Srimad Bhagavatam 11.5.32 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | ISKCON Chennai | 22 September 2026
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 vāsudevāya
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 11 Chapter 5 Verse 32.
ŚB 11.5.32
कृष्णवर्णं त्विषाकृष्णं साङ्गोपाङ्गास्त्रपार्षदम् ।
यज्ञै: सङ्कीर्तनप्रायैर्यजन्ति हि सुमेधस: ॥ ३२ ॥
kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇaṁ
sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam
yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair
yajanti hi su-medhasaḥ
Synonyms
kṛṣṇa-varṇam — repeating the syllables kṛṣ-ṇa; tviṣā — with a luster; akṛṣṇam — not black (golden); sa-aṅga — along with associates; upa-aṅga — servitors; astra — weapons; pārṣadam — confidential companions; yajñaiḥ — by sacrifice; saṅkīrtana-prāyaiḥ — consisting chiefly of congregational chanting; yajanti — they worship; hi — certainly; su-medhasaḥ — intelligent persons.
Translation
In the Age of Kali, intelligent persons perform congregational chanting to worship the incarnation of Godhead who constantly sings the names of Kṛṣṇa. Although His complexion is not blackish, He is Kṛṣṇa Himself. He is accompanied by His associates, servants, weapons and confidential companions.
Purport
This same verse is quoted by Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā, Chapter Three, verse 52. His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda has given the following commentary on this verse. “This text is from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.5.32). Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī has explained this verse in his commentary on the Bhāgavatam known as the Krama-sandarbha, wherein he says that Lord Kṛṣṇa also appears with a golden complexion. That golden Lord Kṛṣṇa is Lord Caitanya, who is worshiped by intelligent men in this age. That is confirmed in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam by Garga Muni, who said that although the child Kṛṣṇa was blackish, He also appears in three other colors — red, white and yellow. He exhibited His white and red complexions in the Satya and Tretā ages respectively. He did not exhibit the remaining color, yellow-gold, until He appeared as Lord Caitanya, who is known as Gaurahari.
“Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī explains that kṛṣṇa-varṇam means Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya. Kṛṣṇa-varṇam and Kṛṣṇa Caitanya are equivalent. The name Kṛṣṇa appears with both Lord Kṛṣṇa and Lord Caitanya Kṛṣṇa. Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but He always engages in describing Kṛṣṇa and thus enjoying transcendental bliss by chanting and remembering His name and form. Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself appears as Lord Caitanya to preach the highest gospel. Varṇayati means ‘utters’ or ‘describes.’ Lord Caitanya always chants the holy name of Kṛṣṇa and describes it also, and because He is Kṛṣṇa Himself, whoever meets Him will automatically chant the holy name of Kṛṣṇa and later describe it to others. He injects one with transcendental Kṛṣṇa consciousness, which merges the chanter in transcendental bliss. In all respects, therefore, He appears before everyone as Kṛṣṇa, either by personality or by sound. Simply by seeing Lord Caitanya one at once remembers Lord Kṛṣṇa. One may therefore accept Him as viṣṇu-tattva. In other words, Lord Caitanya is Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself.
“Sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam further indicates that Lord Caitanya is Lord Kṛṣṇa. His body is always decorated with ornaments of sandalwood and with sandalwood paste. By His superexcellent beauty He subdues all the people of the age. In other descents the Lord sometimes used weapons to defeat the demoniac, but in this age the Lord subdues them with His all-attractive figure as Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī explains that His beauty is His astra, or weapon, to subdue the demons. Because He is all-attractive, it is to be understood that all the demigods lived with Him as His companions. His acts were uncommon and His associates wonderful. When He propagated the saṅkīrtana movement, He attracted many great scholars and ācāryas, especially in Bengal and Orissa. Lord Caitanya is always accompanied by His best associates like Lord Nityānanda, Advaita, Gadādhara and Śrīvāsa.
“Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī cites a verse from the Vedic literature that says that there is no necessity of performing sacrificial demonstrations or ceremonial functions. He comments that instead of engaging in such external, pompous exhibitions, all people, regardless of caste, color or creed, can assemble together and chant Hare Kṛṣṇa to worship Lord Caitanya. Kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇam indicates that prominence should be given to the name Kṛṣṇa. Lord Caitanya taught Kṛṣṇa consciousness and chanted the name of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, to worship Lord Caitanya, everyone should together chant the mahā-mantra — Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. To propagate worship in churches, temples or mosques is not possible because people have lost interest in that. But anywhere and everywhere, people can chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. Thus worshiping Lord Caitanya, they can perform the highest activity and fulfill the highest religious purpose of satisfying the Supreme Lord.
