Srimad Bhagavatam 2.6.17 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | ISKCON Chennai | 25 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 2 Chapter 6 Verse 17.
ŚB 2.6.17
स्वधिष्ण्यं प्रतपन् प्राणो बहिश्च प्रतपत्यसौ ।
एवं विराजं प्रतपंस्तपत्यन्तर्बहि: पुमान् ॥ १७ ॥
sva-dhiṣṇyaṁ pratapan prāṇo
bahiś ca pratapaty asau
evaṁ virājaṁ pratapaṁs
tapaty antar bahiḥ pumān
Synonyms
sva-dhiṣṇyam — radiation; pratapan — by expansion; prāṇaḥ — living energy; bahiḥ — external; ca — also; pratapati — illuminated; asau — the sun; evam — in the same way; virājam — the universal form; pratapan — by expansion of; tapati — enlivens; antaḥ — internally; bahiḥ — externally; pumān — the Supreme Personality.
Translation
The sun illuminates both internally and externally by expanding its radiation; similarly, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, by expanding His universal form, maintains everything in the creation both internally and externally.
Purport
The universal form of the Lord, or the impersonal feature of the Lord known as the brahmajyoti, is clearly explained here and compared to the radiation of the sun. The sunshine may expand all over the universe, but the source of the sunshine, namely the sun planet or the deity known as Sūrya-nārāyaṇa, is the basis of such radiation. Similarly, the Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Kṛṣṇa is the basis of the impersonal brahmajyoti radiation, or the impersonal feature of the Lord. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā (14.27). So the universal form of the Lord is the secondary imagination of the impersonal form of the Lord, but the primary form of the Lord is Śyāmasundara, with two hands, playing on His eternal flute. Seventy-five percent of the expansive radiation of the Lord is manifested in the spiritual sky (tripād-vibhūti), and twenty-five percent of His personal radiation comprehends the entire expansion of the material universes. This is also explained and stated in the Bhagavad-gītā (10.42). Thus the seventy-five-percent expansion of His radiation is called His internal energy, whereas the twenty-five-percent expansion is called the external energy of the Lord. The living entities, who are residents of the spiritual as well as the material expansions, are His marginal energy (taṭasthā-śakti), and they are at liberty to live in either of the energies, external or internal. Those who live within the spiritual expansion of the Lord are called liberated souls, whereas the residents of the external expansion are called the conditioned souls. We can just make an estimate of the number of the residents of the internal expansions in comparison with the number of residents in the external energy and may easily conclude that the liberated souls are far more numerous than the conditioned souls.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj:
So, this is actually a chapter describing the universal form of the Lord. Which is actually a secondary expansion, since it is not actually a spiritual form. But it is often used to describe how the Lord permeates the material world. So, in this verse we also have this example of the sun. And the sun has light which illuminates. It illuminates itself, so we can see its form, but it also illuminates other objects. So, in this way, without effort, it spreads its influence all over. And even in material terms, light is rather mysterious. How it possibly is able to expand itself and travel everywhere. This, of course, is material.
So, the Lord is spiritual, so He can expand Himself much more fantastically, astonishingly. He can expand Himself in the spiritual world, He can expand Himself in the material world. And in both cases, the Lord is not depleted. The material sun, of course, looks like it lasts forever, but actually it also eventually burns out. But Supreme Lord, He expands unlimitedly and He remains the same. So, there is actually no material comparison to the Supreme Lord. Nevertheless, just to give us some idea of understanding, we often have material comparisons like the Lord is here compared to the sun. Now, philosophically, of course, it is a little bit difficult to explain why there is a material world and why the Lord expands Himself as the material world and how He controls it, etc. And, of course, the answer is that He is not like a normal material being. And thus, without effort, He can expand himself unlimitedly and He is never contaminated by anything in the material world. So, in this way, Lord is compared to the sun.
The sun has rays, the rays are purifying, but the sun never becomes contaminated. So the question always arises, how does this material world manifest from the Supreme Lord? So the most primitive example given is that of the universal form. So, the Lord has a spiritual form and He expands as the material world. That’s the universal form. And as the Lord has a form with head, hands and feet and torso, so the universal form has head, hands, feet and torso. And all of the planets, all the material elements, all the living entities, everything in the material world is part of that body of the universal form. Because these things are material, obviously they cannot be the spiritual form of the Lord. But the example is given to show that material world is kind of a reflection of the spiritual world. And just as our material bodies need a Jiva within it to give it life, so that universal form depends on the presence of Supreme Lord as Paramatma to give life to the universe. So by this example, then we understand that the material world is dependent on the Supreme Lord. We also understand that the Supreme Lord has a form, just like we have the universal form. At the same time, these two forms are quite different.
The Lord’s spiritual form, there’s no differentiation between soul and body there. It’s all spiritual. Universal form is made up of material elements which are unconscious, and it requires Supreme Lord to make everything in the material world work. So through the countless explanations of the universal form given in the Bhagavatam, the main idea is that the material world is ultimately dependent on the Supreme Lord for its operations. Without the Supreme Lord, material world cannot operate. So of course, behind this is that not only it depends on Him, it’s ultimately caused by the Supreme Lord. Though prakrti is eternal, ultimately it’s not cause of anything. The Lord is the cause of everything. So universal form is useful simply to show how the material world is ultimately dependent on the Lord and caused by the Lord. For those that have no doubt about this, then they don’t need to meditate on such a form.
