Srimad Bhagavatam – 1.18.17 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | ISKCON Chennai | Nov 21, 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 18 Verse 17.
ŚB 1.18.17
तन्न: परं पुण्यमसंवृतार्थ-
माख्यानमत्यद्भुतयोगनिष्ठम् ।
आख्याह्यनन्ताचरितोपपन्नं
पारीक्षितं भागवताभिरामम् ॥ १७ ॥
tan naḥ paraṁ puṇyam asaṁvṛtārtham
ākhyānam atyadbhuta-yoga-niṣṭham
ākhyāhy anantācaritopapannaṁ
pārīkṣitaṁ bhāgavatābhirāmam
Synonyms
tat — therefore; naḥ — unto us; param — supreme; puṇyam — purifying; asaṁvṛta-artham — as it is; ākhyānam — narration; ati — very; adbhuta — wonderful; yoga-niṣṭham — compact in bhakti-yoga; ākhyāhi — describe; ananta — the Unlimited; ācarita — activities; upapannam — full of; pārīkṣitam — spoken to Mahārāja Parīkṣit; bhāgavata — of the pure devotees; abhirāmam — particularly very dear.
Translation
Thus please narrate to us the narrations of the Unlimited, for they are purifying and supreme. They were spoken to Mahārāja Parīkṣit, and they are very dear to the pure devotees, being full of bhakti-yoga.
Purport
What was spoken to Mahārāja Parīkṣit and what is very dear to the pure devotees is Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is mainly full of the narrations of the activities of the Supreme Unlimited, and therefore it is the science of bhakti-yoga, or the devotional service of the Lord. Thus it is para, or supreme, because although it is enriched with all knowledge and religion, it is specifically enriched with the devotional service of the Lord.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj:
So, here we have a whole series of phrases describing topics of the Lord. So, there are various words here, the word – ‘paraṁ’, ‘puṇyam’, ‘asaṁvṛtārtham’.
1. Param – Supreme:
So these topics, which is ultimately Srimad Bhagavatam, are ‘Param’, they are supreme. Of course, all topics in the scripture are valuable. They are non-different from the Lord. And they all are praised. And sometimes they are praised as supreme. So we will see that Karma Yoga gets praised as supreme, or Jnana Yoga gets praised as supreme. And certainly, because they are in scripture, they are all non-different from the Lord. Nevertheless, there are some topics in the scriptures which are more valuable. And there are topics which are most valuable. For instance, in Bhagavad Gita, after describing Karma Yoga and Jnana Yoga, etc. and then Krishna says, ‘I will teach you the greatest secret’. And often, sages request, please teach us the essence of scripture, not this scripture, but the very topmost secret in scripture. If we look in the various scriptures, and we study very carefully, we will be able to extract the essence.
So if we go through all the Upanishads, and go through all the Puranas, and the Smritis, then we can understand what is the essence. But this is a little difficult to do for most people.This was also the worry of Vedavyasa himself. He compiled the Vedas, and he assigned each Veda to a disciple to preserve for the future. He wrote the Mahabharata to explain the Vedas. He wrote the Puranas to explain the Vedas. But we see that all these works are very large. So the explanation of the Vedas also becomes a little difficult to understand. So here in the first canto of Bhagavatam, it is explained that, because of this worry of Vedavyasa, that something was not yet perfect, finally Narada Muni told him to write Srimad Bhagavatam. So we take this Bhagavatam as the final conclusion, the essence of everything. It’s unique quality is, it points out Krishna as the Supreme form of the Lord. Usually in reading the Puranas, one will understand there are many forms of the Lord. And you can worship any of these forms. However, in Bhagavatam, it is mentioned that one should simply worship Krishna. So that is the essence of all scriptures. And for that reason, it is called the supreme scripture, ‘Param’.
2. Punyam – Pure:
It is also ‘Punyam’, which means purifying or pure. Of course, all scriptures are pure. But nevertheless, by the contents of the scripture, we can understand some scriptures are better than others. So Bhagavatam being the supreme scripture, will be the most purifying.
3. asaṁvṛtārtham – presents Krsna & bhakti directly:
And it says here ’asaṁvṛtārtham’, the meaning is not covered over. The meaning is clear. So, more than other scriptures, Bhagavatam speaks directly. It indicates the supreme form of the Lord, Krishna. It indicates the means to attain Him, that is Bhakti Yoga. And within Bhakti Yoga, Nama Sankirtana is considered to be the essence of Bhakti. And the result of that Bhakti is Prema. So these topics are very clearly defined in Srimad Bhagavatam.
4. ati adbhuta yoga-niṣṭham – Filled with astonishing yoga !
So here another phrase,’ati adbhuta yoga-niṣṭham’. Which literally means, it’s filled with astonishing Yoga. Which means that the process to attain Krishna is Bhakti Yoga. And this Bhakti is most astonishing. So, throughout the Bhagavatam, we will see illustrations of how Bhakti Yoga is so astonishing. Even a part of Bhakti without any devotion, that is the name of the Lord, is sufficient to destroy all karmas. So, this is astonishing, even to great devotees like Yamaraja. We see that devotees like Gajendra, because they called out for the Lord, they were saved by the Lord, so this is the influence of Bhakti. We see how Bharat became a deer, but then he attained the Lord. So, over and over there are illustrations of the great power of Bhakti to deliver the souls in the material world. So, this Bhakti is astonishing because of its great power.
