Srimad Bhagavatam – 1.14.4 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | ISKCON Chennai | April 27, 2025
ŚB 1.14.4
जिह्मप्रायं व्यवहृतं शाठ्यमिश्रं च सौहृदम् ।
पितृमातृसुहृद्भ्रातृदम्पतीनां च कल्कनम् ॥ ४ ॥
jihma-prāyaṁ vyavahṛtaṁ
śāṭhya-miśraṁ ca sauhṛdam
pitṛ-mātṛ-suhṛd-bhrātṛ-
dam-patīnāṁ ca kalkanam
Synonyms
jihma-prāyam — cheating; vyavahṛtam — in all ordinary transactions; śāṭhya — duplicity; miśram — adulterated in; ca — and; sauhṛdam — regarding friendly well-wishers; pitṛ — father; mātṛ — regarding the mother; suhṛt — well-wishers; bhrātṛ — one’s own brother; dam-patīnām — regarding husband and wife; ca — also; kalkanam — mutual quarrel.
Translation
All ordinary transactions and dealings became polluted with cheating, even between friends. And in familial affairs, there was always misunderstanding between fathers, mothers and sons, between well-wishers, and between brothers. Even between husband and wife there was always strain and quarrel.
Purport
A conditioned living being is endowed with four principles of malpractice, namely errors, insanity, inability and cheating. These are signs of imperfection, and out of the four the propensity to cheat others is most prominent. And this cheating practice is there in the conditioned souls because the conditioned souls are primarily in the material world imbued with an unnatural desire to lord it over the material world. A living being in his pure state is not conditioned by the laws because in his pure state he is conscious that a living being is eternally subservient to the Supreme Being, and thus it is always good for him to remain subservient, instead of falsely trying to lord it over the property of the Supreme Lord. In the conditioned state the living being is not satisfied even if he actually becomes the lord of all that he surveys, which he never becomes, and therefore he becomes the victim of all kinds of cheating, even with his nearest and most intimate relations. In such an unsatisfactory state of affairs, there is no harmony, even between father and sons or between husband and wife. But all these contending difficulties can be mitigated by one process, and that is the devotional service of the Lord. The world of hypocrisy can be checked only by counteraction through devotional service to the Lord and nothing else. Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, having observed the disparities, conjectured the disappearance of the Lord from the earth.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj:
So this is another description of symptoms of disappearance of Krishna. So there was some inauspicious symptoms like change of seasons etc, but then more prominent of course is the faults in people. And in the previous verse, it is described that people become more greedy and sinful. So, this verse describes the relationships between people. So, generally in a society, the people should live in harmony, unfortunately because we have uncontrolled minds, we tend to have problems. To help prevent the problems, we have rules.
So this rules help us to govern our conduct and control our senses. So, all societies will have such rules. If we don’t, what happens is, we get quarrelling. And, this verse is dedicated to quarrelling. So we have quarrels not only among individuals, but also among the family members. So quarrels of fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, hubands, wives. In the purport, Prabhupad analyzes the cause. Ultimately everybody is cheaters. So, this is the first word ‘jihma-prāyaṁ’ – generally everybody is cheating. That cheating propensity, ultimately goes back to the root cause of the Jiva in the material world.
So, we call this Jiva in the material world, a conditioned Jiva or a bound up Jiva. So, he is baddha or bound up, because he is in material body and bound up by Karma. We call him conditioned, because he is covered by misconceptions. Ultimately the misconceptions go back to the subtle body with ‘ahankara’. But what is the cause of ‘ahankara’ ? So the scripture says, the ultimate cause is, ajnana – ignorance. Of course that looks a little bit abstract.
So we can understand it with its opposite – which is knowledge. So the Jiva is unconditional, not bound up, if he has knowledge. Of course when we talk about knowledge in material world, it is all conditional, it is all bound up knowledge, it is not real knowledge. Knowledge in material world is ultimately ignorance [Laughs]. So, the opposite of that would be knowledge. But in the material world, it is very difficult to figure out what that knowledge is, because we are all covered by ignorance. All of our knowledge would be conditioned knowledge. So the only way, we get that knowledge is through scripture. We cannot speculate, because that speculation is also covered by ignorance.
