Srimad Bhagavatam–8.16.10~11 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | Villaggio Hare Krishna, Medolago, Milano, Italy | Aug 14, 2025
ŚB 8.16.10
api sarve kuśalinas
tava putrā manasvini
lakṣaye ’svastham ātmānaṁ
bhavatyā lakṣaṇair aham
Translation
O great-minded lady, are all your sons faring well? Seeing your withered face, I can perceive that your mind is not tranquil. How is this so?
ŚB 8.16.11
śrī-aditir uvāca
bhadraṁ dvija-gavāṁ brahman
dharmasyāsya janasya ca
tri-vargasya paraṁ kṣetraṁ
gṛhamedhin gṛhā ime
Translation
Aditi said: O my respected brāhmaṇa husband, all is well with the brāhmaṇas, the cows, religion and the welfare of other people. O master of the house, the three principles of dharma, artha and kāma flourish in household life, which is consequently full of good fortune.
Purport
In household life one can develop the three principles of religion, economic development and sense gratification according to the regulations given in the śāstras, but to attain liberation one must give up household life and place himself in the transcendental renounced order. Kaśyapa Muni was not in the renounced order of life. Therefore he is addressed here once as brahman and another time as gṛhamedhin. Aditi, his wife, assured him that as far as household life was concerned, everything was going nicely, and the brāhmaṇas and cows were being honored and protected. In other words, there were no disturbances; household life was duly progressing.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj :
In this verse, this last verse, Aditi is expressing that everything actually was going well in the house. And everything is fine, because the rules of household life have been maintained. And she mentions here artha, dharma, and kama are fulfilled. So she doesn’t mention moksha or liberation. So the implication is that in household life one is not striving for liberation. It also indicates that household life is not favorable for liberation.
So as Prabhupada says in the Purport, in order to get liberation, you have to renounce household life. And there is an arrangement for this in the Varnashrama system through vanaprastha and sannyasa. And of course, sannyasa is only available to Brahamanas. So the possibility of liberation is not open for everybody. Sudras can only be Grhasthas. They can’t even be brahmacharis. They are not allowed to study the Vedas. Vaisyas, Kshatriyas can study the Vedas and be brahmacharis, but they may spend a few days only in brahmacharya life. Of course, technically, the three upper varnas, that is Vaisya, Kshatriya and Brahmana, should be brahmachari for a little bit of life at least. But of course, we know that Vaisyas and Kshatriyas generally are not much interested in being brahmacharis. So there is some provision for them. You can be a one-day brahmachari [Laughs]. You can be a one-week brahmachari [Laughs]. You can be a one-year brahmachari [Laughs]. And of course, if you are very serious, you can be like a 20-year brahmachari in a gurukul [Laughs]. So generally, it’s only the brahmanas who go through the 20-year course [Laughs]. So the reason for these restrictions is that unless you are very sattvic, it is very difficult to thoroughly study the Vedas. And if you are in sattva, you have a chance of becoming very detached, so you are allowed to take sannyas. We know that jnana and yoga, and astanga yoga, require a lot of renunciation. So the brahmanas, some of the brahmanas, become renounced, so they are qualified for sannyasa. But even among brahmanas, sannyasa is quite rare. So therefore, liberation also is quite rare.
So most people are involved in artha, dharma and kama. So this, of course, is maybe a little bit… disproportionate. Everybody should become liberated from material world, but very few people do [Laughs]. Of course, the idea here is that, by practicing in lower gunas, for many lifetimes, as a sudra or whatever, gradually you become a little purified, you rise on the tamo-guna, and you become more rajasic. So you rise through the different varnas. By following the particular rules of the particular varnas, you get purified, so you rise up to the next level. So this is a very gradual method of rising through the gunas and becoming purified.