“Śrīla Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, a famous disciple of Lord Caitanya, said: ‘The principle of transcendental devotional service having been lost, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya has appeared to deliver again the process of devotion. He is so kind that He is distributing love of Kṛṣṇa. Everyone should be attracted more and more to His lotus feet, as humming bees are attracted to a lotus flower.’”
The incarnation of Caitanya Mahāprabhu is also described in the Śrī Viṣṇu-sahasra-nāma, which appears in Chapter 189 of the Dāna-dharma-parva of Mahābhārata. Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī has quoted this reference as follows: suvarṇa-varṇo hemāṅgo varāṅgaś candanāṅgadī. “In His early pastimes He appears as a householder with a golden complexion. His limbs are beautiful, and His body, smeared with the pulp of sandalwood, seems like molten gold.” He has also quoted, sannyāsa-kṛc chamaḥ śānto niṣṭhā-śānti-parāyaṇaḥ: “In His later pastimes He accepts the sannyāsa order, and He is equipoised and peaceful. He is the highest abode of peace and devotion, for He silences the impersonalist nondevotees.”
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj:
So this is a famous verse which we often quote as proof that scriptures speak of Caitanya Mahaprabhu as the Avatar in Kali Yuga, the Yuga Avatar. This of course is sometimes contested by some persons. And we cannot just claim anybody as an Avatar without some scriptural reference. So if we say that Lord Caitanya is the Kali Yuga Avatar, we should have evidence of that also. So this is one of the main verses that is often quoted.
This verse comes in a series of verses describing the Yuga Avatars for Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dwapara Yuga and Kali Yuga. And thus this particular verse is actually describing the Yuga Avatar. In describing the Avatars, the scriptures will give the name, the complexion and the activities of the particular Avatar. So in this way there is some way of identifying who is the actual Avatar.
So this particular verse indicates the complexion of the Lord and His activities. So His complexion is akrishna. So Krishna means black, akrishna means not black or opposite of black. In other words He is pale in complexion. At the same time it says Krishna varnam, He is in the class of Krishna. In other words He is non-different from Krishna Himself. So if Krishna is Swayam Bhagavan, Caitanya Mahaprabhu is also Swayam Bhagavan. Another way of interpreting this word varna is to mean syllables. So one who chants the syllables Krishna, he is described as this Avatar. In other words the Avatar is always chanting Krishna’s names. Usually the Kali Yuga avatar is black. So here in our particular Yuga He is called akrishna, the opposite, He is not black.
The usual Kali Yuga avatar is a Shaktyavesh avatar because the Lord should be Tri-Yuga. He should not appear in Kali Yuga. But this verse says no, He is same class as Krishna. So He is not a Shaktyavesh avatar. So this form who is not black but pale in complexion and same as Krishna is surrounded by various sorts of devotees. So we see that Caitanya Mahaprabhu is always described in the company of different devotees. And then in the last two lines His activity is described.
So the intelligent people worship Him through Nama Sankirtana. And of course it is well known that Yuga Dharma for Kali Yuga is Sankirtana. So in this way we have a nice description of a particular avatar. And His main activity is Sankirtana. And He is not black in complexion but the opposite, very pale in complexion. Not only is He doing Kirtan but it is Kirtan of Krishna’s names.
So if we look around for suitable candidates we find that Caitanya Mahaprabhu is the obvious choice. So He is recognized as the main propagator of Nama Sankirtana. Of course there is another verse in the 10th canto which also indicates Caitanya Mahaprabhu. When Gargamuni came to do the Namakarana for Krishna and Balarama then he recited one verse. And he describes the different Yuga avatars. Now of course he is talking about Krishna but he describes the other avatars. So he talks about the white one, the red one and the yellow one. And now we have the Krishna one [Laughs], Syama. So in other words the yellow one has to refer to Kali Yuga. Why? Because the white one is obviously Satya Yuga. The red one is Treta Yuga. And then he is talking about Krishna and then the other one is Kali Yuga obviously. So the Kali Yuga avatar will be yellow or golden. So in this way we have two verses in the Srimad Bhagavatam indicating the Caitanya Mahaprabhu as the Kali Yuga avatar.
