Srimad Bhagavatam – 2.3.11 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | ISKCON Chennai | May 31, 2026
ŚB 2.3.11
एतावानेव यजतामिह नि:श्रेयसोदय: ।
भगवत्यचलो भावो यद् भागवतसंगत: ॥ ११ ॥
etāvān eva yajatām
iha niḥśreyasodayaḥ
bhagavaty acalo bhāvo
yad bhāgavata-saṅgataḥ
Synonyms
etāvān — all these different kinds of worshipers; eva — certainly; yajatām — while worshiping; iha — in this life; niḥśreyasa — the highest benediction; udayaḥ — development; bhagavati — unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead; acalaḥ — unflinching; bhāvaḥ — spontaneous attraction; yat — which; bhāgavata — the pure devotee of the Lord; saṅgataḥ — association.
Translation
All the different kinds of worshipers of multidemigods can attain the highest perfectional benediction, which is spontaneous attraction unflinchingly fixed upon the Supreme Personality of Godhead, only by the association of the pure devotee of the Lord.
Purport
All living entities in different statuses of life within the material creation, beginning from the first demigod, Brahmā, down to the small ant, are conditioned under the law of material nature, or the external energy of the Supreme Lord. The living entity in his pure state is conscious of the fact that he is a part and parcel of the Lord, but when he is thrown into the material world on account of his desire to lord it over material energy, he becomes conditioned by the three modes of material nature and thus struggles for existence for the highest benefit. This struggle for existence is something like following the will-o’-the-wisp under the spell of material enjoyment. All plans for material enjoyment, either by worship of different demigods as described in the previous verses of this chapter or by modernized advancement of scientific knowledge without the help of God or demigod, are illusory only, for despite all such plans for happiness, the conditioned living being within the compass of material creation can never solve the problems of life, namely birth, death, old age and disease. The history of the universe is full of such planmakers, and many kings and emperors come and go, leaving a planmaking story only. But the prime problems of life remain unsolved despite all endeavors by such planmakers.
Actually human life is meant for making a solution to the problems of life. One can never solve such problems by satisfying the different demigods, by different modes of worship, or by so-called scientific advancement in knowledge without the help of God or the demigods. Apart from the gross materialists, who care very little either for God or for the demigods, the Vedas recommend worship of different demigods for different benefits, and so the demigods are neither false nor imaginary. The demigods are as factual as we are, but they are much more powerful due to their being engaged in the direct service of the Lord in managing different departments in the universal government. The Bhagavad-gītā affirms this, and the different planets of the demigods are mentioned there, including the one of the supreme demigod, Lord Brahmā. The gross materialists do not believe in the existence of God or the demigods. Nor do they believe that different planets are dominated by different demigods. They are creating a great commotion about reaching the closest celestial body, Candraloka, or the moon, but even after much mechanical research they have only very scanty information of this moon, and in spite of much false advertisement for selling land on the moon, the puffed-up scientists or gross materialists cannot live there, and what to speak of reaching the other planets, which they are unable even to count. However, the followers of the Vedas have a different method of acquiring knowledge. They accept the statements of the Vedic literatures as authority in toto, as we have already discussed in Canto One, and therefore they have full and reasonable knowledge of God and demigods and of their different residential planets situated within the compass of the material world and beyond the limit of the material sky. The most authentic Vedic literature, accepted by the great Indian ācāryas like Śaṅkara, Rāmānuja, Madhva, Viṣṇusvāmī, Nimbārka and Caitanya and studied by all important personalities of the world, is the Bhagavad-gītā, in which the worship of the demigods and their respective residential planets are mentioned. The Bhagavad-gītā (9.25) affirms:
yānti deva-vratā devān
pitṝn yānti pitṛ-vratāḥ
bhūtāni yānti bhūtejyā
yānti mad-yājino ’pi mām
“The worshipers of demigods reach the respective planets of the demigods, and the worshipers of forefathers reach the planets of the forefathers. The gross materialist remains in the different material planets, but the devotees of the Lord reach the kingdom of God.”
