Srimad Bhagavatam 2.6.20 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | ISKCON Chennai | 29 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 20.
ŚB 2.6.20
पादास्त्रयो बहिश्चासन्नप्रजानां य आश्रमा: ।
अन्तस्त्रिलोक्यास्त्वपरो गृहमेधोऽबृहद्व्रत: ॥ २० ॥
pādās trayo bahiś cāsann
aprajānāṁ ya āśramāḥ
antas tri-lokyās tv aparo
gṛha-medho ’bṛhad-vrataḥ
Synonyms
pādāḥ trayaḥ — the cosmos of three fourths of the Lord’s energy; bahiḥ — thus situated beyond; ca — and for all; āsan — were; aprajānām — of those who are not meant for rebirth; ye — those; āśramāḥ — status of life; antaḥ — within; tri-lokyāḥ — of the three worlds; tu — but; aparaḥ — others; gṛha-medhaḥ — attached to family life; abṛhat-vrataḥ — without strictly following a vow of celibacy.
Translation
The spiritual world, which consists of three fourths of the Lord’s energy, is situated beyond this material world, and it is especially meant for those who will never be reborn. Others, who are attached to family life and who do not strictly follow celibacy vows, must live within the three material worlds.
Purport
The climax of the system of varṇāśrama-dharma, or sanātana-dharma, is clearly expressed here in this particular verse of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The highest benefit that can be awarded to a human being is to train him to be detached from sex life, particularly because it is only due to sex indulgence that the conditioned life of material existence continues birth after birth. Human civilization in which there is no control of sex life is a fourth-class civilization because in such an atmosphere there is no liberation of the soul encaged in the material body. Birth, death, old age and disease are related to the material body, and they have nothing to do with the spirit soul. But as long as the bodily attachment for sensual enjoyment is encouraged, the individual spirit soul is forced to continue the repetition of birth and death on account of the material body, which is compared to garments subjected to the law of deterioration.
In order to award the highest benefit of human life, the varṇāśrama system trains the follower to adopt the vow of celibacy beginning from the order of brahmacārī. The brahmacārī life is for students who are educated to follow strictly the vow of celibacy. Youngsters who have had no taste of sex life can easily follow the vow of celibacy, and once fixed in the principle of such a life, one can very easily continue to the highest perfectional stage, attaining the kingdom of the three-fourths energy of the Lord. It is already explained that in the cosmos of three-fourths energy of the Lord there is neither death nor fear, and one is full of the blissful life of happiness and knowledge. A householder attached to family life can easily give up such a life of sex indulgence if he has been trained in the principles of the life of a brahmacārī. A householder is recommended to quit home at the end of fifty years (pañcaśordhvaṁ vanaṁ vrajet) and live a life in the forest; then, being fully detached from family affection, he may accept the order of renunciation as a sannyāsī fully engaged in the service of the Lord. Any form of religious principles in which the followers are trained to pursue the vow of celibacy is good for the human being because only those who are trained in that way can end the miserable life of material existence. The principles of nirvāṇa, as recommended by Lord Buddha, are also meant for ending the miserable life of material existence. And this process, in the highest degree, is recommended here in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, with clear perception of ideal perfection, although basically there is no difference between the process of Buddhists, Śaṅkarites and Vaiṣṇavites. For promotion to the highest status of perfection, namely freedom from birth and death, anxiety and fearfulness, not one of these processes allows the follower to break the vow of celibacy.