Of course other Puranas will also describe the different Yuga avatars including the Kali Yuga avatar doing Kirtan. But they may not be so specific. Our Acharyas often also quote from the Vishnu Sahasranama. And there it also describes two verses that describe Caitanya Mahaprabhu in His Grhastha life and His Sannyasa life. So one verse describes Him as hemanga, having golden limbs. He is very beautiful and He has sandalwood on His body. Another verse describes the Supreme Lord as sannyasa krt, one who takes Sannyasa. This of course is quite rare for avatars. We don’t usually see them taking Sannyasa. We have some avatars who are renounced like Nara Narayana. But we don’t see one who takes Sannyasa. So then this is used to show that Lord Caitanya is also mentioned in the Vishnu Sahasranama. These two verses from the Vishnu Sahasranama of course do not identify the time of His appearance, they are just names of the Supreme Lord. So therefore we rely mainly on the verses from the Srimad Bhagavatam. So thus the Srimad Bhagavatam not only indicates Krishna as the supreme object of worship, it also indicates that Caitanya Mahaprabhu is non-different from Krishna. The importance of this is that whoever the Kali Yuga avatar is, they propagate Nama Sankirtana.
So in all the different thousand Kali Yugas in the day of Brahma, there is an avatar propagating Nama Sankirtana, but He is black. So in our particular Yuga cycle, after the appearance of Krishna in Dwapara Yuga, we have Caitanya Mahaprabhu in golden color in Kali Yuga. And what type of Kirtan He does? Name of Krishna.
So the question may be asked, why does Krishna have to appear in Kali Yuga? Because we have usually Shaktyavesh avatars coming. Why do we have to have Krishna Himself coming as Caitanya Mahaprabhu? All the other 999 Kali Yuga avatars are Shaktyavesh avatars [Laughs]. So it’s related to Krishna. Because Krishna appears once in the day of Brahma, in the 28th cycle of Vaivasvata Manvantara. After that, Caitanya Mahaprabhu appears. And one of His missions is to get everyone to worship Krishna through chanting Krishna’s name. However, there is another purpose. Not only people should worship Krishna, they should worship Radha and Krishna.
So it is described that Krishna Himself comes in Kali Yuga with the mood of Radha. So He is like a combination of Radha and Krishna. So in this combined form of Radha and Krishna as Caitanya Mahaprabhu, He very suitably will preach worship of Radha and Krishna. And thus, He does not just utter the name of Krishna, He also utters the name of Radha. And therefore we say Hare Krishna. Of course Hare can also indicate Hari. So Hari is the name of the Lord. And when we call out to Hari, we say Hare. However, Hara is a feminine form and when we call out to Hara, it also becomes Hare. So who is Hara? The consort of Hari. And therefore that means Radha. So when we call out to Radha as Hara, it becomes Hare. So thus Lord Caitanya encourages everyone to chant the names of Radha and Krishna, not just Krishna. So by chanting these particular names, then one can realize Radha and Krishna. So though Radha and Krishna are the rarest realization, still Caitanya Mahaprabhu presents that to the unqualified people of Kali Yuga. And therefore He is called most merciful.
Krishna is often described as very sweet, madhurya. But we don’t describe Caitanya Mahaprabhu as madhurya, we describe Him as audarya. So audarya means very, very compassionate and merciful. So He is not just merciful for delivering all the people of Kali Yuga, but by delivering Radha and Krishna to the people of Kali Yuga. So in this way, the appearance of Caitanya Mahaprabhu is very important because through that we can realize Radha and Krishna. And we do that through Nama Sankirtana. So at once Caitanya Mahaprabhu fulfills the purpose of the Yuga Avatar. But He goes beyond that to deliver Radha and Krishna.
Hare Krishna!
Q & A :
1.) Maharaj, in 7th canto, Prahlada Maharaj said that Kali Yuga Avatar is Channa, He is covered. So this covered, he is mentioning about Caitanya Mahaprabhu, not that Yuga Avatar. Correct?
So He is called Tri-Yuga, which means He won’t appear in Kali Yuga. So therefore if He is Channa, that’s an extra for who is the Supreme Lord but covered. Now, the Lord does appear in Kali Yuga because there is a Yuga Avatar in Kali Yuga. So then why would we call the Lord Tri-Yuga, not appearing in Kali Yuga? So then the answer is that He appears as Shaktyavesh Avatar instead, so He is not actually Supreme Lord [Laughs]. Of course, we could also call that on top of Channa Avatar also.
