Srimad Bhagavatam – 1.18.19 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | ISKCON Chennai | Nov 23, 2025
ŚB 1.18.19
कुत: पुनर्गृणतो नाम तस्य
महत्तमैकान्तपरायणस्य ।
योऽनन्तशक्तिर्भगवाननन्तो
महद्गुणत्वाद् यमनन्तमाहु: ॥ १९ ॥
kutaḥ punar gṛṇato nāma tasya
mahattamaikānta-parāyaṇasya
yo ’nanta-śaktir bhagavān ananto
mahad-guṇatvād yam anantam āhuḥ
Synonyms
kutaḥ — what to say; punaḥ — again; gṛṇataḥ — one who chants; nāma — holy name; tasya — His; mahat-tama — great devotees; ekānta — exclusive; parāyaṇasya — of one who takes shelter of; yaḥ — He who; ananta — is the Unlimited; śaktiḥ — potency; bhagavān — the Personality of Godhead; anantaḥ — immeasurable; mahat — great; guṇatvāt — on account of such attributes; yam — whom; anantam — by the name Ananta; āhuḥ — is called.
Translation
And what to speak of those who are under the direction of the great devotees, chanting the holy name of the Unlimited, who has unlimited potency? The Personality of Godhead, unlimited in potency and transcendental by attributes, is called Ananta [Unlimited].
Purport
The dvija-bandhu, or the less intelligent, uncultured men born of higher castes, put forward many arguments against the lower-caste men becoming brāhmaṇas in this life. They argue that birth in a family of śūdras or less than śūdras is made possible by one’s previous sinful acts and that one therefore has to complete the terms of disadvantages due to lower birth. And to answer these false logicians, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam asserts that one who chants the holy name of the Lord under the direction of a pure devotee can at once get free from the disadvantages due to a lower-caste birth. A pure devotee of the Lord does not commit any offense while chanting the holy name of the Lord. There are ten different offenses in the chanting of the holy name of the Lord. To chant the holy name under the direction of a pure devotee is offenseless chanting. Offenseless chanting of the holy name of the Lord is transcendental, and therefore such chanting can at once purify one from the effects of all kinds of previous sins. This offenseless chanting indicates that one has fully understood the transcendental nature of the holy name and has thus surrendered unto the Lord. Transcendentally the holy name of the Lord and the Lord Himself are identical, being absolute. The holy name of the Lord is as powerful as the Lord. The Lord is the all-powerful Personality of Godhead, and He has innumerable names, which are all nondifferent from Him and are equally powerful also. In the last word of the Bhagavad-gītā the Lord asserts that one who surrenders fully unto Him is protected from all sins by the grace of the Lord. Since His name and He Himself are identical, the holy name of the Lord can protect the devotee from all effects of sins. The chanting of the holy name of the Lord can undoubtedly deliver one from the disadvantages of a lower-caste birth. The Lord’s unlimited power is extended on and on by the unlimited expansion of the devotees and incarnations, and thus every devotee of the Lord and incarnations also can be equally surcharged with the potency of the Lord. Since the devotee is surcharged with the potency of the Lord, even fractionally, the disqualification due to lower birth cannot stand in the way.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj:
So, the previous verse spoke about the power of association. So, again, this is a glorification of the devotee in this verse. And particularly, What does the devotee do? He chants the Name of the Lord. The Name is non-different from the Lord. And what is the Lord? He is full of unlimited Shaktis. And because of that, He is called ‘Ananta’. So, therefore, the Lord can do anything and His Name can do anything. Although it is difficult to remove karmas once they have started to take effect in this lifetime, by chanting the Name of the Lord and associating with devotees who chant the Name, then we can get rid of all that karma. Ofcourse scriptures themselves say, it is difficult to remove the karmas of this life.
And thus the people are divided up into varnas according to karma. And one of the karmas was to take birth in a certain family. So, the rules of Varnaashram provide particular modes of contact for people in different gunas. And if one follows those rules, then one can become purified. At the same time, they are not thinking of purifying in one lifetime. And therefore, people follow the same rules throughout their lifetime, according to one particular varna. So, they don’t follow the Vaishya rules for you know 20 years and then decide, well, I’m finished with that, now I’ll go on to Kshatriya rules. They don’t switch in the middle of their life. And in Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says, don’t follow the rules of someone else for which you are not qualified. So, in general, it’s difficult to change your qualities according to karma in one birth. And thus, we have strict divisions of varnas.
