Srimad Bhagavatam – 1.17.16 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | ISKCON Chennai | September 29, 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 16.
ŚB 1.17.16
राज्ञो हि परमो धर्म: स्वधर्मस्थानुपालनम् ।
शासतोऽन्यान् यथाशास्त्रमनापद्युत्पथानिह ॥ १६ ॥
rājño hi paramo dharmaḥ
sva-dharma-sthānupālanam
śāsato ’nyān yathā-śāstram
anāpady utpathān iha
Synonyms
rājñaḥ — of the king or the executive head; hi — certainly; paramaḥ — supreme; dharmaḥ — occupational duty; sva-dharma-stha — one who is faithful to his prescribed duty; anupālanam — giving protection always; śāsataḥ — while ruling; anyān — others; yathā — according to; śāstram — rulings of scriptures; anāpadi — without danger; utpathān — persons going astray; iha — as a matter of fact.
Translation
The supreme duty of the ruling king is to give all protection to law-abiding persons and to chastise those who stray from the ordinances of the scriptures in ordinary times, when there is no emergency.
Purport
In the scriptures there is mention of āpad-dharma, or occupational duty at times of extraordinary happenings. It is said that sometimes the great sage Viśvāmitra had to live on the flesh of dogs in some extraordinary dangerous position. In cases of emergency, one may be allowed to live on the flesh of animals of all description, but that does not mean that there should be regular slaughterhouses to feed the animal-eaters and that this system should be encouraged by the state. No one should try to live on flesh in ordinary times simply for the sake of the palate. If anyone does so, the king or the executive head should punish him for gross enjoyment.
There are regular scriptural injunctions for different persons engaged in different occupational duties, and one who follows them is called sva-dharma-stha, or faithful in one’s prescribed duties. In the Bhagavad-gītā (18.48) it is advised that one should not give up his occupational prescribed duties, even if they are not always flawless. Such sva-dharma might be violated in cases of emergency, if one is forced by circumstances, but they cannot be violated in ordinary times. The state executive head is to see that such sva-dharma is not changed by the follower, whatever it may be, and he should give all protection to the follower of sva-dharma. The violator is subject to punishment in terms of the śāstra, and the duty of the king is to see that everyone strictly follows his occupational duty, as prescribed in the scripture.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj:
So, here we have an explanation of the duty of the king. So, the king must see that sva-dharma, or everyone’s particular rules, are followed. What is the purpose of these rules? One, of course is, without rules we cannot have a society. So, we have rules to minimize conflict between individuals when there is a larger group. In other words, we have rules for how people interact with other people. And the purpose is to minimize violence within the individuals. Then we have rules for the individual to follow so that he can maintain his body and his family.
So, in the Vedic system, people have occupations called varna. And according to that varna, there are particular rules that a person should follow. So, these rules are for the individual to support himself, but to minimize violence to the rest of society and the rest of the world. So, in both cases, rules for interaction between members and individual rules for maintaining oneself, they are divided into two categories, things you should do and things you should not do. And the things you should do give good results, they are called punya. And the things you should not do are called sin, and they lead to very bad results.
So, the purpose of all these rules is to ultimately minimize violence in society and in individuals, even though we have to commit some violence in order to survive. So, unfortunately, the nature of individuals is, they don’t like to follow rules. People like to do whatever they want, they want to be independent. Therefore, we have an authority, a king, to enforce the rules. So, though people may not want to follow the rules, they are encouraged to follow the rules for the greater good of the society.
Sometimes, the desire to enjoy becomes very strong, and even if the king is there, they don’t want to follow, so they break the laws. So, that becomes the case in Kali Yuga, where people are largely involved in enjoying. So, it’s very difficult for the leader to enforce all these rules, because most of the people don’t want to follow the rules. We see that when people are largely in tamo guna, mode of ignorance, they don’t have any long-term goals, they only have short-term goals of enjoyment. And thus, they don’t find these rules very useful for them, because it restricts their immediate enjoyment. So, that is why it’s very difficult for the king to rule in Kali Yuga.
