Srimad Bhagavatam – 1.17.12 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | ISKCON Chennai | September 24, 2025 !
Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevaya
nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale
śrīmate bhaktivedānta-svāmin iti nāmine
namas te sārasvate deve gaura-vāṇī-pracāriṇe
nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi-pāścātya-deśa-tāriṇe
jaya śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda
śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda
Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare
Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare
Reading from Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 1 Chapter 17 Verse 12
ŚB 1.17.12
ko ’vṛścat tava pādāṁs trīn
saurabheya catuṣ-pada
mā bhūvaṁs tvādṛśā rāṣṭre
rājñāṁ kṛṣṇānuvartinām
Synonyms
kaḥ — who is he; avṛścat — cut off; tava — your; pādān — legs; trīn — three; saurabheya — O son of Surabhi; catuḥ–pada — you are four-legged; mā — never to be; bhūvan — it so happened; tvādṛśāḥ — as yourself; rāṣṭre — in the state; rājñām — of the kings; kṛṣṇa–anuvartinām — those who follow the codes of Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Translation
He [Mahārāja Parīkṣit] repeatedly addressed and questioned the bull thus: O son of Surabhi, who has cut off your three legs? In the state of the kings who are obedient to the laws of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, there is no one as unhappy as you.
Purport
The kings or the executive heads of all states must know the codes of Lord Kṛṣṇa (generally Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam) and must act accordingly in order to fulfill the mission of human life, which is to make an end to all miseries of material conditions. One who knows the codes of Lord Kṛṣṇa can achieve this end without any difficulty. In the Bhagavad-gītā, in a synopsis, we can understand the codes of Godhead, and in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam the same codes are explained further.
In a state where the codes of Kṛṣṇa are followed, no one is unhappy. Where such codes are not followed, the first sign is that three legs of the representative of religion are cut off, and thereby all miseries follow. When Kṛṣṇa was personally present, the codes of Kṛṣṇa were being followed without question, but in His absence such codes are presented in the pages of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam for the guidance of the blind persons who happen to be at the helm of all affairs.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj :
So this verse describes the bull with his four legs. Human beings walk on two legs, but animals like cows and bulls and deer and dogs they walk on four legs. And if you cut off two of the legs, they can no longer walk around. So in other words, when you start cutting off the legs of an animal, they are inconvenienced. So it describes here that the bull had three legs cut off. So very difficult to stand on one leg. So in other words, this cutting off the legs of the bull causes great disturbance. So in terms of symbolism dharma is no longer steady. But as well as that we have the cow, the cow still has four legs, but the cow is weeping. So because the bull is afflicted the cow becomes afflicted. So the symbolism here is the earth becomes afflicted when there is no dharma and consequently the earth does not give its products just as the cow will not give milk.
But dharma is for the human being to follow. We don’t expect the dogs and cats to follow the laws of dharma. So if there are no human beings around and only the animals, fine they get along fine. But when we get the human being, if the human being does not follow dharma, then there is a big problem for the whole world. And thus the Supreme Lord supplies the laws of dharma for human beings. So why is that human beings are so special, they have to follow dharma but animals don’t ? So we can argue, better to be an animal than a human being [Laughs]. So if we don’t like to follow the laws of dharma, that’s what happens, you become an animal [Laughs]. So the human beings has to do some extra work, even though he is also an animal, he has to do some extra work by following the laws of dharma. If he doesn’t care which body he gets in next life, then he can become an animal and not follow dharma. But if he wants to maintain in this life a peaceful existence, and next life also as a human being, then he has to follow the laws of dharma.
So why is that the human beings has to follow special laws and the animals doesn’t have to ? One answer of course is that, the human beings is more intelligent and more capable. The other reason is, because he is capable in many ways, there is also the danger that, he will misuse his senses. So the sastras, the scriptures realize that the human beings must control his senses, otherwise he creates a big problem for the whole world. Otherwise he creates a big problem for the whole world.
