Srimad Bhagavatam – 11.5.36 | Madhura Mahotsava 2025 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj @ ISKCON Chennai on 11 Jan 2025.
ŚB 11.5.36
कलिं सभाजयन्त्यार्या गुणज्ञा: सारभागिन: ।
यत्र सङ्कीर्तनेनैव सर्वस्वार्थोऽभिलभ्यते ॥ ३६ ॥
kaliṁ sabhājayanty āryā
guṇa jñāḥ sāra-bhāginaḥ
yatra saṅkīrtanenaiva
sarva-svārtho ’bhilabhyate
Translation
Those who are actually advanced in knowledge are able to appreciate the essential value of this Age of Kali. Such enlightened persons worship Kali-yuga because in this fallen age all perfection of life can easily be achieved by the performance of saṅkīrtana.
Purport
It is stated here that among the four ages — Satya, Tretā, Dvāpara and Kali — Kali-yuga is actually the best because in this age the Lord mercifully distributes the highest perfection of consciousness, namely Kṛṣṇa consciousness, very freely. The word ārya has been defined by Śrīla Prabhupāda as “one who is advancing spiritually.” The nature of an advanced person is to search for the essence of life. For example, the essence of the material body is not the body itself but the spirit soul that is within the body; therefore an intelligent person gives more attention to the eternal spirit soul than to the temporary body. Similarly, although Kali-yuga is considered to be an ocean of contamination, there is also an ocean of good fortune in Kali-yuga, namely the saṅkīrtana movement. In other words, all of the degraded qualities of this age are completely counteracted by the process of chanting the holy names of the Lord. Thus it is stated in the Vedic language,
dhyāyan kṛte yajan yajñais
tretāyāṁ dvāpare ’rcayan
yad āpnoti tad āpnoti
kalau saṅkīrtya keśavam
“Whatever is achieved in Satya-yuga by meditation, in Tretā by offering ritual sacrifices and in Dvāpara by temple worship is achieved in Kali-yuga by chanting the names of Lord Keśava congregationally.”
The Vedic process gradually lifts the conditioned entity out of the darkness of ahaṅkāra, or false identification with the gross material body, and brings him to the platform of self-realization, or ahaṁ brahmāsmi, “I am spirit soul. I am eternal.” One has to make further progress to discover that although one is eternal, there is a superior eternal entity, who is the Lord Himself within one’s own heart and within every atom in the material universe. Beyond this second phase of self-realization there is the third and final stage of perfection, which is realization of Bhagavān, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead, in His own abode.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead is not primarily the superintendent of this world but rather the enjoyer of His own world, which is beyond the most fantastic dreams of the conditioned living entity. In other words, although the king or president of a country is ultimately the controller of the prison department, the king or president derives actual pleasure within his own palace and not in administering justice to the foolish prisoners. Similarly, the Lord appoints the demigods to administer the material creation on His behalf while He Himself personally enjoys the ocean of transcendental bliss in His own transcendental kingdom. Thus, realization of the Lord within His own kingdom is far superior to the primitive understanding that the Lord is the “creator” of the prison of the material world. This realization of Bhagavān begins with understanding that there are innumerable Vaikuṇṭha planets in the spiritual sky and that on each of them a particular expansion of Nārāyaṇa dwells with His innumerable devotees who are attached to that particular form. The central and chief planet in the spiritual sky is called Kṛṣṇaloka, and there the Personality of Godhead exhibits His supreme and original form of Govinda. As confirmed by Lord Brahmā, govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi. Lord Brahmā also states:
īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ
sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ
anādir ādir govindaḥ
sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam
(Brahma-saṁhitā 5.1)
Thus, love of Kṛṣṇa and entrance into Kṛṣṇa’s planet in the spiritual sky is the most supremely perfect and exalted status of life available anywhere, at any time, throughout the totality of existence. That perfection is available in Kali-yuga simply by chanting the holy names of God: Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. Therefore every sane man, woman or child should deeply understand the unprecedented opportunity offered by Caitanya Mahāprabhu and seriously take up this chanting process. Only the most unfortunate and irrational person will neglect this transcendental opportunity.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj:
So this is a verse praising Kali Yuga. Of course, normally we don’t praise Kali Yuga, we criticize it. The different Yugas from Satya, Treta, Dvāpara and Kali can be shown to have different levels of dharma. And in Kali Yuga, one quarter of dharma is left. So, we can criticize Kali Yuga because it has less dharma than the other ages.
