Daksa receives the head of a goat and completes the sacrifice (Srimad Bhagavatam #50)

Daksa came back to life and regretted his mistakes. He also remembered the death of his daughter, which caused him great pain. Even having now the head of a goat, he regained his intelligence.

Daksa was thus brought back to life and immediately regretted his mistakes. He also remembered the death of his daughter, which caused him great pain. Daksa thus chocked up and couldn't speak. With great endeavor, he was able to finally pacify his mind and offer heartfelt prayers to Lord Shiva.

Having been pardoned by him and blessed to again perform the sacrifice. First of all, the sacrificial arena had to be purified from all the blood and desecration from the followers of Lord Shiva. The brāhmaṇas cleaned the arena, but this in itself was not sufficient to remove the contamination. The true purification comes from invoking the name of Lord Vishnu. for this end, the sages arranged to offer into the fire the oblations known as puroḍāśa. Before, Lord Vishnu refused to be present in his sacrifice, due to his offenses to Lord Shiva, but now, as soon as Daksa offered oblations into the fire after chanting the mantras, Lord Vishnu appeared personally as Nārāyaṇa.

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Lord Shiva answers the prayers of the demigods (chapter 4.7)

After listening to Lord Brahma's prayers and pleas, Lord Shiva answered:

"Lord Śiva said: My dear father, Brahmā, I do not mind the offenses created by the demigods. Because these demigods are childish and less intelligent, I do not take a serious view of their offenses, and I have punished them only in order to right them.

Since the head of Dakṣa has already been burned to ashes, he will have the head of a goat. The demigod known as Bhaga will be able to see his share of sacrifice through the eyes of Mitra.

The demigod Pūṣā will be able to chew only through the teeth of his disciples, and if alone, he will have to satisfy himself by eating dough made from chickpea flour. But the demigods who have agreed to give me my share of the sacrifice will recover from all their injuries.

Those who have had their arms cut off will have to work with the arms of Aśvinī-kumāra, and those whose hands were cut off will have to do their work with the hands of Pūṣā. The priests will also have to act in that manner. As for Bhṛgu, he will have the beard from the goat’s head." (SB 4.7.1-5)

Prabhupada mentions in his purport that punishments from a father are different from the ones exerted by a conqueror. While the conqueror has the goal of subjugating his defeated enemies, a father has the purpose of correcting his sons and bringing them to proper understanding. The offenses of Daksa and the demigods to Lord Shiva had been quite serious, with Pūṣā for example laughing at Lord Shiva while Daksa offended him. The main reason Lord Shiva decided to punish them in such exemplary way was to save them from the sinful reactions and allow them to continue serving in their posts. Because demigods are devotees who have their devotion mixed with material desires, sometimes they deviate from their service, and when this happens they have to be correct by the Lord or his pure devotees, like when Indra was defeated by Krsna lifting Govardhana Hill, or the sons of Kuvera where cursed by Nārada Muni to become trees.

After the demigods submitted to Lord Shiva and begged his forgiveness, he found solutions for them to be able to continue performing their functions despite their handicaps. Still, some inconvenient remained, so they would remember and not commit the same mistakes again. Pūṣā couldn't eat freely anymore, Bhaga now could see only through the eyes of Mitra instead of having his own eyes, and so on.

One could question how Daksa could have his head replaced by the head of a goat and remain the same person. Should he not have started acting like a goat? Here we come to an important distinction between the modern and Vedic concepts. In modern science, it is believed that consciousness reside in the brain, and if the brain could be somehow replaced by the brain of another person, then the consciousness, memories, etc. would also be transferred, and the new brain would take charge of the body. The Vedic concept is more nuanced. According to the Vedas, the consciousness resides in the heart (where the soul and the subtle body are situated, including the subtle mind and intelligence), and the brain works just as an interface between this subtle mind in intelligence and the gross body, just as a very complex set of cables. In this way, replacing the brain is more like replacing the cables that connect the different devices of a computer than replacing the processor and the hard-drive. Daksa thus had his head replaced by the head of a goat, but he remained the same person, with all his memories, knowledge etc. The proof is that he was able to offer very beautiful prayers in Sanskrit, something a goat is not able to do.

