Srimad Bhagavatam – 1.15.34 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | ISKCON Chennai | July 9, 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 34.
ŚB 1.15.34
ययाहरद् भुवो भारं तां तनुं विजहावज: ।
कण्टकं कण्टकेनेव द्वयं चापीशितु: समम् ॥ ३४ ॥
yayāharad bhuvo bhāraṁ
tāṁ tanuṁ vijahāv ajaḥ
kaṇṭakaṁ kaṇṭakeneva
dvayaṁ cāpīśituḥ samam
Synonyms
yayā — that by which; aharat — took away; bhuvaḥ — of the world; bhāram — burden; tām — that; tanum — body; vijahau — relinquished; ajaḥ — the unborn; kaṇṭakam — thorn; kaṇṭakena — by the thorn; iva — like that; dvayam — both; ca — also; api — although; īśituḥ — controlling; samam — equal.
Translation
The supreme unborn, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, caused the members of the Yadu dynasty to relinquish their bodies, and thus He relieved the burden of the world. This action was like picking out a thorn with a thorn, though both are the same to the controller.
Purport
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura suggests that the ṛṣis like Śaunaka and others who were hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from Sūta Gosvāmī at Naimiṣāraṇya were not happy to hear about the Yadus’ dying in the madness of intoxication. To give them relief from this mental agony, Sūta Gosvāmī assured them that the Lord caused the members of the Yadu dynasty to relinquish their bodies by which they had to take away the burden of the world. The Lord and His eternal associates appeared on earth to help the administrative demigods in eradicating the burden of the world. He therefore called for some of the confidential demigods to appear in the Yadu family and serve Him in His great mission. After the mission was fulfilled, the demigods, by the will of the Lord, relinquished their corporeal bodies by fighting amongst themselves in the madness of intoxication. The demigods are accustomed to drinking the soma-rasa beverage, and therefore the drinking of wine and intoxication are not unknown to them. Sometimes they were put into trouble for indulging in intoxication. Once the sons of Kuvera fell in the wrath of Nārada for being intoxicated, but afterwards they regained their original forms by the grace of the Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. We shall find this story in the Tenth Canto. For the Supreme Lord, both the asuras and the demigods are equal, but the demigods are obedient to the Lord, whereas the asuras are not. Therefore, the example of picking out a thorn by another thorn is quite befitting. One thorn, which causes pinpricks on the leg of the Lord, is certainly disturbing to the Lord, and the other thorn, which takes out the disturbing elements, certainly gives service to the Lord. So although every living being is a part and parcel of the Lord, still one who is a pinprick to the Lord is called an asura, and one who is a voluntary servitor of the Lord is called a devatā, or demigod. In the material world the devatās and asuras are always contending, and the devatās are always saved from the hands of the asuras by the Lord. Both of them are under the control of the Lord. The world is full of two kinds of living beings, and the Lord’s mission is always to protect the devatās and destroy the asuras, whenever there is such a need in the world, and to do good to both of them.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj:
So, here we get a further description and explanation of the disappearance of the Yadus. As Srila Prabhupada mentions in the purport, even the sages gathered at Naimisaranya were rather disturbed by this way of disappearing of the Yadus. So therefore, this explanation is given, it talks about the burden of the earth. So of course, Krishna comes to relieve the burden of the earth. What is that burden or weight? That is all of the demoniac elements, all the sinful elements. So, earth was complaining about all the sinful activities, so that became a burden for the earth. So, if a person carries a burden, after a while, one gets very tired from that weight. Similarly, the earth became very fatigued and tired because of all of these sinful activities. So, when the weight gets too heavy, then the Lord interferes and relieves the earth of the burden. So, this is a general principle of the Supreme Lord, whenever there is too much sinful activities in the world, the Lord will appear and correct the situation.