The householders and persons who have deliberately broken the vow of celibacy cannot enter into the kingdom of deathlessness. The pious householders or the fallen yogīs or the fallen transcendentalists can be promoted to the higher planets within the material world (one fourth of the energy of the Lord), but they will fail to enter into the kingdom of deathlessness. Abṛhad-vratas are those who have broken the vow of celibacy. The vānaprasthas, or those retired from family life, and the sannyāsīs, or the renounced persons, cannot break the vow of celibacy if they want success in the process. The brahmacārīs, vānaprasthas and sannyāsīs do not intend to take rebirth (apraja), nor are they meant for secretly indulging in sex life. Such a falldown by the spiritualist may be compensated by another chance for human life in good families of learned brāhmaṇas or of rich merchants for another term of elevation, but the best thing is to attain the highest perfection of deathlessness as soon as the human form of life is attained; otherwise the whole policy of human life will prove to be a total failure. Lord Caitanya was very strict in advising His followers in this matter of celibacy. One of His personal attendants, Choṭa Haridāsa, was severely punished by Lord Caitanya because of his failure to observe the vow of celibacy. For a transcendentalist, therefore, who at all wants to be promoted to the kingdom beyond material miseries, it is worse than suicide to deliberately indulge in sex life, especially in the renounced order of life. Sex life in the renounced order of life is the most perverted form of religious life, and such a misguided person can only be saved if, by chance, he meets a pure devotee.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj:
So this verse is also about the structure of three quarters and one quarter. So the previous verse was talking about the three quarters being without death, full of bliss, no fear. So another way of explaining that is the spiritual world is devoid of any material contamination. On the other hand material world is full of contamination. And the essence of that contamination in the material world is attraction to sex life. Of course the purpose of sex life is to produce progeny or praja. And we see that this is the tendency in animals also. So that same tendency occurs in the human being. And it is difficult to avoid, even in the human being. So the human being is also called a two-legged animal. Why because, like the animal, he engages in eating, sleeping, mating and defending. So the human being is called a two-legged animal because, like the animal, he engages in eating, sleeping, mating and defending. So there must be methods by which the human being goes beyond being an animal.
So the first step is this varnashrama dharma with restrictions on eating, sleeping, mating and defending. So by gradually controlling all of these things, we can progress in spiritual life. So in other words, the whole purpose of that varnashrama system is to become more detached from material life. But we cannot become detached from material life unless we got another attraction. So this can be expressed in two ways. Freedom from birth, death, old age and disease leads to no more anxiety, no more problems. So thus, the impetus for performing these different rules and regulations of varnashrama is to get liberation. An eternal state of freedom from birth, death, old age and disease. Freedom from eating, sleeping, mating, defending. So because the immediate goal is just liberation, the Vaishnavas generally do not praise this system. It is praiseworthy because it helps control the senses. At the same time it gets condemned because it doesn’t give us the ultimate goal in life which is prema. At the same time it gets condemned because it doesn’t give us the ultimate goal in life which is prema. So therefore, besides this varnashrama system, we have another system called bhakti yoga.
So one can practice varnashrama and then practice bhakti yoga. Or one can practice both at the same time. Or one can just practice bhakti yoga without practicing varnashrama. But if one only practices varnashrama and no bhakti, then that is completely rejected. So whatever can be achieved through the varnashrama system is also achieved just by bhakti without doing varnashrama. However, bhakti yoga supplies a goal, prema, which is not available through varnashrama. So then why we even have that whole system of varnashrama? And the answer is for people who are not qualified for bhakti. They don’t have faith in bhakti. So the qualification for bhakti is not in terms of varnashrama, it’s in terms simply of faith. And the appearance of that faith does not depend upon any varna or any ashrama. Becoming a brahmana or becoming a sannyasi does not produce faith. Of course, both of these conditions, being a brahmana and a sannyasi may be favorable for bhakti. But they may also be unfavorable for bhakti. So one may turn into a shankaraite or a buddhist instead [Laughs].
So the qualification for bhakti is faith, and that faith is independent of material things. So it just depends on mercy of devotees. And that mercy may manifest to a person in the varnashrama system or a person outside the varnashrama system. And when that mercy manifests nicely, it turns into faith and that person can practice bhakti. So the cause of bhakti is faith and the cause of faith is bhakti. And ultimately that mercy that the devotees give us is nirguna. It’s beyond the material world. That bhakti and that faith are nirguna from the internal energy of Krishna. Varnashrama dharma, karma yoga, jnana yoga, astanga yoga arise from the bahiranga shakti of the Lord. So they are quite different. Though some of the qualities may look similar, ultimately bhakti is completely different from the other processes. Of course, the nature of bhakti is by association it can spiritualize other processes also. So we can perform bhakti yoga along with varnashrama and then that varnashrama becomes spiritualized and does not cause a problem for the bhakti. So in any case we should never confuse these different yogas or methods. They are quite distinct. And thus if one performs bhakti yoga the other systems can be rejected also.
