Srimad Bhagavatam – 1.17.13 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | ISKCON Chennai | September 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-Caitanya
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 17 Verse 13.
ŚB 1.17.13
आख्याहि वृष भद्रं व: साधूनामकृतागसाम् ।
आत्मवैरूप्यकर्तारं पार्थानां कीर्तिदूषणम् ॥ १३ ॥
ākhyāhi vṛṣa bhadraṁ vaḥ
sādhūnām akṛtāgasām
ātma-vairūpya-kartāraṁ
pārthānāṁ kīrti-dūṣaṇam
Synonyms
ākhyāhi — just let me know; vṛṣa — O bull; bhadram — good; vaḥ — for you; sādhūnām — of the honest; akṛta-āgasām — of those who are offenseless; ātma-vairūpya — deformation of the self; kartāram — the doer; pārthānām — of the sons of Pṛthā; kīrti-dūṣaṇam — blackening the reputation.
Translation
O bull, you are offenseless and thoroughly honest; therefore I wish all good to you. Please tell me of the perpetrator of these mutilations, which blacken the reputation of the sons of Pṛthā.
Purport
The reputation of the reign of Mahārāja Rāmacandra and that of the kings who followed in the footsteps of Mahārāja Rāmacandra, like the Pāṇḍavas and their descendants, are never to be forgotten because in their kingdom offenseless and honest living beings were never in trouble. The bull and the cow are the symbols of the most offenseless living beings because even the stool and urine of these animals are utilized to benefit human society. The descendants of the sons of Pṛthā, like Mahārāja Parīkṣit, were afraid of losing their reputations, but in the modern days the leaders are not even afraid of killing such offenseless animals. Herein lies the difference between the reign of those pious kings and the modern states ruled by irresponsible executive heads without knowledge of the codes of God.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj:
So here Pariksit is addressing the bull. So, in the previous verse he asks who cut off your three legs? So, in this verse also he repeats this, who has disfigured you? In other words, who has cut off your legs? So we see in the third line, it says ‘ātma-vairūpya’, ‘rupa’ of course means form and ‘vairupya’ means the form is distorted. And of course, in this case it means that three of the legs of the bull were cut off. Which is a symbol for the corruption of Dharma.
Of course, Dharma can be corrupted in various ways. We can say if people follow the rules but not all the time, then this would be a weakening of the legs. But even more serious is to do the opposite of Dharma. That is to commit sinful activities. Of course, we know that in any society, some people are going to commit sins. But the king is there to rectify that situation. And of course, if the king is not doing his duty then more and more sinful activities will go unpunished. So, in that way the legs of Dharma are destroyed.
Of course, it is also described that there are four legs of Dharma. Such as truth and austerity, compassion, mercy and cleanliness. So of course, we can think of the four legs as these four principles of the bull. But we should not think that in Satya Yuga, one of the legs gets cut off, let’s say it is cleanliness or something like that and then in Treta Yuga another leg gets cut off, so then compassion gets cut off, so we could think like that but actually our Acharya has explained what it simply means that all of these principles are decreased by a quarter until we get one quarter of truth, austerity etc. in Kali Yuga. Which means that people are one quarter following these principles. Or we can say that only one quarter of the people are following those principles and the rest aren’t. In any case that’s what the disfigurement of this bull is, ‘ātma-vairūpya’.
So, we see that these principles are there, but surrender to Krishna is not mentioned. So why not? So we can understand that, he is talking about regular Dharma, that is Karma Yoga, Varanashrama system etc… And in that system, one avoids sinful activities and does pious activities. So all of these principles like truthfulness, austerity etc. are considered to be Punyas and the opposite is sin. So, though Dharma should be there in all ages, nevertheless we see that it decreases as we progress from Yuga to Yuga. And the sages when they ask this question, what happens to Dharma? If Krishna goes who supports Dharma and then Dharma will disappear, so the sages are also anxious about Dharma. But we also do have to accept the fact that as the ages progress and we get to Kali Yuga, only one quarter of Dharma is going to be left. What was the answer given here? The answer is that Srimad Bhagavatam has arisen to replace Dharma. But then Srimad Bhagavatam rejects Dharma. It says in the beginning, it’s all cheating.
