Srimad Bhagavatam – 1.12.29 by HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj @ ISKCON Chennai on 28 Jan 2025
ŚB 1.12.29
iti rājña upādiśya
viprā jātaka-kovidāḥ
labdhāpacitayaḥ sarve
pratijagmuḥ svakān gṛhān
Translation
Thus those who were expert in astrological knowledge and in performance of the birth ceremony instructed King Yudhiṣṭhira about the future history of his child. Then, being sumptuously remunerated, they all returned to their respective homes.
Purport
The Vedas are the storehouse of knowledge, both material and spiritual. But such knowledge aims at perfection of self-realization. In other words, the Vedas are the guides for the civilized man in every respect. Since human life is the opportunity to get free from all material miseries, it is properly guided by the knowledge of the Vedas, in the matters of both material needs and spiritual salvation. The specific intelligent class of men who were devoted particularly to the knowledge of the Vedas were called the vipras, or the graduates of the Vedic knowledge. There are different branches of knowledge in the Vedas, of which astrology and pathology are two important branches necessary for the common man. So the intelligent men, generally known as the brāhmaṇas, took up all the different branches of Vedic knowledge to guide society. Even the department of military education (Dhanur-veda) was also taken up by such intelligent men, and the vipras were also teachers of this section of knowledge, as were Droṇācārya, Kṛpācārya, etc.
The word vipra mentioned herein is significant. There is a little difference between the vipras and the brāhmaṇas. The vipras are those who are expert in karma-kāṇḍa, or fruitive activities, guiding the society towards fulfilling the material necessities of life, whereas the brāhmaṇas are expert in spiritual knowledge of transcendence. This department of knowledge is called jñāna-kāṇḍa, and above this there is the upāsanā-kāṇḍa. The culmination of upāsanā-kāṇḍa is the devotional service of the Lord Viṣṇu, and when the brāhmaṇas achieve perfection, they are called Vaiṣṇavas. Viṣṇu worship is the highest of the modes of worship. Elevated brāhmaṇas are Vaiṣṇavas engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, and thus Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which is the science of devotional service, is very dear to the Vaiṣṇavas. And as explained in the beginning of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, it is the mature fruit of Vedic knowledge and is superior subject matter, above the three kāṇḍas, namely karma, jñāna and upāsanā.
Amongst the karma-kāṇḍa experts, the jātaka expert vipras were good astrologers who could tell all the future history of a born child simply by the astral calculations of the time (lagna). Such expert jātaka-vipras were present during the birth of Mahārāja Parīkṣit, and his grandfather, Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, awarded the vipras sufficiently with gold, land, villages, grains and other valuable necessaries of life, which also include cows. There is a need of such vipras in the social structure, and it is the duty of the state to maintain them comfortably, as designed in the Vedic procedure. Such expert vipras, being sufficiently paid by the state, could give free service to the people in general, and thus this department of Vedic knowledge could be available for all.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj :
So in this chapter, the various predictions about the life of Pariksit were given by these vipras. So in Vedic knowledge, jyotish or astrology is one of the subject matters. And thus if a person learns the Vedas, to some degree they have to learn something about astrology. However, some persons became more proficient at this type of knowledge. We see that Dhanurveda, Ayurveda are also part of the Vedas. But not all brahmans were expert at Dhanurveda or Ayurveda or jyotish, so that’s special specialization also.
As Prabhupada mentions in the purport, a lot of this knowledge is encased with the Karma kanda. So it’s material knowledge but not material knowledge as in the modern world. The reason is, of course because it’s part of the Vedas. And modern knowledge is simply the product of people’s minds. Nevertheless, some of this Vedic knowledge deals with material affairs. So the Vedas deal with both subjects: material life and spiritual life. And the material part of the Vedas deals with regulating your life in such a way that eventually you can get to spiritual life.