We also have information from the Bhagavad-gītā that all the planets within the material world, including Brahmaloka, are but temporarily situated, and after a fixed period they are all annihilated. Therefore the demigods and their followers are all annihilated at the period of devastation, but one who reaches the kingdom of God gets a permanent share in eternal life. That is the verdict of Vedic literature. The worshipers of the demigods have one facility more than the unbelievers due to their being convinced of the Vedic version, by which they can get information of the benefit of worshiping the Supreme Lord in the association of the devotees of the Lord. The gross materialist, however, without any faith in the Vedic version, remains eternally in darkness, driven by a false conviction on the basis of imperfect experimental knowledge, or so-called material science, which can never reach into the realm of transcendental knowledge.
Therefore unless the gross materialists or the worshipers of the temporary demigods come in contact with a transcendentalist like the pure devotee of the Lord, their attempts are simply a waste of energy. Only by the grace of the divine personalities, the pure devotees of the Lord, can one achieve pure devotion, which is the highest perfection of human life. Only a pure devotee of the Lord can show one the right way of progressive life. Otherwise both the materialistic way of life, without any information of God or the demigods, and the life engaged in the worship of demigods, in pursuit of temporary material enjoyments, are different phases of phantasmagoria. They are nicely explained in the Bhagavad-gītā also, but the Bhagavad-gītā can be understood in the association of pure devotees only, and not by the interpretations of politicians or dry philosophical speculators.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj:
So in the previous verse it was stated that, somehow or other one should worship Bhagavan. This verse says, well you can also worship Devatas, but ultimately you should worship Bhagavan. But in order for that to happen, in other words finally to worship Bhagavan, one has to get association of devotees. Therefore, the Bhagavatam is not rejecting the worship of Devatas. Because it is in the Vedas, but at the same time it is saying that his worshippers should come to devotional service.
However to come to devotional service from worshipping demigods is not automatic. It requires the association of persons practicing pure bhakti. So therefore, we will find in the Vedic literature that, the respect of the devotee is always emphasized. Now we can ask a question, well in the vedic literatures it is all recommending – karma kanda and worship of devatas, then again the same, in the vedas are also same, higher than that is worship of the Lord. So the people are following the vedic literature, they should also read that, and then will worship the Lord. So it looks like it is automatic. So this may happen. But it would be very rare. It is very difficult for people to go through all the Vedic literature and come to the highest conclusion. So people need some guidance to understand what is said in the Vedic literature. So the guidance will be given by someone who knows the conclusion. And those who know the conclusion are the devotees of the Lord. So therefore it requires the mercy of the devotees of the Lord for a person to advance beyond the worship of Devatas.
Of course Bhagavatam emphasizes giving proper respect to the devotees. But why do we respect the devotees? Similarly we worship Guru. Why do we worship Guru? So if we look carefully we see the reason we do this worship and respect is, because we get knowledge. The original idea of giving respect comes from the Vedas. So the Vedas have knowledge. We have to learn the Vedas. How do we learn the Vedas ? We have to go to the Gurukul. And what happens in the Gurukul? A teacher, teaches us the Vedas. And of course the Gurus may teach Karma-kanda because, that is part of the Vedas. But they should also teach Upanishads and we understand that higher than Karma is Jnana and Bhakti. So they do not learn Vedas on their own. They learn from a teacher. And to learn from the teacher then they have to give proper respect. So they have to give respect in order to learn and also once they have learned, they give respect out of gratitude. Of course that is Vedas.
So then we come to Bhakti. So of course Bhakti is a little freer than study of the Vedas. You can only learn the Vedas unless you are three upper castes. And you have to take Vedic Samskarsa -Upanayanam Samskara and get Mantra which is Vedic Diksha, which you get from your father. So because the Vedic Mantra, the Gayatri is the sum of the Vedas in one sense, the father is giving you the Vedas. And so father is respected for that. But to expand the Gayatri Mantra and learn all the Vedas then you have other teachers and you give respect to them. So in the field of Bhakti, of course then we discard all the Karma Kanda and Jnana Kanda etc. and we just end up with Bhakti. But there are also scriptures for that. And for us the Bhagavatam is the main scripture. But again if you just read the scripture you may not come up with the right conclusions. And thus we need a teacher for learning Bhagavatam.
