Srimad Bhagavatam – 1.19.1 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | ISKCON Chennai | Dec 26, 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-chaitanya
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 19 Verse 1.
ŚB 1.19.1
सूत उवाच
महीपतिस्त्वथ तत्कर्म गर्ह्यं
विचिन्तयन्नात्मकृतं सुदुर्मना: ।
अहो मया नीचमनार्यवत्कृतं
निरागसि ब्रह्मणि गूढतेजसि ॥ १ ॥
sūta uvāca
mahī-patis tv atha tat-karma garhyaṁ
vicintayann ātma-kṛtaṁ sudurmanāḥ
aho mayā nīcam anārya-vat kṛtaṁ
nirāgasi brahmaṇi gūḍha-tejasi
Synonyms
sūtaḥ uvāca — Sūta Gosvāmī said; mahī-patiḥ — the King; tu — but; atha — thus (while coming back home); tat — that; karma — act; garhyam — abominable; vicintayan — thus thinking; ātma-kṛtam — done by himself; su-durmanāḥ — very much depressed; aho — alas; mayā — by me; nīcam — heinous; anārya — uncivilized; vat — like; kṛtam — done; nirāgasi — unto one who is faultless; brahmaṇi — unto a brāhmaṇa; gūḍha — grave; tejasi — unto the powerful.
Translation
Śrī Sūta Gosvāmī said: While returning home, the King [Mahārāja Parīkṣit] felt that the act he had committed against the faultless and powerful brāhmaṇa was heinous and uncivilized. Consequently he was distressed.
Purport
The pious King regretted his accidental improper treatment of the powerful brāhmaṇa, who was faultless. Such repentance is natural for a good man like the King, and such repentance delivers a devotee from all kinds of sins accidentally committed. The devotees are naturally faultless. Accidental sins committed by a devotee are sincerely regretted, and by the grace of the Lord all sins unwillingly committed by a devotee are burnt in the fire of repentance.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj:
So here we see that King Pariksit regretted that he had committed this act against the faultless Brahmana. And this itself shows that he had very good character. I said that he had acted rationally and insulted that Brahmana who was innocent. And he didn’t make any excuses. He put the blame on himself. And for some of course, they may not think, oh, this is not a great sin. He didn’t kill a person. He didn’t harm a person. But he just committed an act of disrespect. However, the king took this act of disrespect as the greatest of sins. And we see that if respect is not maintained, we have disorder.
So, therefore the Vedas enjoin we have to respect all living entities. That means we should not rashly commit acts of violence against other living entities. And when we come to human beings, we give them more respect. And all sorts of rules are there. And if we have Varanashrama system, this is also based upon respect. And though everybody is designated by Varna and Ashrama, everybody is given respect. Unfortunately, when we make any system of management, then some people are on the top, some people are on the bottom. And the tendency of the people on top is to disrespect the people on the bottom and exploit them. But this results in a very unstable society. Such a system cannot continue for a long period of time. So therefore, in the Varanashrama system, there are rules. And everybody has to respect everybody else. However, within that respect, there is a greater respect shown to some people. So, if we go higher and higher and higher in the system, we have at the top, the Brahmana, so the Brahmana has to be given more respect than the others. And the idea behind that is that the persons who are higher have very important functions to fulfil for that society. So if they carry out the functions properly, society functions properly. And if they are disrespected, they cannot do the functions properly and society suffers.
Of course, as Lord Chaitanya points out in Caitanya Caritamrita, ok we respect the Brahmana, but we give more respect to the Brahmana who is actually understanding and following the principles properly. Of course, higher than the Brahmana is the Vaishnava. So the Vaishnava is given even more respect. Of course, among Vaishnavas, then we have degrees of respect. So in Nectar of Instruction, Rupa Goswami says, for the Kanistha Vaishnava, you can give mental respect. For the serious Vaishnava, then we give actual physical respect. And for the very advanced Vaishnava, we follow his instructions. So, in this way, there is respect inculcated in the Vedic society from the lowest to the highest living beings. If we stop giving that respect, then the system is not functioning properly. When we come to Vaishnavas, then we call it ‘aparadha’, Vaishnava aparadha. So yes, it is also a sin, but it is also different from regular sins.