So one can ask the question, why does it take so long? The answer is that the human being in general, or the Jiva, the human being in general, takes a long time to change. We know that in countries we have prison houses. Prison houses are there to correct people. But it is very difficult to correct people when people go to jail for 20 years and they come out and they do crime again. So, of course, the law of karma is like getting munched. So every lifetime you have to suffer and you get punished. And the punishment is there. So we learn not to commit so much violence. But people who are very ignorant, when they start suffering, they commit more violence [Laughs]. So then they suffer next life again [Laughs]. And then they suffer again, they commit more violence and then they suffer again next life [Laughs]. Of course through all that suffering eventually a person will realize, why do I have to suffer so much ill, correct myself [Laughs]. So it is, this is why people progress through the gunas and through the varnas very slowly [Laughs]. But it is a wise process, because gradually the rules keep increasing as you progress upwards, so therefore you keep getting more and more purifying. And finally you can go for liberation. So this Varnashrama process or the process of Dharma or Karma Yoga is recommended for people in general. And most of them are not interested in liberation. But by this process eventually they come to Sattva Guna and then they become interested in liberation. So Prabhupada sometimes calls this a very scientific process. It is a process to gradually purify people so that eventually they become spiritual.
We find in Bhagavatam however that this whole process is often rejected completely. The reason for this is that superior to Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga and Astanga Yoga we have Bhakti Yoga. So Bhakti provides a very quick process. We don’t have to go through many many lifetimes to get purified and become Sattvic. Very quickly a person in tamo-guna can rise above all the gunas even above Sattva guna. So that is why the Bhagavatam does not recommend this gradual process better than the quick process. And of course human beings in general prefer something quick rather than something which is prolonged. If you could get a university degree in 3 years instead of 4 years you would take the 3 year course to get your degree [Laughs]. If you could get cured of a disease in 1 month instead of 5 years you would take the quick course instead of the long course [Laughs]. So particularly in Kali Yuga because people are less intelligent, less qualified and they have short lifestyles better we have a quicker process.
Also within Bhakti, we have a very quick process and that is Nama-sankirtan. So Nama-sankirtan is recommended as the process for everybody in Kali Yuga. So though Karma Yoga with Varnashrama was recommended in other Yugas for gradual progress, it is not recommended at all in Kali Yoga. Whatever is accomplished by Karma Yoga is accomplished by Bhakti. So if we say while I do Bhakti Yoga what about all the goals of Karma Yoga? So they are also achieved, so all those goals of Karma Yoga are achieved within Bhakti. So that is why in Bhagavatam and in Caitanya Caritamrta, Lord Caitanya says, this Varnashrama system is all external. So therefore, everyone is recommended in Kali Yuga to worship the Supreme Lord directly.
So the question will arise, well how can this process work so quickly when we know human beings are very stubborn and it takes so long to change. In the process of Karma Yoga it takes lifetimes to get from one guna to the next. How is it possible through Bhakti Yoga in a few minutes you can go from tamo-guna above Sattva guna. In Bhagavatam it is said that a dog eater who is very tamasic by chanting the holy name once purely surpasses a Brahmana. So this looks impossible. How can it happen? But this is the statement of Bhagavatam, scripture [Laughs]. So how is it possible? It’s possible, because the process of Bhakti is non-different from the Supreme Lord. Bhakti Yoga is actually the internal energy of Krishna. So this process of Bhakti is very different from Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga and Astanga Yoga. Now definitely the Lord also recommends these processes because they are in the scripture. And the Lord gives someone this power through these processes. But if we look carefully in Bhagavatam, it explains that even Jnana Yoga, it arises from Sattva guna. It does not arise from the internal shakti of the Lord, it comes from the gunas of material nature. And of course Varnashrama arises from tamo-guna and rajo-guna. So they don’t have the same Shakti. They don’t have that spiritual shakti that Bhakti has. So therefore, the process of Bhakti has astonishing power. That is because the Lord has astonishing power.
So thus the whole goal of Bhagavatam is to encourage everyone to worship the Supreme Lord. Of course other Puranas like Vishnu Purana are also doing the same thing. However, the special quality of Bhagavatam is that, it is not even recommending worship other forms of the Lord. It says worship only Krishna. And why? Because Krishna is a form of the Lord that manifests the most remarkable powers. Of course the name ‘Krishna’ means he who is most attractive. So all the forms of the Lord are attractive, they are all spiritual. But Krishna shows a very special attraction. So the people of Kali Yuga are the most degraded and materially absorbed [Laughs]. They need a most attractive object. So Krishna is that attractive object. So that is why Bhagavatam was recommending worship of Krishna for everybody in Kali Yuga. And not only that. It was recommending worship Krishna.