So here it talks about being renounced or being a householder. So being a householder represents being materially attached. And we can modify that through varnashrama system. So instead of being a grhamedhi one becomes a grhastha. And the goal of being a grhastha is later to become a vanaprastha. And then maybe sannyasi. So in this way one can progress through more and more renunciation of the material world. However as I said the ashramas and the varnas do not qualify one for bhakti. If you want to be a devotee and practice bhakti yoga you still need the mercy of devotees.
So if you follow the whole varnashrama system and then you become a brahmana and then you become a sannyasi you may become a follower of Shankaracharya [Laughs]. So of course in becoming a devotee naturally one should become detached from everything in the material world. But as in the varnashrama system so with the process of bhakti one cannot artificially renounce. And thus we will see in the varnashrama system very few people take sannyasa. Ideally all the grhasthas should take vanaprastha and take sannyasa so ultimately everybody should be sannyasi but that’s not so [Laughs]. So they are not qualified.
So as for being a devotee in devotional service, yes, we are encouraging detachment but again it cannot be artificial. So along with the bhakti then a person may be a grhastha or a vanaprastha or a sannyasi but nothing is forced upon them. And though Caitanya Mahaprabhu Himself took sannyasa we will always see that He never emphasizes sannyasa and thus in His movement after that nobody took sannyasa. Of course there was an equivalent for the Vaishnavas that is Babaji status. But that was also very rare. And sannyasa only got introduced with Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur 500 years after Lord Caitanya.
So the message is that bhakti can progress through any ashram or any varna or no ashram no varna. And though detachment is one of the accompanying factors in bhakti it cannot be artificially produced. So rather than emphasize detachment the emphasis is upon the practice of bhakti itself. Ultimately of course you cannot go to the spiritual world if you have material attachment of any sort. So qualification for spiritual world is prema. And in that stage there is no identity with the material world at all. But the qualification for the spiritual world is not the detachment, it’s the prema.
Hare Krishna!
Q & A :
1.) Hare Krishna Maharaj. Maharaj you are saying that karma, jnana and yoga these all come from the external energy of the Lord. But we also see Maharaj although these three are coming from external but it is also said that these three are samukhya, towards the Lord. You said you know. How that bahiranga shakti can be samukhya towards the Lord?
They become favorable to the Lord because they cannot succeed unless they also have a little bhakti. So if you practice the varnashrama system you cannot be an atheist. So you do accept the Supreme Lord. But how much you worship the Lord as part of your daily practice may be very minimum. And the goal of that system is definitely not prema [Laughs]. What is it’s goal? Live in the material world comfortably. So that’s material goals [Laughs]. Sattva guna gives rise to jnana yoga. So you cannot practice jnana yoga unless you are fixed in sattva. You cannot study vedanta sutra unless you are a brahmana. So through the processes of jnana yoga you reach the top of sattva guna. But because it is in the gunas it cannot take you beyond the gunas.
So only the process beyond the gunas can take you beyond the gunas and the only process beyond the gunas is bhakti. So the jnana yogi also must practice a little bhakti yoga. If he becomes atheist he can reject the Lord, he doesn’t get the mercy of the Lord and he cannot get liberation. So in order that jnana yoga succeed, then you also need a little bhakti yoga. But this bhakti yoga is very little again. And it’s goal is not prema. The goal is liberation [Laughs]. So it is not pure bhakti [Laughs]. So the person doing karma yoga and varnashrama does a little bhakti. That bhakti’s goal is swarga loka. So it is not pure bhakti also. So in this way they are somewhat directed towards the Lord but with other motives also [Laughs].
2.) To perform the bhakti it, doesn’t need any qualification like no need of any ashram, no need of any varna, anybody can do the bhakti. But the question is, if someone is not able to control the senses although he can perform the bhakti but to perform the bhakti also need some rules and regulation. That we see in the varnashrama here dharma. But can you also say that varnashrama dharma is like a one of the steps to perform the bhakti. Because he is like a wild animal. He can’t do anything. He will be like, if immediately he starts doing the bhakti, he doesn’t follow the rules and regulations, he will create chaos in the society.
So the nature of this varnashrama system as it has existed for thousands of years is that you cannot suddenly join the system. So if you are born as a mleccha or swapaccha you cannot just say okay, I am going to do bhakti, so I am going to join the varnashrama system and then do that also. You can’t do that [Laughs]. So what do you do? You do the bhakti yoga without following the system and you can still succeed. Certainly when you take to the process of bhakti already one of the qualifications is not too much material attachment. So there has to be some sort of sense control already but it may not come from varnashrama system.