So of course, it means that Karma Yoga and Dharma and Varanashrama etc. are not accepted as the final solution to everything. And of course, in Kali Yuga, it becomes more apparent, we need some solution, if we don’t have Dharma, only one quarter is left, what are we going to do? So, one of the purposes of Dharma is artha. This means that it allows people to get sustenance to maintain their bodies. So the Varanashrama system supplies occupations for people. And it encourages punya and discourages sin. In this way, people get sustenance of their life, artha. And of course simultaneously over time, they raise their gunas from tamas to Sattva.
So though this system is there in Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dvapara Yuga and Kali Yuga, simultaneously, we also have Bhakti Yoga. And Bhakti Yoga is focused on worship of the Lord and attaining Prema. So in Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga and Dvapara Yuga along with the Dharma which is gradually decreasing, we have continuation of Bhakti Yoga. But the Bhakti also takes different forms according to the Yuga. So in Satya Yuga, it’s meditation on Vishnu, in Treta Yuga, it is homa to Vishnu and in Dvapara Yuga, it is deity worship of Vishnu. So in Kali Yuga, the Dharma is very weak, only one quarter and it gradually decreases, at the same time, there is also a process of Bhakti Yoga. So the form of Bhakti for Kali Yuga is Nama Sankirtana. And particularly for our Yuga, it is Krishna Nama Sankirtana.
So, though the regular Dharma gets decrease by a quarter, until it is one quarter in Kali Yuga, that is not necessarily so, the Bhakti is there at all times. So this compensates for any lack that there is in regular Dharma. So how is that possible? So, the Bhagavatam explains that ultimately, all Dharmas, all methods, that is, Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga and Ashtanga Yoga, ultimately depend upon Bhakti. And if you take the Bhakti out of Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga and Ashtanga Yoga, you don’t get results. So, the other methods depend on Bhakti, but Bhakti does not depend on them. So, if we do Bhakti, we can do Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga, or Ashtanga Yoga, but we don’t have to. We get perfection simply by Bhakti Yoga. So, in this way, Bhakti is independent of other processes. As well, because we get the mercy of the Lord, then all of our needs are taken care of, so Artha, Dharma, Kama, Moksha are all taken care of by the process of Bhakti. So therefore in Kali Yuga though Dharma is very weak, one quarter or less, still, Bhakti is there and it can give all results. So, even though the Yugas gradually decline in terms of Dharma, the compensation for that is Bhakti.
But, Bhagavatam is not only recommending Bhakti as the process, but Bhakti to Krishna. And not just Bhakti to Krishna, but particularly Kirtan of Krishna’s name. So this becomes the saving grace of Kali Yuga. So that’s at the end of Bhagavatam, it says, everything is faulty in Kali Yuga, but one good quality, and that is chanting Krishna’s name. So, this is the instruction of Srimad Bhagavatam. And that is how Dharma gets replaced in Kali Yuga by Bhagavatam. The Paro-Dharma of Nama Sankirtana of Krishna’s name supplies everything to us. In this way, we see the great mercy of the Supreme Lord.
Throughout the day of Brahma, the Lord gives plenty of opportunity to advance in spiritual life. He establishes the Manu and their descendants 14 times in one day of Brahma, and empowers them with Dharma and Bhakti. Similarly, He empowers the sages with knowledge in Bhakti, 14 times in one day of Brahma. He empowers the Devatas to supply everything if the citizens act properly, 14 times in a day of Brahma. The Lord also comes every Yuga to supply the Yuga Dharma. So, in this way, the Lord is continually making arrangements for the Jivas. However, He gives special mercy sometimes. So, in our particular Dvapara Yuga, in the 28th cycle of Vaivasvata Manvantara, the Lord appeared as Krishna, Svayam Bhagavan, that’s greater mercy. And thus, the people at the end of Dvapara Yuga got special mercy. But then in Kali Yuga, the Lord again appeared as Caitanya Mahaprabhu to give even more mercy. He also appears only one time in the day of Brahma. And his mercy, of course, is to give Krishna Nama Sankirtana, but also Radha and Krishna. So, in this way, the Lord becomes most merciful to the people of our particular Kali Yuga. And thus, we should not consider Kali Yuga to be all degraded, it is the most fortunate.
So, here we have Pariksit inquiring from the bull who represents Dharma. And, of course, we can ask the question, well, if Bhakti is more important, why is the king so concerned about Dharma? One reason, of course, is that Pariksit himself was the king. It is his responsibility to see that Dharma is intact. And as he says, if the bull suffers, this spoils the reputation of the descendants of the Pandavas. But Pariksit was not just a king, he was also a great devotee. So, therefore, though he is protecting Dharma, at the same time, he is also an inspiration for devotion.