Similarly, as Prabhupada mentions, regardless of the kind of brain someone have, everyone is capable of purifying his consciousness by the process of Krsna Consciousness, reconnecting with his original spiritual consciousness as a soul. It is thus not about material intelligence or memory, but about removing our consciousness from matter and fixing it on Krsna. If we are successful in this process, we will return home, back to Godhead when this body expires, become once and for all free from the limitations of the material mind, intelligence and ego. Even if one has to be born again in this world, his present status of consciousness will be carried to the next body and he will be again a devotee of Krsna. As Prabhupada explains:

"Thus bodily construction has nothing to do with the development of consciousness. Consciousness is carried with the transmigration of the soul. There are many instances of this in Vedic history, such as the case of Mahārāja Bharata. After quitting his body as a king, Mahārāja Bharata was transferred to the body of a deer, but he retained the same consciousness. He knew that although formerly he was King Bharata, he had been transferred to the body of a deer because of his absorption in thinking of a deer at the time of his death. In spite of his having the body of a deer, however, his consciousness was as good as it was in the body of King Bharata. The arrangement by the Lord is so nice that if a person’s consciousness is turned into Kṛṣṇa consciousness, there is no doubt that in his next life he will be a great devotee of Kṛṣṇa, even if he is offered a different type of body." (SB 4.7.9 purport)

Ordinary people forget their previous life when they change from one body to the next, and identify fully with the new body, acting like a human being, dog, pig or demigod. Advanced personalities, however, are capable of maintaining their current consciousness, even if transferred to the body of an animal, like in the case of Bharata Maharaja and Daksa after receiving the new head.

Daksa is revived

"The great sage Maitreya said: My dear Vidura, all the personalities present were very much satisfied in heart and soul upon hearing the words of Lord Śiva, who is the best among the benedictors.

Thereafter, Bhṛgu, the chief of the great sages, invited Lord Śiva to come to the sacrificial arena. Thus the demigods, accompanied by the sages, Lord Śiva, and Lord Brahmā, all went to the place where the great sacrifice was being performed.

After everything was executed exactly as directed by Lord Śiva, Dakṣa’s body was joined to the head of the animal meant to be killed in the sacrifice.

When the animal’s head was fixed on the body of King Dakṣa, Dakṣa was immediately brought to consciousness, and as he awakened from sleep, the King saw Lord Śiva standing before him.At that time, when Dakṣa saw Lord Śiva, who rides upon a bull, his heart, which was polluted by envy of Lord Śiva, was immediately cleansed, just as the water in a lake is cleansed by autumn rains." (SB 4.7.6-10)

Everyone has a certain life expectancy that is defined by karma, and no one can remain in his body even one second after it. However, there are many situations when a person dies before time, being killed in a battle, or some other reason. It's described that in these cases the soul is forced to remain in his subtle body until the prescribed time for his life ends and the next body is prepared.

Demigods, however, have the power of reviving people and other demigods who died untimely by restoring their bodies and inviting the soul back to it. In Christianity, the resurrection of Christ is accepted as a great miracle, but according to the Vedas this is quite a trivial event. Demigods such as the Aśvinī Kumāras, as well as great yogis can revive people easily, and thus demigods are routinely revived after being killed in battle against demons. Similarly, Sri Caitanya Mahāprabhu revived Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura’s son, Nārada Muni revived the son of King Citraketu, and so on.

Daksa was thus brought back to life and immediately regretted his mistakes. He also remembered the death of his daughter, which caused him great pain. Daksa thus chocked up and couldn't speak. With great endeavor, he was able to finally pacify his mind and offer heartfelt prayers to Lord Shiva.