So what is the knowledge that scripture tells us ? So it tells us two things. One, you are not the body, you are atma. If you realize that, you get rid of your bondage. We call that mukti – liberation. That means, no more conditioning, no more karma, no more subtle body, no more gross body. So many people, if they understand that, they strive for that, then they think, we solved the problem. After all, it is stated in scripture. This is also the first lesson that Krishna teaches Arjuna in Bhagavad Gita in Chapter 2. However, if we go to scripture we will find that though it is knowledge, it is not complete knowledge. Just as if you go to school then they will teach you – 1 plus 1 equals 2, arithmetic, 5 plus 5 is 10 multiplication, division, is knowledge. But if you learn that, that is not complete knowledge. So, yes I understand we are ātmā, not the body, it is knowledge. But scriptures give other knowledge also. So not only it talks about atma, seperate from the body, it also talks about the Supreme Lord, who is also seperate from the atma. So complete knowledge is, knowledge of atma and knowledge of Supreme atma, Supreme Lord. So, if we have that knowledge, then we are actually liberated. So, this is actually the solution to our problem in the material world.
So in the material world we are conditioned, and we become subjected to all these problems and then as said in this verse, we end up quaralleing. And the origin of that, ultimately as i said was ignorance. But this verse also says the origin is cheating. So how is ignorance cheating? So ignorance is cheating because, real knowledge means Supreme Lord is there, I am an Atma, separate from the body. I am the servant of the Lord. Under ignorance, what do we say? I am a material body. I am not subservient to the Lord. I am an enjoyer of my body. So, in that way, the Jiva is cheating himself.
And now based on that cheating, then the Jiva wants to enjoy. But every other Jiva also wants to enjoy. Every Jiva is conditioned. So every Jiva wants to enjoy. So there will be conflict. We want to enjoy the same things, we have to fight with each other. So therefore, in the material world, this is a big problem. And as I said we have rules to try to prevent that. And the country has rules. You don’t follow the rules, don’t cooperate, we put you in jail. Supreme Lord has another rule, the law of karma. If you don’t follow the rules of dharma you get bad karma, punishment.
So this of course is just an adjustment. It does not get rid of the problem, it just controls people a little bit, so they can live peacefully. Of course by following the laws of dharma set up by the Lord, you can mitigate the problem in a better way. You can continue to have more and more peaceful material existence life after life. But dharma never guarantees complete peace. So Prabhupad mentions in the purport, you can get everything in the material world, become a great king, ultimately it’s not peaceful. There will be another Jiva that tries to take everything. So though Swargaloka is better, still there is problem there also. So we find Devatas competing with each other. And even if you get to Brahma Loka, it’s not perfect. So in that way, karma yoga and dharma and varnashrama etc. don’t really solve the problem.
So of course Jnana promises to solve the problem by destroying the material body completely. But the best solution to the problem is bhakti. So this will situate the Jiva, the atma in his perfect condition. That is the servant of the Supreme Lord. And thus, if we just get liberation in Brahman, it’s not complete. So it’s another type of cheating. So the only solution finally is to worship the Lord. That solves all the problems that we have in the material world. So of course liberation gets rid of the problem, because we get rid of individuals, we get rid of material bodies. But as I said, that is not the natural position of the Jiva. And thus, ultimately it’s not so satisfying. So the Jiva reaches perfect state of satisfaction by serving the Lord.