And how do we worship Krishna? Through chanting his name. As I said, chanting the name of the Lord is the most liberal and most powerful process of bhakti. In the sixth canto of Bhagavatam, there is the story of Ajamila which shows the power of chanting the name Narayana. It is said there that when Ajamila named his son Narayana. I name you Narayana, immediately all of his karmas – past, present and future were destroyed. So that is the power of Vishnu’s name. But we know that though Vishnu and Krishna are the same, Krishna is still more attractive and manifests more qualities. So in Vishnu sahasra nama it is said that the name of Rama, one name of Rama is equal to a thousand names of Vishnu. But in Brahma-vaivarta purana, it says that one name of Krishna is equal to three names of Rama [Laughs]. So one name of Krishna is equal to three thousand names of Vishnu. So in other words, the name of Krishna has got very very great power.
So this is what is being introduced by Caitanya Mahaprabhu in Kali Yuga, chant the name of Krishna. And he doesn’t mention any other process. Process of bhakti and chanting the holy name are independent of other processes. So one can attain the highest goal that is prema, sincerly through chanting Krishna’s name. Of course there is a little condition. If we want prema through chanting the name we also need some knowledge [Laughs]. If we don’t know the goal of Krishna, if we don’t know he is spiritual, if we don’t know the name is non different from Krishna, we don’t get the highest effect.
So therefore, along with the chanting we also have to have knowledge of scripture like Bhagavatam. We see that Caitanya Mahaprabhu he was always preaching to chant the holy name. And he was always chanting and doing kirtan. But we see in Puri, he was also listening to Bhagavatam all the time [Laughs]. So within our Sampradaya following Lord Caitanya, we always give great respect to Srimad Bhagavatam.
And we see that Srila Prabhupada put great effort into translating and commenting upon Srimad Bhagavatam. He started his efforts when he was in India and he had no money. In the 1950s and 60s India also was not very advanced. So translating, typing, printing were very difficult. And Srila Prabhupada had to do everything himself. He had to read the scriptures then he had to type on his typewriter in English [Laughs]. Then he had to take it to the printer. And the printer had to type set it one letter at a time [Laughs] on the printing press [Laughs]. Then he would print out a sample copy. And then Prabhupada had to read all of that and start making little corrections wherever the type set had been made mistakes. And again he would do a copy [Laughs]. And again Prabhupada would have to go over and start making corrections on that. And so after that process, finally they printed out on the printing press. And they would gather all the pages together and they bind it up and make a book [Laughs]. So using this process Prabhupada eventually managed to publish the first Canto in three volumes. And how did he pay for it? He had to get donations here and there for that. And then once he had the book, what did he do with it? He had to distribute it himself, because nobody else could distribute it [Laughs]. So he would go around and try to distribute his Bhagavatam to different people. So that was his first endeavor when he went to America. Again he was at his typewriter [Laughs]. And there he translated and made commentary on Bhagavad Gita. But then of course as the movement grew and the technology increased Prabhupada didn’t have to type anymore and he was dictating into a dictaphone [Laughs]. And then devotees would do the stuff and proofread the artwork and print it [Laughs]. Even though the process was speeded up Prabhupada daily had to do this translation work from his time in America all the way to his disappearance when he was translating. And that is because Scripture especially Bhagavatam is the basis of our movement.
Of course chanting is there, but we also need the Scripture. So with that combination we have everything for our progress in spiritual life. So in this way though the society is troublesome and keeps changing or whatever the process that we follow that is chanting the name and knowledge of Srimad Bhagavatam that does not change.