However, we find in Bhagavatam that this principle is completely refuted. Repeatedly, Bhagavatam tells us that anyone who performs bhakti or chants the holy name of the Lord is immediately free of his karmas. And he is even free of the karmas of this life. So, then the question will arise, if we can purify ourselves of all karmas by bhakti and chanting the name, why do we have to follow Varna Ashram at all? And Bhagavatam replies, you don’t have to follow. The devotee is beyond the rules of Varna Ashram. So, the only reason he would follow is to set an example for others, who are not practicing bhakti. But to think that the bhakti is dependent on following other rules becomes an offense to the holy name.
Bhakti is independent. It can never become dependent on another process. So, therefore, by following the process of bhakti and chanting the name, we go beyond the gunas completely. So, in Bhagavad Gita, Krishna tells Arjuna, get beyond the three gunas. And the Vedas are largely dealing with the three gunas. So, how do we get beyond the gunas? By performance of bhakti. So, this very easy process is what is recommended by Krishna in Bhagavad Gita. In Chapter 9, he says, it is easy to perform. And in Chapter 12, he says, very quickly you will get the result. You go beyond the ocean of samsara. At the end of the Bhagavad Gita, again, Krishna repeats the same message. And there Krishna says, ‘I personally will free you from all sins’. So, in this way, throughout Bhagavad Gita and Bhagavatam, we see how bhakti is independent of everything else.
Of course, many people say, yes, bhakti is powerful. But, it can also not remove the karmas of this lifetime, the prarabdha karmas. And of course, people involved in karma and jnana, and yoga, they say these processes also cannot destroy your prarabdha karmas. But, Bhagavatam says the opposite. You can remove the prarabdha karmas also. So, that shows the superiority of bhakti over any other process. Jnana and yoga can slowly get rid of your karmas, but still you have to endure your prarabdha karmas of this life. By practicing bhakti, very quickly, you remove all your karmas, even the prarabdha karmas.
Of course, the goal of bhakti is not to destroy karma. However, that is the goal of jnana and yoga, because only with destroying karma, you get liberation. So, the goal of bhakti is prema. And, when one performs bhakti, automatically, as one progresses to prema, all the karmas are destroyed. So, therefore, bhakti is the supreme process. And, by associating with a devotee, then one picks up the same process. And then, one destroys all of one’s karmas. So, Suta Goswami was explaining that his bad karma was, he was born in a mixed caste family, lower birth. But, by associating with devotees of the Lord, then all of that is destroyed, and he is free of that karma. So, the example given by Lord Caitanya is Haridas Thakur. So, though he was born not even in the varanashrama system, outside the system, he was elevated to the highest position, free of all karmas.
Of course, though this is stated directly in Bhagavatam, and in Bhagavad Gita, still, many people who claim to know scriptures, still will say, no, it’s not true. So, even at the time of Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur, which is like a hundred years ago, there were people criticizing, ‘how can you Gaudiya Vaishnavas, worship the deity? You should be born as a Brahmana to do that’. But the Gaudiya’s were people from all varanas, and they were initiated, and they were worshipping deity. Of course, by looking at scripture, we can easily defeat such arguments [Laughs]. But still, that type of idea was very strong in many people’s minds, especially the Brahmanas [Laughs].
So, for that reason, when Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati gave initiation, then he said, yes, you are superior to everybody else, you are better than a Brahmana. So, then he gave the Brahma Gayatri mantra and the thread. But the goal of Diksha is, not to become a Brahmana, rather, by becoming initiated, one is already surpassed the whole system, including being a Brahmana. But one is qualified for whatever a Brahmana can do. So, this is stated directly in Bhagavatam. And there it is stated, that one who is a dog-eater, if he chants the holy name of the Lord once purely, or remembers the lotus feet of the Lord purely, immediately he is qualified to do whatever a Brahmana can do. Why? Because, all of his karmas are gone.
So, Bhakti is most powerful. And even in Bhakti, the most powerful aspect is Nama Sankirtana. And for that reason, Caitanya Mahaprabhu made Haridas Thakur the Namacharya. So, we should all understand the position of Bhakti and the holy name. In the purport, Prabhupad talks about chanting without offense. So, the offense is to think that the holy name is just material. The great powers of the name are exaggeration. They cannot destroy all your karmas. So, chanting the holy name is independent of other processes, but we have to do so without offense. So, we become free of offense by association with devotees practicing pure Bhakti. And they will give knowledge of pure Bhakti and the offenses to be avoided. So, this is the simplest possible process for advance in spiritual life.
Hare Krishna !