So of course we can say, well okay, I’m in the spiritual world, I’m a Jiva serving the Lord. But then, what if I quarrel with the Lord? So answer is that, in the spiritual world, because the Jiva has knowledge, there will be no quarrel. There are other Jivas in the spiritual world, they all have knowledge, but no quarrel, no cheating. Well, no cheating among Jivas, what about the Supreme Lord cheating us [Laughs]? So he’ll exploit us for his own pleasure. So the answer is that, the very nature of the Lord again is no cheating. Supreme Lord is not covered by ignorance. Supreme Lord is full of compassion for the Jivas. And he is so compassionate that the Supreme Lord even serves the Jivas. All this can exist because Supreme Lord and the Jivas in the spiritual world have unconditional Prema. Jiva wants to please the Lord with no conditions. Supreme Lord wants to please the Jiva with no conditions.
So this is opposite of material world. I will serve someone else in the material world, but I have conditions. So we’ll work for somebody, but we need money. Woman will marry a man, but she says, you have to support me. So all our relationships are not unconditional, they have conditions attached to them. And that is because each Jiva wants his own happiness. Ultimately, every Jiva wants to get served by everybody else. So spiritual world – opposite. All the Jivas want to serve, Supreme Lord wants to serve. So that is the only position where there is no quarrel.
Hare Krsna !
Q & A:
1) Maharaj, This question is about who controls the Jiva, actually actually ? We see in some slokas that Sthat Supreme Lord is the ultimate controller of the Jiva. ElElsewherewhere we see Jiva is actually controlled by his Karmas. In some of the shlokas, it is mentioned that Jiva is actually controlled by the three modes of nature, and then the planetary stars in some shlokas. In the Srimad Bhagavatam, in the eleventh canto, it is mentioned in one of the shlokas, that it is not all these factors, it is the mind which controls the Jiva. So how do we understand about the three modes, how does it operate actually?
If we think in terms of a Jiva and a material body, ultimately, body, subtle body, mind, etc. are all material. So they have no consciousness, they can’t really do anything. Karma is a material principle, it also can do nothing, it is not conscious. Just like we have laws of the country, they are all stuck in books in the library. They can’t affect you. They are sitting in the library, the laws [Laughs]. But we have people to enact the laws. So therefore, we have Yamaraja and others enacting the laws of karma. And ultimately, Yamaraja is under Supreme Lord. So that we can say, well, Supreme Lord is controlling everything [Laughs].
Just as the head of the king in the country is controlling everything. So that is true in one way. At the same time, we see that the citizens of the country are not completely controlled by everything. There is not a rule for every single second of their life. So in the same way, it is not that every time you take a breath, you have to get permission from the Supreme Lord [Laughs]. So there are laws of karma, we have subtle body, gross body, material nature, so many things, but nevertheless, the Lord gives some freedom to the individual Jivas.
So we have statements, yes everything under Supreme Lord’s control. That is ultimately true. Because he is Supreme. But with the Supreme power, he permits the Jiva certain freedoms. As the king permits citizens to make their own choices, but also follow the laws. So that is of course also ultimately, laws are also under king or Supreme Lord. So the Jiva therefore, though ultimately under the control of the Supreme Lord, does have freedom of choice.
By his definition as an Atma or Jiva, he is a center of his own consciousness. It is not that the Lord’s consciousness is predominating. Jiva has a sense of his own identity. So the Jiva says, I know this. So therefore, he is a center of knowledge for himself. Of course, we say in Upanishads that the real eye is the Supreme Lord, the real ear is the Supreme Lord, etc, etc. Yes, because ultimately he is controlling, but he permits the Jiva to experience on his own.
So we define Jiva as a Tattva. It doesn’t change. Jiva never changes and becomes something else. He is always Jiva. That means, the Lord never interferes with the Jiva being his own center of his consciousness. So the Lord never takes over the Jiva’s consciousness, says, I’m experiencing, I’m doing, I’m enjoying. The Jiva has his own choice. But it’s all permitted and empowered by the Supreme Lord. But the Lord preserves that relationship. He preserves that power of the Jiva. He preserves the individuality of Jiva.
2) Maharaj, in actuality, no Jiva wants to cheat himself, but due to ignorance, he is cheating himself, from time immemorial, it is most unfortunate.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: So, what’s the question?