"King Dakṣa said: My dear Lord Śiva, I committed a great offense against you, but you are so kind that instead of withdrawing your mercy, you have done me a great favor by punishing me. You and Lord Viṣṇu never neglect even useless, unqualified brāhmaṇas. Why, then, should you neglect me, who am engaged in performing sacrifices?

My dear great and powerful Lord Śiva, you were created first from the mouth of Lord Brahmā in order to protect the brāhmaṇas in pursuing education, austerities, vows and self-realization. As protector of the brāhmaṇas, you always protect the regulative principles they follow, just as a cowherd boy keeps a stick in his hand to give protection to the cows.

I did not know your full glories. For this reason, I threw arrows of sharp words at you in the open assembly, although you did not take them into account. I was going down to hell because of my disobedience to you, who are the most respectable personality, but you took compassion upon me and saved me by awarding punishment. I request that you be pleased by your own mercy, since I cannot satisfy you by my words. (SB 4.7.13-15)

Having prayed to Lord Shiva, Daksa was pardoned by him and blessed to again perform the sacrifice. First of all, the sacrificial arena had to be purified from all the blood and desecration from the followers of Lord Shiva. The brāhmaṇas cleaned the arena, but this in itself was not sufficient to remove the contamination. The true purification comes from invoking the name of Lord Vishnu. for this end, the sages arranged to offer into the fire the oblations known as puroḍāśa. Before, Lord Vishnu refused to be present in his sacrifice, due to his offenses to Lord Shiva, but now, as soon as Daksa offered oblations into the fire after chanting the mantras, Lord Vishnu appeared personally as Nārāyaṇa:

"The great sage Maitreya said to Vidura: My dear Vidura, as soon as King Dakṣa offered the clarified butter with Yajur Veda mantras in sanctified meditation, Lord Viṣṇu appeared there in His original form as Nārāyaṇa." (SB 4.7.18)

Prabhupada connects these verses to deity worship by explaining that the worship of the deity of the Lord is also a form of yajña, and the priests who worship the deity, as well as all the offerings and the temples must be very clean, since to offer anything in an unclean state is called a sevāparādha. On the one hand, all the principles of cleanliness must be followed, but on the other hand it is not possible to have anything clean in this material world, and therefore the name of the Lord must be always chanted to make anything clean. In this way, the chanting of the holy names must be performed side by side with all the rules and regulations.

As Prabhupada explains: "Generally, whenever any ritualistic ceremony is begun, the holy name of Lord Viṣṇu is first chanted in order to purify the situation. Whether one is in a pure or impure condition, internally or externally, if one chants or even remembers the holy name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Viṣṇu, one immediately becomes purified. The yajña arena was desecrated by the presence of Lord Śiva’s followers, headed by Vīrabhadra, and therefore the entire arena had to be sanctified. Although Lord Śiva was present and he is all-auspicious, it was still necessary to sanctify the place because his followers had broken into the arena and committed so many obnoxious acts. That sanctification was possible only by chanting the holy name of Viṣṇu, Trikapāla, which can sanctify the three worlds."

The appearance of Lord Nārāyaṇa in the arena of sacrifice is described on texts 19 to 22:

"Lord Nārāyaṇa was seated on the shoulder of Stotra, or Garuḍa, who had big wings. As soon as the Lord appeared, all directions were illuminated, diminishing the luster of Brahmā and the others present.

His complexion was blackish, His garment yellow like gold, and His helmet as dazzling as the sun. His hair was bluish, the color of black bees, and His face was decorated with earrings. His eight hands held a conchshell, wheel, club, lotus flower, arrow, bow, shield and sword, and they were decorated with golden ornaments such as bangles and bracelets. His whole body resembled a blossoming tree beautifully decorated with various kinds of flowers.

Lord Viṣṇu looked extraordinarily beautiful because the goddess of fortune and a garland were situated on His chest. His face was beautifully decorated with a smiling attitude which can captivate the entire world, especially the devotees. Fans of white hair appeared on both sides of the Lord like white swans, and the white canopy overhead looked like the moon.

