Srimad Bhagavatam – 1.17.14 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | ISKCON Chennai | September 27, 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-Caitanya
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 17 Verse 14.
ŚB 1.17.14
jane ’nāgasy aghaṁ yuñjan
sarvato ’sya ca mad-bhayam
sādhūnāṁ bhadram eva syād
asādhu-damane kṛte
Synonyms
jane — to the living beings; anāgasi — those who are offenseless; agham — sufferings; yuñjan — by applying; sarvataḥ — anywhere and everywhere; asya — of such offenders; ca — and; mat-bhayam — fear me; sādhūnām — of the honest persons; bhadram — good fortune; eva — certainly; syāt — will take place; asādhu — dishonest miscreants; damane — curbed; kṛte — being so done.
Translation
Whoever causes offenseless living beings to suffer must fear me anywhere and everywhere in the world. By curbing dishonest miscreants, one automatically benefits the offenseless.
Purport
Dishonest miscreants flourish because of cowardly and impotent executive heads of state. But when the executive heads are strong enough to curb all sorts of dishonest miscreants, in any part of the state, certainly they cannot flourish. When the miscreants are punished in an exemplary manner, automatically all good fortune follows. As said before, it is the prime duty of the king or the executive head to give protection in all respects to the peaceful, offenseless citizens of the state. The devotees of the Lord are by nature peaceful and offenseless, and therefore it is the prime duty of the state to arrange to convert everyone to become a devotee of the Lord. Thus automatically there will be peaceful, offenseless citizens. Then the only duty of the king will be to curb the dishonest miscreants. That will bring about peace and harmony all over human society.
When the miscreants are punished in an exemplary manner, automatically all good fortune follows. As said before, it is the prime duty of the king or executive head to give protection in all respects to the peaceful, offenseless citizens of the state. The devotees of the Lord are by nature peaceful and offenseless, and therefore it is the prime duty of the state to arrange to convert everyone to become a devotee of the Lord, and thus automatically there will be peaceful, offenseless citizens.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj:
So here there is a further description of the duty of a ruler or king. And just as previously stated, the king has to protect all the living entities in his kingdom. So here they are described as ‘anagasi’ – they don’t have any sin or they haven’t committed any fault. So if another person begins to attack or offend them or obstruct them, in any way, that is considered to be wrong, a crime. And therefore, Parikshit Maharaj says, such persons who do this, they will have to fear me. So by doing so, the proper people, the honest people, they get great benefit. Of course, in the purport Prabhupada makes a very relevant point. Who are these good people? Ultimately the good people are the devotees. So the normal king simply protects innocent people from suffering and in this way they prosper. But the best king will make everyone into devotees. To maintain that standard, he has to constantly see that no one is offending the devotees. And simultaneously he should encourage those devotees to spread the process of bhakti yoga.
However, we see in Kali Yuga, because there are no great kings, this does not happen. So the best he can hope for is, leaders who are favorable to the devotees. And then the devotees are free to spread Krishna consciousness everywhere. So this is, we say a solution for Kali Yuga. We don’t have a proper line of kings, but at least if we have some favorable leaders, this is acceptable. Unfortunately, even that is very rare. So, still, what do the devotees do? They have to tolerate the situation. So one of the qualities of bhakti is that, it is unobstructed. But of course, people will argue, well, no, look at Prahlad, he got obstructed [Laughs]. So many devotees get obstructed [Laughs]. However, in spite of the obstructions, the devotee does not give up. He continues. In spite of all the obstruction from his father, Prahlad continued to remember and glorify the Supreme Lord. Thus, even though the situations in terms of leaders and government, etc., may not be so favorable, still, the devotee does not give up his practice of bhakti. So, whether the conditions are favorable or unfavorable, the devotee continues his practice. And one can still get the highest results.
So, the nature of bhakti does not depend on external elements for its success. This is not true of karma, jnana, and yoga. So, if you do karma yoga, but the place is impure, you don’t get any effect. We see the sages were doing sacrifice, and then demons were interfering with it. They were contaminating the sacrifice. Therefore, no result. Jnana and yoga depend on sattvic conditions, if those conditions are not there, then you cannot get results from your Jnana or yoga. However, bhakti can be performed by anybody, at any time, and at any place. The place and the time may be favorable or unfavorable, it doesn’t matter. The person may be in any country. He may be of any varna or no varna, still it doesn’t matter.
