BG 9.21 The word ca indicates the secondary, indirect nature of this worship. They worship you through many types of sacrifices with various devatā forms.
Because they are qualified for the three Vedas, the brāhmaṇas worship you with many types of sacrifices.
- Where do you dismiss other religious traditions when they may be addressing the same Person you adore?
- How could respect for traditional ritual deepen your devotion?
Three rivers — Ṛk, Yajus, Sāma — pour into the same ocean. The brāhmaṇa kindling the three sacred fires sees many demigod names and forms, but the offerings all travel by Agni's mouth into the one Lord. The names branch; the destination does not.
Throughout the Bhāgavatam, when great sages perform yajña, the Lord Himself rises as the Yajña-puruṣa to accept the offerings — Pṛthu's hundred horse-sacrifices (SB 4.19), the offerings of Manu, the sacrificial arena where Nārada interrupts Vyāsa (SB 1.5).
Akrūra's verse 5 names the pattern: even when the chant is to Indra or Sūrya, the actual recipient is Viṣṇu, the antar-yajña Lord of every fire.
My note
Source: vedabase.io