At the same time majority of people are not inclined to spiritual life and therefore they’re giving opportunities for material advancement progressing towards that goal of spiritual knowledge. Of course even material knowledge has different categories. We can have knowledge in Tamas, Rajas or Sattva. Tamasic knowledge is destructive. So it’s knowledge of how to destroy yourself. Rajasic knowledge is how to enjoy more and more. So both of these types of knowledge are not very favourable for spiritual advancement. So, the Vedas therefore concentrate on Sattvic knowledge. What does sattvic knowledge do? It at once nourishes the material body but leads one at least to understand atma. One of the qualities of Sattva is knowledge, one begins to inquire about who am I? So if one is surrounded by a lot of Sattva , one will be encouraged to start this inquiry. And thus even though the Vedas do have material knowledge, the majority of that knowledge is sattvic.
Of course we can use any knowledge and make it Tamasic or Rajasic also. And thus the persons who study and know and teach that knowledge should also be Sattvic. And in this way, the knowledge keeps its Sattvic nature. Even then many people are not able to get to this level of accepting Sattvic knowledge if they’re in rajo guna or tamo guna. So thus, there is also arrangement for the people in the lower gunas to follow simpler rules. But the goal is always to raise up until you get to Sattva guna.
So this is a distinguishing feature of the Varanashrama system. So the rules for the sudra are not haphazard, they’re there to raise the consciousness of the Sudra over many lifetimes. So all of this is included within this idea of Karma or yoga, Karma kanda etc. But we see the Vedas is not complete with Karma kanda, we have Upasana kanda and Jnanakanda. So most of the studiers of the veda understand that Jnanais superior to karma. Why? Because it’s spiritual. And the Jnanakanda emphasizes understanding you’re not the body and striving for liberation. So getting out of the material world is preferable to staying in the material world. So if you simply continue to follow Karma yoga, Karma kanda etc., you don’t get out, you stay in the material world. So hopefully a person who is advanced in Karma kanda will take up Jnanakanda, that’s the goal.
However we also know that higher than Jnana is Bhakti. And this is clearly stated in Bhagavad Gita and Bhagavatam. And in fact if you take the Bhakti yoga, you completely reject Jnana. So this process of Bhakti yoga however is a little more select. As Krishnasays in Bhagavad Gita, there are thousands and thousands of people, hardly anyone knows me including the Jnanis [Laughs]. So the number of scriptures in the Vedas that talk about this are much rarer than Karma or Jnana. However, even there in the text talking about Jnana, we also have opportunities to understand Bhakti. And thus the major Upanishads which impersonalists will take as impersonal, the devotees can also take as Bhakti. So Brahma Sutras is a commentary on the Upanishads. And the impersonalists will take Brahma Sutras as impersonal [Laughs]. And the devotees will take Brahma Sutras as personal.
So Baladeva Vidyabhushana in his commentary, the first commentary says what is Brahman? Brahman is Krishna[Laughs]. And similarly, Nimbarka, he also says, Brahman means Krishna. And Ramanuja and Madhvacharya said Brahman means Vishnu, Narayana. And thus even Jnana kanda can also be Bhakti kanda [Laughs]. In any case, we have all this knowledge presented in the Vedas for different people. Everyone is differently qualified. And thus, people are encouraged to take to Karma kanda, if they’re the least qualified. In Bhagavad Gita, Krishnasays, don’t disturb the minds of the ignorant, don’t tell them to stop Karma [Laughs]. But at the end of Bhagavad-Gita, He says, give up Karma to everybody [Laughs]. All along, Krishnawas encouraging Arjuna you’re not qualified for Jnana whatever, you do Karma yoga. But at the end he says, give up all dharmas and just do Bhakti. So this is the order for the people of kali yuga. And this means that Karma yoga and Jnana yoga are not practical for the people of kali yuga. So, the only process open for everyone is Bhakti. But of course, even at the end of Bhagavad-Gita, Krishnasays, this is secret knowledge, don’t teach it to the envious and the people without faith [Laughs].
So we have a little contradiction, there everyone says don’t teach this to anybody and then it says, everyone should surrender to Krishna[Laughs]. And at the end he also praises those people who teach this knowledge to qualified people. But the main problem is, how to spread it to everyone when nobody is qualified and we can’t preach it to everyone. So the answer is, the devotees have to make people qualified, then they can preach to them.