So, bhakti yoga, in other words, is a process that everybody can do at all times and any place. It can be done in the hellish planets, or it can be done on Brahma Loka. It can be done in all varsas and all dvipas. Not only in the material world, it continues in the spiritual world. And we cannot say this about any other process. So, even if the leaders and other governments, etc., are not favorable, still, the process of bhakti can succeed. How is that possible? It is possible because it is connected to the Supreme Lord directly. It is the shakti of the Lord. And it allows us to easily get the mercy of the Lord. And thus, it is the most powerful process of all.
We can, of course, modify the other processes. Yes, karma yoga, if you make mistakes, you don’t get proper results. But, if you do karma yoga and offer it to the Supreme Lord, to please the Supreme Lord, then, even if you make mistakes, you still get results [Laughs]. So in other words, these other processes are saved, when they are connected with Bhakti yoga. Of course, the results or the goals they are aiming for are different. But still, they can get those results, if they offer the process to the Supreme Lord. Of course, people can say, well, I’ll do my karma yoga offer to the Lord, so that’s the best thing. On the other hand, if we just do bhakti directly, and don’t do anything else, we get better result. So we get Prema. If we do karma yoga and offer the results to the Lord, you do not get Prema. So that is why its always advisable Pure bhakti without mixing with other process. And we get the best results from that.
But, then further point here in bhakti is that Nama Sankirtan is the most powerful process in bhakti. And it is the most unconditional, free of conditions. So, of course, if we are doing deity worship, we do have some conditions. You have to be clean [Laughs]. You cannot worship the Lord in an unclean state. But, when you are dying, which is very impure, if you chant the holy name of the Lord, it has the best effect [Laughs]. So Nama Sankirtan is the most powerful aspect of bhakti yoga. So therefore, this is what is recommended in kali yuga.
As long as Pariksit was there, then citizens were protected, they could do their bhakti peacefully. So, that was performing bhakti in favourable circumstances, favourable government. But, after Pariksit, gradually or quite quickly, the line of kings declined or degenerated and all the kings and leaders became unqualified. So, in other words, the conditions were unfavourable. But, because bhakti and Nama Sankirtan do not depend on any condition favourable or unfavourable, the process of Nama Sankirtan is recommended in Kali Yuga. And we get same success.
The only problem is that the devotees may have to endure certain uncomfortable conditions. Nevertheless, they still get highest results. And thus, bhakti spreads around the world in spite of so many unfavourable conditions. So, it of course is unpredictable which place is going to be favourable or which will be unfavourable. Bhagavatam describes that the gunas are always changing. Sometimes, Sattva guna is very dominant, devatas are very powerful. Sometimes, Rajo guna becomes very dominant and then the demons become very powerful or Tamo guna becomes powerful and then the worst demons become powerful. We can never get rid of the three gunas, they are always going to be there somewhere [Laughs], at any time. And they always fluctuate. The only time the gunas stop fluctuating and changing is at pralaya, when everything becomes very peaceful and the gunas look like they have disappeared almost. Due to the fluctuation of gunas sometimes very favorable for devotees, sometimes not favorable.
So in the second chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says that, you have to tolerate heat and cold, victory and defeat, happiness and distress, all related to the body. That, of course, is a teaching for Jnanis. One understands one is atma, not the body, so therefore one tolerates. The devotees also have bodies, so the advice is also practical for devotees. Of course there is a slight difference. We see that toleration becomes one of the cornerstones of bhakti itself. And thus Lord Caitanya says, be humbler than a blade of grass, more tolerant than a tree. This means that bhakti itself has tolerance and humility inherent within it. But we should not think that these are sattvic qualities in relation to the material body. They are inherent in the process of surrendering to the Lord. If we take ourselves as the servant of the Lord, automatically we must be humble. And we serve the Lord, it means we serve the Lord unconditionally. So even if the circumstances are unfavorable, we serve the Lord. So thus, so many obstacles were there for the gopis to meet Krishna, but they never gave up their attachment to Krishna. As the prema becomes very intense, one of the qualities is that one will even sacrifice one’s life to serve the Lord. So the devotee tolerates everything in order to serve the Lord. And even if we don’t have a material body, that tolerant attitude remains.