Everybody is following to some degree some sense control. Everybody has rules and regulations in different religions and different political systems etc. If one is already born into the system and one takes to bhakti yoga, yes you can use those same rules if they are not unfavorable for bhakti. So that was the case of many of the followers of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. But then we have cases like Haridasa Thakura who weren’t in the system and they didn’t try to attempt to imitate it also. And we have the case of Mrgari the hunter. So he did not try to become a brahmana along with his bhakti. He just chanted the holy name [Laughs].
3.) Hare Krishna Maharaj. Maharaj we see when Srila Prabhupada started ISKCON, he just started telling only about devotional service and he gave sannyasa also, lots of sannyasa. And early 70’s, there were lot of devotees who changed their ashrama specially from sannyasa where Srila Prabhupada started talking about varnashrama system and he said in his classes, even he wrote letter about it. So does varnashrama system give any support to devotional service or Srila Prabhupada wanted everybody to go through varnashrama system so that there is no going back from one ashrama to another ashrama?
So Prabhupada sometimes mentions about varnashrama and encourages it, at other times he says the opposite. So one of the reasons for mentioning it is that the varnashrama system provides rules and regulations for married life. Most of the devotees end up married. So what system you want to follow? Christian system, Muslim system, legal system of a country or Vedic system? So parts of the Vedic system may be favorable for Vaishnava culture. But then to import everything of the marriage system may also not be practical.
So therefore to have child marriages for instance, generally we don’t do. They had polygamy, we don’t do. So there’s many things we also don’t do. We can say well, we have to do varnashrama, so we have to do all these things. No, we don’t do [Laughs]. So ultimately we can say yes, we can follow some of the rules to regulate household life etc. But we don’t have to be fanatical about it.
4.) Hare Krishna Maharaj. Maharaj, thank you for this answer because I think it was very insightful. During the time that prabhuji is talking about, most of the disciples were westerners and they did not really have a Vedic framework. I mean as you were saying that if they are getting married, what system would they follow? Because they had a completely non-Vedic background. So it is better that they follow Vedic or somewhat Vedic guidelines rather than following any other system. So that puts it into really good perspective in terms of the ground reality of that time.
We find on the other hand that they also tried to introduce Gurukul system, very early in the movement and it failed. And so Prabhupada said, don’t worry about it [Laughs]. Gurukul, yeah. So many Gurukuls. All failures.
5.) Hare Krishna Maharaj. Maharaj, you mentioned towards the end of the class that at Prema one has no material attachments at all. So Maharaj, when I see personally myself like being a preacher or being a manager or a book distributor and the things like scores and numbers etc. It becomes so important like throughout our life when we are doing some service. It is all goal driven. So how suddenly we will reach at a stage where the material things would not matter at all.
If one reaches a stage of Asakti which means great attachment to the Lord, interest in material life is maybe 3%. If one reaches Bhava, then maybe it is 1%. And if one reaches Prema, one is not even aware of the body at all. So, detachment from material world we can say increases as one increases in Bhakti.
6.) Hare Krishna Maharaj. Maharaj, in one of your classes you have mentioned qualification to become a Brahmachari is not inclined to get married. But in general perspective we cannot say Brahmachari is devoid of lust. So in that case if he wants to be a Brahmachari, is it artificially renouncing the world and becoming Brahmachari or how do we understand?
So being a Brahmachari, being a Grhastha, Vanaprastha, Sannyasi requires certain qualifications. But these qualifications are independent of qualification for Bhakti. So if one has strong faith one could be in any of the ashramas. And one’s position as a devotee is not determined by one’s ashrama but by the strength of one’s Bhakti only. And thus we have the example of Pundarika Vidyanidhi who was a rich householder but he was so attached to the Lord and then he was an exalted devotee [Laughs]. So the main element is the Bhakti and then one has a choice according to one’s qualification of Brahmachari, Grhastha etc.