Of course why the animals, they also have senses, why they are not out of control ? The answer is, the human beings, he has senses like the animals, he has body like the animals, he eats, sleeps, mates and defends like the animal, but he also has the intelligence. With his intelligence he can find more ways to enjoy. We see that the animals are limited in their enjoyment. If they get enough to eat, they are satisfied. Very rarely do we see that the animals and the wilds they over eat. So they eat for their survival. Human beings they eat for survival, but they also eat for enjoyment. And thus they will tend to overeat. So unfortunately, the symptom of modern civilization and more advancement is, you overeat [Laughs].
Of course we see in the Vedic society, it was quite the opposite. Those who were more advanced were the people who ate less [Laughs]. In fact some of them like the yogis will eat very little. So the laws of dharma are in existence to regulate the senses of the human being. With our intelligence by following the reasoning of scripture we will volunteer to control our senses. So if the scriptures tell us don’t eat this type of food or don’t eat that type of food then with our intelligence we follow. And if the Sastra tell us that you can eat this much food don’t eat more, don’t eat less then we follow. In this way the scriptures give all sorts of rules for limiting our senses. So we have ten senses, and all of the senses have to be controlled. If we control our senses, this is called good karma and we get nice rewards. We live comfortably in this life and next life. If we don’t follow the rules it is called sin and we will suffer in this life, we will suffer in future lives.
So all of these laws together constitute dharma. And when all the people are following dharma then society is peaceful. And the earth is supplying nicely. So that’s the position in Satya yuga where dharma has four legs. However we see that time factor destroys everything so gradually over the yugas dharma gets destroyed until we have dharma on with one quarter strength in kali yuga. This means, people in general, do not follow the rules of dharma. And thus they are committing more sin and they get more suffering. Not only that the earth does not give the produce that it should give. So in this way the people suffer. So these are general characteristics of kali yuga where we have one quarter dharma.
Now the king is supposed to maintain dharma. In spite of that, we see as the ages go on towards kali yuga, still adharma keeps increasing. This means it is much more difficult to maintain dharma in kali yuga. So in this verse Pariksit says that kings who are obedient to dharma, then they will follow the laws of dharma and no one will be unhappy. Pariksit was ruling but then he saw dharma was being destroyed. So because he was a proper king then he prevented adharma from spreading. But after a few generations we see the kings were no longer capable. And thus adharma became very very strong. And we see at the end of kali yuga the condition is very bad.
However the sages ask this question at Naimisaranya, now that Krishna is gone, dharma is also gone what do people do in kali yuga? So the answer is, in kali yuga Srimad Bhagavatam has arisen. Why Srimad Bhagavatam will prevent adharma? In general, Bhagavatam is not talking about normal dharma. In fact, at the beginning, it is said that kaitava dharma is completely rejected. And in the Bhagavatam, it says that once you take to bhakti you reject all these dharmas. So then how is it possible when Bhagavatam is rejecting all dharmas that dharma is established ? So the answer is, Bhagavatam is not talking about dharma, it is talking about worshipping Krishna. So worship of Krishna, particularly nama sankirtan replaces all the dharma. Bhagavatam clearly states that, if you perform bhakti or if you chant the holy name – artha, dharma and kama are all accomplished.
So the people in kali yuga should not depend on dharma for being peaceful and supporting themselves, they should depend on Krishna. In the other yugas, there is dharma intact to a large degree plus there is also bhakti. But in kali yuga, the dharma is one quarter or less and gradually it gets less and less, but the bhakti is always there. So when it says that the Bhagavatam rises in kali yuga like the sun, this means that if we follow the instructions of Bhagavatam then human beings can succeed. And the message of Bhagavatam is that everyone should surrender to Krishna. But how should they surrender to Krishna? So the answer is nama sankirtana. So this is called the yuga dharma. So this takes the place of any other dharma. In the other yugas we have yuga dharmas, which are also bhakti. But along with that we have qualified kings to implement dharma. In kali yuga we don’t have any qualified kings. Therefore the main effort goes to nama sankirtana as the saving element of kali yuga.