So, in this way, the Lord makes an appearance, but then the Lord has to disappear. So, the Lord disappears when His job is finished. And we see here that in the case of Krishna, He was shot by the arrow of a hunter, and then He disappeared that way. So, as well as the Supreme Lord, we have the followers of the Supreme Lord, the Yadus, they assist the Lord, but after the Lord has finished His job, they must also disappear. So, the Lord’s appearance and disappearance, and the Yadus’ appearance and disappearance are not under the laws of Karma. This is under the Lord’s arrangement. So, of course, people in the material world, they look at this incident and they will think, Yadus and Krishna are under the laws of Karma. But the whole purpose of Bhagavatam is to show that Krishna is not a human being, He is beyond the laws of Karma.
For instance, we have in the Bhagavatam, a description of Krishna living in Dvaraka. And this place was more astonishing than the heavenly planets. There were thousands and thousands of palaces. There were 16,108 queens. And the wealth surpassed the heavenly planets. In fact, it was invincible, no one could enter that place without the Lord’s permission. Yet we see in the Bhagavatam, it’s explained that the whole city fell into the ocean or the ocean devoured it and all these people, they all died.
So, the two descriptions are very contrary. So, one who is a materialist will emphasize the material aspect, okay, they were all destroyed. The city was destroyed by the ocean, and they killed each other. The devotee will appreciate the great power of the Supreme Lord. And then he will see, this disappearance is completely contradictory. And then he will look for an explanation. Of course, we will see explanation given in Bhagavatam itself. So, this is one verse that explains. And in the eleventh canto, there are few chapters that go on to explain this disappearance. And through these descriptions, it is made very clear that the Lord is not subject to birth and death at all. And His devotees are not subject to birth and death at all. So, therefore, the devotee will find the actual truth behind all these descriptions.
So, in this verse, we have an example. So, relieving the earth of its burden is compared to pulling out a thorn but with another thorn. So, if you have a thorn in your leg, then it gives pain and you want to take it out. But sometimes it may break off so you can’t even pull it out. So, you need another sharp instrument like a thorn to dig in there and pull out that other thorn. So, it looks a little bit contradictory, a thorn pulling out a thorn. So, they are similar to each other. So, we have demons creating a problem for the earth, they are the thorn. Not only the earth is afflicted, the devatas get afflicted. So, the asuras are one thorn and then the Lord has to destroy them somehow or other. So, therefore, the Lord uses of course His own body or He uses His devotees, the Yadus. So, just as the demons afflict the earth, so the Yadus afflict the demons. So, in that sense, they are both similar. There is force behind each of these elements. I would say even violence may be used in both cases.
So, we have criminals that they do violence to the citizens. So, the king has to use violence against the criminals. So, we find some similarity there between the criminals and the people punishing the criminals. Of course, to make this work properly, the Yadus have to be stronger than the criminals or the demons. So, in that sense, there is also a difference. In fact, though they may look similar, the Yadus are actually completely different because they have spiritual bodies. And they are empowered by the Supreme Lord, so they are much more powerful than the demons. So, therefore, they are similar, they are also different.
Now, the problem comes after we pull the thorn out, we still have the other thorn there. So, previously in this chapter, it was mentioned that even the Yadus became a burden on the earth, so they are acting like a thorn also. So, this is of course not actual. But, it illustrates the fact that if the Yadus are there, then all the demons are killed, then the Yadus are very powerful. No one can defeat them. If they chose, then they could destroy the whole earth, so they would be like demons also.
But of course, we know that this is a normal world, this is what happens, someone defeats another government, they become powerful, then they become demoniac also. However, we know that the devotees are eternal associates to the Lord, so, they never become a burden on the earth, factually speaking. Nevertheless, because the Lord is gone, these devotees should also disappear. The devotee is always with the Lord. So, when the Lord disappears, it is natural that the Yadus should also disappear. So, therefore, the Lord made another arrangement.
So, nobody can kill the Yadus. So, the Yadus are also like thorns. So, how do you remove the thorn? – with another thorn. So, the Yadus remove themselves, they kill each other. So, in that way, the only force that can remove the Yadus is another Yadu. So, that also is like one thorn removing another thorn. But we know that this of course is a little bit different from the Yadus removing the demons. None of the Yadus are demons. So, it’s devotees removing devotees, so what does that mean? They are all eternal, so, actually, it is just some show.