On the other hand, we have practice of tolerance in the material world by sattva guna people and jnanis. If one attains liberation, no aspect of tolerance at all, there is no politics around you [Laughs]. So material tolerance and material humility may be there, they are nice qualities in the material world, but they are temporary phenomena, still connected with material bodies. And if you get rid of your body in liberation, those qualities also disappear [Laughs].
But the humility and tolerance of the devotee remain in the spiritual world. In other words, they become qualities of the atma itself. So, though we practice tolerance and humility etc., we should never think that this is some material practice that we are doing. It is part of bhakti itself. But naturally those qualities will manifest in the devotee in relation to other living entities in the material world. So the devotees are compassionate to all living entities. They display humility before all living entities. And they also tolerate all conditions created by living entities or by material nature. So these are devotional qualities all depending upon surrender to the Lord. The more one surrenders, the more these qualities become manifest. So, if the world becomes filled with devotees, then we will have population full of compassion, humility and tolerance. And the duty of the leader becomes much less, because automatically all the citizens are proper. So, in Kali Yuga, the best way of creating good population is to create good devotees.
Hare Krishna.
Q & A:
1.) Hare Krishna Maharaj. So, Maharaj, these qualities of humility and tolerance and devotee not being disturbed by his externals, then are we talking about the stage of Nistha?
Well, the second quality of Bhakti mentioned in Nectar of Devotion is Subhada, manifestation of good qualities. And simultaneously we have Kleshagni, all material qualities are destroyed [Laughs]. So, the manifestation of good qualities, destruction of all the material qualities starts with the beginning of Bhakti. But, the process is complete in Prema. So, we will get various degrees of destruction of anarthas and manifestation of good qualities as we progress. That progress may be different in different people. One reason is the way in which they perform their Bhakti. And if there have been Aparadhas in previous life or this life, then this whole process of manifesting good qualities and destroying anarthas becomes slower. But, if one has reached the stage of Nistha, then at least the bad qualities have been minimized to the extent you can practice Bhakti steadily. And the good spiritual qualities manifest so that you can perform that Bhakti nicely [Laughs].
2.) Maharaj, we are saying that, you know, although Kali Yuga people, they are most unfortunate, but we have a Nama Sankirtan which is the topmost among all the angas of Bhakti. So, this holy name is given only for Kali Yuga people because they are most unfortunate because of that.
Yeah, we can say that because the people in Kali Yuga are the least qualified for anything, they need the most flexible and powerful process of Bhakti to help them [Laughs]. So if the sickness is mild, you give some aspirin [Laughs]. And if the sickness is very serious then you have to do all sorts of very severe remedies [Laughs].
3.) You are mentioning those qualities like trinad-api-sunicena, these are inherent in the Atma, are you saying that this quality inherent in the Bhakti? Okay, but question is, see, this quality when practiced by the Jnani also. So, can you say that these qualities inherent in Atma, because once they get the liberation, they don’t apply this quality no more?
In Jnana, they do have cultivation of good qualities etc. as part of the practice, but they also know that this is Sattvic, and therefore it’s also bondage. And they even conclude their study of scripture is Maya. So on attaining liberation, they give up any sattvic qualities, they give up study of Vedanta, they give up everything, no more actions.
4.) Hare Krishna Maharaj. I have a doubt in the Kleshagni part. There is a concept called Kutam. I heard two meanings of Kutam. One is Kutam is almost ready to produce seed. That is one thing I heard. And another thing is it is like a vasana, it has tendency to commit sin. Which is correct Maharaj.
So in Nectar of Devotion there it gives a sequence of manifestation of karmas. Aprarabdha , Kuta, Bija, Prarabdha , that’s the order. These are dealing with the results of our sinful or pious activities in another lifetime.
So if you kill a cow, then in a future lifetime you will get the result. But it may not manifest in the next life, it may be five lifetimes later. Nevertheless the Jiva is carrying those karmas with him for five lifetimes. So it is called Aprarabdha un-experienced in the third life, fourth life and finally fifth life it becomes Prarabdha. So the Kuta is included in the Prarabdha , it will not manifest in this life. So in your next life and next life and next life it remains Aprarabdha and then in the fourth life it becomes Kuta. So it is a little bit closer [Laughs]. Then in the fifth life it becomes Prarabdha . But you may not experience the effect of killing the cow until you are forty years old in this lifetime, that’s when it becomes Prarabdha, then you get a big accident [Laughs]. So in that fifth lifetime, until that time when you are forty years old, it remains Bija. So though it has not manifested, it may show some effects that it is gradually maturing. So you may get a dream, you are going to have an accident [Laughs]. So that sinful result or that karma is gradually becoming a little more obvious, more obvious but still doesn’t become manifest, that is the Bija.
