Srimad Bhagavatam – 1.15.21 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | ISKCON Chennai | June 23, 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 15 Verse 21.
ŚB 1.15.21
तद्वै धनुस्त इषव: स रथो हयास्ते
सोऽहं रथी नृपतयो यत आनमन्ति ।
सर्वं क्षणेन तदभूदसदीशरिक्तं
भस्मन्हुतं कुहकराद्धमिवोप्तमूष्याम् ॥ २१ ॥
tad vai dhanus ta iṣavaḥ sa ratho hayās te
so ’haṁ rathī nṛpatayo yata ānamanti
sarvaṁ kṣaṇena tad abhūd asad īśa-riktaṁ
bhasman hutaṁ kuhaka-rāddham ivoptam ūṣyām
Synonyms
tat — the same; vai — certainly; dhanuḥ te — the same bow; iṣavaḥ — arrows; saḥ — the very same; rathaḥ — chariot; hayāḥ te — the very same horses; saḥ aham — I am the same Arjuna; rathī — the chariot-fighter; nṛpatayaḥ — all the kings; yataḥ — whom; ānamanti — offered their respects; sarvam — all; kṣaṇena — at a moment’s notice; tat — all those; abhūt — became; asat — useless; īśa — because of the Lord; riktam — being void; bhasman — ashes; hutam — offering butter; kuhaka-rāddham — money created by magical feats; iva — like that; uptam — sown; ūṣyām — in barren land.
Translation
I have the very same Gāṇḍīva bow, the same arrows, the same chariot drawn by the same horses, and I use them as the same Arjuna to whom all the kings offered their due respects. But in the absence of Lord Kṛṣṇa, all of them, at a moment’s notice, have become null and void. It is exactly like offering clarified butter on ashes, accumulating money with a magic wand or sowing seeds on barren land.
Purport
As we have discussed more than once, one should not be puffed up by borrowed plumes. All energies and powers are derived from the supreme source, Lord Kṛṣṇa, and they act as long as He desires and cease to function as soon as He withdraws. All electrical energies are received from the powerhouse, and as soon as the powerhouse stops supplying energy, the bulbs are of no use. In a moment’s time such energies can be generated or withdrawn by the supreme will of the Lord. Material civilization without the blessing of the Lord is child’s play only. As long as the parents allow the child to play, it is all right. As soon as the parents withdraw, the child has to stop. Human civilization and all activities thereof must be dovetailed with the supreme blessing of the Lord, and without this blessing all advancement of human civilization is like decoration on a dead body. It is said here that a dead civilization and its activities are something like clarified butter on ashes, the accumulation of money by a magic wand and the sowing of seeds in a barren land.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj:
So this verse illustrates the dependence of Arjuna on Krishna. Of course, it applies not only to Arjuna, but all living entities, and even all matter, everything is dependent on the Lord. Of course, there is also a difference between the devotee and the non-devotee. The Lord favours the devotee, so He gives special abilities to the devotee. We see that Krishna has 64 qualities, Vishnu has 60 qualities, Shiva has 55 qualities, Jivas can have 50 qualities. So the Jiva can share or manifest 50 qualities like the Lord, but of course he cannot manifest 64 qualities. However, even these qualities which manifest in the Jiva are manifest in very small quantity. However, if the Jiva is not a devotee of the Lord, these 50 qualities do not manifest at all. And instead we’ll get some dull reflection of qualities in the material world which are similar to those qualities.
So in the 10th chapter of Bhagavad Gita, and also in 11th canto of Bhagavatam, Krishna describes ‘Vibhutis’. So certain things in the material world are excellent. So, we have the lion among all animals is considered to be the king of animals. So, the lion is famous for its courage and fighting power. But this of course is material. But then Krishna says ‘I am the lion among the animals’, so this material quality is somewhat similar to Krishna’s quality. Krishna’s quality is of course spiritual and eternal. The lion has temporary power to kill as long as he got a lion body, next body may be mouse body, so he’s no longer the same.
