Srimad Bhagavatam – 2.2.1 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | ISKCON Chennai | Apr 13, 2026
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 2 Chapter 2 Verse 1.
ŚB 2.2.1
श्रीशुक उवाच
एवं पुरा धारणयात्मयोनि-
र्नष्टां स्मृतिं प्रत्यवरुध्य तुष्टात् ।
तथा ससर्जेदममोघदृष्टि-
र्यथाप्ययात् प्राग् व्यवसायबुद्धि: ॥ १ ॥
śrī-śuka uvāca
evaṁ purā dhāraṇayātma-yonir
naṣṭāṁ smṛtiṁ pratyavarudhya tuṣṭāt
tathā sasarjedam amogha-dṛṣṭir
yathāpyayāt prāg vyavasāya-buddhiḥ
Synonyms
śrī-śukaḥ uvāca — Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said; evam — just in the same way; purā — prior to the manifestation of the cosmos; dhāraṇayā — by such a conception; ātma-yoniḥ — of Brahmājī; naṣṭām — lost; smṛtim — remembrance; pratyavarudhya — by regaining consciousness; tuṣṭāt — because of appeasing the Lord; tathā — thereafter; sasarja — created; idam — this material world; amogha-dṛṣṭiḥ — one who has attained clear vision; yathā — as; apyayāt — created; prāk — as formerly; vyavasāya — ascertained; buddhiḥ — intelligence.
Translation
Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Formerly, prior to the manifestation of the cosmos, Lord Brahmā, by meditating on the virāṭ-rūpa, regained his lost consciousness by appeasing the Lord. Thus he was able to rebuild the creation as it was before.
Purport
The example cited herein of Śrī Brahmājī is one of forgetfulness. Brahmājī is the incarnation of one of the mundane attributes of the Lord. Being the incarnation of the passion mode of material nature, he is empowered by the Lord to generate the beautiful material manifestation. Yet due to his being one of the numerous living entities, he is apt to forget the art of his creative energy. This forgetfulness of the living being — beginning from Brahmā down to the lowest insignificant ant — is a tendency which can be counteracted by meditation on the virāṭ-rūpa of the Lord. This chance is available in the human form of life, and if a human being follows the instruction of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and begins to meditate upon the virāṭ-rūpa, then revival of his pure consciousness and counteraction of the tendency to forget his eternal relationship with the Lord can follow simultaneously. And as soon as this forgetfulness is removed, the vyavasāya-buddhi, as mentioned here and in the Bhagavad-gītā (2.41), follows at once. This ascertained knowledge of the living being leads to loving service to the Lord, which the living being requires. The kingdom of God is unlimited; therefore the number of the assisting hands of the Lord is also unlimited. The Bhagavad-gītā (13.14) asserts that the Lord has His hands, legs, eyes and mouths in every nook and corner of His creation. This means that the expansions of differentiated parts and parcels, called jīvas or living entities, are assisting hands of the Lord, and all of them are meant for rendering a particular pattern of service to the Lord. The conditioned soul, even in the position of a Brahmā, forgets this by the influence of the illusory material energy generated out of false egoism. One can counteract such false egoism by invoking God consciousness. Liberation means getting out of the slumber of forgetfulness and becoming situated in the real loving service of the Lord, as exemplified in the case of Brahmā. The service of Brahmā is the sample of service in liberation distinguished from the so-called altruistic services full of mistakes and forgetfulness. Liberation is never inaction, but service without human mistakes.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj:
So the previous chapter discussed about the Universal form. This form, of course, is inferior to the spiritual form of Paramātmā and Bhagavān. It’s also inferior to Brahman, the impersonal aspect, since Brahman is spiritual and this form is material. However, this Universal form is superior in the sense that it is meditation on a form of the Lord, nothing impersonal. Brahmā meditated on the virat rūpa, not on Brahman. So though Brahman is an aspect of the Lord, it is inferior to the Lord with a form, either Paramātmā or Bhagavān. And though the jñānī and the yogi generally aim to merge in Brahman, the Paramātmā yogi is considered to be superior.