This is distinct from the divisions given in the Nectar of Devotion of Ignorance, Bija and Karma. So there, ignorance of course means because we don’t recognize the Lord, we end up trying to enjoy the material world with material bodies, then we get Ahankara etc, thats the ignorance. So we develop desires to enjoy, these are the Bija. And in each lifetime we may acquire new desires. The desires will lead to action. The action will lead to karma. And then the karma will mature as Aprarabdha , Kuta, Bija and then Prarabdha .
5.) We always want to depend on Krishna and we should cultivate like Anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ mood. But my doubt is, if I am depending Krishna for every small things, I naturally have to approach Him for those needs. And how does it align with Anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ?
Anyabhilasha means other desires. Which means desires for material enjoyment, desires for liberation, desires for yoga siddhis. However, pure bhakti also has desire which is favorable. So all the devotees in the spiritual world have desire to please Krishna. And they desire particular service. And they desire particular facilities for performing that service. So all of that is part of Krishna anusilanam. So in cultivating a favorable relationship with Krishna, we have spiritual desires.
And now of course we have also the concept of Yukta Vairagya. So even material objects, so they are material, we can use it in the service of Krishna and they are no longer material. So therefore we can have desire to use something in the material world for serving Krishna, so it’s still spiritual.
6.) Maharaj, will Yukta Vairagya affect my purity of bhakti?
No. Yukta Vairagya is fine. Phalgu Vairagya is rejected. But in the definition of Yukta Vairagya, it says it should be constantly connected with Krishna. And if it is not, then it becomes a weed in devotional service.
7.) Hare Krishna. Maharaj, we say for a conditioned soul, the way he approaches God is nama, rupa, guna, lila. However, when we see this Guruvastakam, in the 5th stanza, it says Madhurya lila, guna, rupa, namnam. So, it is exactly opposite. Maharaj, the sequence is because for a conditioned soul, he goes like this, and for a pure devotee or Guru, he comes from the upper sections and give it to the conditioned soul. Is it like this, Maharaj?
So, it is described that, Krishna’s first manifestation is the name. And in the name, he manifests his form. So, this of course happens in Bhava stage. Then he manifests his qualities, then his lila. So that is the general sequence of revelation of Krishna through the name. You cannot have revelation of lila, unless you have a form of Krishna with some qualities [Laughs]. You cannot realize the qualities unless you realize the form. So, the basic realization will be that of the form of the Lord. So when Visvanatha Cakravarti talks about lila and then guna and form, rupa and nama , he is not indicating that is the order you realize the end. Rather he stops at the opposite end with Nama at the end and goes the other way [Laughs].
8.) Hare Krishna Maharaj, firstly I would like to thank you for the spiritual enlightenment. My query is, as an individual, I want to contribute to the society in terms of science and technology. And I am completely aware that it is a form of desire. So on the basis of my desire, considering it degree, what kind of relationship will I be able to attain with the God? Will it be absolute or relative? Thank you.
If you want to use science to somehow illustrate the glory of God, that is, a proper use of knowledge. And in fact, Prabhupada established the Bhaktivedanta Institute, so that science could be used to show the power of the Supreme Lord. To do that, however, we must also be fixed in bhakti ourself. So, thus we do have to practice the angas of bhakti. And then with that understanding and realization in bhakti, we can apply that to science or whatever else is in the material world and see how we can use it for glorifying Krishna. Then it becomes another way of preaching to scientific people.
9.) Hare Krishna Maharaj, Maharaj, towards the end of the class, we heard about how these wonderful qualities automatically develop in the devotees and if we have more devotees, then the world will be a better place. My question Maharaj, is that, we also find many times, devotees practicing even for decades and yet we do not see those qualities developing in them. So, like do we as devotee need to make some separate endeavour for developing those qualities or why the qualities did not develop?