So, similarly, human beings can develop good qualities as a kshatriya, vaishya, sudra or a brahmana with some similarity to the spiritual quality, but also temporary. So even these material qualities will manifest only because of the will of the Lord. And similarly non-living things, we have ether, so Krishna says ‘I am the sound in ether’. Or ‘I am the fragrance in earth’. So, the qualities of the element like sound and fragrance ultimately depend upon Supreme Lord. So, everything in the material world, the qualities of the Jiva in the material world, the qualities of the devotee in the spiritual world, all depend upon Krishna. Of course, why they depend on Krishna because Krishna is the source of all qualities. Krishna manifests all these qualities in full. They are manifest eternally in the most perfect manner. So the Jivas who become devotees, by the mercy of the Lord, develop all wonderful spiritual qualities or at least 50 qualities. But as I said, these qualities manifest in small amounts.
So, Lord is all powerful, the devotee also can be very powerful like Arjuna. The Lord is most intelligent, the devotee can also be very intelligent. Krishna is most beautiful; the devotee is also most attractive. Nevertheless, the power, the beauty, the qualities, intelligence of the Lord are much greater than any devotee in the spiritual world. But the similarity in the spiritual world is also necessary. Spiritual relationships cannot be established unless there is some similarity. So, rasa means a spiritual relationship. So, if Krishna shows cleverness when He speaks to a devotee and the devotee cannot say anything in return, there’s no exchange of rasa. If the Lord shows all wonderful intelligence and the devotee is stupid in the spiritual world, how can they relate to each other. If the Lord has all beauty and the devotee has no beauty, how they can relate with each other. We see even Krishna in Vrindavan is a cowherd boy, everybody else is cowherd, they’re all similar. In Dwarka, Krishna is kshatriya and all His associates are kshatriyas. So, the intimate relationships are established by great similarity.
As I mentioned, of course the Lord has much greater amount of each quality than the devotee. This also tends to make a little bit of separation in the rasa. Therefore, in Vrindavan, Krishna covers up His powers so that He doesn’t look so much greater than the devotees. He lets mother Yasoda be more powerful than Himself, so she can tie him up. But because Krishna gets tied up, that does not mean He is weak. So, it is described that yes, Krishna gets tied up, He does not get tied up by ropes, He gets tied up by Prema. If we want to say, Krishna is weak, yes, He is weak because He surrenders to the devotees’ Prema. So though Krishna acts like this in Vrindavan, when He’s in Dwarka, He’s much different. So, Krishna does not get tied up by Kamsa or Sishupala. Even Vasudeva and Devaki don’t want to tie up Krishna. So, these qualities are in the Lord and they manifest in the devotees.
And as I said, because they’re spiritual qualities, they are eternal. But here we see that suddenly Arjuna lost his powers, so they’re not eternal. So, this looks like a contradiction. So we can say, yes, Krishna loses His powers, but it is also temporary. It is for a certain purpose. Just like Brahma, most intelligent person in the material world, is a devotee of the Lord, respects the Lord. But then he tried to trick Krishna by stealing all the calves and cowherd boys. So, then we may think, oh he’s in maya, his quality of intelligence, his devotion is not eternal. But in answer to that, our Acharyas say, no, Brahma is not at fault. Krishna, by His will, withdrew Brahma’s intelligence. So, similarly here, Krishna withdraws Arjuna’s powers. But we see in the case of Brahma, after the whole past time, then Brahma returns to his original position with great intelligence. And we see that Arjuna also, he’s in the spiritual world with the Lord, he has his powers there. We see that all the Yadus became drunk, and they killed each other. But our Acharya’s point out, no, they did not die, they’re eternally residing with Krishna in Dwarka. So, for certain pastimes, sometimes the qualities of the devotee may be withdrawn by the Lord. So, we cannot blame Arjuna and say he’s in maya, we cannot blame the Yadus, it’s the arrangement of the Supreme Lord.
