Srimad Bhagavatam – 1.15.33 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | ISKCON Chennai | July 8, 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 33.
ŚB 1.15.33
पृथाप्यनुश्रुत्य धनञ्जयोदितं
नाशं यदूनां भगवद्गतिं च ताम् ।
एकान्तभक्त्या भगवत्यधोक्षजे
निवेशितात्मोपरराम संसृते: ॥ ३३ ॥
pṛthāpy anuśrutya dhanañjayoditaṁ
nāśaṁ yadūnāṁ bhagavad-gatiṁ ca tām
ekānta-bhaktyā bhagavaty adhokṣaje
niveśitātmopararāma saṁsṛteḥ
Synonyms
pṛthā — Kuntī; api — also; anuśrutya — overhearing; dhanañjaya — Arjuna; uditam — uttered by; nāśam — end; yadūnām — of the Yadu dynasty; bhagavat — of the Personality of Godhead; gatim — disappearance; ca — also; tām — all those; eka-anta — unalloyed; bhaktyā — devotion; bhagavati — unto the Supreme Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa; adhokṣaje — transcendence; niveśita-ātmā — with full attention; upararāma — became released from; saṁsṛteḥ — material existence.
Translation
Kuntī, after overhearing Arjuna’s telling of the end of the Yadu dynasty and disappearance of Lord Kṛṣṇa, engaged in the devotional service of the transcendental Personality of Godhead with full attention and thus gained release from the course of material existence.
Purport
The setting of the sun does not mean the end of the sun. It means that the sun is out of our sight. Similarly, the end of the mission of the Lord on a particular planet or universe only means that He is out of our sight. The end of the Yadu dynasty also does not mean that it is annihilated. It disappears, along with the Lord, out of our sight. As Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira decided to prepare to go back to Godhead, so also Kuntī decided, and thus she fully engaged herself in the transcendental devotional service of the Lord which guarantees one a passport for going back to Godhead after quitting this present material body. The beginning of devotional service to the Lord is the beginning of spiritualizing the present body, and thus an unalloyed devotee of the Lord loses all material contact in the present body. The abode of the Lord is not a myth, as is thought by the unbelievers or ignorant people, but one cannot reach there by any material means like a sputnik or space capsule. But one can certainly reach there after leaving this present body, and one must prepare himself to go back to Godhead by practicing devotional service. That guarantees a passport for going back to Godhead, and Kuntī adopted it.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj:
So, we see in this verse how not just Yudhisthira, but all of the members of that family also arranged to disappear from this world. And it’s described that Kunti Devi absorbed her mind in the Supreme Lord with pure devotion. However, of course, this is not some sort of sadhana for Kunti. She is already a perfect devotee. So it is natural that she will be absorbed in the Supreme Lord. So we see how the inhabitants of Vrindavan are naturally absorbed in Krishna at all times. And they do not have to practice that. So as long as we are in the material world on the other hand, this practice of bhakti is not spontaneous. So it’s a practice, so we call it sadhana.
So thus every day we have to chant, we have to see the deity, we have to read scripture. These are parts of sadhana. So before we begin the process of bhakti, we don’t do any of this. When we develop faith, then we begin to practice this, it becomes sadhana. So we do these activities of bhakti, but these are the same activities that the Nitya Siddhas perform. So we see in the spiritual world, Mother Yasoda is singing about the Lord and serving the Lord everyday. So the activity in sadhana and the activity of the Nitya Siddhas is the same. But in the spiritual world, it is no longer a practice. It is a natural activity.
So of course in the material world, we have relatively natural activities like breathing. Nobody has to teach another person how to breathe. So there are many functions of the body that just go on without practice. But the activities of bhakti are not like that, some people don’t do them and they don’t do them for their whole life. So, at a certain point in time, we may begin those activities when we accept devotional service. Though it’s natural in the spiritual world, it’s not natural in the material world. So therefore, the devotee has to practice. However, by the practice, then eventually it becomes natural.
So of course, there are two factors involved. So of course, to learn anything in the material world, we have to practice. However, to learn to chant Hare Krishna is not very difficult. So it does not take practice just to learn the syllables of the mantra. So that part of practice is easy. However, there is a little bit of a problem. Though we can learn the practice, we may not be eager to do it all the time. So in that sense, it’s still not natural. So why is that? So that is because we are a condition to the material world, we have other practices that become habits for us. And we have to replace all of those activities with the activities of bhakti.
