Srimad Bhagavatam – 1.15.19 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | ISKCON Chennai | June 20, 2025 |
Om Namo Bhagavate Vāsudevāya
Om Namo Bhagavate Vāsudevāya
Om Namo Bhagavate Vāsudevāya
nama om vishnu-padaya krishna-preshthaya bhu-tale
srimate bhaktivedanta-svamin iti namine
namas te sarasvate deve gaura-vani-pracharine
nirvishesha-shunyavadi-pashchatya-desha-tarine
jaya sri-krishna-chaitanya
prabhu nityananda
sri-adwaita gadadhara
shrivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrinda
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
Reading from Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 1 Chapter 15 Verse 19.
ŚB 1.15.19
शय्यासनाटनविकत्थनभोजनादि ष्वैक्याद्वयस्य ऋतवानिति विप्रलब्ध: ।
सख्यु: सखेव पितृवत्तनयस्य सर्वं सेहे महान्महितया कुमतेरघं मे ॥ १९ ॥
śayyāsanāṭana-vikatthana-bhojanādiṣv
aikyād vayasya ṛtavān iti vipralabdhaḥ
sakhyuḥ sakheva pitṛvat tanayasya sarvaṁ
sehe mahān mahitayā kumater aghaṁ me
Synonyms
śayya — sleeping on one bed; āsana — sitting on one seat; aṭana — walking together; vikatthana — self-adoration; bhojana — dining together; ādiṣu — and in all such dealings; aikyāt — because of oneness; vayasya — O my friend; ṛtavān — truthful; iti — thus; vipralabdhaḥ — misbehaved; sakhyuḥ — unto a friend; sakhā iva — just like a friend; pitṛvat — just like the father; tanayasya — of a child; sarvam — all; sehe — tolerated; mahān — great; mahitayā — by glories; kumateḥ — of one who is of low mentality; agham — offense; me — mine.
Translation
Generally both of us used to live together and sleep, sit and loiter together. And at the time of advertising oneself for acts of chivalry, sometimes, if there were any irregularity, I used to reproach Him by saying, “My friend, You are very truthful.” Even in those hours when His value was minimized, He, being the Supreme Soul, used to tolerate all those utterings of mine, excusing me exactly as a true friend excuses his true friend, or a father excuses his son.
Purport
Since the Supreme Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is all-perfect, His transcendental pastimes with His pure devotees never lack anything in any respect, either as a friend, son or lover. The Lord relishes the reproaches of friends, parents or fiancees more than the Vedic hymns offered to Him by great learned scholars and religionists in an official fashion.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj:
So here we have a description of Krishna’s intimate dealings with His devotees. This is a special feature of Krishna, not found in other forms of the Lord. For instance, with Vishnu, we will not find eating together, sleeping together, sitting together, loitering together, joking together, no devotee of Vishnu does that. And even for Ramachandra, we don’t see this. But we see this in Krishna.
Of course, Krishna has three forms: The form in Dwarka, the form in Mathura, and the form in Gokula. And we see this intimacy expressed in all these places. So we have this intimacy between Arjuna and Krishna in His Dwarka form. However, we’ll also find Krishna with His friends in Vrindavan have intimacy, but even more intimacy.
So, in Nectar of Devotion, Rupa Goswami describes that the form in Dwarka is called Purna, that in Mathura is called Purnatara, and that in Vrindavan is called Purnatama. So, Purna of course means complete. Purnatara means more complete. And Purnatama means most complete. So even the Dwarka form, which is Purna, is more complete than the forms in Vaikuntha. But the form in Mathura is more complete, being more intimate. And the form in Vrindavan is most complete because it is most intimate. So, that distinction is quite evident in this verse. So it’s also evident in Bhagavad Gita, when Arjuna sees the universal form. So, Arjuna recognizes the greatness of Krishna, and thus he recognizes Krishna as Supreme Lord. At the same time, he has a very intimate, informal relationship with Krishna. But because he realizes Krishna is Supreme Lord, that intimacy gets restricted.