In Bhagavad Gītā, Kṛṣṇa explains that to meditate on something without form by the living entity is very difficult. And thus we find that even the jñānīs, they also recommend people to worship Devatas. That is because, it is difficult for people to concentrate on something without form. However, once a person is able to concentrate on the form of different Devatas, then he should give them all up and simply meditate on Brahman. So the alternative to that is, you can meditate or worship Devatas with material forms, but superior to that, meditate on the Supreme Lord in the form of virat rūpa. And once one is able to meditate on that form of the virat rūpa, then one can meditate on the spiritual form of Paramātmā. So, everything, different types of worship and meditation are mentioned in the Vedic literature. And according to qualification, different worship, meditation are recommended for different people.
We find even Vyasadeva does the same thing. So, for people in Tamo guna, he recommends worshipping, meditating on Shiva. Shiva is in control of Tamo guna, he is also attractive to people in Tamo guna. And thus Vyasadeva wrote six Puranas glorifying Lord Shiva. For people in Rajo guna, Vyasadeva recommends worshipping Brahma. So he wrote six Puranas glorifying Brahma. And for people in Sattva, he recommends worshipping Vishnu and he wrote six Puranas for those people. So, the goal of Vedavyasa is not that, they should simply worship Shiva and get perfection that way or worship Brahma and get perfection that way. By worshipping Lord Shiva, they should become purified and progress to Rajo guna. By worshipping Brahma in Rajo guna, they become purified and eventually they get to Sattva and they can worship Vishnu. And thus, the recommendation for different types of worship and consequently glorification of Shiva and Brahma are not absolute.
However, a person in Tamo guna will believe that the statements there are absolute. And thus, if anyone challenges the supremacy of Lord Shiva, they will quote the Puranas and say, look, Shiva is Bhagavan. And they will quote stories to show how Shiva defeats Vishnu and Brahma. But then, if we go to other places in other Puranas and ultimately to Bhagavatam, we will see contradictory statements. So, when contradictory statements in scripture arise, then we have to resolve the contradiction. And one way of doing that is by making some statements absolute and some statements relative. And thus, we will find the same principle applied to the Vedas. The Karma kanda section of the Vedas glorifies Karma Yoga, Karma kanda, etc., and going to Svarga Loka as absolute. But the Jnana Kanda contradicts that, it gives opposite statement, it says that Svarga Loka is temporary, not absolute. So again, we have to resolve the contrary statements by seeing which statement is absolute and which is relative.
Ultimately of course, we do have hierarchy of strength of proof. So, some will claim, Vedas, Sruti will be the highest proof, if Puranas contradict, we should take Vedas, not Puranas. And this is logical in the sense that the Vedas are the source of the Puranas, the root of the Puranas, etc. However, we will see that within the Puranas and the Smritis and the Pancharatra, there are statements that may contradict some of the Vedic statements, but also confirm some of the Vedic statements. And though Vedavyasa wrote the Puranas for less qualified people, that does not mean that they give different truths from the Vedas. So the Puranas and Itihasa like Mahabharata are not considered less than the Vedas, they are considered to be the fifth Veda.
Vedavyasa wrote the Puranas to explain the Vedas so they cannot be inferior. So we should be able to find the same meaning without contradiction in the Puranas and in the Vedas. Of course, our Acharyas go a step further. And the conclusion is that Srimad Bhagavatam is the final statement of the Puranas. And thus, it is the final statement of the Vedas. So the truths that are concluded in the Bhagavatam will be found in the Vedas, will be found in the Upanishads. However, they will be found in a much clearer form. And thus we take Bhagavatam as the final authority. And the first verse of the Bhagavatam also refers to Vedas and to Brahma Sutras. To show it is the essence of the Vedas and the essence of the Brahma Sutras.
So for this reason, Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Jiva Goswami, and Sanatana Goswami, Rupa Goswami and Baladeva Vidyuabhusana and Vishvanatha Chakravarti generally simply refer to Bhagavatam, they don’t bother with other scriptures at all. However, to support the idea, they will also, in commenting on Bhagavatam, quote from Upanishads, Vedas. So the Bhagavatam presents the final conclusion of everything and therefore it is easiest to understand, so this is recommended for everyone.