So, in the purport, Prabhupada explains that actually, along with the Yadus, the devatas also appeared among the Yadus. After the disappearance of the Lord and the relieving of the burden of the earth, then the Lord disappeared and the devatas should also return to their abodes in Svarga Loka. So, this method of the Yadus fighting with each other was a way in which the devatas could return to Svarga Loka. So, in any case, this whole pastime is a show. It is a clever arrangement of the Lord to end His pastimes on earth.
Of course, we can ask the question, why this complicated way of doing things? Ramachandra didn’t make such an arrangement. He simply went to the spiritual world and He took everybody with Him, finished. So, the Lord is free to make any arrangement. And if He chooses as Krishna to act in this way, we should never criticize Krishna and say, ah, therefore He is material. He could have acted similar to Ramachandra in His disappearance.
But He also had another purpose in disappearing in this way. And that purpose is to hide His spiritual potency from the demons. So, this would allow the materialists and the demons to think of Krishna as an ordinary person. And that is how materialists who read Bhagavatam will take Krishna. So, in this way, Bhagavatam is like Mohini. It hides the spiritual essence from the materialists. At the same time, those who are serious about spiritual life can find the actual meaning. So, that meaning is not difficult to find, as we see in this verse, as we see in 11th canto, the whole explanation is directly given. So, in this way, Bhagavatam gives the nectar to the devotees and hides it from the demons.
Hare Krsna !
Q&A
1.) Like other avatars just like Lord Ramachandra disappeared in the Sarayu river, Caitanya Mahaprabhu disappeared in Jagannath mandir, though Krishna’s appearance is very special, not taken as a normal human being, though He executed superhuman powers in Vrindavan dham, at the time of disappearance, why did he disappear like a normal human being, like He got shot by a hunter? Why?
Well, He didn’t have to. So, I’m saying he did this. So, that materialist can think, oh, He’s a normal human being who got shot by an arrow. That’s all. To fool them.
Devotee: Because already in Bhagavad Gita Krishna says fools deride me when I come in human form so His disappearance is also adding to more people to be non-believer that Krishna is the supreme Lord..
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yeah, so, Krishna is difficult to understand, but He’s understandable by those who are serious devotional service. So, of course, we can ask, why does Krishna have to fool everybody, or why does Bhagavatam have to act like Mohini and hide the truth? So, the answer is that the highest spiritual truths often are hidden. Just like the most precious diamonds are not sold in the regular the subji market. And only those people who appreciate and are qualified to buy are going to see the real diamonds.
So, in the Bhagavatam itself, Krishna says, the sages prefer to speak indirectly. They don’t tell you the truth directly. And Krishna also says, I also prefer that method. So, thus, the scriptures speak in a hidden way sometimes, and the Lord Himself in his pastimes does things in a secret way.
2.) Hare Krishna Maharaj, Maharaj but we see that when Caitanya Mahaprabhu when He speaks, He states things very clearly and in a direct manner and it is easy for us , the living entities when things are spoken directly rather than this manner, so why…would it not be better if it was directly spoke that this is the way and this is what we are supposed to do?
So, one can directly speak but we do have the apardh done…preaching to the faithless…so therefore qualified people could get the real truth. So, Lord Chaitanya spoke and He convinced Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya and others because they were qualified to accept the truth. To others, Lord Chaitanya simply said, chant the holy name, chant the holy name [Laughs]. So, similarly, when we preach, we cannot preach everything that Lord Chaitanya spoke to Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya, to the normal people. They will not understand at all. We don’t preach to the faithless at all, and to those who have a little faith, we can preach a little bit.
So, Caitanya Caritamrita is actually written for people who are fully faithful. Similarly, the commentaries on Bhagavatam and other scriptures and Upanishads, etc. by the Acharyas are written for people who already have faith.
3.) Thank you, Maharaj. Maharaj, we hear that the bodies of Yadus were spiritual. They had spiritual bodies. So, what is the understanding? What does it mean that they had spiritual bodies?