If one performs bhakti, then everything follows bhakti. So whatever you can attain by following dharma you can attain by practicing bhakti. In this way bhakti is complete. So in spite of all of the problems of kali yuga being full of sinful activity, adharma etc, the solution is nama sankirtana. Unlike regular dharma, sankirtana has extra benefit. So regular dharma prevents sin, prevents suffering and gives you comfortable material life. So Bhakti does more than that. Particularly the name does more than that. So the other day it was stated that by chanting the holy name you destroy samsara, not only suffering, the whole of samsara gets destroyed. One becomes liberated. Normal dharma does not give liberation. But even liberation is not the desire of the devotee. The desire of the devotee is to serve the Lord eternally. So this is the real benefit of practicing bhakti and chanting the holy name, it gives prema. In other words, nama sankirtana gives something that normal dharma does not give. And even if you do not have any practice of dharma, still you succeed by chanting the holy name. The holy name does not depend on karma yoga, dharma, Varnashram, Jnana yoga, Astanga yoga etc. It gives all results by itself. So that is the conclusion of Bhagavatam.
Hare Krsna !
Q&A
1) Maharaj you were talking about the rules and regulations and we see that both the works that we predominantly read the Bhagavad Gita and the Bhagavatham, more philosophical explanations are there and the detailed rules are not there unless you know Prabhupada mentions them in the purport so what scripture that we should approach for that for dharma rules yeah for the rules that one should follow detailed rules on a day to day basis bhakti principles are explained what we do is explained?
To some degree in 3rd canto and in 11th canto Krishna speaking to Uddhava explains the rules for the different varnas and ashramas. Of course the more particular rules, we will find in the smriti shastras so we have manu smriti, vishnu smriti, yajnavalkya smriti etc many many smritis. so they give detailed rules of conduct.
Devotee: Maharaj actually i meant more in terms of devotees, what devotees should follow.. for example you spoke about, one should not eat more, one should not eat less.. ?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: So we follow rules of bhakti, but we also have a material body. So we need some rules to maintain the material body and most people live in society so we also need social rules. So those human beings who are within the Varnashrama system and following the rules along with that they do bhakti, however as bhagavatam states, even if you are not in the Varnashrama system, if you are a chandala or a yavan or whatever you can practice bhakti also and the result is not less.
Even those people must follow some rules for supporting their body, so as far as devotees are concerned, the rules they would follow, if they are not following Varnashrama, at least they minimize violence and in general they follow the principle ‘trinadapi sunichana’ etc.,
If they have more knowledge, then of course they can follow some of the rules of Varnashrama that are non-contradictory to bhakti, so particularly in relation to the body we have rules for cleanliness. So we can take the rules from Varnashrama and follow that. We can take the rules for what to eat and what not to eat from Varnashrama, but of course then we have rules of bhakti for what to eat and what not to eat also so those are higher rules.
So the achar or the conduct of the Vaishnava is defined in works like Haribhakti vilas and in terms of cleanliness and other rules for the body it generally follows those dharmic rules. But of course, when we start reading Haribhakti vilas, then we get a little astonished, too many rules just to take a bath in the morning too many rules to follow. So in other words most of the devotees don’t even follow those rules completely, they simplify even the rules in Haribhakti vilas.
2) Maharaj, I find this particular section intriguing, here we see that Parikshit maharaj is repeatedly asking who has caused this? And when the bull or dharma personified starts answering, he says “he can’t clearly answer this question there are many philosophers, there are many opinions on this and then Parikshit maharaj makes a point that this is a very good answer because the destination for the perpetrator is the same for one who identifies the perpetrator so what implication this particular this particular concept has for say management when we manage things we tend to identify what’s right, what’s wrong, who did what and then take some decision based on that?
The idea here is thatm we cannot if there is a fault of course there are many faults in the material world we cannot identify one cause. So simply to blame one person for something is not proper. There will be many causes, so in that way we should not pass judgment and make single causes for certain faults.
3) Maharaj this is regarding the Bhagavatam that you are saying that dharma takes shelter on Bhagavatam one should follow Bhagavatam who is like a sun the question is that see even people those who follow Bhagavatam they are also sometimes misguided by the statement of Srimad Bhagavatam also they are supposed to take guide from Bhagavatam how to understand this?
So Bhagavatam.. also requires some qualification to get the real meaning. One should be a devotee and why is that? So in the Bhagavatam, Bhagavatam is described as being like Mohini Avatar and it gives nectar to the devotees and it hides the nectar from the demons. In other words, unqualified people cannot really understand the truth. So Bhagavatam gives other meanings that they can take.