As soon as Lord Viṣṇu was visible, all the demigods — Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva, the Gandharvas and all present there — immediately offered their respectful obeisances by falling down straight before Him." (SB 4.7.19-22)

The inhabitants of the universe offer prayers to the Lord

The glories of the Lord are unlimited, and therefore its not possible for anyone to fully describe them. As the Lord appeared in the arena, all the demigods and sages present offered their dandavats and prepared to glorify the Lord according to their respective capacities on verses 26 to 47.

As Prabhupada explains on his purport to verse 24:

"The Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, is always unlimited, and His glories cannot be completely enumerated by anyone, even by a personality like Lord Brahmā. It is said that Ananta, a direct incarnation of the Lord, has unlimited mouths, and with each mouth He has been trying to describe the glories of the Lord for an unlimited span of time, yet the glories of the Lord remain unlimited, and He therefore never finishes. It is not possible for any ordinary living entity to understand or to glorify the unlimited Personality of Godhead, but one can offer prayers or service to the Lord according to one’s particular capacity. This capacity is increased by the service spirit."
"Chanting is the medicine, and prasāda is the diet. With these processes one can begin his service, and as the service increases, the Lord reveals more and more to the devotee. But there is no limit to His glories, and there is no limit to engaging oneself in the service of the Lord."

The glories of Krsna are directly described later in the 10th canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, but these verses give us an insight on how the Lord is understood by different inhabitants of the universe.

a) Daksa, who is mainly involved in fruitive sacrifices, share his realization that the Lord can't be understood by the use of material intelligence and philosophical speculation. The Lord is fully transcendental and beyond the comprehension of materialists.

b) The brāhmaṇas engaged in performed the sacrifice lamented their own attachment to fruitive activities and their incapacity of properly understanding the Lord. Engaged in performing rituals according to the direction of the scriptures, they see the Lord as the initiator of this system of Vedic sacrifices. They confess thus their incapacity to fully understand the Lord.

c) The members of the assembly described the Lord as the deliverer of all suffering souls entangled in the constant dangers of material life. They describe material life as a formidable fort from which is very difficult to escape. This fort is full of ditches of material happiness and distress, which keep the soul bound to the mirage of material joy and the fire of lamentation, both always present. There are many ferocious animals always ready to attack, causing one pain, and the snake of time is always looking for an opportunity to strike, bringing unavoidable death. People live in this cycle of birth and death, overburdened by the performance their material duties, or in even worse situation by not performing them. They could very easily become free from this entanglement if they would simply surrender to the Lord, but unfortunately there is no information of when they may do so. In his purport Prabhupada connects this with the spread of Krsna Consciousness, referring to it as the greatest relief work for all human society, and the devotees engaged in it as the greatest well-wishers.

d) Lord Shiva express his regret in having become angry and frustrated the previous sacrifice. He did so just to correct Daksa and the demigods and show them mercy, but as a great Vaishnava he assumes a humble position. Indirectly, he show us the way for becoming free from anger and material lamentation and remaining free from the influence of the three modes. Lord Shiva remains always in this pure platform, and we should follow his footsteps. As Prabhupada mentions: "The recommendation of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is that one should always be Kṛṣṇa conscious and should never forget his transcendental relationship with the Lord. This program has to be followed strictly by everyone."

e) Bhṛgu Muni express that under the influence of material energy, everyone in the material world is in ignorance of their constitutional position. Seeing themselves as the body, they fail to see the Lord present in the heart of everyone as the Supersoul and thus they commit violence against others. He refers to the Lord as the friend and protector of all surrendered souls, and thus asks Him to forgive them for all offenses they had committed.

f) Brahma mentions that the Lord is transcendental and thus can't be understood by people using their material intelligence or different material processes for obtaining knowledge. Indirectly he points to the process of devotional service as the only means to obtain perfect knowledge about the Lord, as confirmed by many other passages of the Srimad Bhagavatam.