But we should also apply the same principle to Bhagavatam. There may appear to be contradictory statements. So this verse says, Brahma meditated on Virat Rupa. From that, he got mercy of the Supreme Lord, he was able to create the universe. So, some would conclude, Brahma is the head of our Sampradaya, we should follow Brahma, we should all meditate on Virat Rupa. However, we should also see other statements in Bhagavatam, we cannot just take one statement. And here in 2nd canto and in 3rd canto, there is whole description of how Brahma saw the actual form of the Lord in the spiritual world also. And thus we should not take isolated statements and come up with some conclusion. Because Bhagavatam is the conclusion of everything, it also glorifies everything. Bhagavatam also glorifies Lord Shiva as Bhagavan. But we have to see all these statements in their particular context.
So, our Acharyas give a very simple principle. The main theme of Bhagavatam is presented in the 1st canto. So that statement is ‘kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam’. Krishna is the supreme form of Bhagavan. And if there are what seems to be contradictory statements to that, they have to be harmonized with that statement. So, if there is glorification of the Virat Rupa or Paramatma or other forms of Bhagavan, fine, but they should be understood in relationship with that main statement, Krishna is the Supreme form. And of course, we can take all these other descriptions of other forms as an ultimately a glorification of Krishna. So, the Universal form, descriptions of the Paramatma form, descriptions of other avatar forms of the Lord, all should be understood to be manifestations from the most perfect form, Krishna. If we find any wonderful qualities in any of these forms, we should find even more wonderful qualities in Krishna. So instead of seeing contradiction, we should ultimately see that everything is supporting this conclusion of Krishna as the Supreme form.
And similarly, though other processes like karma and Varanashrama and jnana and yoga get glorified, ultimately bhakti is supremely glorified. This is the only method by which we can realize Krishna, the Supreme form. And karma yoga, jnana yoga or ashtanga yoga can never give realization of Krishna. So though other processes get glorified, we should be very careful to understand that ultimately the glory goes to bhakti.
Of course, we can take that a step further. And even within bhakti, then final glorification goes to Nama-Sankirtan. So, all types of bhakti are glorified, but ultimately highest glorification goes to Nama-Sankirtan. So with that type of understanding, we should read Srimad Bhagavatam.
Hare Krsna!
Q&A
1) Maharaj, in Kali yuga all the people are short lived, but somehow or the other they get the association of devotees of Lord shiva and they start following the puranas in Tamo guna. Because as life is very short, they start with that particular worship, but the purpose is missing, as you are saying that the purpose of Tamo guna purana is that to come to Rajo guna and then to sattva guna. But they start like this, but unable to come, so it may take many life time for them to come to the sattva guna?
Yeah. Similarly, it will take many lifetimes of doing karma yoga and varnashrama to get from tamo guna to sattva guna. So if you are in tamo guna, then you can worship Shiva. After many lifetimes, you can graduate to worship Brahma, and then finally you get to sattva guna, you worship Vishnu as a Brahmana [Laughs]. So these gradual processes of going from one process to the other, one worship to the other, they are long processes and also not practical in Kali Yuga.
So it is explained, the people of Kali Yuga are not long-lived, so they have very short lifetimes, they can’t even accomplish even worship of Shiva properly [Laughs]. And also, people in Kali Yuga are not very intelligent. So if they are told to worship one thing, they will do that, but they can’t think of anything else. Furthermore, everyone in Kali Yuga is very lazy. So if they learn one thing, they get tired, we cannot learn anything else. And lastly, people of Kali Yuga are very materially attached. So if they get some material result from worshipping Shiva, they will not want to change anything else.
And therefore, Narada Muni advised Vedavyasa, this is not a very good strategy. Better, don’t confuse anybody [Laughs], just give them one object to worship, Krishna, finished. So, just giving one object of worship is a much easier solution.
2) Although Srimad Bhagavatam is the mature fruits of all the Vedic literatures, but even within the Srimad Bhagavatam, there is a contradictory statement. Like, see, in 12th Canto, Sukadeva Goswami tells Parikshit Maharaj that meditation on Brahma, is like fully contradictory. So normally, if someone is not intelligent, he will not be able to take this statement, ‘Oh, here is the final conclusion’.
So, the person who hears or listens to Bhagavatam has to be very attentive. And he has to find the essential conclusions. And if a statement is contrary to that, then he has to inquire, why ?