So the devotees in kali yuga have two jobs. One is to instill faith in people, second is to preach to the people who have faith. So both are the authorized methods for preaching to people in kali yuga. And in this way then Bhakti yoga becomes available for everyone. So this is the method taught by Caitanya Mahaprabhu. So he has ordered all the devotees to broadcast Nama Sankirtana everywhere. By doing that people get faith. When they get faith, then we give them knowledge by which they can attain prema. So this is the principle established by Caitanya Mahabrabhu for our preaching work.
Hare Krsna!
Q&A
1) Hare Krishna Maharaj you have explained regarding that knowledge about the soul is of Sattva guna but soul is spiritual? Then how does it become Sattva guna?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: So Krishna has very expertly constructed the material world and of course the material world is covered by Maya but within this whole Maya there are two functions one is Avidya, ignorance, that is well known… the other is Vidya, so even Vidya, knowledge, is material [Laughs], so of course we are familiar with the ignorance part the Avidya part of it, the maya of ignorance this causes everybody to continue in the material world. If you get to Sattva guna then you can access Vidya. So in Bhagavad Gita Krishna says the quality of Sattva is ‘prakash’, that means knowledge.
The other quality is ‘satisfaction’ but not satisfaction for material world, satisfaction with atma. So the Sattva guna encourages people to inquire about atma. Jnana yoga arises from Sattva guna so all the different Upanishads talking about Jnana are actually sattvic in nature. However the goal of that is to get out of the material world, that is liberation. So generally who is in Sattva guna, the Brahmanas. So they are qualified to study Vedanta sutras, Upanishads. They are qualified for Jnana yoga. Thus they strive for liberation.
So Jnana itself is part of Sattva and by doing that Krishna allows people by staying in the gunas to ultimately get out of the gunas [laughs], if they come to Sattva.
However, the question will arise, if Jnana is in Sattva how can it give liberation because liberation is beyond Sattva so, how can it produce something beyond itself. And the answer is it cannot. So by itself Jnana can raise you up in Sattva guna and make you steady and put you at the top of Sattva guna and that is as far as it takes you.
So how does a Jnani get liberation he must do something beyond the gunas so that is why our Acharyas conclude that even the Jnana yoga if he wants liberation he must perform Bhakti. Without the mercy of the lord the Jnani cannot get liberated and thus if the Jnani offends the lord he doesn’t get liberated. And that is why in Bhagavad Gita Krishna says one reaches Brahma-Bhuta and then he takes to Bhakti and by Bhakti he gets liberation. So what that means is if he has practiced Bhakti that remains and all the Jnana he has to reject through that power of Bhakti he enters into Brahman.
2) You have explained regarding this in Kali-yuga one person can do two things like instilling faith and another one is preach to those who have faith. how can a devotee instil faith to the non-devotee normally it is very difficult to speak and very difficult to understand also whether he is favourable or not?
If a person has no faith no matter how much you talk to him he will not accept [Laughs]. This also becomes nama-aparadha so preaching to the faithless, the only way you can do that is not by preaching [Laughs]. But we can expose them to Bhakti we can expose them to nama sankirtan we can let them hear the holy name and if they get exposed enough they can develop faith.
So by exposure to Bhakthi, they gradually develop faith.The exposure may be hearing Krishna’s name. It may be seeing the deity form as in Ratha yatra or maybe taking prasadam. So none of that requires preaching but exposure only.
3) Kings like Parīkṣit Maharaj, Ambarish Maharaja, Jada Bharata/ Bharata Maharaj, they all ruled the kingdom by performing the duties of the king like doing Karma kanda yajnas also. They did for the pleasure of the Lord. What was the output of performing such Karma kanda yajnas?
So a devotee who is following Varnashrama has two activities, one is to perform the activities of Bhakti like hearing and chanting and worshipping the Lord as Ambarish did. The other is to follow your Varnashrama activity if you are a king then you follow the activities of a king, if you are a Vaisya you follow Vaisya, if you are a Sudra you follow Sudra, if you are a Brahmana you follow Brahmana activities. So as long as we have some attachment to the material world we have to support our material body and doing our duties in the Varnashrama allows us to support our body.