g) Lord Vishnu appeared in the arena in a form displaying eight hands, instead of the usual four. Indra glorified His form in his prayers, mentioning that this form was very pleasing to the mind and eyes and appeared for the welfare of the entire universe. Brahma mentioned in his prayers that realizing the transcendental form of the Lord is beyond the power of the senses, and Indra added that even though the transcendental form of the Lord is not perceivable by the material senses, when He appears in this world as an incarnation, His form, activities and and uncommon beauty can be appreciated even by the common men.

h) The wives of the Brāhmaṇas prayed for the Lord to bring back to life the sacrificial animals killed during the storming of the arena and restore the sanctity of the place. In Vedic sacrifices, animals are routinely killed to test the efficacy of the mantas, but since these animals are immediately brought back to life in a rejuvenated state, the scene is pleasing. However, after the attack animals were lying dead everywhere like in a crematorium, something the Lord could easily fix.

i) The Lord processes unlimited potencies and through them He executes wonderful activities, but He is however completely unattached from both the activities and potencies, and in fact He is not even attached to the goddess of fortune, who offers Him so many services and is so exalted, prayed the sages. The central point is that the Lord is different from conditioned living entities who are attached to material results.

j) The inhabitants of Siddhaloka prayed that although they possess all mystic perfections, they find real pleasure in discussing the Lord transcendental pastimes, just like and elephant scorched by a forest fire forgets his misery by entering into a river. In this way, they confirm the superexcellence of the transcendental form of the Lord, who is capable of attracting all classes of transcendentalists.

k) Prasūti, the wife of Daksa, also prayed to the Lord, mentioning that the sacrificial arena was not beautiful without Him, just as a body without the head. This simple prayer reveals a very deep meaning: anything performed without Krsna consciousness has no value. Daksa had previously excluded Lord Shiva from the sacrifice, and thus the Lord also refused to attend and the sacrifice was a fiasco. Similarly, all activities of a materialist, or of a materialistic society simply lead to ultimate destruction if performed without connection to the Lord. As revealed by Prabhupada, indirectly, she also implored the Lord to turn the priests into Vaishnavas instead of simply fruitive workers performing fruitive sacrifices.

l) The governors of different planets revealed their incapacity of perceiving the transcendental form of the Lord. Enjoying their senses in great opulence, they can't see beyond the cosmic manifestation, and even when the Lord appear as an incarnation they think He appears as a product of the material world. However, they question their own intelligence by doubting the correctness of their understanding, concluding that being the Lord the processor of the universe, He must be different from his own creation, beyond the five material elements.

m) The great mystics emphasized the protection of the Lord to His devotees, mentioning that the Lord is always inclined in their favor. Yogis generally meditate on the Lord as Paramātmā, and frequently become Brahmavādīs, understanding that they are one with the Lord in quality, but not being able to fully understand His opulences and activities. However, because they always think on the Lord with faith, understanding they are His eternal servants, the Lord favors them, different from Māyāvādīs and mental speculators, who are condemned.

n) The personified Vedas, the predominating deities of Vedic knowledge, prayed that the Lord is the shelter of the mode of goodness, and the source of all religious principles and good qualities. Autough conditioned souls can't understand the Lord, by following these principles and accepting the shelter of the mode of goodness, we can gradually ascend to the platform of devotional service, and thus gradually come to understand our own position and the transcendental position of the Lord.

o) Agni, the fire-god, reveals his realization of the Lord being the source of his powers. Acting as a servant of the Lord, he accepts the offerings of ghee and other ingredients offered to the fire in Vedic sacrifices. These offerings are nothing more than the energy of the Lord, and the essence of the whole arrangement is the worship of the Lord, who is the personification of all sacrifice.

p) The demigods reiterated their position as the servants of the Lord and prayed for His protection. In this way, they reinforced the idea that any type of worship should be performed only for the Lord. Instead of wasting time worshiping demigods separately, one should go directly to the Lord and ask whatever he needs, be he full of material desires, without material desires of hoping for liberation.

