Srimad Bhagavatam – 1.14.2 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | ISKCON Chennai | April 25, 2025!
Om Namo Bhagavate Vāsudevāya
Om Namo Bhagavate Vāsudevāya
Om Namo Bhagavate Vāsudevāya
nama om vishnu-padaya krishna-preshthaya bhu-tale
srimate bhaktivedanta-svamin iti namine
namas te sarasvate deve gaura-vani-pracharine
nirvishesha-shunyavadi-pashchatya-desha-tarine
jaya sri-krishna-chaitanya
prabhu nityananda
sri-adwaita gadadhara
shrivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrinda
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
Reading from Srimad Bhagavatham Canto 1 Chapter 14 Verse 2.
ŚB 1.14.2
व्यतीता: कतिचिन्मासास्तदा नायात्ततोऽर्जुन: ।
ददर्श घोररूपाणि निमित्तानि कुरूद्वह: ॥ २ ॥
vyatītāḥ katicin māsās
tadā nāyāt tato ’rjunaḥ
dadarśa ghora-rūpāṇi
nimittāni kurūdvahaḥ
Synonyms
vyatītāḥ — after passing; katicit — a few; māsāḥ — months; tadā — at that time; na āyāt — did not return; tataḥ — from there; arjunaḥ — Arjuna; dadarśa — observed; ghora — fearful; rūpāṇi — appearances; nimittāni — various causes; kuru-udvahaḥ — Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira.
Translation
A few months passed, and Arjuna did not return. Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira then began to observe some inauspicious omens, which were fearful in themselves.
Purport
Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa the Supreme Personality of Godhead is ad infinitum, more powerful than the most powerful sun of our experience. Millions and billions of suns are created by Him and annihilated by Him within His one breathing period. In the material world the sun is considered to be the source of all productivity and material energy, and only due to the sun can we have the necessities of life. Therefore, during the personal presence of the Lord on the earth, all paraphernalia for our peace and prosperity, especially religion and knowledge, were in full display because of the Lord’s presence, just as there is a full flood of light in the presence of the glowing sun. Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira observed some discrepancies in his kingdom, and therefore he became very anxious about Arjuna, who was long absent, and there was also no news about Dvārakā’s well-being. He suspected the disappearance of Lord Kṛṣṇa, otherwise there would have been no possibility of fearful omens.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj:
So this chapter is about the disappearance of Lord Krishna. When the Lord comes into the material world, all auspiciousness comes with him. And to indicate that, we have various sign or omens. So when Krishna appeared in the material world, it’s a description of how all of the flowers of all the seasons began to blossom in the middle of the night. And all the planets and constellations were arranged so there was no bad astrological arrangements.
And of course, it’s described that suddenly the fires or sacrifice of the Brahmanas began to blaze up. Of course, when the Lord appears then he destroys adharma and establishes dharma and bhakti.
When the Lord disappears then auspiciousness will disappear. And thus we will get not good omens but bad omens. And those omens or signs are described in the following verses. So some of the omens are natural. That is, the planets, the weather, the sun, the moon, etc… They do not act in their regular normal way. And then we’ll see signs among the living beings: the animals and the human beings. Animals do not behave in their normal way. Human beings begin to perform more sinful activity. So all this indicates the absence of the Supreme Lord.
Of course, the Supreme Lord cannot always be present, He’s there for sometime, He disappears. So Krishna made arrangements, he put Yudhishthira on the throne. So when the kings are strong, dharma is strong. And therefore, we will not see rise of sinful activity or irregularity in the weather. So unfortunately, we see here when Krishna disappeared, Yudhishthira was on the throne, but still we get bad omens. So something disastrous must have taken place. And the conclusion was of Maharaja Yudhishthira, Krishna must have disappeared. So this is always inevitable, the Lord appears, the Lord will disappear. And so when He appears we get auspicious signs, when He disappears will be inauspicious signs.