So, how is he shown to be a great devotee? He was so great that Sukadeva decided to recite Bhagavatam to him. So, Pariksit Maharaj was the lucky Jiva to receive Bhagavatam from Sukadeva Goswami. Sukadeva, before that time, was silent. But when he found a qualified person, then he began to recite Bhagavatam. So though we glorify Bhagavatam because it is spoken by Sukadeva, we also have to glorify Pariksit because he was the one who heard it.
This whole first canto, actually, is a series of chapters to explain the origin of Bhagavatam. So, we have the story of Narada Muni, we have the story of Sukadeva, and then we have the story of Pariksit, all leading up to, finally, Bhagavatam gets spoken. So, ultimately, through the Bhagavatam, we are saved from the disasters of Kali Yuga.
Hare Krsna!
Q&A
1) Hare Krishna Maharaj. So, you have explained that in Sathya Yuga, there is, through the meditation, that there is to perform bhakti for Vishnu. And in Tretha Yuga also, it goes to Vishnu, not to Krishna. But in Kali Yuga, we are worshipping Krishna. And Krishna is a little bit, you know, he has extra qualities than Vishnu. So, can you say that the Kali Yuga people are more fortunate than those who are living in other Yugas? They are not so fortunate. More? The people of Kali Yuga are more fortunate because they are worshipping Krishna. But in other Yugas, bhakti goes to Vishnu, not Krishna.
Of course, the people at the end of Dvapara Yuga are fortunate, because Krishna Himself appears. But, because of His appearance at the end of Dvapara Yuga, and then the appearance of Bhagavatam, Krishna is still in Kali Yuga. So, the people of Kali Yuga are very fortunate. But then, they are more fortunate because of the appearance of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. And He gives the means by which we can realize Krishna, but also the means by which we can realize Radha. So, this makes the people of Kali Yuga even more fortunate than those of Dvapara Yuga.
2) How to understand that in other Yugas people are more pious and religious, other Yugas people not committing so many sinful activities? How to understand it?
It is the nature of matter to decay. So, we build something and after time it starts getting destroyed. So, the Lord makes a Satya Yuga and he puts Sattva very strong. But gradually, as the Yugas progress, Tamas and Rajo guna become stronger and stronger and stronger. And then, when we get to Kali Yuga, then it is worse, mostly Tamas.
Then the Lord intervenes and He makes Sattva strong again, and then it starts declining. So, another Kali Yuga [Laughs]. So, even though it is declining gradually, he has the Manus there to help maintain Dharma, etc. So, something is preserved. And from this, we can realize that the material world itself, by its nature, is not a good place to live in [Laughs].
3) We know that as Kali Yuga progresses, Dharma will be more and more degraded. But we see, before 50 years and after 50 years, people are following more Dharma and Bhakti. Once Srila Prabhupada established it, it is gone. But can we say that Dharma or Bhakti will not degrade for some period of time? And after that, it will degrade. Now people are following more Bhakti than before. So, in one sense, Dharma is increasing right now, not decreasing, if you compare. Can we understand this?
So, wherever Bhakti appears, everything becomes very fortunate. So, though the nature of Kali Yuga is more and more tamas, if Bhakti is there, then it becomes better, more fortunate. So, Bhakti does not depend on Gunas.
So, whether Satya Yuga or Kali Yuga, Bhakti can flourish. That is because, it is not a material process in the Gunas. Dharma is in the Gunas. And the more tamas we have, the less Dharma. But it does not affect Bhakti. So, we get lots of Bhakti in Kali Yuga, even though it is so tamasic.
4) Hare Krishna Maharaj. We see Gajendra and Dhurva maharaj, they come under sukrutinas. They went to Lord with a material desire. If a person with a material desire can approach Lord and become a pure devotee, why there is so much stress on being a Kevala Bhakta on Sadhaka stage itself?
Oh, okay. So, it is true, Krishna gives mercy to a person practicing any type of Bhakti, pure or impure.
However, if we want Prema, then we have to do pure Bhakti. So, Lord Caitanya established our goal as Prema, so therefore we have to do pure Bhakti and pure name. But those who are not practicing pure Bhakti or pure name, of course, they still get results.
