Srimad Bhagavatam 10.78.31-36 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | ISKCON Japan | November 16, 2025 |
jaya rādhā-mādhava kuñja-vihārī
gopījana-vallabha giri-vara-dhārī
yaśodā-nandana vraja-jana-rañjana
yamunā-tīra-vana-cārī
Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare
Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare
Jaya Prabhupāda Jaya Prabhupāda
Prabhupāda Jaya Prabhupāda
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 10 Chapter 78 Verse 31.
ŚB 10.78.31-32
ajānataivācaritas
tvayā brahma-vadho yathā
yogeśvarasya bhavato
nāmnāyo ’pi niyāmakaḥ
yady etad-brahma-hatyāyāḥ
pāvanaṁ loka-pāvana
cariṣyati bhavāḻ loka-
saṅgraho ’nanya-coditaḥ
Synonyms
ajānatā — not knowing; eva — only; ācaritaḥ — done; tvayā — by You; brahma — of a brāhmaṇa; vadhaḥ — the killing; yathā — actually; yoga — of mystic power; īśvarasya — for the Lord; bhavataḥ — Yourself; na — not; āmnāyaḥ — scriptural injunction; api — even; niyāmakaḥ — regulator; yadi — if; etat — for this; brahma — of a brāhmaṇa; hatyāyāḥ — killing; pāvanam — purifying atonement; loka — of the world; pāvana — O purifier; cariṣyati — executes; bhavān — Your good self; loka-saṅgrahaḥ — benefit for the people in general; ananya — by no one else; coditaḥ — impelled.
Translation
“You have unknowingly killed a brāhmaṇa. Of course, even the injunctions of revealed scripture cannot dictate to You, the Lord of all mystic power. But if by Your own free will You nonetheless carry out the prescribed purification for this slaying of a brāhmaṇa, O purifier of the whole world, people in general will greatly benefit by Your example.”
Text 33
The Personality of Godhead said: I will certainly perform the atonement for this killing, since I wish to show compassion to the people in general. Please, therefore, prescribe for Me whatever ritual is to be done first.
Text 34
O sages, just say the word, and by My mystic power I shall restore everything you promised him — long life, strength and sensory power.
Text 35
The sages said: Please see to it, O Rāma, that Your power and that of Your kuśa weapon, as well as our promise and Romaharṣaṇa’s death, all remain intact.
Text 36
The Supreme Lord said: The Vedas instruct us that one’s own self takes birth again as one’s son. Thus let Romaharṣaṇa’s son become the speaker of the Purāṇas, and let him be endowed with long life, strong senses and stamina.
Purport
Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī quotes the following Vedic verse to illustrate the principle enunciated here by Lord Balarāma:
aṅgād aṅgāt sambhavasi
hṛdayād abhijāyase
ātmā vai putra-nāmāsi
sañjīva śaradaḥ śatam
“You have taken birth from my various limbs and have arisen from my very heart. You are my own self in the form of my son. May you live through a hundred autumns.” This verse appears in the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa (14.9.8.4) and the Bṛhad-āraṇyaka Upaniṣad (6.4.8).
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj:
So, in this way, we see that, the sages did not interfere with the killing of the Brahmana, and at the same time, the Brahmana’s promise to Romaharshana was not cancelled. They didn’t interfere with the killing, they said, okay, he’s dead, let him be dead. Since that Romaharshana was killed, the Brahmanas said, okay, let him remain dead, we don’t want to bring him back to life [Laughs]. In the verse we recited, Krishna was called, or Balarama was called Yogeshwara, master of mystic powers. So then Balarama said, well, I’ve got all this power, I can bring him back to life [Laughs]. But then the Brahmanas said, no, you’ve shown your power and you did it for a certain purpose, that is to set an example that bogus people should not sit on the Vyasasana etc, so let him remain dead [Laughs]. But the Brahmanas had promised Romaharshana that he would live a long life [Laughs]. And they had to continue the sacrifice and they need someone to lead the sacrifice. So then Balarama gave this instruction, so, we will put Romaharshana’s son to be the speaker in charge of the sacrifice, etc., and he will have long life. Of course, then one can argue, well, we want Romaharshana, the son is not the same. But as Sridhara Swami quotes in the purport, the son is equal to the father. So therefore, if we put the son in charge of the sacrifice, fine, it’s the same thing as the father. So in this way, part of this problem was resolved in the killing of Romaharshana.