So a devotee who is completely detached can give up Varnashrama and just do Bhakti, he is called ‘babaji’. So we have examples like Jadabharat, Ṛṣabhadeva… those who are still entangled in family life then they do their Bhakti and they practice Varnashrama duties. They can practice those duties of Varnashrama in two ways, one is with attachment to the results of Varnashrama which means material elevation. This will produce mixed Bhakti, the other way they can practice is with complete detachment.
So this does not interfere with the Bhakti and they can practice pure Bhakti. So why do they practice at all, the Varnashrama? They have to support their body and their family and they set an example for other people who are not devotees, that’s all.
4) Hare Krishna Maharaj. We observe that some people who are naturally more inquisitive, they want to know more things, so would that also come under goodness? Like that characteristic of being curious, of being inquisitive would that be trait of mode of goodness?
We see in Bhagavad gita this is one of the types of people who are devotees ‘jijñāsu’. An example of that is the sages of Naimisaranya so it is a step towards Bhakti, but we don’t call it pure Bhakti. and it may be Sattvic if the questions are Sattvic [Laughs].
5) Maharaj, if we see like in 1950s, 60s this whole hippie movement so they were also sort of challenging and asking questions seeking knowledge but their activities were all Tamasic so is there a mix of Sattva there also maharaj because they were seeking knowledge?
So in the material world we call Sattva, Rajas and Tamas but most often it is a mixture. If we follow Varnashrama system we can more or less separate things and the Sattva is pure. And in other places where that system doesn’t exist we could have Sattva but it is always mixed with other gunas. And the reason is it is not based upon knowledge of scripture. People don’t know what is pure, what is impure what is Sattva, Rajas, Tamas etc., so they mix everything together according to their own imagination [Laughs]. And that’s why some people took to Bhakti yoga, when Prabhupada preached because this is a good system it tells us very clearly what to do [Laughs]… give up eating, give up drinking, give up so many things… other people don’t like this because they don’t accept that knowledge [Laughs]
6) Maharaj we have heard about Karma kanda, Jnana kanda. Can you elaborate a little bit about upasana kand also?
Of course, Upasana means worship. Upasana kanda refers to the Samhitha section of the Vedas. Thats the all the different verses like Purusha Sukta etc., this is distinct from Jnana kanda which is Upanishads and distinct from Karma kanda which is Brahmanas and Aranyakas which are vedic texts explaining sacrifices.
So in the Karma kanda they will use the mantras from the Samhitha section or Upasana kanda to do their yajnas etc., now that worship, that is called worship in Upasana kanda those verses in the Samhitha section are praises of Devatas and Supreme Lord. So we have two types of worship material worship, for worship of devatas and worship of Vishnu which is spiritual.
7) Can we have large kirtan programs instead of smaller ones which is generally recommended?
Well the name is such that you can do it in all conditions large groups, small groups it doesn’t matter [Laughs]. So according to the circumstance you can do either.
8) What is the difference between compassion and mercy?
Well we use the word as synonym, same meaning.
9) Sometimes we do service to the lord or Vaishnavas and because of our intense endeavor sometimes externally other devotees may be affected by our actions. How to handle this?
Well service to Vaishnavas is always praise worthy. In fact, it is considered higher than service to the Lord. At the same time that doesn’t mean we ignore the Lord. So in carrying out our service to other Vaishnavas then we should also be aware of the particular circumstances. In other words we serve one Vaishnava but ignore another Vaishnava so that’s also not good so we have to give respect to everyone.
10) Is there a possibility that a devotee may perfect his devotion but not develop all the good qualities?
Well one of the qualities of Bhakti is ‘Subhadha’ which means that by practicing Bhakti one develops all good qualities but the qualities will also develop gradually. In some cases, people will develop quickly in other places slowly.
But in any case if one does Bhakti then that should be the result . And if nothing happens then something is wrong with the process of Bhakti that one is following. It’s like growing a plant and of course we don’t expect the plant to grow up immediately in one day, it may take years to grow. But if after 5 years it’s the same size as it was at the beginning [Laughs] something is wrong with our cultivation.
Granthraj Srimad Bhagavatham ki Jai…HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj Ki Jai!!!