So, at the end of the Bhagavatam, where Sukadeva says the conclusion is impersonal Brahman, this is very contrary to majority of statements of Bhagavatam which condemns impersonal Brahman and praises worship of Krishna. So, it’s completely contradictory.
So, then the intelligent devotee will understand why. And we see that when Parikshit answers, then he gives us the real conclusion. And then we see that Sukadeva Goswami was just testing him. So, we have to read everything very carefully.
Some of the statements of Bhagavatam are hidden and the meaning may not be apparent unless we examine very closely. So, that is why we do have commentaries, the Acharya’s, to give us clarity in those cases.
3) Hare Krishna Maharaj, Maharaj, Prabhupad quotes Bhagavad Gita here in the 14th verse from the 13th chapter, which talks about all-pervasiveness. So, Prabhupad talks about here that this represents the Jivas. So many hands, legs, whatever. And in this verse, Prabhupad is quoting here it refers to Paramatma, present all over the universe. And these hands and legs refer to his hands and legs. So, the same point, but then Prabhupad is explaining very very differently, here compared to the words that Prabhupada is quoting here.
So, both are true. The Lord pervades everything in the form of Paramatma. But then He also pervades through his other Shaktis. So, even His Bhagiranga Shakti, material energy, pervades everything. So, Krishna says, I am the fragrance in earth and I am the taste in water, etc. These are material things and Shakti of the Lord is there. So, Jiva is superior Shakti of the Lord. So, it also represents the Lord. It’s also His Vibhuti. So, the Lord uses His hands and His eyes through the Jiva [Laughs].
4) Hare Krishna Maharaj, Dandavat Pranams. You just explained that Bhagavatam, we have to listen carefully, analyze and use our intelligence to understand Bhagavatam to come to the right conclusion. But also on the other side, we say in Kali Yuga, nobody is intelligent. So, there is no intelligence there to even analyze Bhagavatam. And also in Bhagavatam, we are saying that the first canto itself, it rejects all the Kaithava dharma, it rejects everything else. So, why not only talk about the chanting of the holy name, why to talk about the Virat Rupa and the Brahman, which is confusing. So, then it looks like there is no way that we can come to the right conclusion, because neither we have the intelligence nor the scripture is straight forward. So, how do we understand this contradiction?
Because people in Kali Yuga are so unqualified, then the Lord gives Nama Sankirtan as the easiest process, that requires least qualification.
And in the example of Ajamila, we see, name even without faith, even without knowledge, he got perfection [Laughs]. So, that is possible, especially if you have no aparadhs. However, generally we talk about practice of pure bhakti, chanting of pure name. So, for that we do need some knowledge. So, that knowledge also is not too complicated. We don’t have to go through a course in Nayaya / logic and study the Brahma Sutras and all the commentaries in order to get that knowledge. In other words, even the knowledge is suitable for people in Kali Yuga. Of course, in studying books like Srimad Bhagavatham which are quite huge and then you may require little more effort. And thus we have summaries, explanations, commentaries – so many things, to make it easier for us. Ultimately, out of Srimad Bhagavatam, at least if we can appreciate the wonderful form, qualities and pastimes of Krishna, that’s one point we should get. And the other is the practice of pure bhakti and pure chanting. So, if we get those two principles straight, then it is simple.
5) Hare Krishna Maharaj, Maharaj you have mentioned whatever is there in Srimad Bhagavatham its there in vedas also. So, we see Srimad Bhagavatham emphasizing on personal ascept of Lord. But vedas has more emphasis on impersonal feature. So, how can we say this Maharaj?
If we go to the Samhita section of the Vedas, there – majority of praise is of Vishnu. So, it is personal. If we go to the Upanishads, some of the Upanishads appear to be impersonal. There is actually a whole section of Upanishads called Vaishnav Upanishads.
There is a Vishnu Upanishad, Krishna Upanishad, Garuda Upanishad, Gopichandan Upanishad, Gopala tapani upanisad [Laughs]. There are so many different Upanishads there. And then among some Upanishads which Shankaracharya has chosen to represent impersonal Brahman, even those, some of them are personal. For instance, in Chandogya Upanishad, there is a description of Vishnu there [Laughs].
