Srimad Bhagavatam – 1.14.42 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | ISKCON Chennai | May 26, 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 Bhagavatam Canto 1 Chapter 14 Verse 42.
ŚB 1.14.42
कच्चित्त्वं नागमोऽगम्यां गम्यां वासत्कृतां स्त्रियम् ।
पराजितो वाथ भवान्नोत्तमैर्नासमै: पथि ॥ ४२ ॥
kaccit tvaṁ nāgamo ’gamyāṁ
gamyāṁ vāsat-kṛtāṁ striyam
parājito vātha bhavān
nottamair nāsamaiḥ pathi
Synonyms
kaccit — whether; tvam — yourself; na — not; agamaḥ — did contact; agamyām — impeachable; gamyām — acceptable; vā — either; asat-kṛtām — improperly treated; striyam — a woman; parājitaḥ — defeated by; vā — either; atha — after all; bhavān — your good self; na — nor; uttamaiḥ — by superior power; na — not; asamaiḥ — by equals; pathi — on the road.
Translation
Have you contacted a woman of impeachable character, or have you not properly treated a deserving woman? Or have you been defeated on the way by someone who is inferior or equal to you?
Purport
It appears from this verse that during the time of the Pāṇḍavas free contact between man and woman was allowed in certain conditions only. The higher-caste men, namely the brāhmaṇas and kṣatriyas, could accept a woman of the vaiśya or the śūdra community, but a man from the lower castes could not contact a woman of the higher caste. Even a kṣatriya could not contact a woman of the brāhmaṇa caste. The wife of a brāhmaṇa is considered one of the seven mothers (namely one’s own mother, the wife of the spiritual master or teacher, the wife of a brāhmaṇa, the wife of a king, the cow, the nurse and the earth). Such contact between man and woman was known as uttama and adhama. Contact of a brāhmaṇa with a kṣatriya woman is uttama, but the contact of a kṣatriya with a brāhmaṇa woman is adhama and therefore condemned. A woman approaching a man for contact should never be refused, but at the same time the discretion as above mentioned may also be considered. Bhīma was approached by Hiḍimbī from a community lower than the śūdras, and Yayāti refused to marry the daughter of Śukrācārya because of Śukrācārya’s being a brāhmaṇa. Vyāsadeva, a brāhmaṇa, was called to beget Pāṇḍu and Dhṛtarāṣṭra. Satyavatī belonged to a family of fishermen, but Parāśara, a great brāhmaṇa, begot in her Vyāsadeva. So there are so many examples of contacts with woman, but in all cases the contacts were not abominable nor were the results of such contacts bad. Contact between man and woman is natural, but that also must be carried out under regulative principles so that social consecration may not be disturbed or unwanted worthless population be increased for the unrest of the world.
It is abominable for a kṣatriya to be defeated by one who is inferior in strength or equal in strength. If one is defeated at all, he should be defeated by some superior power. Arjuna was defeated by Bhīṣmadeva, and Lord Kṛṣṇa saved him from the danger. This was not an insult for Arjuna because Bhīṣmadeva was far superior to Arjuna in all ways, namely age, respect and strength. But Karṇa was equal to Arjuna, and therefore Arjuna was in crisis when fighting with Karṇa. It was felt by Arjuna, and therefore Karṇa was killed even by crooked means. Such are the engagements of the kṣatriyas, and Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira inquired from his brother whether anything undesirable happened on the way home from Dvārakā.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj:
So here we have some more inquiry by Yudhisthira about the cause of Arjuna’s being depressed. And these are also conditions that apply to the material world. Different societies will have different rules. And it’s considered wrong if you break those rules. The Varanashrama system has many rules. And people who accept that system are expected to follow the rules. If they don’t, they’re considered to be sinful. And they have to do some atonement. So these acts are considered sinful, because they produce bad results. But as we understand, all of these bad results, or good results, or whatever, are all material considerations. If we all have spiritual bodies, we don’t have to consider any of this.
So rules in the material world are made because people are conditioned. So, by following the rules, you get some improvement in your material condition. And not following the rules, then you suffer. So of course, some of the effects we do not see immediately. And some of the effects may only be experienced in the next lifetime. So it is difficult for us to figure out what the rules should be. And thus, we have to refer to scripture, then we understand what the rules are. And that is why the rules of a country or society, if they don’t follow the Vedic scriptures, those rules are somewhat haphazard. They may create some temporary peaceful situation. But we don’t know what will happen in the long run. We don’t know what will happen when the person is born in the next life. So sometimes they have to change the rules also. So the Vedic system is superior. But even then, we will always get conditions which require some thoughtful discretion. So there’s always going to be situations in the world which are not covered by scripture. So what are we supposed to do? So that is why the Brahmana is there, to meditate upon such solutions.