So, Krishna says, I accept everybody. But the form of mercy is also different. So, those who practice pure Bhakti, get the greatest mercy in the form of Prema.
Devotee: But they also got Prema only, Maharaj. Gajendra and Dhruva Maharaj also got Prema only.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yeah, so, in the case of Dhruva, when he saw the Lord, then he realized the nature of his Bhakti, that it was impure. So, he is a special case. By the mercy of the Lord, He appeared before Dhruva and then Dhruva gave up his impure Bhakti in favor of pure Bhakti.
We see, in the case of Ajamil, he had no devotion at all, but he was doing Namabhasa. But, when he heard the Vishnu dutas speak, then he changed and he recovered and he did pure Bhakti, then he went to Vaikuntha.
So, devotees may start with impure Bhakti, but at a certain point, they should develop pure Bhakti. Of course, even with mixed Bhakti, one can eventually get to the spiritual world.
But, the relationship that develops or manifests in the spiritual world, for those practicing that impure Bhakti, is much inferior to the relationship of those who practice pure Bhakti.
So, this of course corresponds to the principle of the Lord, that however you worship Me, I respond accordingly. So, the greater the purity in the sadhana, the greater the purity in the result.
5) Bhagavatham begins with “dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo ’tra paramo” that the cheating religion that talks about anything else is inferior other than suddha bhakti but in Bhagavatham at length Varna ashrama dharma is described for example in the 7th canto and also many things rae described in 11 th canto and in every canto also the duties of Varna ashram many great souls are executing. So, how can we understand that when Vyasadev wrote Bhagavatam in his full maturity, still the same concepts that were rejected in the beginning are again incorporated in the scripture?
So, Bhagavatam is like a desire tree. If you want to get material results, the Lord gives you Karma Yoga. If you want Siddhis, He gives you Ashtanga Yoga. If you want liberation, He gives you Jñāna Yoga and if you want Prema, He gives you Bhakti Yoga. So, all of these are presented in Bhagavatam, and in one sense, they are there for people to fool them.
If you are not a devotee, not qualified for Bhagavatam, you get interested in other things, and then you practice those things. So, Bhagavatam delivers the real message and sweetness to the devotees and hides it from the materialists, atheists, and demons.
6) Great acharyas glorify Bhagavatham, for example Sanatana Goswami said ‘prema varsha aksarayathe’, Bhagavatham is talking about, not just every verse but every letter is filled with Krishna prema, but then we see versus glorifying the Varnashrama Dharma and others? How can we understand?
So, of course, different people will understand Bhagavatam differently. We know that there are also ten topics of Bhagavatam. Only one is about Krishna, that is, ashraya. But the devotee does not reject these other topics.
Rather, he sees everything in relation to that tenth topic, Asraya. So, in other words, Sarga, Visarga, and Sthana, even though it is about the material world, are related to the Lord because ultimately, Karnodakasayi Vishnu, and the other expansions are all ultimately coming from Krishna. And all the other methods, like Karma Yoga, Jñāna Yoga, and Astanga Yoga, ultimately are meant for progressing to Bhakti Yoga.
So, the devotee sees all these topics in relation to Krishna. So, in other words, he can see everything, even these other topics, as a glorification of Krishna. He gives mercy to people who are not qualified for Bhakti by giving these other methods.
7) Hare Krishna Maharaj. Maharaj when we saw when we practice bhakti with impure intentions, we don’t get great results, we will not progress much. But when we practice pure bhakti, we get pure results ie., prema. But for a devotee, like who has material desires, what he should do? For example, we have a sadhana of chanting Hare Krishna Maha mantra. So, in chanting Hare Krishna Maha mantra, if we chant with material desires, then it is an aparadha. So, we won’t progress. Then, what is that devotee should do when he has material desires and he wants to achieve that material desires but still practice Bhakti?
Well, sadhana means, we are not pure. Prema is pure. Even bhava is not completely pure. But, in order to attain that purity, we have to practice pure bhakti. Of course, it is not pure like prema bhakti. But, the same definition, the broad definition, anyabhilashita shunyam applies to sadhana, bhava and prema. But, in sadhana, obviously, we have anarthas and in prema, we don’t have anarthas.
So, therefore, we are doing sadhana and we have these principles of pure bhakti, even though we are not absolutely pure. But, trying to follow that principle as our goal, we can attain the goal. If we invent a new definition of sadhana bhakti and we practice that, that’s what we are going to attain, something else [Laughs].