So why should we praise Kali Yuga? We are not praising Kali Yuga because of lack of dharma, but for something else. Of course, not all people will understand this. But those who are very intelligent or guṇa-jñāḥ, those who know about good qualities, those who are Arya, very advanced, the sāra–bhāginaḥ, who know the essence of things, they praise Kali Yuga. And why? Because in Kali Yuga, there is Sankirtan!
Of course, we can say, well, Sankirtan is in the Vedic literature and people in Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga and Dvāpara Yuga can also do Sankirtan. That’s true. However, in the other Yugas, other spiritual processes are more prominent. In Kali Yuga – Sankirtan is the main process. What is so special about it? And the answer is, it is superior to all other processes.
It is superior to meditation, to yajñas and to deity worship. And through this process, one can attain all goals!
Of course, we can also argue, well, if I meditate on Krishna and whatever, I can attain the same goal – Krishna. However, in Satya Yuga, people did not meditate on Krishna, they meditated on Vishnu. And what about Dvāpara Yuga? Krishna appeared in Dvāpara Yuga. Krishna appeared at the end of Dvāpara Yuga, not at the beginning. So only the people at the end of Dvāpara Yuga and in Kali Yuga know about Krishna. So though Sankirtan is present in all Yugas, in Kali Yuga, it is more prominent. Furthermore, it is chanting Krishna’s name.
By any process of Bhakti, one can attain Prema. But normally in other Yugas, they are doing Bhakti for other forms of the Lord. And in Kali Yuga, Sankirtan is the main process and it is chanting Krishna’s name. Though all the processes are Bhakti, all the processes give Prema, all the processes are powerful, Sankirtan is the most powerful. It is so powerful that simply uttering the name of the Lord can destroy all your karmas. Accidentally remembering or meditating on the Lord does not remove all your karmas. You cannot accidentally do Yajñas or deity worship. You have to learn the whole process. So Sankirtan can be done by all sorts of people in all conditions and it has a very quick effect.
So, of course, Sankirtan of any name of the Lord is good, but ultimately, the ultimate name of the Lord is Krishna. It is stated that thousand names of Vishnu is equal to one name of Rama. Three names of Rama is equal to one name of Krishna. In other words, the name of Krishna has a very, very special power. What is the power of Krishna’s name? Here it states, “sarva-svārtho ’bhilabhyate” – all the goals can be attained.
So whatever can be attained by doing yajñas, and Karma Yoga, going to svargaloka or brahma loka can be attained by chanting Krishna’s name. Chanting the name can give liberation. It can give all siddhis. It can take one to the spiritual world. Of course, other processes can do this also, but much slower.
However, there is one very rare goal that the other processes generally do not give. You cannot go to Goloka! Even if we do yajñas and we dedicate them to Krishna, we cannot go to Goloka. Of course, if we worship the deity of Krishna, maybe we can go to Goloka or if we meditate on Krishna and Vrindavan, yeah, maybe we can go to Goloka. However, even that is very difficult.
We have the story of Gopakumar who chanted Krishna mantra for whole day of Brahma! Through that, he got the best position in the material world. He went to Svargaloka, Janaloka, Tapaloka and Brahmaloka. He went to Sivaloka. And he went to Vaikuntha. And this is just by chanting his Krishna mantra. He even got to Ayodhya in the spiritual world. But he could not get to Goloka. So Narada Muni said, this is very rare to get to Goloka. If you want to go there, you have to do Sankirtan. So he did Sankirtan, then he got to Goloka. So this is very very special process that will give highest planet in the spiritual world.
It can give all other goals. But the devotees practicing pure bhakti generally do not want other goals. If they attain the highest goal, they are completely satisfied. So that is available through Nama Sankirtan of Krishna’s name. And not through other processes. So that is why Lord Caitanya quotes the Brihad Naradya Purana. He says, “There is no other way, no other way, no other way, just chant the name of the Lord !!”.