So it’s described in the second canto here that the unadvanced yogis are the ones who meditate on this universal form, just to understand there is a Supreme Lord behind everything. Those yogis who are more advanced, they will meditate on Paramatma. So that Paramatma form is spiritual form. And that form also is spiritual, therefore it’s eternal. So it is unlike this material form that appears and disappears constantly. So this universal form therefore is one step towards accepting a spiritual form of the Lord.
In Bhagavad Gita, also later in the Bhagavatam 11th canto, another way of meditating on material elements and then relating to the Lord is given. So Arjuna asks the question, how can I meditate on you in terms of things in this material world? And then Krishna recites chapter 10 of Bhagavad Gita called Vibhuti Yoga. And there He describes that I am among the animals, I am the lion and among the fish, I am the Makara, among the mountains, I am Himalayas or Meru or whatever like this. So he gives all sorts of things from the material world. So he gives examples of material things by which we can to some degree imagine the perfect spiritual form. So whatever is excellent in the material world, therefore ultimately makes a superior excellence of the Supreme Lord in the spiritual world. And again it is to indicate the supreme position of the Lord. But it uses material examples. So of course, obviously, everything cannot be taken literally. So when Krishna says I am the lion, it doesn’t mean He is actually the lion. He says He is superior to all things, just like the lion is superior to all the other animals. That’s all [Laughs]. So similarly, the universal form is sometimes called imaginary. We cannot take literally that the Lord has satya loka as His head. It simply means that just as satya loka is the topmost planet, the Lord has His head at the top of the body. That’s all [Laughs].
So in this way, many techniques are used to somehow communicate the supreme position of the Lord. And after establishing that, then we can give up these inferior examples and concentrate on the purely spiritual forms. In the purport, Prabhupada talks about 75% and 25%. So the spiritual energy or internal energy manifests the spiritual world as 75% and material world as 1 quarter. At the same time, we also understand spiritual world is unlimited, like the Lord is unlimited. And material world is limited. So therefore, we cannot really say that 1 quarter of infinity is material world [Laughs]. Doesn’t make too much sense. However, the example of 3 quarters and 1 quarter is given even in the Vedas. And that’s why it also appears in Bhagavatam and other Puranas. So again, this is using material example of proportions. And its purpose is to show that spiritual world is much more extensive than material world. So we should not think in terms of actual dimensions. But the main import is that ultimately the spiritual world is beyond our comprehension. And the spiritual world is made out of internal energy. Material world is made out of external energy.
So spiritual energy, of course, is much different than material energy. So it is called superior energy. And like the Lord Himself, that spiritual energy is unlimited. So the external energy or Bahiranga Shakti cannot be compared at all. It is, of course, inferior. And because it has got no consciousness at all, not completely dead in itself, it is quite different. And its purpose is quite different. The external energy is useful for putting the Jiva into ignorance. Spiritual energy is for giving enlightenment to the Jivas. So very, very different. Nevertheless, that material energy is also related to the Lord. It is His energy. It is His Shakti. It can never be separated from the Lord. And thus these examples of the universal form are given to show how it is related to the Lord.
In the first canto, Vyasadeva has a vision. And he sees the Supreme Lord and he sees Maya. And Maya is His energy and she is very ashamed. So she is in a very inferior position. And she has an inferior task to perform to put the Jivas in ignorance. And we have the Tatastha Shakti in between the material energy and the spiritual energy. So by nature, of course, it is conscious, so it is like the spiritual energy. But it can also be covered by the material energy and we have the conditioned Jiva. It can also become free of the material energy and enter into the spiritual world. So in that sense, it is not fixed. It can be in the material world or spiritual world. And therefore it is called Tatastha.
So through this we see a full explanation of existence, spiritual world, material world and Jiva. And when we have clear understanding of the position of each of these things, then we can actually perform Bhakti Yoga in a nice way. And therefore we have all these examples here explaining material energy and how it operates under the Supreme Lord. Ultimately, it is not so important for spiritual realization. Nevertheless, we do have to realize the difference between matter and spirit and Supreme Lord. And therefore these explanations are given.
Hare Krishna!
Q & A :
1.) Hare Krishna Maharaj. You just mentioned Vishwarupa meditation is imperfected yogi. Devotees also meditate on Bhagavan, lotus feet, thigh, stomach, arms, head, face, head like that. How can I understand that Maharaja?
The immature yogi meditates on the feet of the universal form as Patala Loka. And he meditates on the head as Satya Loka. So this is obviously material. But the advantage is that through this we appreciate that the Lord pervades the whole material world. The devotee meditates on the different limbs of the Lord. So in that sense similar to the immature yogi. But he is not equating the feet with Patala Loka. It is simply the spiritual feet of the Lord. So in this way we get direct spiritual benefit from meditating on the feet.
Devotees: Grantharaj Srimad Bhagavatam ki jai!!! HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj ki jai!!! Srila Prabhupada ki jai!!! Nitai Gaura Premanande Hari Haribol!!!