So, Spiritual body means that the atma has a form which is indestructible and it’s not different from the atma itself unlike in the material world where the atma is completely different from the body. So, the spiritual body therefore is sat-cit-ananda, whereas the material body is not sat, not cit and not Ananda. But they may look very similar, so the body of Krishna may look like a material body, body of the others may look like material bodies, so the appearance is one thing but actually the spiritual body is completely different from the material body.
4) Maharaj, this is regarding this parokshavada, can you take that and say that this parokshavada is like a bonavrithi [not clear] secondary meaning, secondary meaning of what, of what a statement like see so then Caitanya Mahaprabhu says Shankaracharya taking the secondary meaning, here also parokshavada is like a Mukya vrithi, the secondary meaning of the words normally Krishna was trying to present in the society but only devotee can understand that primary meaning?
So generally, we take the primary meaning, the direct meaning particularly when there are statements of tattva, philosophical statements. Where there is contradiction between Mukhya vrithi and tattva that doesn’t make sense then we may have to use lakshana secondary interpretation sometimes if we use direct meaning, it doesn’t make common sense, so we have to use secondary meaning.
So, we can say there is a village on the Ganga so to take that literally then we’ll say yes there’s a village floating in the middle of the Ganga river but doesn’t make sense so then we interpret the word on the Ganga to mean on the bank of the Ganga, so that’s interpretation. So, in other places there will be contradictions between one state and another for instance Krishna was shot by hunter and died but then Supreme Lord is ‘aja’ – no birth, no death ‘akshaya’ is eternal. So there’s a contradiction between those two statements. Krishna says that Krishna is spiritual, Krishna is material, both cannot be true. So therefore contradiction is there then we can do one thing we can go by majority of statements so throughout the Bhagavatam, it is saying the Lord is Aja without birth without death. He’s eternal, spiritual, that so much through the Bhagavatam then at the end, it says that Krishna has a body was shot by a hunter died. So majority statements win over the other statement and then we must explain, this Krishna got shot by the hunter and died is in another way because of that.
At the end of the Bhagavatam 12th canto also, Sukadeva Goswami discussing with Parikshit, and in the end, ‘now you heard everything, so now the goal is merge in Brahman’. So, the person takes that statement at the end of Bhagavatam and says that’s the ultimate conclusion of the Bhagavatam, but this is contradicted by the majority of the statements in the Bhagavatam which condemns impersonal liberation over realization of Krishna with Prema and therefore we have to reject that meaning and find another meaning.
5.) I have read some of the commentary of Vishwanath & Jiva Goswami. He said that Yadus being the burden, because if Krishna leave and Yadu remain, because of their attachment or devotion to Krishna they may cause caohs in the earth because of separation. So, Krishna had to make arrangements for Yadu to leave first and Krishna disappear later. Something like that. Is it?
Well, the devotee in separation from the Lord, of course, that’s an unnatural position. Now, of course, we know that ultimately because they are eternal associates, they’re not going to do anything violent and adharmic, whatever, but it’s not natural. So, whatever separation is there should resolve into the union.
6.) Who is this hunter? Who is the hunter in that? Some say he is Vali, some say someone else.
I don’t know for Acharyas actually did not identify specifically as somebody in a previous lifetime or whatever. I don’t remember. However, in the Bhagavatam it says, of course, He was apologizing to the Lord and then he got blessed by the Lord also. So, whatever, his fortune was very good because he got the blessings of the Lord. So, he wasn’t at fault ultimately. So, he was also another instrument of the Lord for fulfilling the Lord’s pastime.
7.) When one perfected soul reaches the spiritual world, will it get what it desired when it lived in this material world whether the same Seva will be given or the Lord will give one Seva by His choice?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: What Seva he gets in the spiritual world? So, it is natural that in the material world a devotee does Sadhana and he chooses to serve the Lord in a certain way. But because of material mixture or whatever, he cannot do so perfectly. So, he has to practice. As he practices then his service becomes more steady. Consequently, his material desires decrease and decrease.