And the nature of Bhakti and the nature of Nama Sankirtana is such that, it can adapt itself to any situation. So whatever the political or economic situation is in a particular place, we can still continue this process. We also know that the world, technology and society is changing more quickly than any time in the past. In ancient times, society did not change for hundreds and hundreds of years [Laughs]. Technology did not change for thousands of years. For thousands and thousands hundreds of thousands of years they didn’t know about the wheel. Then at a certain time they invented the wheel. So then our mode of transport was bullock carts and chariots [Laughs]. But that went on for thousands of years until the Industrial Revolution a few hundred years ago. Same technology went on for thousands and thousands of years [Laughs]. But then suddenly in the last few hundred years we get all sorts of technological advancements which are going faster and faster and faster every year. Along with that of course we have more rapid forms of communications. And simultaneously we get more and more rapid changes in society. So with all these changes taking place constantly, obviously the movement also has to change [Laughs]. When Prabhupada went to America, it was what we call hippie culture [Laughs]. It is not hippie culture anymore, so you have to preach differently [Laughs]. So of course young people it’s important to preach to young people, but young people in each generation every ten years they keep changing into something else, so they preach differently to each group. So of course, it is said that any organization does not change according to the changing society, will ultimately disappear [Laughs]. So though we are a very conservative movement because we don’t want to change our principles still we do have to look at society in the present time rather than ten years ago or twenty years ago and we do have to adapt our preaching according to that. So we do have two things, one things we cannot change and things that we have to adapt for the present society. And with that combination then we are successful.
Hare Krishna.
Q & A
1) Prabhu wanted to clarify something, because as you mentioned about the wheel. How we have to adapt, so when the wheel was invented so it seems that the theory that old people were speaking about was the theory of the Neanderthal before those people really not advanced and then they advanced slowly slowly but we know from the Shastras that actually they were very very ancient times, they were much more advanced than today so if you can please clarify this.
So I’m speaking more about a very recent history [Laughs]. Of course the Bhagavatham going back over 5000 years the beginning of Kali Yuga 100,000 years. Before that was Dwapara Yuga and Treta Yuga 4 million years ago was Satya Yuga so that’s long periods of millions and millions of years. So we are speaking more of modern history from the last 5000 years or whatever. And of course at the same time we do have advanced civilization previously.
We also have less advanced societies previously. For instance, even now we have places like the Andaman Islands near India they are still in the stone age [Laughs]. And of course nobody is allowed to go there they are isolated and have been isolated for the last several hundred years [Laughs]. And before that nobody knew about them [Laughs]. So they don’t even have metal they are using stone and bow and arrow.
So there were civilizations that were very advanced, but there were some that were non advanced also. So I don’t know when it was but it must have been maybe 2000 something years maybe 4000 or 5000 years ago because even the Egyptians they had the wheel after a while but before that those other people didn’t have the wheel. So that’s why it’s very mysterious how these stone age people could move like stone heads and huge stones all over the country. Apparently in South America with the Mayan civilization they didn’t use the wheel. So there are different places different levels of advancement around.
2) Everything you said is perfect, but I was wondering how to understand it. Srila Prabhupad said, “I did only 50% of my mission, remaining is yet to do”, regarding Varnahsraham. So how to understand this [Not Clear]
So, one thing of course if we take all the statements of Srila Prabhupada about doing Varnashrama and not doing Varnashrama and then see what percentage we get, ultimately. Percentage of statements that Prabhupada wants to Varnashrama, and others don’t worry about it, don’t do it. How many statements on each category?
In Bhagavatam.. definitely, there are so many scriptures in Varnashrama, but the ultimate question is bhakti is higher [Laughs]. And that is also made clear in Caitanya Caritamrta. But though Bhagavatham and Caitanya-caritamrta kind of reject Varnashrama, we do see that Lord Caitanya Himself practiced Varnashrama [Laughs]. Sannyasa is part of Varnashram. And you follow the rules of Sannyasa. Previously, it was Grahasta, and you follow the rules for Grahasta life. And similarly, his followers also were following. So, when Lord Caitanya rejects, or even Bhagavatham rejects, it doesn’t mean we don’t follow it, but we do not depend on it. Nor do we mix the goals of that system with the goals of Bhakti, otherwise it becomes mixed-up.