So Sankirtan of course is the process for 1000 Kali Yugas and one day of Brahma. So in that way all the Kali Yugas have a great quality. However, Krishna appears once in a day of Brahma or Caitanya appears once in a day of Brahma. So this particular Kali Yuga is very special. We get to chant Krishna’s name!
Of course, Lord Caitanya’s purpose – one purpose is to reveal the Yuga Dharma. But that is not His major purpose. Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s major purpose is to reveal the love of Radha and Krishna. So that is most rare. So to attain Goloka is very, very rare, but to attain the love of Radha and Krishna in Goloka is even rarer! So this is the very special bestowal of Caitanya Mahaprabhu! Because He is non different from Krishna, plus He has the mood of Radha, He can give this to the people of Kali Yuga. And He does this through the names of Radha and Krishna in the Kirtan. And thus we not only chant Krishna’s name, we also chant Radha’s name by saying “Hare”.
So those who are most intelligent, those who know the essence, they can understand this. And therefore, they praise this particular Kali Yuga.
Hare Krishna.
Q & A:
1) Maharaj, you are saying, if we chant “Hare Krishna” Maha mantra – Krishna’s name, we can go to Goloka, but there are also statements that, even if we chant “Hare Krishna” Maha mantra, but if we still remember that Krishna is Supreme Personality of Godhead, we don’t go to Goloka, but we go to Aiswarya Goloka. So there is a difference, correct?
Yeah, one can go, it depends on how you chant. So if we chant with the proper understanding and the proper mood, with pure bhakti, then we can get to Goloka. If we chant Krishna’s name, but we’re thinking of him with all powers, etc., as in Dwarka, we don’t go there. Of course we can attain Dwarka.
But some people will not be worshipping Dwarka Krishna, they’ll be worshipping Krishna as a cowherd boy, chanting Hare Krishna. But they may be thinking of Krishna as Supreme Lord with all powers, even in the form of a cowherd boy. So they will attain Goloka, Krishna as a cowherd boy, but Aishwarya Goloka, where everybody sees Him as Supreme Lord. So this is very good, it’s better than Dwarka, better than Mathura.
But still, it is not the same as the Vrindavan described in Bhagavatam, with Yosada and Nanda, the Cowherd Boys, and the Gopis are serving Krishna without any conception that he is God at all! So the Holy Name will deliver the highest goal. But we also have to know what is the highest goal. So we need some knowledge. And Caitanya Mahaprabhu, He gives that knowledge.
2) There is a statement by one Acharya who said that, “sadanam khala bhave jaha, siddha khala paivetaha”, means whatever we do, we remember, we practice during sadhana state, we achieve when we get perfection. So how this Nama Sankirtana is helping us, because when you do Nama Sankirtana, means we are remembering Krishna, by his name. But how it is related to the Goloka, where there is no concept, where they don’t know the Krishna Supreme Lord, their love is full of sweetness.
So there is a story in Brihad Bhagavatamrta, when Gopakumar goes to Vaikuntha. And when he sees Vishnu, of course he is very pleased. So he begins to shout the names of the Lord, including Krishna’s name, Vishnu’s name, etc. But the follower says, don’t do that [Laughs] ! You have to chant the proper prayers.
So Nama Sankirtana – just chanting the name of the Lord, intrinsically has more spontaneity. So it’s the easiest way to express one’s sentiments for Krishna.
3) In Goloka, they are also remembering Krishna. But that remembrance is quite subtle, it’s not gross, like how we do here in the material world – Kirtana, is almost gross.
Well, all the processes of Bhakti, we have 64 processes here in the material world, they are ultimately eternal. But when we are practicing in Sadhana, they will appear to be gross, because we have material bodies, material mind, material senses.