So, when he is steady, as he is doing his service, that service may become very particular. What type of service? What mood of service? Then the Lord responds to that, and he gets very very joyful. Then the devotee will continue to do that service more and more. This may continue for several lifetimes.
Finally, he reaches Bhava stage and he is able to see the Lord and directly serve the Lord. And again, the Lord will simply respond to the exact type of service and mood that the devotee has developed over many lifetimes. So, there is a natural development of that individual’s Bhakti until he reaches Prema. In Prema that service becomes perfect and the response of the Lord is also perfect.
8.) A person glorifying the Supreme Lord at all times using his body, mind and words, can he be negatively impacted by Kali Yuga?
So, the Bhagavatam tells us that in Kali Yuga the fool proof method of counteracting all the faults of Kali Yuga is Nama Sankirtana. It is the strongest method of destroying all obstacles.
9.) Do the perfected souls in spiritual world have individual minds? How it functions?
Just as in this material world we have bodies, we have minds, we have intelligence, we have identity, we have senses, we do activities so in the spiritual world we have body, we have senses, we have mind, we have intelligence, we have identity and we do activities. So, we see descriptions of the devotees in Vrindavan serving the Lord. So, Mother Yashodha, one of her jobs is she churns the yogurt into milk.
So, every day she gets up, wakes up in the morning and then she makes a decision. I want to churn the yogurt into milk today because I will make some nice butter for Krishna. So, she makes a decision using her mind. And then she will say well which milk will I choose? So, then she will look at all the different milks from the different cows and then she will choose this milk here because that is the best type of cow eating the best type of grass. So, she is using her intelligence.
Of course we can say well why Mother Yashodha, she is the Queen of Vrindavan, let the servants do all this. But Mother Yashodha has an identity. She says, I am Krishna’s mother, so I have to do this. So as in the material world the antahkarana with the mind, intelligence and ego operate but they are spiritual not material. We have spiritual senses; we have spiritual pranas.
10.) Why are the asuras or the Yadu’s being referred as a burden? As if they are something heavy. Is this meant to be taken allegorically?
So definitely the demons are a burden on the earth. They are obstacle to the earth. They create problems on the earth. Literally speaking the devotees can never be a burden on the earth because they are not sinful. They don’t create adharma on the earth. But without the Lord they are out of place. So, in that sense they don’t belong in the material world. If the Supreme Lord is there, fine. If the Lord is not there, they should also not be there.
11) Yadus and Vrajavasis they all have spiritual body and they are using their senses, mind, intelligence for the pleasure of the Lord. But I heard that they don’t have sense organs. No blood, no… How can I understand that?
So, in the spiritual world the devotees have bodies and then the bodies must have senses. So, the devotees see Krishna. They must have eyes. They smell the fragrance of Krishna’s garland. So, they must have noses. They taste prasadam. They must have tongues and mouths. They have action senses like hands and feet.
Now of course these senses are different from material senses because one they’re eternal. And secondly, they’re non-different from the Atma itself. And thirdly unlike material senses which are under the dictation of mind for getting material enjoyment, those senses are all guided by service to Krishna.
Devotee: I think Prabhu is trying to say that you know in the material world we have a sense devata. Sense devata. In the material world. But in the spiritual world that is not there.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Indeed, devata is in the spiritual world. Well material senses of course are not independent. The senses depend on a sense object that is form for the eye or taste for the tongue etc. And then there’s a devata so that the two can come together. So that’s a material arrangement. So, in the spiritual world that type of arrangement is not necessary in one sense. Everything is ultimately under the energy of the Supreme Lord. However, we can have devata as their functioning as a pastime only. So obviously devatas are there to control aspects of material nature. Why we need devatas in the spiritual world? But we do see devatas there. So, they are also carrying out service to the Lord there. But there they have spiritual bodies. And their service is not anything to do with material enjoyment. It’s all to facilitate Prema.
Devotees: Grantharaj Srimad Bhagavatam Ki Jai!!! HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj Ki Jai!!!