So this was one question asked by the sages of Naimisaranya, what do we do because Krishna has disappeared and dharma has gone with him? So the answer is also given in the first canto, Srimad Bhagavatam has risen like the Sun in Kali Yuga. In the purport, Prabhupada talks about the Sun. And so, when the Sun is shining, we get lot of energy, plants grow nicely. So, presence of Krishna is like presence of the Sun. So, when he goes, Sun disappears. So what do we do in place of Krishna or in place of the Sun, we have Bhagavatam. Of course, when we use the word Bhagavatam, we should understand that it includes other things as well. So Bhagavatam arises in Kali Yuga, but what is Bhagavatam? It gives instructions – knowledge. And what is the knowledge, that is, it defines Supreme Lord, Krishna and defines the process to attain him – Bhakti Yoga. And ultimately in Bhakti Yoga, we have Nama Sankirtana.
So Bhagavatam has risen in Kali Yuga to point out the highest form of worship, that is, worship of Krishna. It also points out the highest form of worship, chanting Krishna’s name. So if the devotees perform Nama Sankirtana in Kali Yuga, this is like the Sun, it will destroy all the inauspiciousness. So that is the compensation for the lack of the Lord’s presence. How is that possible? Bhagavatam is non-different from Krishna. Krishna’s name is non-different from Krishna. So therefore, the name and Bhagavatam are readily available in Kali Yuga for everybody, that means Krishna is available.
Well, we can argue well if Krishna’s personally present, everybody can see him, Kali Yuga not there, how do we see him in Bhagavatam, how we see him in the holy name? The answer is that, even if Krishna is present, if you don’t have the eyes, you do not see Krishna. So Kamsa and Jarasandha, they didn’t really see Krishna. Devotees can see the Lord, other people see something material. So therefore, same with the name and Bhagavatam, those who are devotional will see Krishna and, in the name, and in the Bhagavatam, those who are materialist, will not see that. However, the name is very special. Just as Krishna is very special. Even though the demons saw Krishna, they didn’t actually see him still and they all hated him, demons, they got purified. Whereas they did not get purified when Hiranyakasipu saw Narasimhadeva or Ravana saw Ramachandra. Because Krishna was so attractive, they were constantly thinking of Krishna even in hatred. And this allowed them to be purified.
So, Krishna is very special, Krishna’s name is very special. All the names of the Lord are powerful. Ajamila chanted Narayana, not Krishna’s name and immediately all of his karmas past, present and future were destroyed. So just as Krishna is special, Krishna’s name also very special. So people even if they do not chant with devotion, they chant Krishna’s name, they get even better effect than Ajamila gets. So this Nama Sankirtana of Krishna’s name is the special benediction for Kali Yuga. And by chanting his name, we have the presence of Krishna. So Prabhupada has said, “the perfection of chanting is to realize that Krishna and his name are non-different.” So when we chant Krishna’s name, we will realize his form, then his qualities, then his pastimes. So that may seem quite astonishing. Why name, we must need some special mantra. Some special procedures. But no, name is more powerful than any other process and any mantra. That is the conclusion of the scriptures. So for that reason, chanting Krishna’s name is the process recommended for Kali Yuga.
Of course, Nama Sankirtana has effect in any Yuga. And people will chant the name in all Yugas. But in Kali Yuga, people are not capable for doing anything else. So there is no real choice of what to do. So therefore, the name is recommended as the process for the people of Kali Yuga. And just as the presence of the Lord destroys all bad omens, so chanting of the holy name will destroy all the bad omens.
When Lord Chaitanya was born there was eclipse of the moon. Eclipse of the moon or eclipse of the sun is considered very inauspicious, bad omen. But what were people doing? They were chanting the name of the Lord at that time. It is said that eclipses are inauspicious, you should not do any good activities then. But you should worship the Lord, you should chant the name of the Lord. So therefore, it’s also said, it’s auspicious to take Diksha during an eclipse, everything else is inauspicious, taking Diksha is auspicious. So, by practicing bhakti, chanting the holy name etc., anything related to the Lord counteracts any inauspiciousness.