So the definition of Sadhana Bhakti is to engage the senses and the mind, etc., which are material in cultivating relationship with Krishna. And certainly the senses and the mind, intelligence and the body, etc., are subject to all the impurities that are there. This is a concession of the Lord, since we do have material bodies and we’re conditioned, etc. So the Lord accepts the Bhakti anyway, in spite of the coverings of matter. But the process of Bhakti itself is spiritual, so by using the material senses of the mind, etc., and the body, we’re practicing the Bhakti which is spiritual, gradually those coverings become reduced and reduced and reduced.
So if we attain Prema, and we still have a material body, when we carry out the devotional processes, using our mind, intelligence and ego, it is completely different. The devotee has developed a spiritual body, spiritual mind, spiritual senses, and those are the senses he uses to serve the Lord.
So as we perform Bhakti and become purified, then there is less and less obstruction of the material body and senses, etc. So, when the Prema Bhakta goes to the spiritual world, then he gives up the material body and mind, etc., subtle and gross bodies completely, and all he has is a spiritual body, and there he does the same processes, but all with only spiritual body.
4) Maharaj, we hear from senior devotees this two words – Nama sankirtan and Prema Nama Sankirtana. Can you give more explanation on the Prema Nama sankirtan?
Well, as I said we have Sadhana Bhakti, then we have Bhava Bhakti, then we have Prema Bhakti. It’s all Bhakti, same activities, but when we get to Bhava stage, then Hladini and Samvit Shakti’s become manifest. So when we perform the activities of Bhakti, including Sankirtan, then it’s on a much higher level.
So we do Sankirtan in Sadhana and in Bhava and in Prema – same activities. But the realization is different. And the purity is different.
5) Maharaj, I was exposed to ISKCON earlier in my life, but again getting distracted, again coming back, again going to the distraction, people said, I mean, a few other people said that you have to complete your Karma – the balance sheet is pending. So you need to come back to this material life to do that, before you actually come into full contact with Krishna. Why is this, can’t we avoid whatever Karma that we brought, should we settle it in this life or..?
To start the process of Bhakti, there’s no condition that we have to get rid of all your Karmas first. It’s impossible. It is through the process of Bhakti that the Karmas get destroyed. Only condition for starting Bhakti is, one should not be too materially attached. But having no material attachment is not a qualification.
So we can start Bhakti even if we have material attachments. Through the process of Bhakti, the attachments will decrease and decrease.
6) Maharaj, you were explaining that chanting specifically Krishna’s names and clear intent of worshipping the Lord in Vrindavan without considering him as the Supreme Lord. So, what is the role of Panchatattva Mantra Maharaj?
So we say, yes, worship Radha Krishna, do Nama Sankirtan, but as we learned from Caitanya Caritamrta, in order to attain Radha and Krishna, we have to get the mercy of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. For that reason, when we establish deities of Radha and Krishna, it’s not just Radha Krishna, somewhere there has to be Caitanya Mahaprabhu also [Laughs]. So we have to worship both.
But technically to worship Radha Krishna, we have to worship Gauranga first. Of course, we can say, well, let’s just chant “Gaura, Gaura, Gaura, Gaura..” [Laughs]. That is logical. But it’s not following Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s instruction [Laughs]. So we chant both.
7) So Maharaj, if we chant Panchatattva, of course, in ISKCON, we understand the philosophy, the basics at least. And we chant Panchatattva Mantra and then we chant the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra. So can we say that, it guarantees that we go to Gokul and not to Aishwarya Gokul?
Well, if we worship Caitanya Mahaprabhu, we should also accept his teachings [Laughs]. There, He explains about Aishwarya mood and Madhurya moods.
8) Hare Krishna Maharaj. Maharaj, we heard you said that in Sadhana, Bhava and Prema, the activities are the same. Different levels, but the activities are the same. But we also know Maharaj, that the preaching at Prema level, the person does not preach so much. So if at Sadhaka level, the main seva is preaching, so what that person would do when that person reaches at Prema level?
The activities are the same, but the emphasis may change. So, for instance, we’ll see even in Raganuga Bhakti, which is also Sadhana, there’s a great emphasis on Smarana. So one meditates on the pastimes of Radha and Krishna in Vrindavan. Of course, Kirtan or other activities are not given up.