2.) Maharaj another purpose of Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s appearance is that He wants to experience the love of Srimati Radharani. That how much Srimati Radharani loves Krishna, He wants to experience that love also. And we know that Caitanya Mahaprabhu comes once, Krishna comes immediately. So my question is, in one day of Brahma, Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Krishna both come. But when you see the time, eternal time, that one day is nothing if we consider Brahma, it’s nothing. So that means He wants to experience every day of Brahma that love of Srimati Radharani.
So it is true, Krishna appears every day of Brahma in the 28th Yuga cycle of Vaivasvata Manvantara. And then Caitanya Mahaprabhu appears in the Kali Yuga following that. So of course you could say that just one day of Brahma and even Brahma’s hundred years is nothing [Laughs]. But then appearing everyday of Brahma there would not be much separation. So that is true from one point of view. But again spiritual time is also quite different. So in Mahabhava the gopis experience one second as a Yuga [Laughs]. So in other words time can expand infinitely long in separation. Of course it says there, quoting in Caitanya Caritamrta, after a long time, chirat, the Lord appears like this.
3.) Hare Krishna Maharaj. Maharaj Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu came to give Sri Radha Krishna as you were telling Maharaj. But usually in ISKCON we have that, we stress more on chanting the names of Hare Krishna rather than more the names of Radharani like Radhe Radhe etc. Why is that so Maharaj?
Of course one reason is that Lord Caitanya gave this instruction so we simply follow His instruction. But we can also say that it is something like Srimad Bhagavatam where we also don’t see Radha’s name mentioned directly. So that may seem rather strange where one of the main goals of Srimad Bhagavatam is to reveal the love of Radha and Krishna and they don’t mention Radha’s name. Of course in other Puranas we will see Radha’s name mentioned directly. So we can say this is the particular decision of Sukadeva Goswami. And Caitanya Mahaprabhu following similar type of example.
4.) Maharaj Sukadeva Goswami’s expression of not mentioning Radharani’s name directly, he follows the aparoksha vada, he is indirectly explaining about Srimati Radharani’s love. anayārādhito nūnaṁ bhagavān harir īśvaraḥ [ŚB 10.30.28]. In that sloka it’s mentioned that anayārādhito means like aparoksha vada, he is expressing it.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: So what’s the question?
Devotee: The question is that Sukadeva Goswami is taking the role of aparoksha vada, not directly mentioning Radharani.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yeah. Yeah. Indirect.
5.) Hare Krishna. Maharaj we hear that if a particular Jiva is born in a particular Brahmanda, let’s say he is continuing his Krishna Bhakti and then it is not complete so he goes to some other planets and then later after many many years he again takes birth. But in that case let’s say one particular Kalpa is finished whatever, one particular Yuga is finished and in the next Yuga Krishna doesn’t appear. So in this case this particular soul takes birth in some another planet where Krishna is performing pastimes? Because in one place we hear that particular Jiva he just goes into the same cycle of the Brahmanda and doesn’t come out of the Brahmanda. How to understand this Maharaj?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: So it doesn’t require the actual presence of Krishna to worship Him. For instance everybody in Kali Yuga can worship Krishna even though He appeared at the end of Dwapara Yuga. So if they don’t attain perfection in one lifetime they can go to the next lifetime or next lifetime and still worship Krishna. Hopefully they will get out of the material world before Kali Yuga ends [Laughs].
Devotee: Did it mention anywhere that the same soul will take birth in the same planet?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Same planet?
Devotee: Yes, same planet. Like we are right now in this planet or this Bhu-mandala. He has to take birth unless he goes to the spiritual world, he has to take birth in the same planet.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Same planet, same universe?
Devotee: Same universe you can say.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: It’s not mentioned anywhere but it’s usually… So it’s usually assumed he will just continue in the same universe.
6.) Maharaj there is also, I think Vishwanath Chakravarti Thakur says somewhere that there are two ways by which it goes to the spiritual world. One is when one is just about to reach prema or reaching prema and he can take birth where Krishna’s pastimes are happening and another is he directly goes to spiritual world. So that means, it’s not that same universe. He can go to another planet. That is also mentioned.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: So in the case of a person who has attained Prema and is about to join the pastimes of Krishna then he can go to another universe. If he is not at that stage there is no real purpose in doing so.
