Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.8.6

yājayitvāśvamedhais taḿ

tribhir uttama-kalpakaiḥ

tad-yaśaḥ pāvanaḿ dikṣu

śata-manyor ivātanot

SYNONYMS

yājayitvā — by performing; aśvamedhaiḥ — yajña in which a horse is sacrificed; tam — him (King Yudhiṣṭhira); tribhiḥ — three; uttama — best; kalpakaiḥ — supplied with proper ingredients and performed by able priests; tat — that; yaśaḥ — fame; pāvanam — virtuous; dikṣu — all directions; śata-manyoḥ — Indra, who performed one hundred such sacrifices; iva — like; atanot — spread.

TRANSLATION

Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa caused three well-performed Aśvamedha-yajñas [horse sacrifices] to be conducted by Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira and thus caused his virtuous fame to be glorified in all directions, like that of Indra, who had performed one hundred such sacrifices.

PURPORT

This is something like the preface to the performances of Aśvamedha-yajña by Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira. The comparison of Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira to the King of heaven is significant. The King of heaven is thousands and thousands of times greater than Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira in opulence, yet the fame of Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira was not less. The reason is that Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira was a pure devotee of the Lord, and by His grace only was King Yudhiṣṭhira on the level of the King of heaven, even though he performed only three yajñas whereas the King of heaven performed hundreds. That is the prerogative of the devotee of the Lord. The Lord is equal to everyone, but a devotee of the Lord is more glorified because he is always in touch with the all-great. The sun rays are equally distributed, but still there are some places which are always dark. This is not due to the sun but to the receptive power. Similarly, those who are cent percent devotees of the Lord get the full-fledged mercy of the Lord, which is always equally distributed everywhere.