Q & A:
1.) Maharaj, previously these brahmanas, they are always stopping those who are not born as a brahmana, especially for the Deity worship and other things. So, but in the scripture we see many statements, that one can become brahmana if he is qualified, after he gets initiation. But in the scripture we see many statements that one can become a brahmana if he gets initiated from the guru or if he is qualified. So, these brahmanas are stopping the non-brahmana (normal people), to worship the Deities based on some scriptures, correct, some pramana. Without that pramana, how can they do it?
Well, if you go to these Smritis, like Manu Smriti and Vishnu Smriti, then they will define very strictly the varnas and the rules for the varnas. And they are generally thinking of varna by birth. So, for non-brahmanas to start doing the activity of a brahmana would be going beyond your varna. So, they say, you can’t do that.
So, if you only take Smriti Sastras as your authority, then you have a strong position. But if you take Bhagavatam, then that’s contradictory here [Laughs]. We have contradictory statements [Laughs]. But not only Bhagavatam, you will see the same statements in other Puranas like Padma Purana.
2.) Second question Maharaj, like, see, it is said in Bhagavatam that aho bata śva-paco ’to garīyān yaj-jihvāgre vartate nāma tubhyam (ŚB 3.33.7): if someone chants holy name, even on the tip of the tongue, and he becomes qualified for, you know, śravaṇaya kalpate to perform the sacrifice. But, and also, we see that, you know, that, it is also said, if someone chants holy name, and he destroys all the prarabdha karma, and even aprarabdha also.
So, that means, here two statements, one is that, you know, this, one is saying that he destroys all the prarabdha karma and aprarabdha karma and another statement is said that, you know, this is, from Vishnu Purana, I think, this aprārabdha-phalaṁ pāpaṁ kūṭaṁ bījaṁ phalonmukham krameṇaiva pralīyeta viṣṇu-bhakti-ratātmanām [Padma Purāṇa]. krameṇaiva means, use, means, one by one. So, there are two statements, which is contradictory. Can you just explain this little bit?
So, there are statements that immediately all the karmas are gone. At the same time, if one is committing aparadha, the power of the name becomes weaker, so then it is not immediate, it is gradual.
I think in the commentary there, talking about the destruction of all the different sins, one after the other, then that question comes up, well, if it is immediate, there is no order, they should all simply be finished [Laughs]. So, then the example is, a needle piercing a hundred leaves.
Devotee: Maharaj, can you please repeat the last line?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: A needle piercing a hundred leaves. So, we take a pile of leaves, a hundred leaves, pile it up, and then we get a needle and pierce them all [Laughs]. So, from one point of view, it just takes a second or so to pierce all the leaves. But, if we examine closely, we see it goes first leaf, second leaf, third leaf, fourth leaf, so it is gradual in that sense [Laughs].
3.) Hare Krishna Maharaj ji, is there any difference chanting offenselessly and chanting inattentively? Attentive chanting and inattentive chanting.
If the inattention becomes deliberate, then it can become offense. Then it becomes offense to the holy name, inattention. If, on the other hand, we are making attempts not to be inattentive, but somehow the mind wanders, then that is not considered an offense. But still, we don’t get the full effect.
4.) Hare Krishna Maharaj, Maharaj, I recently read through in the Bhagavatam, where a person, even if he chants in the mood of sankethyam, stovam, helanam, parihasam, still he gets the effect like Ajamila. So, generally in South India, people keep the names like Madhavan, Keshavan, Govindan, etc. So, people calling out these names with love, they keep the names for their children. So, still will they get the same effect of chanting the holy names like Ajamila?
Well, in this purport, Prabhupada says, the Lord has innumerable names, which are all non-different from Him, all are equally powerful [Laughs]. Still, there is a distinction between mukhya and gauna, primary and secondary names. So, we have names like Avyaya, Lord is indestructible. Lord is pure [Laughs]. Lord is infinite. So, these are names that also can be applied to Paramatma or even Brahman. They are also non-different from the Lord and they can purify you.
But names which describe the form of the Lord in the spiritual world, His qualities there and His pastimes, they are considered to be primary names and more powerful, they can give prema. So, we have many primary names and some of these names are describing different avatars of the Lord. The avatars of the Lord are non-different from the Lord. So, in one sense, same power. Still, Bhagavatam shows that Krishna is the supreme form. So, if you chant the name of Krishna, then you get, you realize more powers, more qualities, more pastimes. So, in that sense, the name of Krishna is distinguished from all other names of the Lord.
Devotees: Grantharaj Srimad Bhagavatam ki jai!!! HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj ki jai!!! Srila Prabhupada ki jai!!!