So, Pariksit was an able king, and therefore he was able to prevent the spread of disorder. But as Kali Yuga advances, the urge to enjoy becomes stronger. And it becomes very difficult to control the people. So, what is the solution? So, the solution is, even though it’s very difficult to enforce Dharma, we have another Dharma. So, this Dharma of Bhakti becomes most prominent in Kali Yuga, if the people want to be saved. By following the process of Bhakti, a person begins to naturally develop detachment from material enjoyment. And such a person will, without difficulty, follow the rules. So, in this way, it becomes easier in Kali Yuga, by the performance of Bhakti.
Of course, Bhakti is voluntary. Following Dharma is not really voluntary, the king says follow, so you have to follow. But that cannot be said about Bhakti, the king cannot say, everybody worship the Lord with devotion, because you can’t order people to have Bhakti. So, the spread of Bhakti has to take place by a different means. So, the only cause of Bhakti is devotees, so if devotees do preaching work, this is how Bhakti is established in the people, and this is how they solve this problem of adharma in Kali Yuga. So, in this first canto, it is said, with the performance of Bhakti, naturally, Vairagya or detachment arises, along with knowledge of Atma. Thus, through a spiritual process, people can live peacefully in this world.
Of course, it is always favourable to have peaceful surroundings. But, nature of Kali Yuga is, it is not peaceful, it gets worse and worse. So, the only solution is the practice of devotional service. So, instead of the king enforcing Dharma, we get natural Dharma produced by Bhakti.
Now, in other Yugas, they had qualified kings. So, those kings enforced the Dharma. However, without Bhakti, even that type of enforcement will not succeed. Therefore, in these other Yugas, they do have kings who enforce Dharma, simultaneously we also have the Dharma of Bhakti, in the form of meditation, homas and deity worship in the different Yugas. And, the king also encourages that Bhakti. In Kali Yuga, we don’t have that advantage of having the king to enforce Dharma. So, we have to rely completely on the process of Bhakti. How is that possible? Because, one, Bhakti is independent of everything else. It also gives the result of every other process. So, whatever result you get from Karma Yoga and Varanashrama, you get from Bhakti. And, particularly for Kali Yuga, we have the easiest and most powerful form of Bhakti, Nama Sankirtana. So, Nama Sankirtana is the solution to not having a proper government.
And thus, at the end of Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says, ‘you give up all Dharmas’. It is difficult to institute all of these other Dharmas in Kali Yuga. But, we surrender to the Supreme Lord. And the easiest way to surrender is through chanting the Holy Name. In this way, we have a solution to all the problems in Kali Yuga. For this reason, Caitanya Mahaprabhu wanted this movement to be spread all over the world. In Kali Yuga, most of the world is degraded. And, most of the countries are not following Dharma. So, nevertheless, there has to be a method to protect people and to help their spiritual development, so that method is Nama Sankirtana. So, Caitanya Mahaprabhu appeared and introduced this movement of Kirtana. So, he has given us a solution to this problem of Kali Yuga.
Here, Pariksit is having a discussion with the bull, who is actually Dharma. He was able to maintain Dharma for as long as he was ruling. But as we mentioned previously, the ultimate solution for Kali Yuga is that Srimad Bhagavatam appeared. So though Pariksit was a king, he heard Bhagavatam from Sukadeva Goswami who was completely renounced. And, through that contents of Bhagavatam that is, Bhakti and Nama Sankirtana, we have a solution for all the people after Pariksit Maharaj disappeared.
In this verse, it also mentions about extraordinary circumstances where you may not have to follow the regular Dharma. So, we should not make extraordinary circumstances an excuse not to follow Dharma. Whole of Kali Yuga is unfavourable, therefore, we don’t have to follow anything. So we have to follow principles but how do we do it? Through the cultivation of Bhakti. The devotee learns to follow rules of controlling his senses because that is favourable for his spiritual development. And, as he advances in devotional service, his attraction to the material world decreases, so following the rules is not a problem at all. So, the devotee is able to follow the rules, not because it will give him punya, so he can enjoy in the future in the material world, but he follows the rules because it is favourable for spiritual development. So, as the devotee advances, he becomes more detached and therefore it is not difficult to follow any of the rules of Dharma. And, that is why it is said that the devotee is the best follower of Dharma.