So of course, the difficulty is that our attraction to those activities in the material world is much stronger than our attraction to bhakti. So not only we have to learn the practice of bhakti, we have to develop more attraction for it. And we have to reduce the attraction to everything in the material world. So that is accomplished by bhakti in sadhana. What does it do? It increases our attraction to the Lord. Simultaneously, it decreases our attraction to everything in the material world.
So at the same time, what is happening is, in the practice of bhakti, we are losing our desire to get enjoyment for our self. We are replacing that with the desire to please Krishna. When that desire to please Krishna is perfect, that is called Prema. The desire to please our self in the material world is called kama. So, by sadhana bhakti, we transform kama into Prema. Actually, it’s not like a flower becoming a fruit. It’s a complete transformation. There are similarities of course, but there’s also a big difference. So, the similarity is, there are feelings of happiness. There are relationships. Difference, of course we can also say, rasas are similar. The activities are somewhat similar.
However, the big difference is the centre of the enjoyment. So in the material world, in kama, self is the centre of enjoyment. In the spiritual world, Krishna is the centre of enjoyment. So, there’s a big change that must take place. So that change can only take place through the sadhana of bhakti. So, the seed of bhakti is planted, and then gradually that change takes place. So, sadhana means practice, so repeatedly we carry out these activities of hearing and chanting, etc. And Krishna becomes more and more the centre. And self becomes less the centre. So when it’s all for Krishna and zero for the self, that is called Prema. Then all those activities become natural.
So when Kunti is performing bhakti, it is natural. She has no material attraction. So though her activities may look similar to a person performing sadhana bhakti, yes, very similar, activity is the same, but she’s doing it with Prema. So we do sadhana now with certain activities, in Prema, we do same activities. So we don’t give up the activities. In a material activity, once you get the goal, you give up the previous practice. What is the sadhana in school? – Study. What is the goal? – Degree. Once you get the degree, you stop the study. The same with karma yoga. Once you get the goal, Svarga Loka, you stop the karma yoga. In Jnana yoga, you study Upanishads. When you get the goal, liberation, no more study. In the process of bhakti yoga, we do hearing and chanting. When we get the goal, Prema, we do not give up those activities, we continue them. So the activities of bhakti in sadhana are the same activities in prema. This shows that the whole process is spiritual. The process of jnana is material because you give it up when you get liberation. So even sadhana bhakti is spiritual process. The only difference between Prema and sadhana bhakti is, we do the activities in sadhana, but they are not perfect.
So we do the activities of bhakti in sadhana, not perfect, we cannot do it all the time, and not spontaneous. In Prema, perfect. So there is no new practice we have to learn in the spiritual world. So though the activities are the same activities, it’s only the quality which is different. So, devotees like the Pandavas and Kunti, they are Nitya-siddhas, so their bhakti is perfect. They are not doing a practice to get to the goal. They already have the goal. Nevertheless, they are still doing bhakti. In Prema, the Nitya-siddhas are always doing bhakti. So because they are doing the same activities that we are doing, doesn’t mean they are the same.
So when we see this verse, ‘ekānta-bhaktyā bhagavaty adhokṣaje’, she absorbs herself with pure devotional service, this does not mean she is practicing. It is natural for her to think of the Lord and it’s natural for her to have devotion for the Lord. So, with that perfect state, then she gave up the material world, and she enters the spiritual world. But there’s no difference. So a person in the material world, he will do sadhana bhakti. In the beginning, we cannot fully concentrate. And by practice, then we can concentrate more. We can express devotion, but the devotion is not constant. But by practice, then that devotion also becomes constant. But until we reach the perfect stage, we cannot attain the spiritual world. So we can give up this body, we can take another body, and practice bhakti again. And when we get that constant bhakti, constant absorption on the Lord, then we are qualified for the spiritual world. At that point, then we get released from samsara.
Here it says, ‘upararāma’, she gave up ‘saṁsṛteḥ’, samsara. But of course, for Kunti, she was never in samsara [Laughs]. She simply disappeared from the material world. However, for the Jivas doing sadhana, yes, at a certain point, they give up the material world, and then they go to the spiritual world. So in the case of Kunti, she is simply disappearing from the material world and continuing pastimes with the Supreme Lord in the spiritual world. For the Jiva in the material world, we have to do sadhana. And when it is complete, when it is perfect, then we give up the material world and go to the spiritual world. So the activities of the person doing sadhana and one in Prema are the same, but the purity is different.