So to learn Bhagavatam does not require to get Upanayanam and be an upper varna or anything. But it does require the teacher to accept you, to give you the meaning. So to learn Bhagavatam has less restrictions than learning the Vedas. You don’t need special mantra, before you start learning Bhagavatam. And hearing Bhagavatam, studying Bhagavatam is open to everybody, regardless of varna or ashram or anything. So when we learn the Bhagavatam, then again we have to give respect. And if we learn properly then we can also impart the same meaning. And in this way we trace a parampara of teaching. So this is what we call the Siksha Parampara. So this is very important, because it preserves the actual conclusion of Bhagavatam. So we learn about Bhakti and how to worship the Lord from these devotees. So therefore, we give respect. So this is the system set up by our Acharyas.
Of course in one sense it’s not separate from the Vedas, because it’s the same meaning. But the conclusion is more direct. So this verse, here is emphasizing the fact, that ultimately the only way that we get to the process of pure Bhakti is through these devotees who practice pure Bhakti. So we do not automatically progress from Karma Kanda to Bhakti. Of course one could also practice Jnana. The only way one can get from Jnana to Bhakti is also devotee association. So in this way, the Bhagavatam establishes a conclusion and the devotees are the ones who understand that properly and they can communicate that to others.
Of course we can always object and say well Vedavyasa wrote Bhagavatam as a conclusion for everyone. So why can’t we just read Bhagavatam and get the meaning directly. And certainly that is true. The Bhagavatam is much clearer in bringing about the conclusion than we have in all the Vedas. However the Bhagavatam also is a little bit tricky. So in the first canto, Bhagavatam is compared to Mohini Avatar. So Mohini Avatar means of course bewildering. So she bewildered the demons in order to get the nectar. And then she took the nectar and gave it to the Devatas. So Bhagavatam is like Mohini. The demons don’t get the nectar. But it bestows it to the devotees. So this means that if you approach Bhagavatam with no qualification and no Bhakti, you will get the wrong meaning. And you may think this is the actual meaning but it isn’t. That’s illusion, bewildering. And if one has devotion and one reads, one gets the proper meaning. So it is the devotee that helps the person studying Bhagavatam to get the proper devotion, so he can understand properly.
So in this way the Bhagavatam is not independent of the devotees. And the devotees are not independent of Bhagavatam. The devotee is respected, because he is giving the knowledge of the Bhagavatam. And the Bhagavatam gives the proper message when it is given through the devotee. So this is the recognized process, by which knowledge is actually transmitted. So whether it is Vedas or Bhagavatam, same process is there. And this operates universally throughout the days and lifetime of Lord Brahma. Along with that, we may have a Diksha Parampara. But that is specifically for getting mantras. But Bhagavatam does not depend on those mantras. So it operates differently from Vedic system which depends on the mantra given by the father. And thus the emphasis is upon the Shiksha, rather than the Diksha. And we will see that repeatedly illustrated throughout the Bhagavatam.
So in the last line it talks about the ‘Bhagavata Sanga’. So association with devotees, what does that mean? Of course living together is ok. But when we talk about Sadhu Sanga, we don’t just mean living together. We actually mean, you get some knowledge. So somehow or other we have to get the knowledge of Bhagavatam. Therefore, we associate with devotees.
Hare Krsna !
Q & A:
1.) Maharaj, you explained in the beginning, that those who worship the demigods, unless they get association of devotees, they cannot become devotees. But we see there are some people, who worship demigods, simultaneously they worship Lord also. So it is like a mixed, we can say – worship of Supreme Lord and demigods. But still although there is some kind of Bhakti, but still they don’t become devotee.