In this particular case, this arrangement is made so that the Lord can disappear, and His devotees can also disappear. So, after Arjuna stated all this, and Yudhishthira saw the situation, then he understood, oh yes, Krishna has disappeared, now we should disappear also. So, when Arjuna here realizes his powers are gone, he does not really lament. As a devotee, he realizes that all of his qualities, all of his strength, ultimately come from the Supreme Lord, it’s not his qualities. But by the great kindness, mercy of the Lord, the Lord bestows all these qualities on the Jiva. And the Lord, when He wants to manifest the qualities in Jiva, He can make them disappear. So Arjuna realized that he is completely dependent on the Lord. And this is how the devotee appreciates the Lord.
We know that the devotee realizes, he is the eternal servant of the Lord. Of course, non-devotees don’t accept that. The devotees accept this with great joy. The non-devotee or the materialist will think, ‘if I am a servant of the Supreme Lord, that makes me inferior’. Inferiority is a bad quality, so why shall I surrender to the Lord. The devotee joyfully accepts that he is the servant of the Lord, he is dependent on the Lord. And when he does so, then that Jiva becomes great.
It says in the Svetasvatara Upanishad, there are two birds on the tree. One bird is enjoying the fruit of the tree, that is the Jiva. There is another bird there who does not eat the fruit, and the other bird doesn’t see him. That Jiva is busily eating the fruit. However, sometimes, that bird who is busily eating the fruit, will recognize this other bird on the tree. When he does so, he becomes situated in his own glory. And as I said, the Lord bestows all wonderful qualities on that Jiva. The Jiva may become like the Lord. And as Arjuna describes, Krishna was acting like the servant of Arjuna, He made Arjuna even greater than Himself. Nevertheless, the devotee never falls into the illusion and thinking he is really greater than the Lord; he is always servant of the Lord. And in this particular incident where Arjuna has all of his powers disappear, help him realize his position of being completely dependent on the Lord.
Hare Krsna!
Q & A:
1.) Thank you Maharaj, Maharaj mentioned that the Lord likes to bestow all spiritual qualities on a devotee, Maharaj for our understanding, at which level of a devotee from Shraddha to Prema, at which level does he get this benediction?
In Nectar of Devotion, while describing the special qualities of Bhakti at the beginning, Rupa Goswami mentions that within Sadhana itself, two qualities are manifested. One quality is Kleshagni, destruction of all suffering. Of course suffering means due to karma we have pain, plus what is the cause of that, material desires, what is the cause of material desires, ignorance, all of that is destroyed by the process of Bhakti. So all material qualities are destroyed by Bhakti. That means qualities in Tamo-gun, Rajo-gun and even Sattva-gun.
The second quality to manifest in Sadhana Bhakti is Subhadha, bestowal of auspiciousness. This means that through Sadhana Bhakti, we get a bestowal of many good qualities, but as I mentioned, Kleshagni means destruction of qualities, even Sattva qualities, so what is this bestowal of qualities? It has to be spiritual qualities! So as we perform Sadhana Bhakti, all of the material qualities are destroyed and gradually the spiritual qualities manifest.
However, this is not complete in Sadhana, as we go through Bhava and Prema, there is more complete manifestation of good qualities and destruction of karmas, ignorance etc. So the more we develop in Bhakti, the more these spiritual qualities manifest.
2.) Thank you Maharaj. Maharaj, you mentioned that similarity in quality is a necessity for a relationship between the Lord and the devotees. One doubt Maharaj, in terms of beauty, the Lord is so beautiful, in that sense, the devotee also has to be somewhat beautiful, it seems to be little difficult to understand Maharaj. The reason is, it’s an apparently external quality, so how is that, it’s an external quality. Beauty is an external, for instance, I’m not sure if I can quote the example of Kubja, so that was not the quality, so how to appreciate this external beauty Maharaj?
So, of course, in the material world, beauty is external, but that does not apply in the spiritual world. Internal, external are non-different. So we cannot say in the spiritual world, yes, Krishna looks very beautiful externally, but internally he’s got blood and bones and whatever [Laughs], we can’t say that [Laughs]. So his form and his qualities are actually intermingled in such a way, we cannot separate them from the essence of Krishna.