Hare Krsna !
Q & A
1.) If we take the word of ‘anuśrutya’, that means after hearing yadūnāṁ bhagavad-gatiṁ, the destruction of the yadu, but why this nāśaṁ word is used? nāśaṁ means normally destruction, but materialistic persons might take it a different way. Oh, there is a destruction of the yadu also.
So the word nāśaṁ or destruction is referring to the material perception only. And of course, from the material point of view, Supreme Lord also [Laughs], nāśaṁ [Laughs], he was killed and like that, disappeared. But with our understanding as a devotee, we know it’s not a destruction, it is simply a disappearance, a method of disappearance. So thus, in reading scriptures and Bhagavatam, we have to be careful of the meaning of the words.
If we are to take a literal meaning of these words, then we will say the yadus were material because they got destroyed. And of course, we could say, even the Lord was practicing sadhana and then he attained the goal [Laughs]. And we can also say, Kunti did sadhana bhakti and then she was able to escape from samsara. So we could not always take the literal meaning of the words.
Now, of course, one person with a very logical mind may simply analyze this text and say, finally, yes, everybody is material. Pandava is material, Supreme Lord is material. Based on the literal meaning of the words, yes, that the interpretation can be there. But we do have to see other verses, we have to see other explanations. So we cannot take one verse in isolation from other verses from other chapters, from the whole work.
2.) Another word here Maharaj ‘niveśitātma’, Prabhupada translated it as with full attention. Does that mean that she was not attentive before. We can take that meaning also.
So literally, of course, it means mind became absorbed. So if we take the meaning of niveśitā, past tense or whatever, finally her mind became absorbed at a certain point in time. However, the same phrase, ‘niveśitātma’, absorbed mind, can be taken not with a time sense. Her mind was absorbed. Meaning her mind was always absorbed in the Lord [Laughs]. Well of course the other one is finally she was able to absorb her mind in the Lord, that could be the other interpretation. So thus the meaning of words is very broad in some cases. And we have to take the meaning according to context.
3.) Maharaj the word nāśaṁ, can we take this part also? In the Yadu, there are also demigods parts, they are all destroyed. But those who are Nithya Siddhas, they got bhagavad-gatiṁ, they attained that Supreme Lord. We can take that part also. They are Nithya Siddhas, because there are some demigods also there, those who are merged in the body of Yadus, they are all nāśaṁ.
So this of course is Visvanath Cakravarti’s interpretation of the disappearance. Previously, Brahma went to complain to the Supreme Lord about the activities of Kamsa etc. And then the Lord said, you Devatas should appear in the material world to prepare for the Lord’s coming. So their amsas entered into the Yadus. So the Devatas were the Yadus also [Laughs]. But when the Lord disappeared, then of course the Yadus had to disappear. The Devatas also in the Yadus had to disappear [Laughs]. So the Devatas gave up the bodies of the Yadus and then they went back to Swargaloka. And of course the Yadus themselves, the spiritual bodies remained in Dwaraka. So that destruction of the Yadus was a pretext for the Devatas to return to the spiritual world.
Devotee : I was reading Krishna Sandarbha, where they explained that actually this fighting is not that originally Yadus fight. Only these demigods they all fought each other and you know they died and they went to Swargaloka. But originally Yadus, they remained back in Dwaraka and they disappeared. Is it ?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj : Yeah, the Yadus are still there.
Devotee : Yeah, but fighting, it was actually the demigods fought, they only fought each other.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj : Yeah.
Devotee : Not the original Yadus fought each other.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj : Yeah.
4.) Thank you Maharaj. Maharaj, the attraction to Krishna is a greatest benediction for a Sadhaka. But the price that’s being paid in terms of Sadhana Bhakti apparently appears to be very very insignificant. The price that he pays is insignificant whereas he gets the highest benediction.
[Clarification of question by Maharaj]
Well Sadhana Bhakti is actually the only way to get to Krishna. You can’t get by Jnana, Yoga or all of these. So its also an easy process. And if you do Jnana for millions of years, you still can’t get Krishna. At the same time, not everybody will have faith in the process of Bhakti. So though it is an easy process and it gives the highest goal, still not all people will have faith in that. So it is only by great good fortune that a person accepts the process of Bhakti Yoga.