So, Krishna doesn’t consider sin such a bad thing. And in Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says, even if you have done the most sinful activity, still I accept you as my devotee. In other words, the devotee continues his devotional service, and the Lord continues to give mercy. So this is regarding sin, but if the devotee commits Vaishnava aparadha, then the Lord reacts differently. So, the Lord does not accept that person. Consequently, that person will have obstacles in his devotional service. So this is a much more serious result than if he simply commits a sinful activity. Sinful activity gives you suffering. Vaishnava aparadha destroys Bhakti. So that is a much more serious result for the devotee. So Vaishnava aparadha means disrespect for the Vaishnava.
So in this particular case, we see that he disrespected a Brahmana, so that is just a regular sin, if he is a Vaishnava, then it becomes a Vaishnava aparadha. In any case, whether it is a sin or an aparadha, the devotee should recognize his mistake and repent or regret that act.
Of course, that is the nature of a devotee. The devotee feels himself lower than the lowest, and therefore he knows, he can make mistakes. So we see here that Pariksit Maharaj regretted his action. The same takes place, if it happens to be Vaishnava aparadha, one has to regret the action.
In the case of sinful activities, the next step is to do atonement. Scriptures have many prayaschittas, one may commit sin and this will help or leave us of bad reaction in future lives. So, our scriptures recommend that if a devotee happens to commit a sin, he doesn’t do prayaschittas, he does bhakti. In other words, he does not resort to some other process once he has committed a sin, he just continues his bhakti.
And thus Krishna says that even if you have committed the most sinful activity, you are still my devotee. However, then there is an exception to the rule. If the person thinks, oh Krishna is so merciful, now I can do more sins and then Krishna is going to forgive me, then it becomes offense to the holy name. So not only do we have to suffer from the sinful act, but we also have to suffer decrease of bhakti.
In the case of committing Vaishnava aparadha, certainly we have to regret and if we don’t do anything else, we still have to suffer destruction of bhakti. So to prevent that, not only we have to recognize our fault, we have to go to the Vaishnava and apologize. And if the Vaishnava is satisfied, then the effects of that aparadha disappear. Of course, there may be a case where that Vaishnava does not accept the apology also. In that case, all one can do is take shelter of the name and continually chant. However, if one does nothing and does not regret, does not apologize or even attempt to apologize, then the effect of the aparadha will take place and one will lose a taste for bhakti. And once we lose a taste for bhakti, then we don’t want to chant. So consequently, we have a great problem in continuing our devotion.
And thus, the aparadha particularly the Vaishnava aparadha is considered much more serious than sinful activities. In any case, for both activities, the Vaishnava should somehow continue his bhakti. So by that, sins are destroyed, but for aparadha against the devotee, then he has to follow the procedure of apologizing. So, the Vaishnava aparadha is serious because if one offends the Vaishnava, the Supreme Lord is also offended, more than if He was directly offended Himself. So we see the case of Ambrisha, so Durvasa, he went to the Supreme Lord and says ‘ah, save me, save me.’ And Vishnu says ‘I can’t do anything, go to my devotee, you apologize to him instead, if he accepts, fine. ‘So, when the devotee is satisfied, the Lord is satisfied’. And then bhakti can continue.
Hare Krsna !
Q & A:
1.) Is Prayaschitta applicable for all varnas?
Everybody.
2.) Hare Krishna Maharaj, in the case of Vaishnava [Not clear] but when we come to organization structure like ISKCON where we see lot of senior Vaishnavas or the spiritual masters and the disciples or the juniors, both are in management and we see sometimes there is a conflict and the junior is not accepting the instructions of senior and not following the instruction. So, do we consider it as a Vaishnava aparadha because one, the instruction is coming from the senior or the spiritual master although he is in a management or it is just a conflict of interest related to management, how do we take it?
It’s more a managerial aparadha [Laughs]. In other words, just like we have a government system and you follow the rules or you don’t follow the rules, it’s a crime. Yeah, so if it’s purely managerial then it’s like in the army you don’t follow the rule then they punish you.
So, in a managerial system you generally follow the instructions. But there is also a limit if the senior gives an order which is against another principle in the government, then you do not follow it [Laughs]. So, that recently came up in America when the soldiers were said okay, you shoot these people on the boat, they had survived the bombing or whatever, you shoot them anyway, even though they have no defense or anything, you shoot them, but then someone said well, the soldier at that time can actually refuse, because it goes against another principle in the army that you can’t shoot defenseless people.