So, in this verse, though he is describing the intimate relationship, he says, oh well, the Supreme Lord had to tolerate me for being so intimate. Similarly, in Bhagavad Gita, there Arjuna apologizes after he sees the universal form, he says, oh, actually, you’re the Supreme Lord, please apologize because I was treating you so informally as a friend. Of course, in Mathura, the Yadus also realize that Krishna is Supreme Lord. Vasudeva and Devaki accept Krishna as their son, but also they know He is Supreme Lord. However, in Mathura, Krishna did not display such powers as He displayed in Dwarka. In Dwarka, Krishna built 16,108 palaces. He married 16,108 queens. So, He displayed much more power in Dwarka.
In Vrindavan, however, Krishna hides His powers. And even if He displays His powers by killing some demon like Putana or Tranavrata, the people of Vrindavan do not recognize that as Krishna’s powers. So, instead, they say that He is protected by Vishnu so, Vishnu has killed the demons. Sometimes they recognize Krishna’s powers, but immediately they forget about it. So, their intimate feelings of love for Krishna overpower any other perceptions. So, in this way, the love of the people of Vrindavan and Krishna Himself responding to that love is considered much higher than the love in Mathura and Dwarka.
So, in Nectar of Devotion, Rupa Goswami describes that Krishna has 64 qualities, four qualities that are not displayed in Vishnu form. So, these qualities are most excellently displayed in Vrindavan. Of course, they are also displayed in Dwarka and Mathura, but to lesser degrees. So, we can define the inhabitants of Dwarka and Krishna there as superior to Lord of Vaikuntha and the inhabitants of Vaikuntha. However, those four qualities display their maximum excellence in Vrindavan.
So, one quality is Madhurya Rupa, so, the form of Krishna as a young cowherd boy is considered to be the most sweet beauty, more sweet than that in Dwarka. So, another quality is the sweetness of devotees. Obviously, in Dwarka, Krishna is surrounded by many devotees and we have the Pandavas, they are all in sweet relationships, but the sweetest devotees are in Vrindavan. Vasudeva and Devaki are parents of Krishna in Dwarka and they express Vatsalya Rasa, but Nanda and Yasoda in Vrindavan express that Vatsalya Rasa even more. So, of course, another feature, one of the four features is the Madhurya Leela, the sweet pastimes. So, though all the pastimes of Krishna are sweet and much greater than those of Vishnu and the pastimes of Dwarka are also very sweet with the various devotees and the queens etc., the pastimes in Vrindavan are considered to be the sweetest of all. So, we do not see Damodara Leela in Dwarka. We don’t see Rasa Lila in Dwarka. So, the pastimes in Vrindavan are the sweetest of all, most intimate.
So, the fourth sweetness is the Venu Madhurya, the sweetness of Krishna’s flute. So, of course, Krishna in Vrindavan is famous for playing His flute. We don’t see Krishna playing His flute in Mathura or Dwarka. So, why is the flute so sweet? When He plays the flute, those who hear that sound of the flute develop the same Madhurya Prema. So, when the Gopis hear the flute, they develop Madhurya Rasa. When the cowherds hear the flute, they are stimulated for Sakhya Rasa. When Krishna returns in the evening playing his flute along with all the cows, Mother Yasoda and Nanda hears the flute and that stimulates their Vatsalya Rasa. When the deer and the cows, the birds hear the flute, they all develop ecstasy. But even the trees and the creepers start developing ecstasy. Even the rocks develop ecstasy and they melt. And the water develops ecstasy. So, the sound of that flute in Vrindavan is very special because it stimulates this very intimate type of Prema.
So, even though there are indications that Krishna has a great power in Vrindavan, these act as no obstacle for that sweet Prema. When Krishna opened His mouth, because Yasoda said you have dirt in your mouth, Krishna opened His mouth and then He displayed all the universe within His body. So, this is a display of power of God, aishwarya and mother Yasoda saw it and immediately said oh, He must be Supreme Lord. But then, what did she do? Immediately, she had this thought, but then it vanished. And she thought, what did I see? This must be some asuras affecting us. So, she called some brahmanas to chant mantras to protect Krishna from demons. So, awareness of Krishna’s powers was overpowered by her Vatsalya.
So, in this way, in Vrindavan, we have the greatest display of this intimacy between Krishna and His devotees. And thus, Krishna is said to be Purnatama, most complete, and the devotees are considered to be the greatest.