So of course, the rarest jewel is not appreciated by everybody. I think Prabhupada gives the comparison giving pearls to swine. Pearls are precious jewels, but if you give them to pigs they will just eat them [Laughs]. So it requires some qualification to recognize the highest jewel. So with qualification you can recognize that Prema is the highest goal for a human being.
5.) Hare Krishna Maharaj, what is the difference between Nithya Siddha Bhakti and Raganuga Bhakti?
Raganuga is a type of sadhana. There are perfected devotees in the spiritual world they are called Ragatmika. So all the inhabitants of Vrindavan in the spiritual world are Ragatmika. Some may be Nitya Siddhas, some may be Sadhana Siddhas. But to be a Sadhana Siddha you have to practice Raganuga Sadhana Bhakti.
6.) If you explain the word Raga-anuga it means those who have a spontaneous attraction towards Krishna. Raga means attachment, anuga means follower. That means those who have attraction towards Krishna but why is it applied only for Vrindavan? Because those who live in Dwaraka especially this Maharani’s, the wife of Krishna they also have a spontaneous attraction towards Krishna. Why only for Vrindavan?
So the word raga in this context refers to spontaneous deep attachment found only in the people of vraja. Of course there it is, the word ‘raga’ also refers to Prema and refers to spiritual attraction. Yes, in Dwaraka and Mathura they may have spiritual attraction and that type of raga, general definition. There is a stage called Raga also, after Pranaya and Maan we get Raga, then we get Anuraga then we get Mahabhava. So the queens of Dwaraka have Madhurya Rasa and they can get up to Anuraga.
But all the people of Vrindavan whether Sakhya Rasa, Madhurya Rasa or Dasya Rasa have raga in a different sense. So what is the difference ? In Dwaraka there is always a concept of Aishwarya. So the attraction of Vrindavan never has that aspect. So their service in that way is unrestricted in that sense it is called Raga.
7.) Hare Krishna Maharaj Maharaj, sometimes we see that the material situations or whatever is happening in our material life that impacts our bhakti activities. So how something material can influence something which is spiritual. We lose interest sometimes in our spiritual practices.
So the reason of course is that we have Anartha. Bhakti is a spiritual process as part of the Swarupa Shakti but we are cultivating bhakti and at the same time we have a lot of Anarthas. So we can say you were planting the seed of bhakti, but we got a lot of weeds. If it’s Prema Bhakti, there are no weeds [Laughs].
So in the process of bhakti we cultivate the bhakti creeper it becomes stronger and bigger and grows and grows. And of course Anartha-nivrtti that means the process of bhakti itself begins to destroy all these weeds. But until bhakti reaches a certain strength, then the weeds will be more threatening. The weaker the bhakti, the stronger the Anarthas. So we begin bhakti, a lot of Anarthas, a lot of weeds, a little seed of bhakti begins to sprout, so it’s very weak. Of course bhakti is eternal, it’s in the spiritual world but in the particular Jiva it is weak. So the process of sadhana makes it strong and makes it grow until the Anarthas will disappear.
Devotee : So Maharaj does that mean that till the time we reach Anartha Nivrtti we have to take special efforts to reduce the weeds also? I mean bhakti alone is not sufficient and we have to do some activities to remove the weeds also?
If we do the process of bhakti properly, the process of bhakti itself will destroy the Anarthas. But if we take bad association, then bhakti will not grow properly and the weeds will begin to grow more [Laughs]. But of course avoiding bad association and taking good association is actually part of the cultivation of bhakti, if that is done properly then of course naturally the Anarthas will disappear on their own.
8.) To serve and please the Lord is the dharma for all living beings. As we are all servants of god, are there specific unique dharma for a particular Jiva for which the Jiva is manifested and created by the Lord? Just like Arjuna played a specific role in Mahabharata to serve the Lord are there any specific dharma for.. If so how to identify for that Jiva?
[Clarification of question]
Well the only way a Jiva can attain the Lord is, mercy of the Lord and mercy of the devotees. Even then some Jivas accept the mercy some Jivas don’t. In one sense of course we are eternally servant of Krishna, so that’s the eternal dharma of the Jiva. But it doesn’t manifest until faith and the process of bhakti starts. And thus millions and millions of Jivas continue in the material world without the process of bhakti life after life of Brahma.
Devotees: Grantharaj Srima Bhagavatam Ki.. Jai !! HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj Ki.. Jai !!