So, now we do have of course in our society we have a managerial system but we also have spiritual rules. So, if you refuse to chant Hare Krishna when somebody tells you to, then [Laughs] it’s a little bit different [Laughs]. So, generally, of course, spiritual things, we have spiritual authorities, so we follow spiritual authorities. But then if it also contradicts some spiritual principle then we have to question it.
3.) Any statement coming from the mouth of a spiritual master irrespective of management or spiritual instruction, which is not contradicting the scripture is absolute. So, when it is absolute then why a disciple or a junior should not follow the instruction of a senior or a spiritual master whether it is related to management. Then why they are not considered as a Vaishnava aparadha, because the statement is absolute.
So, if it comes to a Guru, then of course we are talking not so much about managerial, we are talking about spiritual instruction. So, if he is a Guru and has no managerial position, he should not give managerial instructions. If he has both roles, he is a Guru and he also is a manager, he can give both types of instructions and generally follow. But we should never consider the managerial instructions even if he is not a Guru but also a Guru to be absolute.
And even as a Guru, yes, he gives spiritual instructions but he is not on the highest level, so there is degrees of absoluteness also even there. So, a Guru may give an instruction on a material subject. He may instruct the disciple, go to college and get an engineering degree but that particular disciple may have no interest in engineering, have no talent in science. So, he can question that instruction, it is not absolute.
4.) Maharaj, if the instruction is about the movement which is a spiritual. So that time anything related to movement instruction is considered as spiritual or not?
Of course everything is spiritual, but nevertheless we are dealing with material objects. So, the Guru may say okay, buy that property and put it in ISKCON’s names, it is hundred crores property, you go out and buy it. But the disciple has no means of making a hundred crores, he has zero money, he hasn’t got an education, what is he supposed to do? So, then he will feel, oh, I am not following the order of Guru. If I don’t follow his order, I am aparadhi. So therefore, he will try to do something to raise a hundred crores of rupees or maybe it will take him five lifetimes, we don’t know, but is it worth it? So, the activities and decisions to do things in ISKCON are all spiritual, but they do involve material things. And therefore, the judgment of that particular Guru on those things may not be perfect all the time.
If the Guru says, you chant Hare Krishna fine, there is no problem with that, it is purely spiritual, nothing to do with material. But if the Guru says, go and build a temple in so and so place, that is a spiritual instruction definitely, but also it has material implications. Other managers may say no, that’s not a good idea it’s a useless place, nobody there, it’s simply a birth place, that’s all, that’s useless, so build it over here where there is plenty of people to preach to. So in that way, these instructions which are so called spiritual may have rather material aspects that we have to consider.
5.) Maharaj in ISKCON movement, Prabhupad’s disciples where Prabhupad is giving instruction, we see Lilamrta, where Prabhupad has given them all kinds of instruction apart from chanting Hare Krishna mantra and all the disciples, almost all took it as a life and soul and they followed the instruction. But those were not related to only spiritual instruction like where he sends the three couples to London from US, young couples and tells them to go and build a temple, start a movement there. So, there we have seen Prabhupad giving instruction both material as well as spiritual and because disciple has taken as life and soul they have been fulfilled, like in the case of Juhu, Prabhupad was the only one who wanted to have that land where all his disciples were not ready for that land, everybody said it’s not a very convenient land, it’s far from the city.
So, there we see those instructions are although it is managerial instruction, Prabhupad being the head of the movement he is giving a managerial instruction, but the disciples have taken it as an instruction, as an absolute statement and they have tried to follow it and they have been successful in that. So when in the case of now, if we say, as Prabhupad says the GBC is his body, whatever GBC tells is the instruction which is coming from him although he is not here physically. So why the next level cannot accept that instruction as the absolute, although it is material?
So, for a devotee on the highest spiritual level like Srila Prabhupad, then, even though the instructions involve material things, then the instructions or the so-called material instructions, we also put on a high level. Those on a lower level are more likely to make mistakes. To help prevent that, then Prabhupad says okay, you make a body of people and they can make the decision rather than one person, so that kind of takes care of that.
So persons below the GBC that could be any manager or any Guru may make individual decisions which may be faulty. And they may even make decisions that are not agreed upon by the GBC and cause plenty of problems also. But the disciples of the Guru will go along with it, even if it is a big mistake, even though there is a lot of money because they are thinking this Guru is absolute. So those mistakes, the judgment or the decisions they make may cause problems, financial and otherwise for ISKCON or for individual devotees. And that’s because the disciple will take the order of Guru as absolute and then he may lose all of his money, his business and so many things because the Guru told him to do something and then he loses everything.