q) The Gandharvas, the celestial musicians who perform for the demigods acknowledged that although the demigods may occupy positions of authority, they are not supreme. Real supremacy belongs to Krsna and all others are just plenary portions or part of plenary portions of Him. Even great demigods such has Lord Brahma are just limbs of the universal form of the Lord created from His external potency.

r) The Vidyādharas mentioned that the human form is meant to perform devotional service and thus attain the highest perfection, but people miss the opportunity by being concerned only with sense gratification, attracted to the temporary. This happens under the spell of the material energy, which overpowers the soul. However, one can be saved from this illusion by simply hearing and chanting the glories of the Lord.

s) The Brāhmaṇas stated that the Lord is everything, and that therefore all the ingredients of the sacrifice, including they themselves as the priests are parts and parcels of the Lord. Just as fire although situated in one place emanates light and heat, everything is in the Lord, although the Lord is not in everything. The form of the Lord is also not different from the Vedas, and therefore anyone who is fully engaged in worshiping the transcendental form of the Lord is understood to be studying all the Vedas twenty-four hours a day. They then concluded the prayers by revealing their desire of continuing the performance of sacrifice and their hope that with the presence of the Lord they would be able to conclude the sacrifice without impediment.

After the prayers, Daksa, now in purified consciousness arranged for the resumption of the sacrifice. Satisfied, the Lord instructed him:

"Brahmā, Lord Śiva and I are the supreme cause of the material manifestation. I am the Supersoul, the self-sufficient witness. But impersonally there is no difference between Brahmā, Lord Śiva and Me. My dear Dakṣa Dvija, I am the original Personality of Godhead, but in order to create, maintain and annihilate this cosmic manifestation, I act through My material energy, and according to the different grades of activity, My representations are differently named. One who is not in proper knowledge thinks that demigods like Brahmā and Śiva are independent, or he even thinks that the living entities are independent. A person with average intelligence does not think the head and other parts of the body to be separate. Similarly, My devotee does not differentiate Viṣṇu, the all-pervading Personality of Godhead, from any thing or any living entity. One who does not consider Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Śiva or the living entities in general to be separate from the Supreme, and who knows Brahman, actually realizes peace; others do not. (SB 4.7.50-54)

Everyone is part and parcel of the Lord, and He is present in all bodies as the Supersoul. The Lord thus instructed Daksa to abandon for envious attitude towards Lord Shiva and all other living beings, and instead see everyone as being in the same transcendental platform, mentioning that only one who attains this platform attains peace. All others live in anxiety and face all kinds of material difficulties, just as Daksa recently experienced.

After being thus instructed by the Lord, Daksa resumed the sacrifice, as described by Maitreya:

"Thus Dakṣa, the head of all Prajāpatis, having been nicely instructed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, worshiped Lord Viṣṇu. After worshiping Him by performing the prescribed sacrificial ceremonies, Dakṣa separately worshiped Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva. With all respect, Dakṣa worshiped Lord Śiva with his share of the remnants of the yajña. After finishing the ritualistic sacrificial activities, he satisfied all the other demigods and the other people assembled there. Then, after finishing all these duties with the priests, he took a bath and was fully satisfied. Thus worshiping the Supreme Lord Viṣṇu by the ritualistic performance of sacrifice, Dakṣa was completely situated on the religious path. Moreover, all the demigods who had assembled at the sacrifice blessed him that he might increase his piety, and then they left." (SB 4.7.55-57)

What about Sati? Her destination is also described by Maitreya in the following verses:

"Maitreya said: I have heard that after giving up the body she had received from Dakṣa, Dākṣāyaṇī (his daughter) took her birth in the kingdom of the Himālayas. She was born as the daughter of Menā. I heard this from authoritative sources. Ambikā [goddess Durgā], who was known as Dākṣāyiṇī [Satī], again accepted Lord Śiva as her husband, just as different energies of the Supreme Personality of Godhead act during the course of a new creation." (SB 4.7.58-59)