Devotee: In that sense we can say suppose in this material world those who are right now doing sadhana because Kali Yuga is progressing and also it’s said that with Hare Krishna Mahamantra 10,000 years that power will remain. And after 10,000 years these circumstances, atmosphere might be changed. So it’s my understanding maybe those who are right now participating in Sankirtana where next lifetime they can take birth where this Sankirtana is happening very nicely and also where Caitanya Mahaprabhu has appeared. They can take birth in that universe also. They can take birth in that universe also in Caitanya Mahaprabhu Sankirtana movement with Caitanya Mahaprabhu?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: That’s when they attain perfection. Of course the pastimes in the material world or in spiritual world are non-different also. So it doesn’t make much difference.
7.) Hare Krishna Maharaj. Maharaj in the commentary of brahmāṇḍa brahmite kono bhāgyavān jīva [CC Madhya 19.151], so there Srila Prabhupada says brahmnada refers to cluster of millions of universes. So does that indicate that he will be going to this universe, the other universe, the other universe because brahmanda there Prabhupada defines like that.
So of course there are countless brahmandas. And the Jivas wandering around in one of those universes at a particular time. And of course he could go to other universes also but it doesn’t seem to be necessary in most cases because he can fulfill his karma within one universe. All the species of life are present everywhere [Laughs] in all the universes [Laughs].
8.) Hare Krishna Maharaj. Maharaj I have come across this question. One person argued with me. He told that there is no character like Radharani. Only after Mahaprabhu preached the character came into existence.
Well apart from Bhagavatam we have reference in Padma Purana and Brahma vaivarta Purana which appeared long before Lord Caitanya.
9.) Maharaj in this verse it is mentioned tviṣākṛṣṇaṁ, the word. In synonyms it is separated as tviṣā akṛṣṇaṁ. tviṣā itself is a word with a luster. That is the meaning. Why should we take it as akrishnam, why not Krishnam?
Well we can take it in that way by sandhi, tviṣākṛṣṇa or tviṣā akṛṣṇa. But if we take it as Krishna then we have Krishna varnam krishnam. So it looks like a repetition of saying the same thing twice. He is Krishna and He has a complexion of Krishna. Of course you can say He is chanting Krishna’s name and He is blackish in color. So in that way the Kali Yuga avatar usually is Krishna in color and He does chant Krishna’s name. So it can be taken as a general description also. But then we have this other verse in the 10th canto that talks about the yellow avatar. So based on that then we take it as akrishna.
10.) Maharaj I was reading some commentary on this. There it was said that the associates of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, they don’t see Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s golden color. They see that blackish color of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Because they don’t see Caitanya Mahaprabhu, they say He is Krishna himself. That means He is blackish.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Who says?
Devotee: Some Acharyas say that, He is blackish. That His associates like Gadadhara, they don’t see Him in golden color. They see Him in Krishna color.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Well there are some associates of Lord Caitanya or even afterward who see Lord Caitanya as Krishna with Rasa lila and everything but they are called the Gauranga nagaris. Gauranga nagaris.
11.) Hare Krishna Maharaj. Maharaj, in the beginning of the session you said that although we, I mean our Acharyas have used these verses that these verses indicate Caitanya Mahaprabhu, but it is contested by some. So what is the contest in this, Maharaj? Because this seems to be very logical.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Well of course one is, yes it’s described in the Kali Yuga, Yuga avatar who is either pale in color or blackish and He is doing Sankirtana. Not necessarily meaning Lord Caitanya Himself [Laughs]. It could be somebody else. So I think Vallabha maybe claims something else or some other people claim something else. And of course if you take it as Tvishakrishnam, then it’s describing the general Kali Yuga Avatar who is black in color. So therefore we usually take that in combination with the verse from the 10th canto.
Devotee: [Not audible].
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Dwapara Yuga? Dwapara Yuga is usually green, black.
12.) We always hear Radha Krishna, not Chandravali or any other Gopi name with Krishna. Is it only with earth planet or all other material planets?
All the pastimes appear on earth planet. Yeah, nowhere else.
13.) Are Kalki and Buddha who appear in Kali Yuga Shaktyavesh Avatar?
Oh, they are also Shaktyavesh Avatars. Yeah.
14.) Initially you said Mahaprabhu is a hidden avatar as Tri-Yuga Avatar. But in Kali Yuga Lord is going to appear as Kalki Avatar. What is the understanding for Tri-Yuga taking Kalki Avatar into consideration?
Same thing, Shaktyavesh Avatar.
Devotees: Grantharaj Srimad Bhagavatam ki jai!!! HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj ki jai!!! Srila Prabhupada ki jai!!! Nitai Gaura Premanande Hari Haribol!!!