So, a doctor can give the same medicine to different people. Some people take it, immediately they get a nice effect. Others may take it for years, nothing happens [Laughs]. So, one reason is may be they are not taking the medicine according to the instructions. Of course, even Ajamila accidentally chanting the name gets great effect, but it was not very apparent. So, a person may not show external effects, there may be some internal effects that we don’t see. On the other hand, the effect may be very slow, because of previous aparadhas. So, therefore, you will have effect, but much slower effect.
10.) Hare Krishna Maharaj, I would like to understand about Sarupya, Salokya and the four types of Mukti Maharaj. So, in the material world, we see in heavenly planets and all, they have a body, they will enjoy, they will eat, they soma rasa, all these things. Up to Brahma Loka, I could understand they have a better material enjoyment. So, in this case of the Sarupya, Salokya Mukti, what they would do there in Vaikuntha planets? What is the purpose of them being there? How would they enjoy? Because they will have the body, spiritual bodies they will have and also everything will be there spiritual, right? So they do not need to endeavour to enjoy or eat something like that. What is that? So, if I understand this better, so what devotees reject, I can understand Maharaj.
The primary goal of the devotee is to serve the Lord in the spiritual world eternally. So, the devotee accepts whatever the Lord gives. But in order to serve the Lord in the spiritual world, you will need a body. So, the Lord bestows a body suitable to your service. And similarly you have to have a place to live there also. So, the Lord gives you Salokya. However, these are not the goal of the devotee. The goal of the devotee is to serve the Lord. And therefore, if the Lord gives you a spiritual body and a spiritual place but there is no service, the devotee rejects that.
11.) Hare Krishna Maharaj, If the disciple does any seva, the Guru will affect the bhakti ah? How to understand this?
Well, if we do service to the Supreme Lord, we are following the order of Guru. So that is pleasing to Guru, you get the mercy of Guru.
12.) Srimati Radharani is the internal energy of Krishna, never separated from him. But Vrindavana pastimes shows them two different individuals. What Jiva needs to understand from Radha Krishna’s pastimes?
Yeah, yeah. So, Radha is internal potency, but she is eternally separated, in the spiritual world, not only in the material world. Of course, we say that Shakti and Shaktiman are non-different. So, therefore Radha and Krishna are non-different. Nevertheless, they have different forms. So those forms are eternally manifested in the spiritual world and they also manifest in the material world.
13.) Maharaj, what are the symptoms of a person who is in Nishta, Ruchi, Asakti, Bhava and Prema, who serve the Lord in love? What are the symptoms of a person who is in the level of Nishta, Ruchi, Asakti, Bhava and Prema, so that when they serve the Lord in these levels of bhakti, what are the symptoms they exhibit?
Well, of course, there is lot of details, but in general, we can say that progressively, the dedication to the Lord becomes greater and greater in the Jiva as we progress to Prema. And anarthas, material coverings and desires become less and less and less, until there are no more material contaminations in Prema. So, up into the stage of Prema, there is still some impurity. And in Prema, no impurity. Before Bhava, we will have more impurity. As we go from Nishta to Ruchi to Asakti to Bhava, then we get less and less anarthas and more attraction to the Lord. In Nishta, the attraction to the Lord is greater than the attraction to Maya, so we can practice steadily. In Ruchi, attraction to the Lord becomes stronger, anarthas become less, so therefore it is very easy to practice Bhakti spontaneously. In Asakti, the anarthas are less, the bhakti is stronger, so therefore, we have great attachment to serving Krishna. In Bhava stage, we realize Krishna. In Prema, Rasa manifests fully.
14.) What is the difference between material pain and spiritual pain?
Material pain is related to the Jiva’s identification with the material body. In the spiritual world, we don’t have identification with the material body. So therefore, such pain does not exist. There is something that may look like pain like crying and fainting and whatever. This is actually part of Prema itself. So that pain is caused by separation from Krishna. But that is part of Prema itself.
15.) If a Sattvic person becomes a devotee, does he make quick progress in Bhakti?
Well, some Sattvic people may be very attached to liberation. So, that is not very favorable for Bhakti. Other people may not be attached to liberation, so, therefore they can practice Bhakti with minimum obstacles. However, we also know that even attachment to Sattvic qualities becomes a cause of bondage. So, that person will have to give up his identity with Sattva.
Devotees: Grantharaj Srimad Bhāgavatam ki jai!!! HH Bhānu Swami Maharaj ki jai!!! Srila Prabhupāda ki jai!!!