Concluding the narration, Maitreya offers a blessing to anyone who studies it:

"If one hears and again narrates, with faith and devotion, this story of the Dakṣa yajña as it was conducted by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu, then certainly one is cleared of all contamination of material existence, O son of Kuru." (SB 4.7.61)

The destination of Daksa

With the blessings of the Lord, Daksa was able to successfully perform the sacrifice. However, he did not return to his duties afterwards. Having now the head of a goat, he decided to abandon his body, and was later reborn as the only son of the Pracetas and Marisa, a descendant of Maharaja Uttānapāda. All of this happened in the first Manvantara.

After being reborn, however, Daksa didn't immediately resume his duties. In his first birth, Daksa was born as an exalted personality, the direct son of Brahma, but in this second birth he was born as a human child, born from Kṣatriyas. To regain his powers, he performed austerities for five Manvantaras (1.533 billion years!) to accumulate pious merits, and was finally reinstated in his former position as a Prajāpati in the sixth Manvantara (the Cākṣuṣa Manvantara, the one preceding the current).

Because Daksa retired before producing any descendants as a Kṣatriya, the lineage of Maharaja Uttānapāda and Dhruva Maharaja was broken. This led Brahma and Svāyambhuva Manu to approach Priyavrata and ask him to become the next emperor of Bhu-Mandala, as described in the first chapter of the 5th canto.

The rebirth of Daksa is described at the end of the 4th canto: "Following the order of Lord Brahmā, all the Pracetās accepted the girl as their wife. From the womb of this girl, the son of Lord Brahmā named Dakṣa took birth. Dakṣa had to take birth from the womb of Māriṣā due to his disobeying and disrespecting Lord Mahādeva [Śiva]. Consequently he had to give up his body twice. His previous body had been destroyed, but he, the same Dakṣa, inspired by the supreme will, created all the desired living entities in the Cākṣuṣa manvantara. After being born, Dakṣa, by the superexcellence of his bodily luster, covered all others’ bodily opulence. Because he was very expert in performing fruitive activity, he was called by the name Dakṣa, meaning “the very expert.” Lord Brahmā therefore engaged Dakṣa in the work of generating living entities and maintaining them. In due course of time, Dakṣa also engaged other Prajāpatis [progenitors] in the process of generation and maintenance." (SB 4.30.48-51)

As Prabhupada explains in his purport to SB 4.30.49: "The controversy of the Dakṣa-yajña took place in the Svāyambhuva manvantara period. As a result, Dakṣa was punished by Lord Śiva, but by virtue of his prayers to Lord Śiva he became eligible to regain his former opulence. According to Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, Dakṣa underwent severe penances up to the fifth manvantara. Thus at the beginning of the sixth manvantara, known as the Cākṣuṣa manvantara, Dakṣa regained his former opulence by the blessings of Lord Śiva."

The description of the story of Daksa is thus started in the 4th canto, and later resumed in the 6th canto, in chapters four, five, and six. However, the events are described out of order, and therefore it can be a little difficult to understand.

After Daksa was again appointed as a Prajāpati in the sixth Manvantara, he first created different types of living beings, such as demigods, humans, etc. out of his mind, just as Brahma does.

In verses 6.4.17 and 6.4.18, Śukadeva Goswami brings our attention back to the story of Daksa he had started in the 4th canto by saying: "In the womb of that girl the Pracetās all begot a son named Dakṣa, who filled the three worlds with living entities. Please hear from me with great attention how Prajāpati Dakṣa, who was very affectionate to his daughters, created different types of living entities through his semen and through his mind."

Verse 6.4.19 then describes the beginning of the work of Daksa in the 6th Manvantara, creating living entities out of his mind: "With his mind, Prajāpati Dakṣa first created all kinds of demigods, demons, human beings, birds, beasts, aquatics and so on."