So this is also the nature of Krishna Himself. Krishna can be seen by the Gopis in Madhurya Rasa, but for the cowherd boys, He is in Sakhya Rasa and for a demon like Kamsa it is fear Rasa Bhayanaka Rasa. So Krishna appears differently for different people Bhagavatam will appear differently for different people.
4) Hare Krishna Maharaj. So Maharaj in this section whenever we are referring to Dharma like the Dharma is declining or Dharma is on one leg so are we referring only to Varnashrama?
So by Dharma generally it means Varnashrama. If I say Paro Dharma, highest Dharma, then it means Bhakti. of course Dharma in a general term is “sarva dharman paritejya” give up all Dharmas. So that is give up Jnana, give up Ashtanga Yoga, give up Karma Yoga and Varnashrama. So here it is talking about Dharma because we have its four legs like austerity, cleanliness, truth etc., if it would have been Bhakti then we would have hearing chanting remembering the legs or something instead.
5) Maharaj, we also heard that if we don’t follow dharma then one becomes an animal. Now among animals we know Krishna loves cows. So, is cow a special exceptional animal and if the cow’s consciousness is elevated than other animals?
Of course in the spiritual world and in Vrindavan in the material world, the cows are not material anyway. So, in the material world, all the animals with the material body are also covered by ignorance and more ignorance than human beings who are covered by ignorance. But then among animals also, we have various degrees of coverings of ignorance. So it is said that the cow is on the top. However, our Goswamis don’t really mention any of this. But nevertheless within the society we protect the cow and the bull. And this shows some special respect for the cows.
6) Maharaj one last question we were talking about rules and regulations in Bhakti Shastra so our scripture like Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, can we say that also comes in Smriti Shastra Maharaj?
Well the normal Smritis are by and large about Varnashrama Dharma. Nectar of devotion is all about Bhakti. We call the Hari Bhakti vilasa as Vaishnava Smriti. Of course, it has rules for bhakti in there also, but then it has all these other rules as well, rules for cleanliness, rules for clothing, rules for whatever. But it is taking these rules from Puranas and from the Smriti Shastras. So Sanatana Goswami will quote from Yajnavalkya Smriti or Manu Smriti or whatever for certain rules. But of course as well as that, there are also rules for deity worship, installations, etc., which are all rules of bhakti.
7) Hare Krishna Maharaj, this question is from yesterday’s class. So you detailed explained about mantra and nama, but when we say Hare Krishna Mahamantra, why it is called Mahamantra when it is nama? Is it right way to say Hare Krishna Mahamantra?
So normally in the Gaudiya scriptures like Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, when it is talking about Hare Krishna, it is called nama, when it talks about mantra, it is not talking about Hare Krishna. And thus it says by chanting Krishna mantra, you get liberation. By chanting Krishna nama, you get prema. So make some distinction. But then yesterday the verse was that nama is ‘sarva-mantra-sara’. It is the essence of all mantras. So therefore, it is the greatest mantra.
Devotee: So it is not wrong to chant Hare Krishna Mahamantra like that. It is not wrong ?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yeah, by convention we know what it means. But in the Sri Sampradaya, Mahamantra means something else.
Devotee: So better we say let’s chant Hare Krishna nama for the well-being of the person or something who donates or something when we chant others. It is safe, Maharaj, to say let’s chant holy name for the benefit of that living being or something.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Either way.
8) Hare Krishna, Maharaj. Thank you so much. Very wonderful class. So when we say that Sankirtan and nama chanting, how we distinguish and when we started chanting Hare Krishna Mahamantra, we had very enthusiasm. As the day passes, we think that it is very slow and that much enthusiasm is not persisting. So how to be always inspired in chanting the holy name?
Well, in the beginning of bhakti, our faith and our taste is little and material attraction is very strong. And thus, our attempts to do bhakti will always be temporary and a little bit weak. In the beginning, we may have some enthusiasm because it is new. That’s like the child who goes to school for the first day. He is very enthusiastic. But after some time, then it becomes a little bit troublesome to make him study. So as the bhakti increases by continued practice, then one develops real enthusiasm. So in other words, we have to continue the process of bhakti.
Devotees: Grantharaj Srimad Bhagavatham Ki Jai!!! HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj Ki Jai!!!