So the other problem was that, as is said in the, this verse 31 that we just recited, that Balarama killed a Brahmana, that’s not proper [Laughs]. However, the sages also know that Balarama is Supreme Lord, so He doesn’t have any impurity, and He doesn’t have to do any atonement. So, sin in the scriptures must be atoned for, we have to do some ritual to cancel out the sin, that is called prayascitta. But the sages say, well, there’s no rules for You. You are beyond the rules [Laughs]. Yeah, the Supreme Lord makes the rules. Since Supreme Lord means the Supreme Person, there’s no one who can force the [Laughs] Supreme Lord to follow laws. So, the sages are intelligent and they understand this is the position of the Lord. But then they said, You should do some atonement, some prayascitta. And why? Because you should set an example for other people. So in Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says the same thing. Krishna says, I don’t have to follow any rules, I’m beyond all rules, but I follow the rules just to teach other people. The rules in scripture are for human beings on earth, not for the Supreme Lord or the devotees in the spiritual world. When the Lord appears in this material world, He doesn’t have to follow the rules. But one of His purposes in coming to the material world is to establish Dharma [Laughs]. So how can He establish Dharma, if He doesn’t follow the rules [Laughs]? So then, Krishna in Bhagavad Gita mentions the principle, whatever the leader does, people follow. So, if the leader breaks the rules, people break the rules. If the leader follows the rules, people follow the rules.
So, therefore Balarama, because He has killed a Brahmana, so to set a good example by doing some atonement. And then people in general will follow the same principle. So the Brahmanas are very knowledgeable of the principles of scripture. And they are also knowledgeable of the position of Supreme Lord. So in this way they show their knowledge. And Balarama because He is Supreme Lord, finds a way in which to solve this whole problem. So, He suggests they put the son of Romaharshana on throne, and He also says, I will also do some atonement [Laughs]. In this way, Balarama’s purpose is fulfilled by restoring Dharma, and the sage’s purpose of doing the sacrifice is also fulfilled. So, in this way, the Lord shows His great intelligence.
So, this principle is also followed in other pastimes. Yeah, in other pastimes, the Lord will act to teach the people. So, we cannot criticize the Lord for that. Sometimes we see Supreme Lord worshipping a devata [Laughs]. When we read the Ramayana, we see that Rama is worshipping Shiva [Laughs]. Here we see that the young girls in Vrindavan are worshipping Durga devi to get Krishna as their husband [Laughs]. And Rukmini is going to Durga Devi temple [Laughs] before her marriage. So then we say, Why? Why they are all worshipping devatas [Laughs]? And the answer is, they are also following regular customs, just to teach people. We see in Bhagavad Gita that Krishna is telling Arjuna, you have to act as a Kshatriya. But devotees are not in any varna, they are superior to all varnas. But Arjuna should act like a Kshatriya to teach other people. So, this is one principle that the Lord often follows.
But then we see sometimes the Lord just breaks the rules also [Laughs]. He breaks His promise, not to raise any weapons on the battlefield because He wants to protect Arjuna [Laughs]. And He becomes a thief and He steals butter. He plays His flute and attracts all the married Gopis out of their houses. So he is not setting a good example at all [Laughs]. So then, this becomes a little confusing for people. We see in the case of Rama, He doesn’t break the principles. And therefore He is very popular. But Krishna seems to break all the rules, so therefore He is not so popular [Laughs].
Once, there was, they wanted to teach you know, Krishna book pastimes in some school, elementary school or something. So the teacher said, yeah, yeah, okay, yeah, we want to have Dharma in our school, so we’ll teach all the stories of Krishna’s pastimes [Laughs]. So then the teacher started reading the Krishna book. So then she came back to the devotees and said, no, we cannot do this. And she is pointing it out, look, Krishna with the Gopis, stealing their clothing, how can we put this [Laughs], how can we teach this to students in the school [Laughs]? So many people become a little disturbed by Krishna’s activities [Laughs]. So in these elementary schools, secondary schools, they have one class called what, morals or something like that, you know, teach nice principles [Laughs]. And so we will start describing Krishna’s pastimes, not following the rules [Laughs]. How can we teach this in schools [Laughs]? So, that is one reason why it is more difficult for people to appreciate Krishna.