However, he was not able to generate sufficient population through this process and thus decided to again practice austerities to satisfy the Supreme Lord and be blessed to perform his service. He went to the mountains to practice austerities, and in this process, he offered the Haṁsa-guhya prayers to the Lord (described in SB 6.4), who became satisfied and appeared to him, blessing him to marry Asiknī, the daughter of Prajāpati Pañcajana.

Daksa then begot ten thousand very qualified sons in the womb of his wife, known as the Haryaśvas. He instructed them to practice austerities and prepare to enter family life and assist him in the work of populating the universe. However, seeing these very qualified boys Nārada Muni became compassionate and decided to free them from the clutches of material energy. Purified with transcendental knowledge, the boys decided to enter renounced life.

Sad with the loss of his sons, Daksa begot one thousand more sons, known as the Savalāśvas. However, when Nārada Muni also delivered them, Daksa again lost his temper and proceeded to offend and curse him, as described in the 5th chapter of the 6th canto.

Nārada Muni received knowledge about bhakti from Brahma, while Daksa received knowledge about karma-kanda, the performance of fruitive sacrifices. Therefore, although Daksa is highly elevated in the performance of pious activities, he is a materialist, and can't at all understand pure Vaishnavas such as Lord Shiva and Nārada Muni. We can see that even when he approached the Lord, while offering his Haṁsa-guhya prayers and was finally able to meet the Lord in Person, he didn't ask for pure devotional service, instead, he asked for material blessings.

Daksa exemplifies the neophyte devotee, who although indirectly engaged in devotional service, is still bogged down in material activities and material desires, using the Lord as an order supplier to satisfy his material ambitions. This material pursuit is characterized by the influence of the mode of passion, and passion always comes accompanied by ignorance. This explains how Daksa could act so viciously towards Lord Shiva and Nārada Muni. From his pastime, we can learn that a devotee performing service in the mode of ignorance is not rejected by Krsna but he may have to face adverse results due to his offenses and remain in this material world for a long time.

Back to the story, Daksa then proceeded to beget 60 daughters, whom, being girls, Daksa was sure Nārada would not try to instruct. These daughters were given in marriage to great personalities and through them, Daksa was finally able to fulfill his ambition of populating the universe. Prabhupada describes it in short in his introduction to chapter 6.6:

"Prajāpati Dakṣa begot sixty daughters in the womb of his wife Asiknī. These daughters were given in charity to various persons to increase the population. Since these offspring of Dakṣa were women, Nārada Muni did not try to lead them toward the renounced order of life. Thus the daughters were saved from Nārada Muni. Ten of the daughters were given in marriage to Dharmarāja, thirteen to Kaśyapa Muni, and twenty-seven to the moon-god, Candra. In this way fifty daughters were distributed, and of the other ten daughters, four were given to Kaśyapa and two each to Bhūta, Aṅgirā and Kṛśāśva. One should know that it is because of the union of these sixty daughters with various exalted personalities that the entire universe was filled with various kinds of living entities, such as human beings, demigods, demons, beasts, birds and serpents."

This chapter describes in detail how the daughters of Daksa generated all kinds of living beings, rapidly increasing the population of the universe. Although the universe was never empty, it appears that the population had become much smaller during the first five Manvantaras, to the point that when the Pracetas came out of the lake where they were meditating, the Earth was practically uninhabited and been covered by trees.

This offers also some explanation for why there is no geological evidence for advanced species of life on our planet until about 800 million years ago. According to the chronology offered in the Srimad Bhagavatam (taking into consideration the Sridhara Swami's factor of two) this coincides with the daughters of Daksa filling the universe with all species of life.

Kaśyapa Muni married several of Dakṣa's daughters, including Diti and Aditi. This connects the story with the events described in the third canto, of Hiraṇyākṣa and Hiraṇyakaśipu being born from Diti and the appearance of Lord Varāha. Although described in the third canto, these are relatively recent events, that happened in the 6th Manvantara, after the conclusion of the saga of Daksa.