So, we have a definition of pure bhakti, so it is a practice to attain that. If we have a different definition, we will attain something else. So, that is why Rupa Goswami gives this definition at the very beginning of nectar devotion for everybody in sadhana, bhava and prema.
So, by understanding this definition and making it our goal in sadhana, even though we are not pure, we become pure.
Devotee: Maharaj, the definition of pure bhakti is very clear and our goal is also very clear and we want to attain that goal, that is also very clear. But, still the devotee has material desires, but he cannot do bhakti for the material desires. He will do bhakti for attaining prema only. But, what he can do for achieving material desires, just like Dhruva Maharaj has some means of some sadhana to attain material desires as directed by Narada Maharaj. So, I am not saying that this should be the, but outside people also have material desires. So, as a devotee, some devotees may have material desires, but what that devotee should do ?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Well, that is not.. He must have material desires, because he is doing sadhana.
So, what he does is, he understands the definition of pure bhakti and even though he does have material desires, when he is practicing his bhakti and chanting and worshipping the deity, he is not praying for material benedictions.
So, even though you need money to support your family and your body, you may need a car, when you are chanting Hare Krishna, you are not saying Krishna, please give me a car, please give me some more money.
This may seem peculiar to us, but this is what is commonly done. People go to Balaji and they are just praying explicitly, please give me some more money. That’s all. That is their Bhakti. So, we don’t have that idea.
8) Hare Krishna Maharaj, we hear that dharma stands only on one leg in Kali Yuga and that leg is truthfulness. So, how do we see the presence of truthfulness in current Yuga Maharaj?
As I said, the Acharyas explained that what it means is that in Kali Yuga, one quarter of dharma is left. One quarter of truthfulness, compassion, cleanliness, etc.
9) Maharaj you were saying earlier that if a devotee practices mixed bhakti, the chances are there that he may also attain spiritual world, but the relationship would be weak. So, Maharaj spiritual world is absolute, so how do we understand this relativity in spiritual world?
So, we have various degrees of weakness and strength in the spiritual world there is santa rasa, which is quite weak in comparison to dasya and ultimately Madhurya is the strongest. So in the spiritual world, complete absence of ignorance, complete absence of material desire. There is attraction to the Lord, but it is of various strengths. And why is that? It is the preference of individual Jivas.
10) For pastime purpose, Krishna could manifest His internal energy in spiritual world. Is there any need for manifestation of marginal energy Jiva in the external material world? Second one is, whether both time and money are internal energies of Krishna? Please explain.
So material energy is there to manifest the material world because some Jivas prefer not to recognize the Lord and to enjoy separately.
But we have spiritual world and those Jivas prefer to accept the Lord and worship the Lord. Why have Jivas at all? Because the Lord by His nature is blissful. And bliss results from rasa.
Rasa requires two persons. So therefore we have infinite Jivas.
Second question is, time and money, spiritual? Well, the normal time and the normal money we see here are material.
There of course is a spiritual time which does not bring about destruction or karma etc., It is the servant of the pastimes in the spiritual world. We have wealth of various sorts. Nanda Maharaj says wealth of cows, wealth of ghee and yogurt and milk. But it is not there to spend on your sense enjoyment or to maintain your material body. It is there for pastimes.
11) In Prema Vaivartha book chapter 20 verse 192 regarding glories of the name, Caitanya Mahaprabhu discussing to Krishnadasa at Kasi Misra’s house. This statement is, “ if one worships the deity for 100 births after taking diksha, then the name of the Lord appears on that person’s tongue continuously.” Maharaj, after hearing this heavy statement of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, we are able to understand the seriousness of the holy name. Please explain this statement Maharaj.
Maharaj clarifying the question : So the name appears after worshipping ?
So the name of course is the most powerful form of bhakti. But it does not depend on anything material. It only depends on mercy of devotees. But name is so merciful that even without mercy of devotees, it may appear and give effect as in the case of Ajamila.
So, that verse, of course is expressing the fact that one is very fortunate to begin to chant the holy name of the Lord. Before the advent of the yuga dharma with Lord Caitanya, the normal process of bhakti was to worship the Lord. And to worship the Lord through archana and some sampradayas still continue to do that. To get to the process of chanting the holy name as the main process, that is rare. So that person is very very fortunate.
Devotees: HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj Ki.. Jai !! Grantharaj Srimad Bhagatam Ki.. Jai !!