It is said that the devotee is superior to a Brahmana. Not because he is aspiring to become like a Brahmana, but he surpasses because he is a devotee. So, in our initiation, we sometimes call it Brahmana initiation. So, that leads many devotees to assume that the goal of life is to become a Brahmana. But, that is completely denied by Bhagavatam and Caitanya Caritamrita, we are not interested in becoming Brahmanas. So, what it means, of course, is that the real Brahmana is a devotee. What is a Brahmana? A person who knows Brahman. And, what is Brahman? Brahman is Krishna. So, a real Brahmana is a devotee of Krishna. So, in that sense, our goal is to become a knower of Krishna, in that sense, we are a Brahmana. So, our goal is not to become a Brahmana and get stuck in sattva guna, our goal is to be a devotee beyond the gunas.
But, just as bhakti includes all Dharma, so, by being a devotee, it includes being better than a Brahmana. So therefore, that initiation where we get a Brahmana thread and a Gayatri mantra is not to confirm that we are Brahminical, but rather that we have surpassed all of that. So, the devotee has got all qualification for all the varnas. Plus, he has greater qualification. So, in this way, the practice of devotion covers all aspects. So, in this way, Bhagavatam is the replacement for Dharma in Kali Yuga.
Hare Krsna!
Q&A
1) Hare Krishna maharaj. You mentioned that we need to have some jnana in order to get prema, just by chanting we cant get prema. So, sould we get jnana from outside or is it included in bhakti? Automatically we will get jnana from bhakti?
Well, when Bhagavatam says that jnana and vairagya automatically manifest, this is actually in reference to Upanishads and Jnanis who emphasize knowledge and vairagya as necessary to get liberation. So, in other words, they are essential parts of sadhana to advance spiritually.
But, as Rupa Goswami points out in Nectar of Devotion, vairagya is not an anga of bhakti. And that jnana, which means study of Upanishads to understand you are atma, not body, also is not an anga of bhakti.
But, as one performs bhakti, naturally one becomes detached from everything in the material world. So, there is natural vairagya. And, in accepting bhakti, we accept we are the eternal servant of Krishna, we are not the material body. So, along with realization of Krishna, there is realization that I am atma, not the body. It is natural. It is not a separate cultivation. So, we also say that knowledge is necessary for practicing pure bhakti, for chanting the holy name that knowledge, which you can say is jnana also, is actually a part of bhakti itself. It is part of sravanam. So, that type of knowledge is bhakti itself. It is part of bhakti. So, we say we need knowledge to advance in devotional service. Yes, we need bhakti to advance in bhakti [laughs] or if we say we need mercy of guru to advance in devotional service. Again, what does guru do? He gives knowledge.
2) Hare Krishna Maharaj. In Kaliyuga, Varnashrama is totally collapsed. But, is it possible to bring back Varnashrama dharma? I mean, maybe in a not a larger scale, at least in a smaller community level. Is it possible to bring Varnashrama dharma?
It all depends on what we mean by Varnashrama. So, very difficult to institute the Varnashrama described by Manu. Even devotees who are serious about Varanashrama, they read that and say, no, we can’t institute that. And, of course, the goal will be much different for devotees.
Goal for regular Varnashrama is artha and kama. But, we don’t even want moksha. So, the goal is much different. And, therefore, the method itself has to be much different. So, the question will be, what aspects of Varnashrama can we institute in the devotee community? And, maybe a simple answer would be, we can institute those aspects which are favourable for the development of bhakti. But, at the same time, bhakti does not depend on them. So, some aspects, particularly for ashrama rules, can be followed to a mild extent.