So, then the question would come, if we don’t have a Varnashrama system, can we do Bhakti? And the answer is yes, even without the system, we can do Bhakti. So, then, what would be the purpose of putting great effort into establishing a Varnashrama, when we can survive on Bhakti [Laughs]? We often have devotees just struggling do to Bhakti, they can’t think about what to do at all, other than do the Bhakti.
So, then the question would be, why waste our time on something, when we should just dedicate as much time as we can to Bhakti? Okay, so, the answer to that is that yes, Bhakti is independent, and we have to do it, but we do have a material body. And we have to maintain it. So, how to maintain it? So, we can just maintain it somehow or other, and avoid sinful activities. So, that’s the simple principle. And, of course, in the modern world, we do have opportunities for different types of occupations, because of different types of education. So, according to one’s ability, inclination, and likes and dislikes, he can choose his occupations, and support himself that way, and his family.
So, what role does Varnashrama have in the present world? So, definitely, we can take some of the rules from Varnashrama, and adapt them to Bhakti, without any contradiction. Particularly, rules for social conduct and cleanliness. So, a lot of our rules we have are washing our hands, washing our feet, taking baths, wearing clothing, taken from Varnashrama. Our diet, also taken from Varnashrama. So, in terms of supporting the body with food, etc., and cleanliness, that we can take from Varnashrama, but not much alteration. And then, we have social interaction. So, there are rules for how to conduct family life, so we can take that from Varnashrama, also. And, rules for how to interact with other people, we can take that from Varnashrama system. And, we can also take things like ashrams. So, study period, family life, renunciation. So, ashram is not much difficult to implement.
But, when we try to implement Varnas, we get a lot of problems. Because, we say, well, Varna is not by birth, it’s by your qualities, etc. So, that’s okay. But, the system of Varnashrama practice in India for thousands of years was based on birth [Laughs]. So, that means your occupation was based on your birth and, therefore, the family took care of the education. So, if you were an gold smith, you got your education from your parents. And, the family took care of the children, grandchildren, etc. So, there was a stable family system, as well. But, such a system based on occupation, based on family, based on birth, is not going to work in the modern world. You try to introduce it; nobody is going to accept it. So, all we could do was to have Varna by inclination. But, then that problem comes as who is going to determine your inclination. And, we say, well, everybody decides for himself [Laughs]. So, that means you decide your education, you decide your occupation. But, that’s what everybody has done already [Laughs].
So, we’re not introducing anything new. We already have a system in the modern world. So, there are problems in trying to introduce Varnas and all the rules for Varnas, etc. Of course, even the Varnas, the Brahmins are the only ones who are really following rules. Kshatriyas follow three regulated principles [Laughs], or something, or whatever like this. It’s two regulated principles, or whatever. They can dream, they can do so many things. Whereas, Brahmins don’t. So, how do we implement such a thing? Definitely not within ISKCON, we cannot do that. So, if we’re trying to implement Varnashram in ISKCON, certainly we have to modify a lot of things. So, who is going to modify? what? That’s also problematic. Prabhupada didn’t give any details. So, it would be quite experimental. And, to see if it succeeds, would actually require many generations. So, it is quite a difficult project to do that within ISKCON itself. And, to try to enforce it to society in general, is even more difficult [Laughs]. Because, you can’t even have a democratic system. So, it’s not going to go over the most countries in the world. So, we’re really struck on how to implement it, if we’re to implement it.
The best we can do, maybe, for ISKCON itself, is to see the favorable rules of Varnashrama that we can implement easily. And, that’s all we can do. If we go to Varnashrama rules, which are mentioned in Manu Smriti and other Smritis, we have to cross out most of those rules [Laughs], because we don’t want to follow them [Laughs].
Also, in some places Prabhupad states follow Varnashrama, and you should chant Hare Krishna [Laughs]. So, probably, it’s easier to get people to chant Hare Krishna in society in general, than to get them to follow Varnashrama system and follow regulative principles. It’s probably easier to get them to chant Hare Krishna.
