What is true sacrifice?

True sacrifice is not the act of sacrificing an animal; no, true sacrifice is the ceremony through which one seeks to please the Supreme Personality of Godhead, to please Him.

Every human being must seek to know whether God is pleased with their behavior and actions. In other words, all our actions should contribute to the Lord's satisfaction. Each of us must be concerned with whether Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is pleased with our actions. Activities aimed at pleasing the Lord are prescribed in the holy scriptures, and performing them constitutes sacrifice.

In other words, sacrifice is the act of acting for the satisfaction of the Supreme Lord, Krishna.

Let us be aware that any act performed other than sacrifice binds its performer to matter and holds them captive in this material world. If we do not act for the pleasure of the Supreme Lord, Krishna, then we will be chained to the consequences of our actions. We should not act for our own pleasure, but for God's.

This is what is meant by sacrifice.

Truly, all divine beings, the celestial beings, are satisfied when one performs a sacrifice. Indeed, the celestial beings rely on the sacred meal offered to God during these sacrifices, hence their necessity. Materialists who engage in acts aimed at sense gratification must perform sacrifices, otherwise they chain themselves to the consequences of their actions. Performing a sacrifice is a truly arduous task, for one must invite all divine beings to participate. In this present age, one of discord, quarrels, hypocrisy, and sin, it is not possible to perform such costly sacrifices, nor to invite celestial beings to participate in them. Therefore, the original holy scriptures indicate that in this age, intelligent people must understand that it is impossible to perform the Vedic sacrifices. However, unless they satisfy the divine beings, there can be no regularity in the course of the seasons or the rains, for they are the ones who direct all natural phenomena. In this age, therefore, in order to maintain peace and prosperity in society, all intelligent people should perform the only appropriate sacrifice by chanting the holy names of the Lord's hymn:

hare Krishna, hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, hare hare

hare Rama, hare Rama, Rama Rama, hare hare

Thus, all the celestial beings can be pleased by performing this sacrifice, which consists of inviting people to chant Hare Krishna and then distributing a sacred meal. Peace and prosperity will then reign in the world. In this age, the performance of sacrifices has been simplified since by chanting Hare Krishna one can please Lord Krishna, and at the same time please all the celestial beings.