Of course, what do we mean by auspiciousness? On a material level, it means Artha, Dharma and Kama. And through Bhakti and chanting the name, all of these things flourish. But of course, those who are practicing Bhakti, then they are not interested in these things, they are interested in Prema. but chanting the name and the process of bhakti, they will create both types of auspiciousness: material auspiciousness and spiritual auspiciousness. And thus, Krishna and the name are considered to be Cintamani, they give everything. As I said in Bhagavatam, Srimad Bhagavatam is the highest fruit on the desire tree of the Vedas. What does the desire tree do? It gives anything you desire. So the Vedas can give you material enjoyment. They also give liberation. They also give Prema. So Bhagavatam gives this, chanting the holy name gives all of this. But of course, it gives more than that. And that is why Bhagavatam is said to be the highest fruit on the tree, not just the sweet fruit but the highest fruit.
So what is that highest fruit? If we read the other Puranas like Visnu Purana etc. we also get bhakti, we also get Prema. But in Bhagavatam we get special Prema. So that is why it is said that Bhagavatam is like fruit which becomes sweetest. And you don’t even have to chew it, you can drink it. No seed, no skin. Of course, we drink through the ear. So why is it like that? Because it presents Prema for Krishna. And ultimately, Radha Krishna Prema. And no other work does that. And similarly, we have chanting the name of the Lord, Nama Sankirtana. But we chant the name of Krishna. But then we also chant Hare, so we are chanting Radha’s and Krishna’s name. So, in our Nama Sankirtana, we also can get that highest fruit, the sweetest fruit, that is Radha and Krishna. So that is the highest auspiciousness. That is the non-difference in the name. Hare Krishna is non-different from Radha and Krishna. So it gives all types of auspiciousness but also the highest auspiciousness of all.
Hare Krsna!
Q&A
1) Hare Krishna Maharaj. So, bad omens come when great personality leaves this world. So generally we see even Srila Prabhupad something has happened is it like they control the karma of the material world not to affect the living beings in this material world ? Means.. they protect ourselves from the bad karma.. these personalities… ? they protect us from affecting the bad karmas is it right understanding?
So, as with Krishna presence of devotees is a all auspicious, but the major part of this auspiciousness is that the devotees give us the knowledge. With that knowledge even in no presence of the Lord or the devotee we are protected so we see from Bhagavatam best protection from karma is what? Chanting the name ! So, this is what the devotees preach and if we do that, we get protection.
2) Hare Krishna Maharaj. Maharaj in Kali Yuga, in the present stage, every day we are feeling the inauspicious happenings, so how we can feel with the great devotees or the demigods or somebody leaves ? the inauspicious things.. how we can differentiate that ?
Well, as I said even when Krishna is present we had demons [Laughs] they didn’t suddenly disappear Krishna killed some demons [Laughs]. So when Krishna is not present, He makes arrangements for Manu, their descendants and devotees to protect people but nature of the material world is… always going to be arousal of gunas tamo and rajoguna which will disturb everybody, that is why the Lord has to continually appear throughout the day of Brahma and that is why He has a system where the Manu’s and his descendants keep ruling over everybody to keep the demons down.
The position becomes much worse in Kali Yuga, because by the nature of time, tamo guna becomes most prominent in Kali Yuga 1000 times in the day of Brahma this means less dharma – one quarter of dharma left and all sorts of sinful activities flourish. So, why does this happen, it’s the nature of the material world. So we are never going to have a perfect ideal condition in the material world even in sattva guna. If we have Satya yuga still there are demons, if we go to Brahma Loka there is still disturbance, so no matter where you go in the material world however we try to make it it’s going to be something inauspicious rising out.
So the Lord makes arrangements at least if there is this disturbance of the lower gunas at least there is descendants of Manu to implement dharma at least there are devotees. However, in our particular Kali Yuga even the descendants of Manu is not there, so we can expect more disturbance and of course the devotees are there to counteract that but because it is material world there will always be some disturbance and thus we see in the Bhagavatam it describes the end of Kali Yuga increase of Tamo guna, increase of demons, so then Lord has remedied finish Kali Yuga, starts Satya Yuga again.
3) We see the great personalities appearance and disappearance also glorious and in ultimate sense Lord is all glorious and all auspicious there is no inauspicious qualities in Him. Even His appearance and disappearance is auspiciousness in ultimate sense. So how to see this inauspiciousness in His disappearance and what are the auspiciousness even in His disappearance, that as a Sadhaka when we read Srimad Bhagavatam we can understand.