In the story of King Vena, the father was a very good king, but then he retired. So according to the laws of Dharma, then his son should take over the kingdom. However, this son was very unqualified. He was irresponsible. He did not follow the laws of Dharma. He liked to kill people unjustly. So the Brahmanas were confused, what to do? We have to put him on the throne, because we don’t have a king, so they put him on the throne. But then they found it was worse situation. So then they cursed him to die. But then there was no king, no leader at all, it became even worse. So the Brahmanas had to solve that problem also, who to make the king, because there was no descendants. And thus, by use of mantras, out of the body of King Vena, they produced Prthu Maharaj, who was a good king. So under normal situations, you simply follow all the rules, but then in some situations, we can’t follow the rules, we have to do something else.
So thus, all of these different rules of the Varanashrama system are very helpful for us, at the same time, they cannot considered to be absolute. There’s always going to be some exceptional cases. Of course, another rule is, one can make exceptions, but the exception should not become the rule. So therefore, yes, we can alter things slightly in some cases, but in general, after that situation is over, we return to the normal situation again. So in this way, the laws have to be applied very intelligently.
We’ll see another case with Pariksit. So when Pariksit was ruling, then he encountered the Sudra, who was dressed as a king, and he was beating the legs of the bull. Naturally then, because he is a Kshatriya and he is the king, he would just kill him. However, this Sudra, who was Kali personified, he surrendered to Pariksit, so Pariksit couldn’t kill him. So he banished him from the kingdom. So, in this way, he applied Dharma in a certain way under that condition. So, we have many examples of that. So all the rules are there, but we have to have intelligence to apply them properly. In some cases, the king has to make the decision. Sometimes the king will have to go to the Brahmanas and ask their opinion. And in other cases, which are maybe less important or whatever, then the individuals have to have enough knowledge of Dharma to solve their own problems. And if they cannot solve the problem, they’ll go to someone else. And of course, it’s all under the structure of these sets of rules.
So, a person has to be familiar with the rules. But then he has to be intelligent to apply them properly. And that will give good results. So the same principle applies with knowledge in general. It applies to scriptural knowledge. So we should know all the rules, we should know all the philosophy. But then we have to also know how to apply it in certain circumstances. Sometimes, yes, it’s easy to apply. Other cases, it becomes a little bit difficult. However, if we have thorough knowledge or deeper knowledge, then the principles become easier to apply. So it is often said that knowing on one level superficially is not sufficient. In fact, a little knowledge becomes dangerous. So we should have deep knowledge, then we can apply the philosophy and the rules of scripture properly.
And thus, Rupa Goswami in Nectar of Devotion, he talks about three types of faith. The faith is connected with scripture. Because faith means we have faith in the rules of scripture. So the Kanistha person is one, who has very little knowledge of the scripture. So he will say, yes, I accept the Vedas. But then if you say, what is the conclusion of the Vedas? He says, I don’t know. So what does he has faith in then? Vedas is just a name, but what’s in the Vedas? So, if opponents speak to him, they can actually convince him of something else, and then he loses his faith.
So the Madhyama in faith, has some knowledge of scripture. So therefore, he bases his faith upon the knowledge that he has. So his faith is somewhat steady, because of that. So people may argue with him. Because he does not have too much knowledge, they can also defeat him. However, because he has that little bit of knowledge, his faith does not waver. So he is different from the Kanistha.
So the Uttama has thorough knowledge of scripture. Thus, his faith also is very deep. Plus, he can logically defeat others. So if others argue, definitely his faith will not change. But he will also defeat their arguments. And he may be even able to convince them to accept this faith in the Vedic scriptures. So such a person, the Uttama is considered to be the proper person to explain scriptures. So because of his deep knowledge of the scripture, he can explain things nicely. He knows how to apply the philosophy and the rules. So, in this way, such a person is not bewildered by all of that knowledge. He understands the deep intentions of the scripture and is able to apply that.
Though scripture is perfect and it is our authority, when we read it, we encounter problems. Some of the statements appear contradictory. We cannot figure out what is the conclusion. This, of course, is not the fault of the scripture. Scripture is speaking to many different types of people. Thus, it is giving different types of knowledge. So the intelligent person has to understand what is the highest level of knowledge presented in the scripture and he presents that. And in this way, there is no contradiction in the scriptures. So actually, the Bhagavatam itself is Vedavyasa’s attempt to do this. And thus, in the Bhagavatam, he rejects all the other statements of the Vedas – karma, jnana, yoga, etc. In spite of that, people will read it, even then, they get side-tracked.
So therefore, the Acharyas are there to also give us the right meaning of Bhagavatam. So therefore, we accept scripture, it is simplified through Bhagavatam. But in Bhagavatam also, it is presented through the words of the Acharyas, so we get the actual meaning. So, when we get that knowledge, the real knowledge of the Bhagavatam through the Acharyas, then we can practice bhakti and chant the holy name properly, so that we can attain the goal of Prema.
Hare Krsna!
Devotees: Granatharaj Srimad Bhagavatam Ki.. Jai !! HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj Ki.. Jai !! HDG Abhaya Caranaravinda Bhakti Vedanta Swami Srila Prabhupad Ki.. Jai !!