It is said you can worship all the devatas, but if you dont worship Supreme Lord Vishnu or Krsna, also you wont get the results. So in one sense they are devotees because they are also worshipping but we don’t call them devotees or Vaishnavas because it is a minor limb or Anga of their procedure. And it is not pure worship.
So when we talk about coming to devotional service through devotee association, here it says ‘acalah bhava’. So it should be fixed and it should be pure Bhakti, not mixed Bhakti. So to get that level of pure Bhakti as a major process, then we need that association.
2.) Second question is, the meaning of the Vedas is not direct. It is indirect meaning. Whereas the meaning of the Bhagavatam is direct. Although the meaning of the Bhagavatam is direct, still we need devotees to get the meaning. Similarly, to get the meaning of the Vedas also, still there is need of those who study the Vedas. See, what I feel is, because both are difficult to really get the original meaning. So the question is, although the meaning of the Vedas is also there, the meaning of the Bhagavatam is also there, unless the person is not connected to the Supreme Lord, not the devotee, we cannot get the real meaning. That’s what I am trying to say. Bhagavatam is also indirect. Although it is directly for the devotees, if they don’t approach the devotees, it is indirect.
So Vedas are more merciful by giving directions to humanity, but there are restrictions. And it is more difficult to understand. Bhagavatam has less restrictions, easier to understand. Of course, we can say, well, there should be no restrictions. Everybody should understand, that is universal. So of course, we do have that form in Nama Sankirtan.
However, if we take scripture itself, there is always some qualification. So the qualification for Bhakti is simply faith. And so the same for Bhagavatam. But then, because it consists of words and whatever, we need some guidance to get the proper meaning. So the nature of scripture itself, whether it is Vedic or Bhagavatam, is that it is also sometimes indirect. So we may not get the meaning directly spoken. This is called Paroksha-Vada.
And Krishna tells Uddhava that the Rishis like Paroksha Vada. They don’t like speaking directly. And then Krishna also says, I also like this [Laughs]. So don’t expect Krishna or the great sages to always speak directly. They also have some way, they hide things. So though Bhagavatam has less restrictions and whatever, less hidden than Vedas still, there is some aspects which will be Paroksha Vada. So how to get that understanding is to get it from a person who actually has great devotion and knows the real meaning. So they can explain all the meanings.
3.) Though if a person who is constantly associating with pure devotee, if that person doesn’t have any capacity to receive and follow the instructions of the pure devotee or he might not have the right attitude. So how to get that right attitude or how to get that receiving capacity of following his instructions ?
So there is a certain point at which one becomes qualified. And before that one is not qualified. So it is like you have your exam to get into college and there is a certain pass mark. What is it? 60, 70, whatever it is. What is the mark? 60 something? Of course it varies probably with the college or university. IIT may have to have 85 or something [Laughs]. And if you get two points less, you are not qualified [Laughs]. You choose another college [Laughs].
So bhakti also has qualification. So one qualification, of course is not too much material attachment. And the other is, you should have attraction for the topics of Krishna and have faith in them. So if the faith is less and attraction to material enjoyment is more, then that is not qualified. So for such a person to practice bhakti is probably very difficult. So of course by some sort of struggle with practice and over time, then he may come up to qualification. Just like people, they fail the exam, but they take five times and after that they pass finally [Laughs]. So no one is permanently disqualified from bhakti. But to begin seriously practicing and steadily practicing, then we have to have that certain qualification.
4.) Maharaj, you have mentioned about the respect to the devotees and worship the Gurus. So how do we develop this gratitude towards our guru? Because once this gratitude, the gratefulness comes into a person and he may take up the instructions very easily. He can do whatever the guru wants. So how do we develop this gratitude towards guru or devotees?
So this can develop with the development of bhakti. But to begin bhakti, of course with faith and a little bit of devotion. Consequently, devotion to guru and devotees again is going to be little. But the more we practice bhakti and advance in bhakti of course, then our devotion can increase. With that increased devotion to Krishna, then we can realize the significance of getting that knowledge from devotees and guru.