So, it is only those serious devotees who understand the real reasons why Krishna breaks the principles [Laughs]. And the real reason Krishna doesn’t follow Dharma is because He is beyond Dharma. And the relationship of Krishna and His devotees is beyond Dharma. So Krishna’s highest rule is to protect the devotee and please the devotee. And sometimes, this may not be according to the laws of Dharma [Laughs]. But it’s not a bad quality, it’s a good quality, because the highest principle of the Lord is this Prema. So that is what the devotees can understand [Laughs].
Okay, Hare Krishna.
Translator Devotee : Very interesting [Laughs].
Q & A:
1.) In Japan, we don’t have religious education in schools. How about other countries?
Well, in India also they don’t have religious education, they have something called morals. So they don’t bring in religion directly. They say be very nice, be kind, don’t steal, don’t cheat. So they don’t want to, you know, introduce religion [Laughs]. However, it’s also very difficult to teach some this general moral principles abstractly [Laughs]. So even though the government says no religion in schools, the teachers become a little enthusiastic [Laughs]. Sometimes they want to [Laughs] teach stories about Rama, Krishna, whatever in schools [Laughs]. So some devotees have actually taken the syllabus, the program they have in the schools for teaching morals, and then using those principles, they go back and get stories from Rama and Krishna etc., they illustrate that. So they introduce a little bit of [Laughs] scripture in the schools that way.
Devotee: How about the Muslim countries?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Probably in the schools they do [Laughs], in Muslim countries. Many Muslim countries will have Quran in schools, etc. In America before, they have to read the Bible everyday. Before the class starts, little bit, they don’t really teach anything. They just read some verses from the Bible everyday. So that was compulsory. But then they cut that out about 30 years ago or so. They cut it out of the schools in Canada and America.
Devotee: In Italy, every week, there is one hour religion. The priest comes in the classroom and teach. There is a Christian camp once a week. Once a week, one hour.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Hmm.
2.) Hare Krishna, thank you so much for wonderful class. My question is Lord Rama, in the story of return, He had to leave Sita to the forest or something like, it sounds like not following moral, but still, it has some morality? It’s my question. Thank you.
So, there was one person in [Laughs] Rama’s kingdom, who criticized Sita because Ravana had taken her away and then Rama had accepted her back. So, a principle a few raise [Not clear] is, if somebody steals your wife, then you are not gonna accept the wife back. That would be, you know, some [Laughs] principle for some people. Now we know, in scripture, that actually, Ravana could not steal Sita. So it’s described that in her place, another form was produced [Laughs]. A false form, and that’s the one that was taken by Ravana. Therefore, Sita remained pure. But because of this criticism from this low-class person, then Rama thought, I have to set a good example, so I have to send Sita away. So this was another example of you know, following the principles, so that others will follow the principle.
3.) You mentioned that the Supreme Lord also worshipping the devatas and Sita was worshipping Durga. Should we follow this example? Should devotees worship the devatas and in devotee marriage should they worship Durga?
For persons in the Varnashrama system or who have a leadership role, they may have to do that. So, Yudhisthira did all this horse sacrifices etc. For normal devotees, they can worship devatas, but they worship it in a different way. So they worship the devatas as devotees, and they offer Vishnu Prasadam to them. And in this way, they don’t disturb other people, but at the same time, the way they are worshipping the devatas is different from other people. And especially in the modern world, it may not be important to set an example for other people, so therefore you don’t even have to worship any devatas [Laughs].
Devotee: This is the reality [Laughs].
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Nobody is worshipping anything, so we don’t have to set a good example [Laughs].
Devotee: But still in some ISKCON Temples, they are worshipping the devatas, no? Shiva?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Shiva? It may be rare. Like in the Yogapitha, I think there is a Shivalinga there, was there [Laughs]. I think may be Bhaktivinoda Thakur’s place in Surabhi Kunj is that.
Devotee: Jagannath Temple.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: [Laughs] Jagannath Temple also, there’s Shiva. Oh, there’s that. Yeah, yeah. And many of them are already there, so they just keep those things there [Laughs]. But in newly established ISKCON Temples, generally it is discouraged [Laughs].
Devotee: New Temple, they do?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: No. You would have to get GBC permission, which they probably won’t give [Laughs]. It’s even difficult to get Balaji in the Temple now, or [Laughs] other deities.
Devotee: Even for name of the preaching.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Hmm.
Devotee : Thank you very much.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Okay, Hare Krishna.
Devotees: Grantharaj Srimad Bhagavatam ki jai!!! HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj ki jai!!! Srila Prabhupada ki jai!!!