Hare Krsna!
Q & A
1) Thank you, Maharaj. If I understood right, Maharaj made a point that Krishna hides His power in Vrindavan. Is it that He is hiding Maharaj, or is it that Yogamaya takes care of those services?
Well, we can say that both things are happening.
So, Krishna displayed His power to Brahma by manifesting all of these, Himself as all the calves and cows, and then displaying all the Vishnu forms. But this was done privately, the people of Vrindavan did not see that. So, He manifested the Vishnu forms, then He made them disappear. So, this is a display of his Yogamaya, making things disappear.
So, again, we find that Krishna, every night after He entered Kaishore period, then He would have rasalila. But He did not do that publicly, He did it in some forest, hidden away. Still, mother and father and the elders, they never knew about it at all. So, there is an element of Yogamaya there also.
2) Maharaj, all that matters for a sadhaka is to develop an intimate relationship with Krishna. However, when a sadhaka is performing services, some managerial services and all that, this seems to be not directly in connection with Krishna, but more of management. So, is that a hindrance, such services, is that a hindrance for developing an intimate relationship with Krishna?
We see that even the nitya siddha devotees like Yudhishthira or Arjuna are doing the job of Kshatriyas. So, Yudhishthira manages the whole kingdom.
Arjuna fights the battle of Kurukshetra. So, they never say, well, these are all managerial duties, I am going to go away and just chant my rounds, they don’t say that. So, everything they do, they take as service to Krishna, to please Krishna.
Of course, for the sadhaka, we have some distinction. So, we have the direct angas of Bhakti, like hearing and chanting and deity worship. Then we have other activities, which are not the main angas of Bhakti, but they help support it.
3) Maharaj, Lord Rama and Lord Narasimha also, Purna Maharaj?
So, in describing the different avatar forms, we have the different levels, like Vibhava, Prabhava, Prakasha and Purna. And among the Purna forms, we have Narasimha, Rama and Krishna.
Out of those three, Krishna is put at the top. But then in Krishna, we have Purna, Purnatara and Purnatama. And Krishna will display these four qualities, especially in Vrindavan and to a lesser extent in Mathura and Dwaraka.
4) Hare Krishna Maharaj. Maharaj, my question is that, as a sadhaka or a practitioner of Bhakti Yoga, all the nine angas of Bhakti teaches us to worship Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Then how by following this path, we can ever reach the platform where we will forget that Krishna is Supreme Lord and we will develop intimate relationship with Him?
So, if we continue thinking of Krishna as Supreme Lord and we follow the process of Vaidhi Bhakti, then our realization on Bhava and Prema will also be influenced by that reverence. And thus, you can’t go to Goloka.
So, that is why it is said that if we want to go to Goloka Vrindavan, then we have to at a certain point give up that awe and reverence. So, that is the sadhana of Raghunuga Bhakti. Of course, in Raghunuga Sadhana, we don’t give up all rules and regulations, but the tendency is to think of Krishna not with awe and veneration, but in a more spontaneous way, like the people of Vrindavan. So, that practice qualifies us for realizing the Vrindavan Krishna in Bhava and Prema.
5) Maharaj, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, for Him also these three stages of Purna, Purnatara and Purnatama were existing?
Well, we don’t define Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in terms of Madhurya. But rather in terms of Audharya, which means compassionate.
And sometimes there is some, I don’t see directly where the goswamis on this, but we do have some classification of the Navadvip pastimes as supreme, and then those in Puri considered to be lesser, like Dwarka pastimes. One reason, of course, is that in Navadvip , Chaitanya Mahaprabhu had not taken sannyas. After that, He took sannyas, and as a sannyasi, He was a little bit restricted because of the sannyas rules.
6) Hare Krishna, Maharaj. Maharaj, with respect to the previous question about coming to a platform of that intimacy, but we see that in ISKCON, devotee’s life is also revolving around deity worship, and deity worship is a clear recognition of the Lord as the Supreme, and the whole process of Puja and Archana, it is centered around understanding His Supreme Personality of Godhead. So, I was just wondering that how this process of Archana transforms if a devotee moves into Raghanuga? Hare Krishna.