For the Supreme Lord, there’s nothing inauspicious. For the devotees, there’s also nothing inauspicious. There may be an appearance of inauspiciousness for the devotees, in this case Yudhishthira. But for those devotees that have eternal relationship with the Lord, ultimately no inauspiciousness.
And so separation from the Lord is also part of Prema. If we say that Krishna leaves Vrindavan, it’s inauspicious, because everybody is suffering in Vrindavan. That’s a material conception. So our Acharya’s explain that is the highest aspect of Mahabhava [Laughs]. So for the devotees then what looks like inauspicious, this is only an aspect of their Prema.
4) Maharaj, Bhagavatam is not different from Krishna. But sometimes we hear Bhagavatam is like Mohini Avatar for non-devotees. So, if devotee is connected with, non-devotees also connected with devotee, so they can realize Krishna in Bhagavatam.
So those who are not devotional, do not have access to the sweetness of Bhagavatam. However, by the presence of devotees and their engagement of those persons and somehow or other, they gradually become favourable.
Then they can be qualified to appreciate Bhagavatam. Of course, we say don’t preach to the faithless. So part of the work of the devotee is to produce faith in those faithless people. But you can’t do it by preaching [Laughs]. Preaching gives knowledge, they don’t want the knowledge. So we have to have other methods of making them favourable.
5) Maharaj, we see the Lord is descending into this planet through His Yogamaya potency. In the same way, His great devotees also descend into this material world through Yogamaya. When the Lord departs, these omens are visible. How about during the departure of His great devotees from this world?
Well, devotees are said to be like Tirthas. So again, they are all auspicious. Tirtha is purifying. So, if a devotee disappears, obviously then we have absence of that particular Tirtha. So then there is inauspiciousness in that sense.
But as with Krishna, He disappears inauspicious. And I explained, the Lord gives continuity through Bhagavatam and other means. So the devotee disappears, His teachings are still present. So in that sense, we avoid inauspiciousness.
6) Lord Krishna was with Pandavas during their happy and sorrow moments. But why His disappearance was not known to them in advance, whereas Sri Uddhava was aware of Lord Krishna’s departure?
All of this is the Lord’s particular arrangement. It describes in Bhagavatam that Krishna was contemplating, what is the best way for me to disappear? The Lord was also contemplating, what is the best way for the Yadus to disappear? So then He arranged some very, very surprising events.
Krishna got shot by a hunter. The Yadus killed each other. So this looks very inauspicious [Laughs]. So of course, we can always ask, why the Lord did this? Why didn’t He disappear like Rama or whatever? But the Lord does have His particular reasons. One of course is that, like other aspects of Krishna, things are hidden. So Krishna appears like a human being to many people. And then His disappearance looks very human also. Sometimes the Lord displays His aspect as Supreme Lord, as Ramachandra or Varaha or Nrishimadeva. As Krishna, He often hides this. So He does this with His disappearance. In that way, those people who are qualified to understand Krishna will get the proper understanding. Those who are not qualified will think He’s just a regular human being.
7) If a devotee is bestowed with both material and spiritual auspiciousness simultaneously, how is it possible for one to develop detachment from these material objects and progress in bhakti?
If the Lord feels that the material benedictions are an impediment, He will take them away.
In other cases, He will give them. So the Lord gave Dhruva whole kingdom of the world to rule. And of course, He gave Yudhishthira whole world to rule. So therefore, it depends on the individual case. In the case of Avanti Brahma, everything was taken away. So depending on the case, the Lord may preserve that material wealth or take everything away.
8) We see that the holy name Radhe Krishna is non-different from Hare Krishna. In Vrindavan, they chant Radhe Radhe.. Also, other sampradaya chant Radhe Krishna. Is this chanting gives same benefit during Antar klesha?
All the names of the Lord, the names of His Shakti Radha are spiritual. No rule for chanting the names. However, we also follow sampradaya. Of course, Lord Caitanya chanted many names. But He also particularly indicated Hare Krishna mantra. So, we follow Lord Chaitanya. Other sampradayas, their acharyas will give them other names. They can chant those names.
Devotees: Grantharaj Srimad Bhagavatham Ki Jai!!! His Holiness Bhanu swami Maharaj ki Jai!!!