6.) Maharaj, in the worship of demigods. For example, if a person is worshipping Lord Shiva and he left his body, so at the next time, in his next life, does the worship starts from worshipping Shiva? Like nehābhikrama-nāśo ’sti even, that applies here also for the demigod worship?
Well, as Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita, you worship Devatas as you go to Devatas, you worship Krishna as you go to Krishna, you worship ghosts as you go to ghosts. So, generally, you continue, until you realize that particular form or go to that particular planet.
7.) So, in the 6th chapter of Bhagavad Gita, prāpya puṇya-kṛtāṁ lokān uṣitvā śāśvatīḥ samāḥ śucīnāṁ śrīmatāṁ gehe yoga-bhraṣṭo ’bhijāyate [BG_6.41]. So, that means, that shloka is applied to all, even the demigod worship also. This yoga brasta, you know, that someone worships Shiva. We can say that he is one of the followers of Shiva, but somehow or the other he cannot get perfection. So, what I am trying to say is that in this śucīnāṁ śrīmatāṁ gehe yoga-bhraṣṭo ’bhijāyate [BG_6.41], that shloka is applied to even demigod worship also ?
That’s particular for yogis. So, Devata worship is not necessarily for yogis. That’s particular for yogis [Laughs]. So, a person who does spiritual activity, not material activity like worship Deva does, then generally that spiritual influence will be there in their next life somehow or other. So, because they are practicing something spiritual, that can continue in next life. And even if they fall from the practice, it’s not a problem, they can continue.
As far as Devatas are concerned, of course that’s material. And as we see, material things are more subject to change and destruction. Nevertheless, we can expect, that if a person is attached to worshipping Indra in one lifetime, he may be attached to him in next lifetime or next lifetime, whatever. But such worship is also affected by karmas. So, if there is sinful activity, then that gets negated.
8.) Question is not audible.
Shiva, of course, is another form of the Lord. So, he is a special case. Brahma is a great devotee and head of our Sampradaya. So, he is also a little bit of special case [Laughs].
9.) Hare Krishna Maharaj. Kindly accept my respectful obeisances. Maharaj, while answering to one previous question about lack of intelligence to understand Bhagavatam in this Kaliyuga, you quoted Ajamila. My question is whether Ajamila calling Narayana was in a pure state because there was a slight material change of fear in his calling. So, how to understand that?
So, his calling out to Narayana had nothing to do with the Supreme Lord at all. There was no faith. So, no question of being pure or impure [Laughs]. It was completely no thought of the Lord [Laughs]. But, even without remembrance of the Lord, the name attracts the Lord.
10.) Maharaj, lot of people approach demigod not necessarily for some material gain. They also worship with unalloyed. I mean, I don’t have anything. So, I just want you. So, we have for Krishna same thing they have for demigod. So, what will be their destination?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: So, your question is that you approach a devata with unconditional love ?
Devotee: Yeah.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Well, whether that’s possible or not is a thing, because it may look like unconditional, but probably it isn’t when you analyze it. If such a case were to arise and the devata is genuine, they would inspire them to worship the Supreme Lord.
Devotees: [Claps] Jai !!
11.) Hare Krishna Maharaj. We understand that Shiva tattva and Lord Shiva’s position is higher than Brahma’s position. So, how to understand that one first comes to Tamo guna after meditating on Lord Shiva and progresses to meditate on Lord Brahma in Rajo guna?
So, Shiva is also not a Jiva. He is a form of the Supreme Lord. But he manifests significantly less qualities than Vishnu. So, we put him in a lower category. So, Shiva is not a jiva. His particular function in the material world is to supervise Tamo guna. He is also in charge of ahankara and anger and so many material qualities. Also incharge of all the people in Tamo guna. So, it is natural for these people to worship him. Shiva himself is not affected by Tamo guna. Nevertheless, people in Tamo guna are attracted to him, because he looks as, if he is also Tamasic.
Devotees: Thank you Maharaj. Grantharaj Srimad Bhagavatham Ki Jai!!!
HH Bhanuswami Maharaj Ki Jai!!! HDG AC Bhakti Vedanta Swami Srila Prabhupad Ki Jai !!