5.) Hare Krsna Maharaj, Dandavat Pranams. Maharaj in the past few classes, Maharaj is saying about which one we should worship prominently. Radha Krishna is the prominent one according to Bhagavatam. But in our temple, we have twelve personalities like Radha Krishna, Lalita, Vishaka, Gaura Nitai, and Jagannath, Baladeva, Subadra. Then how do we understand, in this way we have many altars and many different personalities of Godhead. But Bhagavatam says Krishna is supreme, prominent and our focus should be on Radha Krishna worship. How do we understand this Maharaj?
We have to devote ourselves to Krishna. And Of course we have Krishna, then we have Radha. Radha is there, who is serving Krishna, that is the secondary form. Then you can have the sakhis also and then we have more forms, but they are again secondary forms. So Krishna is the object of worship and he is supported by all of his devotees.
So we have Krishna, but we have also different forms of Krishna. And of course our primary form of Krishna is Caitanya Mahaprabhu. So we approach Radha and Krishna through Caitanya Mahaprabhu. So in one sense Lord Caitanya and Krishna are non-different. If we worship Lord Caitanya, then we realize Radha Krishna. So same goal. So in this way these forms we have are non-different. Again Jagannath is again, non-different from Krishna.
So if we have other forms of the Lord then it becomes more complicated. We have Ramachandra, we have Hayagriva or Varaha etc. Then it is more complex.
6.) Without taking initiation, if one chants, following four regulative principles and reading Prabhupada’s books, then how much he takes benefits from this process?
So definitely we chant the holy name, we take association of devotees, we follow other devotional principles. This is the teaching of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, by which we get Prema. So association of devotees is here that we learn the meaning of Bhagavatam from devotees. Related to that, we may have a Diksha Guru who may also give us teachings in that sense there is Sangam.
7.) In the beginning of Bhagavatam, it is said that, ‘nārāyaṇaṁ namaskṛtya naraṁ caiva narottamam devīṁ sarasvatīṁ vyāsaṁ..’ so it also includes one should offer respects to Sarasvati devi before reading Bhagavatam, she is also one of the demigod, so why it is recommended that we should also offer respects to Sarasvati devi before reading Bhagavatam ?
So I think it is explained that, there is the respects to Narayan meaning Narayan Rishi and Arjuna, because he was the deity of Vedavyas. By Saraswati, usually when we hear that word we are thinking of the material Saraswati who gives material knowledge.
However if we are learning Bhagavatam, we are not applying to a material Saraswati, we are applying to a spiritual Saraswati [Laughs]. So nothing objectionable to that.
8.) How demigod worshippers can get the blessings of Krishna, will they also lead to Lord Krishna or they need some special blessings to reach to Lord Krishna ?
That’s the answer here, in this verse – by association of devotees.
9.) Maharaj, you mentioned that Siksha is more important than Diksha. Diksha is not mandatory. But in ISKCON, Diksha disciples are given more respect than non-initiated devotees. So how should we understand this?
So this is some convention in ISKCON. Of course, there may be a convention in many organizations. So because initiation is a formal ceremony, then it has a certain status. So it is a convenient mechanism of separating the more serious from the less serious devotees.
Though it is convenience, it also has its negative aspects. And that is that Diksha can simply become a materialistic position or title. And it also loses the main meaning of taking a Guru, that is to get knowledge. So as I mentioned here, the main emphasis in Bhagavatam is transmission of knowledge, not of mantras.
10.) Maharaj, while we do deity worship, is there any specific dimensions which the deity should have? Is there any restrictions in the dimensions of the deity? Or can we worship with the photo of the Lord? Is it more than enough?
Yeah, so deity worship has no rules that the deity has to be so big or whatever. The main goal is that, it provides a focus for our service. Scripture says the form can be made out of metal or wood or even paint. You can have a painting that can also be a form or even mind, mental form [Laughs]. So you can serve in all these forms.
Devotees: Grantharaj Srimad Bhagavatam ki jai!!! HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj ki jai!!! Srila Prabhupada ki jai!!!