If we attain Bhava and then Prema, then we have spiritual body. And we enter into the pastimes in the spiritual world. So we’re doing the same activities of remembering and chanting and serving and whatever, but in our spiritual body. And then in external consciousness, external activities of the body become very secondary.
So in general, of course, if one reaches Prema, he sees no distinctions between demons and devotees, etc. So he doesn’t preach. But again, there are exceptions. And Jiva Goswami gives example of Narada Muni.
Devotee: Maharaj, so the preacher, there is no seva for him in the Goloka Vrindavan that way. If that is the service what he wants to do, then in Goloka Vrindavan…
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Well, we don’t preach to the fallen souls, because there’s no fallen souls there [Laughs]. But Sankirtan is always there. We see Mother Yasoda is always chanting Krishna’s name when she’s churning the butter. The gopis are always singing about Krishna [Laughs].
9) Maharaj, the Vrajavasis, they have the spontaneity towards Krishna. But we know he is God. That awe and reverence automatically comes. So, how to develop that mood to worship Krishna as a coward boy or in Madhurya bhava ?
This will develop according to one’s association. So, of course, within a Sampradaya that is worshipping Krishna and attaining Radha Krishna, if I associate, generally it is going to be proper. If you go to other Sampradaya, then you will develop a different mood. So, through that association, we become inspired to adopt a similar type of mood.
10) We should consider spiritual master’s body as spiritual, not material. How to understand this?
Of course, even a person in prema has material body, so to speak. He will get sick and he will die. So, we have no illusion about that.
So, when we talk about Guru or Prema Bhakta or something [words are not clear], we are not really talking about the body. For us, what is important is, what they teach! They teach the absolute truth from scriptures like Bhagavatam. That makes them completely spiritual. And in that way, all gurus get respected.
We see that this respect for a guru is there in the Upanishads. They don’t even talk about Krishna. They are speaking Vedas. But the Brahmachari should see the teacher as the Supreme Lord – non different from Supreme Lord [Laughs]. And he may be teaching Karma kanda, Veda – Karma Kanda.
So if you learn from the guru, the Brahmachari, I don’t know how many years it will take for one Veda, but if he has to learn Karma Kanda, Jnana Kanda, Upasana Kanda, he has to learn all of that. One has to treat him as God. So why? Because what he is speaking is non different from God, that is Veda.
11) Prabhupada told while chanting, don’t imagine Krishna. But while we are chanting, if we have to see Krishna as a cowherd boy, isn’t it contradictory?
But we see in Nectar of Devotion, there Rupa Goswami says the sum and substance of all teachings is only two. Always remember Krishna, never forget him. So if we chant Hare Krishna with the goal, I’m never going to remember Krishna, then it becomes useless [Laughs]. Even Kamsa was better than that [Laughs]. He remembered Krishna in hatred, but he was remembering Krishna [Laughs].
12) Maharaj, in the story of Gopakumar, wherever Gopakumar goes, he is worshipping the Lord in one way or other and the intimacy increases. However, when the Gopakumar goes to Tapaloka, he was very impressed with the atmosphere there. But he didn’t found the Lord. Everyone was in meditation and Gopakumar was also in meditation. And then he felt that I should go back to either Jagannath Puri or my place at Vrindavan. At that time, these Chatur Kumaras (Four Kumaras) with their meditation, they were thinking about the Lord and the Lord appeared there through their meditation. So my question is Maharaj, how can someone by his meditation manifest the Lord and then Gopakumar worship that Lord? I couldn’t understand that section.
Of course, the whole section is there to show that Smaran is very powerful because it can also invoke the Lord but still Gopakumar was not satisfied. So Gopakumar could also do that. He could also meditate and get a manifestation of the Lord internally.
In that section, the conclusion is that yes, we never reject Smaranam, but we also do not reject the external Lord manifested through Kirtan. So the two things reinforce each other. So when doing Kirtan, we do Smaranam that increases the quality of the Kirtan. And that way we can get better manifestation externally of the Lord.
Devotees: Grantharaj Srimad Bhagavatam Ki.. Jai !! HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj Ki.. Jai !! HDG A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupad Ki.. Jai !!