3) So, we see that nowadays….. He want to know something about the offenses in the place of work. Because we see that nowadays the work place is becoming complex, so for a devotee in ISKCON working in army, it is difficult to do bhakti ? Is it appropriate to work in army for a devotee because sometimes he needs to be asked by his authorities to kill some one etc ? Some wants peace and some wants war.
[Laughs] Well, therefore it is difficult, if a Guru [not clear] try to [not clear] on a state of melaccha [Laughs]. [not clear].
There have been attempts in ISKCON to train the Kshatrya nature of people to train up and and act as defenders for temple etc. Like train them in martial arts or something. [not clear] On the other hand, we know that the real war is based on bombs and [not clear].
What we can do of course is – train people for survival. [not clear]. Survival for – not just wars, any situation – like no more internet [not clear] etc. We don’t know what’s going to happen in the future. So survival programs can also be there for training people. Of course, If we get training in Krishna consciousness by nature, we become tolerant and adaptable to all sorts of situations. So if we get training in Krishna consciousness, we become tolerant and adaptable to all sorts of situations. And that’s good for survival [Laughs]. Because there are many people in the modern world that if anything changes, they simply freak out and panic, and then they don’t survive. So if we practice Krishna consciousness properly, then that also is, in one sense, a good, favorable attitude for our survival.
The other thing, of course, is to be self-sufficient. So there have been some attempts around different parts of ISKCON to do that. It’s a little bit difficult of course, because that means we have to do work like farmers and sudras [Laughs] and most of them were not be trained up like that, except the few farmers who are used to that. And in the case of very, very great emergencies and wars and disasters, etc., even such self-sufficient communities, we don’t know, what the situation would be. So there’s many unpredictable. So ultimately, we can make some preparations, but we can’t put our faith in those preparations also. But at least we can adapt to any situation and tolerate the situation.
4) Maharaj, I have a question, [not clear] in ISKCON we see that people are getting old who have been serving for long time and not much young devotees, but we need young people to continue the movement, so how can we address situation ? I am speaking from community point of view [not clear]
Aging communities.?? [Laughs] So that problem was not there in the beginning of the movement. Everybody who joined was between 17 and 25 [Laughs]. So that type of program went on for maybe 15 or 20 years, I think. But then after that, we didn’t get so many young people. So we get the older devotees who remain, plus we may get new devotees who are also older [Laughs].
So definitely in order to continue a movement, we do need hours of input of young, new members. And every temple has to think about that, how to recruit and preach to young people. So that was of course addressed in India about 20 years ago. So they started college-preaching programs. So they devised systems by which they could maximize the devotees [Laughs], young devotees. So out of that, they managed to get a program so that now within India, every year they have maybe 100, 200 young people who graduated from university, joining. Of course, some of those may get married later on. But still, because they’re educated, they do have opportunity to get a job, so they don’t have to come to the temple for their maintenance. So that’s one system that’s being established in India. Same system probably could not be literally the same program implemented in other countries, but they do have to think of how to preach and get dedicated young people. Otherwise, yes, the movement will get old and back up.
5) Maharaj, [not clear] Once when Srila Prabhupad asked Sridhara Swami, how the buddhist movement formed [not clear]. Sridhara Swami said, Yes Prabhupad [not clear]. Srila Prabhupad said.. No, we need intelligence and potency. Intelligence means to understand what Srila Prabhupad actually means by saying a statement.
Okay that’s one type of intelligence, of course we need intelligence to understand scriptures properly. We see many devotees who take one step here and then one step here so Srila prabhupad wanted to do this or do that…[not clear]..So we have to take all the statement and understand the basic principles of Bhakti before we start implementing things.
And of course the other intelligence involves the idea of adapting to the situations, but to do that we may require some outside intelligence also. So for ISKCON communication team, they consult outside people and experts to convey messages to the public. To establish principles on protection of children we have to see how outside world follows and see how to adapt it in ISKCON and of course we cannot take everything exactly from the material science etc., we should have intelligence to adapt things to suit our situation. We have to have intelligence to look at the society in general, analyse the situation and see what to change and what not to change within ISKCON is very important thing.
Hare Krsna !
Devotees: HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj Ki Jai!!!