Varna rules can be instituted in the sense that you do what is natural to your ability. But, the more we take shelter of the actual rules instituted by Manu, the more difficult it becomes. And, thus, even to do the samskaras, if we want to do them technically according to the Vedic rules, it’s also difficult for most people. So, whatever we institute will be highly modified.
Devotee: So, Prabhupada also, in most of his lectures, he was much insisting on Varnashrama, which means he was telling this only, the modern Varnashrama behaviour. We have to implement based on our, what is the situation right now. Is he mentioning that, Maharaj?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yes, though Prabhupada often praises Varnashrama and he encourages it, at the same time, we don’t have any details on how much and what he would like to institute as far as devotees are concerned. And, thus, even something as simple as samskaras, he didn’t really emphasize the rules. So, what his actual vision was, if he wants to practically institute it in ISKCON, we don’t know.
Devotee: Maharaj, what about the Daivi Varnashrama system?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Well, this is a term, I believe, introduced by Bhaktivinoda Thakura. Of course, we can say, all Varnashrama is related to the Lord in some sense, though it is indirect, and therefore it is Daivi or daiva. But, Bhaktivinoda Thakura didn’t also go into details on how a devotee should follow that.
However, he has said in Caitanya Shikshamrita that the devotee, because he does have a material body and lives in the society, etc., he is bound to follow some rules. Therefore, let him follow rules of Varnashrama which are favourable for that. So, because you have to keep your body clean for good health, follow the Varnashrama rules for health cleanliness. Because most people are not renounced, they are living in society, a person should follow the rules of how to conduct oneself with other people from Varnashrama rules. But as far as spiritual advancement, then it is all Bhakti. So, he calls those rules of Varnashrama we follow to take care of our body and to interact in society with family, he calls these secondary rules of Bhakti.
3) While doing devotional service, should we ask for the service which are comfortable or whatever comes as a service, we should be ready to accept? Please explain.
So, some services we may prefer, they may be more natural to us and we can do them better and we can get better results. At the same time, all services to the Supreme Lord are absolute. So, we do not think that some services do not give the same result. No, they all give the same result.
And thus, any opportunity to serve the Lord is beneficial for us. So, we welcome all types of service. Nevertheless, we also are limited because we do have a material body. So, therefore, we also have to select and we cannot take all services if there is too many. Sometimes, we call it emergencies, then it is necessary that we have to do a certain service. So, that is also a good opportunity for our advancement.
4) Hare Krishna Maharaj. How much importance is it to follow samskaras for Grihastha devotees? And in what mode is to be followed?
Srila Prabhupada sometimes mentions that the devotees follow samskaras particularly for the Grihastha. The samskaras help to purify the life of the Grihastha. Originally, of course, they are Vedic rites. And they use Vedic mantras. And they often include worship of devatas. So, somehow, the devotee has to modify those, so that we don’t worship the devatas directly. At least, we give them prasadam or something. So, in the ‘samskara deepika’ and ‘satkriya sat deepika’, their gopa bhakta has replaced all the devatas with Vishnu forms. So, that is true.
But then again, another principle is that, whatever we do, whatever samskara we do, should be accompanied by nama sankirtana. So, whatever faults occur because of our imperfections in performing these samskaras, it is covered by chanting the holy name.
5) What Jiva needs to understand Krishna doesn’t have any commitments, but while He plays the flute to attract Radharani, by seeing this, I mean by realizing this scenario, what a Jiva should understand? What? Krishna has no commitments, but he plays flute for Radharani and attracts Radharani. So, by seeing this scenario, what a Jiva should understand?
Well, Krishna playing his flute in the spiritual world is part of his pastimes. And he plays the flute not only for the gopis, but for the cows and for the cowherd boys and for everyone else as well. One of the four special qualities of Krishna that are not manifested in avatars or Vishnu is that he plays a very sweet flute. So, the sound of the flute produces Madhurya Prema.
Devotees: Grantharaj Srimad Bhagavatham Ki Jai!!! HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj Ki Jai!!!