So obviously there has to be some similarity. Things are not exact, so we have cowherd boys that look like Krishna somewhat, but not exactly like Krishna. We have Mother Yasoda and Nanda, kind of like cowherds, but they’re much older than Krishna. We have the Gopis and Krishna, they’re also cowherds, but they are female, Krishna is male. So difference is there. But all of those devotees have in form and qualities, have perfection.
So that similarity is healthy and conducive for rasa and thus they cannot be the same relationship between Krishna and the birds, or Krishna and the cows, or Krishna and the deer. They’re different forms, different qualities. And even in the story of the wives of the brahmanas serving Krishna, one wife she actually passed out of her body, of separation. And those brahmanas wives, they would say you please take us with you, Krishna says, no. Not because they did not have prema for Krishna, but because they were brahmanas, he was vaisya, didn’t match [Laughs]. In the case of Kubja, she was a hunchback etc, but Krishna made her beautiful, then he met her in her house.
3.) Maharaj made a point that the devotees in this particular verse have decided like Arjuna, Yudhishtira decided to finish their leela and go back, is it in their free will, now that they have understood Krishna has departed, so we also have to leave means, do they have the prerogative or do they have the free will to leave their pastimes here Maharaj?
[Clarification of question]
Well, all of this is, we can say partly free will, but also the will of the Lord. The Lord does not like separation from his devotees, so very quickly, if the Lord disappears, they will all disappear [Laughs]. In certain cases we see that devotees stay in the material world like Prahlad or Bali. But those are also for certain purposes, just as Brahma stays in the universe and he sits there until the end of his life [Laughs]. However the eternal associates of the Lord very quickly join the Lord.
4.) Maharaj, in the 10th chapter of Bhagavad Gita and the 11th canto of Bhagavatam, it is written that Vibhutis, the material world is Lord’s Vibhuti, and in Tamil also there is one word ‘Vibhuti’, like you know Shiva, Saivaits, they use the Vibhuti, Vibhuti means that they apply in forehead, there is any relationship in that ?
So the word ‘Vibhuti’ can mean wealth or power. So it can be applied to Shiva or Devatas or anyone as well, but it’s all relative. When the Acharyas use the word in relation to the Vibhutis of Krishna, it means that certain things, usually material things, manifest certain material qualities, which indicate their greatness. So the Devatas are empowered by the Lord, the Sages are empowered by the Lord, the Manus are empowered by the Lord to do certain things in the material world, they are called the Vibhutis of Supreme Lord. Sometimes the Lord eternally empowers a Jiva, like Narada Muni, then they are called Shaktivesh Avatar. So these Jivas have eternal spiritual bodies.
5.) Being a insignificant Jiva, while performing Sadhana Bhakti to one’s best capacity, can we say everything as the pastimes of the Lord?
[Clarification of the question]
Well, we can call everything the pastime of the Lord, like creation of the material world is a pastime of the Lord, everything and all the Jivas are pastime of the Lord, but when we’re talking generally, when we talk about pastimes of Krishna, we’re talking about his pastimes in relation to his devotees. But then of course we have Lord as Mahavishnu, Garbhodakasayi Vishnu, Kshirodakashayi Vishnu manifesting and maintaining the material worlds, it’s also a pastime of the Lord. But this is an action in relation to matter and conditioned Jivas.
So, it is quite different from the pastimes of the Lord with his devotees in the spiritual world. And the pastimes in the spiritual world are ultimately arranged by the Lord to increase Ananda of the Jiva and the Lord. So, the Lord manifests the material world and places the Jivas in the material world, but the result is not bliss [Laughs]. But the Lord is involved in it, necessarily involved in it, so it’s also called a pastime of the Lord.
6.) Thank you so much Maharaj. Maharaj mentioned that Krishna refused to the demands of Brahmana Padnis, stating that he is a Kshatriya and they are Brahmanas. Question is, will this not result in a debate in terms of caste system from the Atheists?