Devotee: (audio not clear)
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Is there a question there? Or is it a statement?
Devotee: (audio not clear)
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yeah, So of course we say that Jiva is the killer of the soul [Laughs]. So of course, Jiva can never be killed even by himself. But by ignorance, he covers up his real nature. So that’s his cheating.
3) Maharaj, in the spiritual world – Vaikunta, the nature of the Jiva is to serve others, that is called in some places as the Vaikunta atmosphere. In the material world also, even among the devotees, sometimes we see that, in the name of helping others by engaging them in the service, some kind of exploitation is happening. Because every Jiva has a tendency to enjoy, by exploiting others, I also can enjoy or if everything happens nicely, I can enjoy. So how to come out of this tendency of exploitation?
So all anarthas are destroyed by the process of bhakti itself. This means that, the extent that the Jiva expresses unconditional service to the Lord, out of affection, to that extent, anarthas disappear. Why? Because all anarthas arise from the opposite tendency. Opposite tendency is, I want to be served [Laughs]. So bhakti is, I don’t want to be served, I want to serve the Lord. So opposite tendency, it will destroy the other tendency.
Devotee: In the competition of the service. I like to serve, I want to serve, I can serve better than him. The tendency is there. So this tendency is because of anarthas ?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Well, in the spiritual world, we have devotees serving, but the mark of the service is dainya, that they are the worst servant. So Radharani is the supreme servant of Krishna, she considers herself the worst servant. So the devotees in the material world, the more they are advanced, the more they will consider themselves as the unqualified servant. And the less advanced they are, they will consider themselves more qualified [Laughs].
4) Hare Krishna Maharaj, after the stage of anartha nivrti, the next stage is nistha, that is firm faith. One who has achieved this stage, can we say as uttama adhikari ? Because he has attained firm faith in the Lord.
So one who has achieved nistha, has not removed all of his anarthas. And even in bhava stage, there is a little bit of anartha. In prema, no anartha. So by one definition of uttama, we can say uttama is a prema bhakta. And those below that would be madhyamas. And the kanishtha would not be even a real devotee, he is called vaishnava praya, almost a devotee. He is not practicing pure bhakti.
5) Hare Krishna Even to get to know the real knowledge, you need a basic knowledge like knowing basic A,B,C,D etc (language), all these things. So if that knowledge is supported by the real knowledge, it is considered to be knowledge, or even then it is considered to be like ignorance ?
So the scriptures often condemn material knowledge [Laughs]. But then they say, they praise knowledge of the Vedas. To get the knowledge of the Vedas, you have to know grammar, you have to know words, etc., etc., etc. And that is material. So Rupa Goswami makes it clear in Nectar of Devotion beginning, the introduction more or less, that yes, we criticize knowledge and tarka and whatever, logic etc. But if it is useful for bhakti, we accept it. So if we study Sanskrit grammar etc. in order to defeat the scriptures, that is material knowledge [Laughs]. But if we use that knowledge to understand the true conclusion of the Vedas, then it is beneficial for us, useful.
6) [Audio not clear] Will the attitude of getting rid of quarrel among people, will help to advance one person in devotional service?
So, of course, quarreling etc. is simply a sign of conditioned life. So it’s another anartha. So anarthas are obstacles in bhakti. They’re like the anchor to the boat. You’re trying to make them go. This way the anchor keeps you backwards. So generally, by the practice of bhakti, the anartas should disappear. But that is provided, that we don’t hold on to the anartas. So we cannot keep the anchor of the boat there in the water and keep rowing that way and look at the anchor and say, it’s very nice, it’s very nice, because we won’t go anywhere. So we have to understand that at least the anartas are unfavorable for bhakti, so we avoid them as much as possible. And we perform our bhakti to make them weaker and weaker.
[Audio not clear]
Devotees: Grantharaj Srimad Bhagavatam Ki.. Jai !! HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj Ki.. Jai !!