Devotee : Maharaj why I am asking this question is because when we preach to youth boys, like lot of people have inclination towards marriage. But over a period of time, they come to temple, they mingle with other Brahmacharis, they get, they want to become Brahmachari. But their inclination of marriage was there previously and it’s not like they are devoid of it. So it is because they are getting association of Brahmachari, only because of that desire is there. So in that case if you want the person to become a Brahmachari what should be the standard or what should be the criteria?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj : So there are two factors. One is natural inclination. So the other is conditioning. So generally the conditioning is if you are born in a family in India you are supposed to get married. So that is natural. Everybody will want to get married. So that may to some degree cover your natural state. Then by associating with Brahmacharis then you may lose that interest. However your natural interest again may be little or may be greater. And thus depending on who you associate your interest may change again [Laughs]. So you may remain Brahmachari as long as you are living in the Brahmachari ashram and when you go out and associate with Grhasthas then you may change your mind again [Laughs]. So in any case no loss because one can become a Brahmachari and later change and become a Grhastha. Others who are naturally Brahmachari then in any condition it doesn’t really matter too much they don’t get influenced.
7.) Maharaj You have mentioned liberation. Varnashrama’s goal is liberation and a person who has the aim of liberation and he does perform bhakti that is not pure. In Bhakti Rasamrta Sindhu, Rupa Goswami says that bhukti-mukti-spṛhā yāvat [Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.22]. In that sloka he mentions desire for mukti is also compared to a witch. So even in devotees, lot of devotees have the aim as going back home back to Godhead. Isn’t that also mukti-spṛhā when we do perform bhakti with that desire ?
So Salokya or living on the same planet as the Lord is a type of liberation. Those who practice pure bhakti ultimately end up in the spiritual world so they automatically achieve it. But that’s not their primary goal. In other words if they attain that state of spiritual world but no service to the Lord they won’t accept it. So serving the Lord is the main element in pure bhakti. And if we have other desires becoming more prominent then that kind of contaminates the bhakti.
8.) From where Vedanta Sutra was compiled? Why Vedanta Sutras explanation is Srimad Bhagavatam?
It’s written by Veda Vyasa to explain confusing statements in the Upanishads. Upanishads themselves are the Jnana Kanda of the Vedas so they are the superior part of the Vedas, the essence of the Vedas. So Vedanta Sutra is explaining the essence of the Vedas. However Vedanta Sutra is a little difficult to understand because sutras mean concise words. And thus difficult to understand subject to many interpretations. So therefore Veda Vyasa wrote Srimad Bhagavatam to expand upon those conclusions of Vedanta Sutra and Upanishads. So same message but expanded.
9.) In the current age of Kali Yuga how can we practice vanaprastha life?
Actually it is very difficult to practice any ashrama if we go by the standards mentioned in Srimad Bhagavatam or manu smriti. So ultimately all we can do is take some of the main principles. So main principle is you become detached from your family members particularly your children. But as described in Bhagavatam and manu smriti you go to the forest, you make a little leaf hut, you dig the roots out of the forest, you eat those and you wear bark clothing. So it is a life which even sannyasis don’t follow in the modern age. And of course it’s not directly bhakti, it’s more austerity. But it’s a stage of transitioning from household life to becoming more detached. So for the Vaishnava what they can do in the modern age is at least detach from children and go off to a holy place and live there practicing bhakti yoga.
10.) Why ISKCON is referred as Brahma Madhva Sampradaya? What is the importance of Madhvacharya?
So we are identified as such first by Kavi Karnapura. And one of the main reasons is that Padma Purana mentions there’s four bona fide Vaishnava Sampradayas. So if we are Vaishnavas we should fit somewhere in those groupings [Laughs]. So he traces back to Ishwara Puri and behind that and he traces it through Madhva line. But of course our philosophy does have significant differences from Madhva. He is Dvaita and we are Achintya-bheda-abheda. So there are some differences. They worship Vishnu, we worship Krishna.
11.) If wife is not supportive how can we advance in bhakti?
Well bhakti is adaptable to all sorts of circumstances. And the wife could ask the same question. If husband is not supporting how can I practice bhakti [Laughs]? Yeah we find examples of both. Prabhupada’s wife was not supporting [Laughs]. And Prabhupada’s sister was married. Husband wasn’t supporting. Nevertheless they find some arrangement by which they can still practice bhakti.
Devotees: Grantharaj Srimad Bhagavatam ki jai!!! HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj ki jai!!! Srila Prabhupada ki jai!!! Nitai Gaura Premanande Hari Haribol!!!