[Clarification of the question]
Oh, well, we see that, of course, not just in this instance. In Vrindavan, everybody is otherwise a Vaishya for all the pastimes. And in Dwaraka, everybody is Kshatriya. And Krishna marries Kshatriya princesses [Laughs]. So, then it may be, oh, then Krishna is caste conscious. And, of course, the demons also criticize. Actually, Krishna is not a Kshatriya. He is a Vaishya. He shouldn’t be sitting in Dwaraka as the king [Laughs].
So, in the spiritual world, we have what looks like varnas defined. And you’ll see in Dwaraka, there are Kshatriyas, there are Brahmanas, there are Vaishyas, there are Sudras, there are Melachas. All varieties of people are there in the pastimes in Dwaraka. But they’re all devotees. And though we can say they are distinct varnas or whatever, because they are devotees, they are very special.
So, nevertheless, within the pastimes, Krishna usually acts within the rules of varna. And, of course, that is because the Supreme Lord often supports the whole varna ashram system. However, because all this is spiritual, the so-called division of varnas and ashramas, etc, ultimately, it cannot be material at all. It’s only for pastimes.
7.) Thank you, Maharaj. Jiva, being a Tatastha Shakti, can it manifest all the 50 qualities in completeness in a spiritual world?
It can manifest 50 qualities, as what I said, in small quantity [Laughs]. So it can manifest spiritual intelligence, but Krishna’s got more spiritual intelligence [Laughs]. So, 50 qualities that Jiva can manifest in small quantity. Some qualities he cannot manifest at all.
So, one of the qualities that distinguish Vishnu from other Jivas is, Vishnu can manifest universes, Jivas cannot, even in the spiritual world. They don’t take the place of Maha Vishnu [Laughs]. Another quality of the Supreme Lord that distinguishes Jivas is that, Supreme Lord manifests countless avatars. The Jiva does not do that.
8.) Thank you, Maharaj. Material senses are made up of material elements. How about the spiritual senses, mind and intelligence? What they are made of?
So, of course, just everything in the material world is ultimately traced back to Prakriti, which is Jada. It is insentient. It is called Achit. Everything in the spiritual world is the opposite, it is Chit. So, therefore, the body, the senses, the mind, it is all Chit. It all manifests through the internal energy, Antaranga Shakti or Chit Shakti of the Lord. Everything in the material world comes from the Achit Shakti.
9.) Thank you, Maharaj. We are not supposed to worship others in front of the deities. Being the case, how do we understand the worship of Srila Prabhupada in front of the deities?
In the beginning of ISKCON, we did not have Caitanya Caritamrta. And the devotees were very enthusiastic. So they began worshipping Prabhupada and Guru Puja every day. And Prabhupada did not object. Later on, then we have the Caitanya Caritamrta there, says you shouldn’t worship anyone in front of it. It looks like contradiction [Laughs]. I don’t think anyone raised that point to Prabhupada. So they continued [Laughs].
However, we do see that when we do Tulsi Puja, we close the curtain. So it is some, we say custom in ISKCON that has continued and nobody’s objected. Of course, as I say, in the Sri Vaishnava temples, they don’t do this at all. And I think probably in the Gaudiya Matt also, the worship of Guru is completely separate.
Of course, then the GBC also made a rule that this can be allowed for Prabhupada, but not for other Gurus.
10.) Thank you, Maharaj. How to maintain our Sadhana Bhakti while performing Harinama Sankirtan as well? Because Harinama Sankirtan is also meant for the purification of others.
Well, Nama Sankirtan is Sadhana. So that means it is necessary for our own spiritual development. And of all the Sadhanas, chanting the holy name is the main Sadhana. But it has two aspects. So Sadhana for ourself means that by chanting the holy name and doing Japa, etc., then we develop our Bhakti. So this of course is Nama Kirtan.
However, we also have another type of Kirtan called preaching. Of course, there’s also a restriction. Don’t preach to the faithless people. However, Nama Sankirtan is a little special because we can broadcast the holy name to people even if they don’t have faith. So this is just another type of Kirtan, another type of Sadhana.
Thank you so much, Maharaj. Dandavat Pranams.
Devotees: Grantharaj Srimad Bhagavatam Ki.. Jai !! HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj Ki.. Jai !!