6.) Maharaj, how one should understand the word ‘prayaschitta’ there are different type of sins, there are different type of prayaschittas are mentioned in the Sastras. Now, people can commit more sins and do any type of prayaschitta, they can come out of sins. How can we understand this?
So, the exact prayaschittas are written in the scriptures. A certain type of sin, have a certain prayaschitta, you have to do something for that and there are so many different sins and then there are so many different activities you do and of course there is also degrees of the sin and according to that, then the prayaschitta becomes more extreme, so all that is decided by scripture, then you go to the brahmana, he will tell you which prayaschitta you have to do for a certain sin.
Devotee : Is there prayaschitta only for minimum amount of sins or even for murderers or other people who commit extreme types of sins?
[Laughs] So, the prayaschitta may be death [Laughs]. So it depends on the sin, but even if you don’t do the prayaschitta, you get the sinful reaction and then after that’s over, then you are finished, so that is the ultimate prayaschitta, to bear the result of your sin and suffer [Laughs].
7.) Hare Krishna Maharaj, I have a simple question. As today we had class regarding the offenses and all. How do you understand the other person is getting offended, although your intention is not like that and maybe you are not aware about that. The person felt offended and then he is carrying with him. How do I handle these situations and how to resolve this?
So, the serious aparadha like Vaishnava aparadha becomes serious when you commit the offense with knowledge. If someone becomes offended because we did something and we don’t even know we did it, that we cannot help that. Even that has some reaction. Just as if you accidentally kill an insect when you light a fire or whatever, there is a reaction for that, but it is less. So therefore, we are merely talking about the acts which are done with intention. And with intention means we have some hostility towards that particular person. So those are the Vaishnava aparadhas, that give us big problems.
8.) We chant, we get more bhakti, if we have bhakti, then we have our taste of chanting. So both things are depending upon each other. If we have lesser devotion, due to some reason of anarthas etc, then we lose the taste of chanting. Then bhakti also is getting compromised, it goes round and round. I am having little difficulty to understand. How to understand this and solve this paradox?
So if you have taste, you do bhakti, if you have bhakti then taste increases. If one commits aparadha, taste decreases, so therefore you do less bhakti. And if you do serious aparadha, very little taste or very little bhakti. But of course, performance of bhakti is the only cure for the aparadha. But if we don’t have taste, we don’t do the bhakti, so we don’t get any cure for the aparadha. So that is why the aparadha is so serious, because you end up suffering and losing bhakti completely.
But it is like the person who has jaundice. So because he has jaundice, he cannot taste sweetness of sugar. But sugar is the cure for jaundice, but he doesn’t want to take it, because it tastes bad [Laughs]. So the only way he will take the sugar is if he has intelligence, when he hears the doctor and says the only cure for your jaundice is to take the sugar, even if doesn’t taste good, you should take it. And then with his intelligence he will take it to get cured, but if he doesn’t have intelligence then of course, he won’t do it.
So, with our intelligence, we have no taste or very little taste, but because we know that chanting Hare Krishna will cure the aparadha and give us more taste, so we start chanting without taste. So, we have to struggle but as we continue to chant, then we get a little taste and it becomes easier.
9.) Maharaj, not listening to the superior authority may not be a Vaishnava aparadha, but it’s an aparadha, is it right Maharaj?
Well, as I said, it could be a managerial aparadha [Laughs]. So generally, we do have to follow lines of authority. If everybody says, oh, we don’t need any authorities, we do whatever we want, then there’s no managerial structure at all. So we, generally, we follow the instructions of the senior.
10.) Misunderstanding resulting in divorce amongst initiated husband and wife despite apology tended by. Is it aparadha? Because two Vaishnavas are offended. How to understand?
[Laughs] Basically it is material [Laughs].
11.) Brahmana boy Shringi has committed an offense against Parikshit Maharaj, who is a great Vaishnava. So what is the punishment Shringi got?
So, in a sense, yes because he is a Vaishnava and also repented. But on the material level, his father was insulted by the king and the king should not have done that. So then, he gave this very severe curse. So in one sense, it was justified to some degree. So, we don’t hear in scripture what happened to Shringi. But because, one, he was rash and the punishment was severe and secondly, it was Parikshit who was a great Vaishnava, then he must get some bad reaction.
Devotees : Granthraj Srimad Bhagavatham ki Jai !!! HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj ji Jai !!! Srila Prabhupad ki Jai !!!