Definitely, deity worship following Pancharatrika marga is full of Vidhi, so it is Vaidhi bhakti. Of course, this becomes a little bit modified because we worship generally Vrindavan Krishna form in the deity. However, if you worship Krishna in Vrindavan with great Vidhi, then Vishvanatha Chakravarti says you go to Aishwarya Goloka.
Although we follow Pancharatrika and thus vaidhi bhakti and worship of Krishna in the Gaudiya Sampradaya, also in the Vallabha Sampradaya, the rules for deity worship are not on the same level of Vaidhi as in strict Pancharatrika. Thus, in the Vallabha Sampradaya, it is called Pushti Marga, which means Raghanuga marga, even though they are worshipping deities. Although rules are followed at the same time, there is a little more emphasis upon spontaneity.
And though in the Madhava Sampradaya and Ramanuja Sampradaya, they are also doing Pancharatrika Puja, if we compare it to our worship, there is much more Vaidhi bhakti than ours is. So, we are much freer in how we dress the deity. Probably, their dress has been standardized for the last thousand years and you have to do it exactly like that for a thousand years. The same dresses, same crowns, everything, not much variety. It is the same as the offerings of food, it’s all standardized for the last thousand years. You cannot change anything. So, if you want to introduce maybe watermelon offering, you cannot do that. You cannot bake a cake and offer it to their deity; they won’t accept it. Even if you want to make a different chutney, it’s not accepted.
So, though we do follow Pancharatrika Vidhi, therefore it is Vaidhi Bhakti, it is much more changed because of our attitude towards serving. We find that very advanced devotees like the associates of Lord Chaitanya when they worship the deity, they even go beyond even those minimum rules and they do things very very freely. And if one doesn’t have temple deity, but one has personal deity, then there is much more scope for this Raghanuga type of worship.
7) Maharaj, my last question. Is the Anartha Nivriti stage suitable for this transition to Raghanuga Bhakti or should it be done at a later stage when Anartha has quite subsided?
Theoretically, one could start one’s Bhakti with Raghanuga. In Nectar of Devotion, the qualification is greed for following after the mood of the people of Vrindavan.
So, as I said, in our deity worship, though it is Vaidhi, Pancharatrika, etc., it has some elements of Raghanuga in it also. And of course, generally, previous to Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur, all the devotees considered this Gaudiya Sampradaya to be Raghanuga Sampradaya. And, of course, the whole of the Vallabha Sampradaya is also called Raghanuga Pushti Marga.
8) What is the difference between Shuddha Bhakta and Rasika Bhakta?
Shuddha Bhakta can mean anyone practicing Shuddha Bhakti, which means ‘anya abhilashita sunyam; Jnana Karmadhi anavritam’, which is everybody in our Sampradaya should be practicing that. So, we are all called pure devotees. This is in comparison to people who say, yes, I am a devotee of Vishnu, I am a devotee of Balaji. And they go to Balaji and they are praying for material things. That’s their Bhakti. So, the goal for one practicing Shuddha Bhakti is Prema.
So, when we talk about Rasika, generally mean one practicing Raghanuga. Of course, you could be advanced beyond Raghanuga into Bhava and Prema also. But one who has very great taste for following after the people of Vrindavan.
So, we practice Shuddha Bhakti in Sadhana, Bhava and Prema. And that Shuddha Bhakti in Sadhana could be Vaidhi Sadhana or Raghanuga Sadhana.
9) Is Brahma Samhita prayers offered by Brahmaji happened at the end of Brahma Vimohana lila? When were they offered?
No, they were offered when Brahma was trying to create the universe.
10) Hare Krishna Maharaj. In the book you wrote, which book has more Krishna lilas and which has more Radharani lilas? And is there any book called Krishna Tattvam?
Krishna Tattvam. Well, of course, we find the pastimes of Krishna first of all as a basic in Bhagavatam. Then the Goswamis and Vishwantha Chakravarti, Kavi Karnapura have described the pastimes of Radha and Krishna and their pastimes throughout the day. As for the Tattvam, we will find that described in Bhagavatam and in nectar of devotion.
Devotees: Grantharaj Srimad Bhagavatham ki jai!!! HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj ki jai!!!