5. ākhyāhy anantācarit – Filled with unlimited pastimes of Supreme Lord:
And then another word describing here the Bhagavatam is (ākhyāhy anantācarit), it’s filled with activities or pastimes of the Supreme Lord. Not only we have the activities of Krishna, we have the activities of many avatars. And it’s always auspicious to hear about the activities of the Supreme Lord.
6. upapannam pārīkṣitam – spoken to Pariksit:
This work was spoken to Pariksit (upapannam pārīkṣitam). Sukadeva Goswami received Bhagavatam from Vyasadeva, but he did not speak it. Finally, when he met Pariksit, then he spoke Bhagavatam. And why? Because Pariksit was fully qualified to hear. So, though the work Bhagavatam was written by Vedavyas, it is very famous as being spoken by Sukadeva to Pariksit. And they are given as examples of Kirtan and Sravanam. So, therefore the Bhagavatam is very intimately related to Sukadeva and Pariksit. So, this indicates that Bhagavatam becomes full of its potency when spoken by a great devotee and heard by a qualified devotee.
7. bhāgavatābhirāmam – very dear to pure devotees of Lord:
And then the last phrase here is, it is very attractive or dear to the devotees of the Lord (bhāgavatābhirāmam). Often the Bhagavatam is compared to nectar. And it is nectar because it is filled with the pastimes of the Supreme Lord. So, what is nectar? Nectar is very sweet. So the devotees enjoy hearing that nectar. And by doing so, they attain eternal life with the Supreme Lord. So, the sages are requesting to hear Bhagavatam full of all these wonderful topics. And in this way, they get the essence of all scriptures. As I mentioned, Vedavyasa appointed his different disciples, one incharge of Sama Veda, one incharge of Yajur Veda, etc., one incharge of Puranas. So here the sages are asking not for all those works but the final essence of that which is Srimad Bhagavatam. Previously the sages asked, ‘now the Krishna has departed and Dharma has all departed, what are the people of Kali Yuga going to do?’ And the answer was, Srimad Bhagavatam has appeared. So, it is non-different from Krishna himself, because it is filled with Krishna’s stories.
Conclusion:
And like the sun, it lights up the darkness of Kali Yuga. It presents Krishna to everyone. And when they hear about Krishna, they destroy ignorance or darkness. So, all doubts which arise from other philosophies are destroyed. And by hearing about the topics of Krishna, people also are inspired to grow the bhakti creeper. And as if there is nice sunlight, the plants grow, so because of Srimad Bhagavatam, the bhakti begins to grow. So wherever Srimad Bhagavatam manifests, then we have all auspiciousness.
Hare Krsna!
Q & A:
1.) Maharaj the word, ‘asamvrtartham’, You are saying the meaning is very clear. But we see that even by reading the Srimad Bhagavatam without the commentary of Acharya, like you know, we have Srila Prabhupada, people might misunderstand also.
So, we can say that originally when Vyasadeva wrote the work and Sukadeva Goswami recited it, meaning was clear. That’s because, of course, Parikshit was very intelligent [Laughs] and the people that heard were very intelligent [Laughs].
As well, some of the topics are slightly covered in one sense on purpose. But, we will see that’s more common in other scriptures. So, Upanishads are full of unclear statements, covered statements. One of the reasons is, that ultimately one cannot describe the Supreme Lord using words. So, therefore, the real meaning of the Supreme Lord is conveyed through rather unconventional expressions [Laughs].
However, the Puranas and especially Bhagavatam were written by Vedavyasa to uncover some of these unclear statements. Vedavyasa wrote Brahma Sutras to clarify the meaning of Upanishads, but still people couldn’t understand. Therefore he wrote Puranas. And then finally, he wrote Srimad Bhagavatam to indicate Krishna as the ultimate object of worship. So, for most people and especially devotees, the meaning is clear. However, Vyasadeva also sometimes covered up the meaning. And the goal was to fool or bewilder those who had no devotion. And by covering up the meaning, sometimes, then, these materialistic people can believe that Krishna is just a material being, He is not Supreme Lord. And thus, for Bhagavatam and even Bhagavad Gita, it is said, qualification is faith. So, if you have the strong faith, you will not have much confusion about the meaning. However, according to the level of the devotee, they can also get deeper meaning. And thus, the Acharyas often make comments, so that, we can understand some deeper meaning of those words.
2.) Paramapunyam – Normally, in other scriptures, it is very difficult to find this Paramapunyam. But in this Srimad Bhagavatam, who is the supreme purifying, means, does it mean that there are no other scriptures which purify more than Srimad Bhagavatam? More purifying. Purifying. Yeah, more than Srimad Bhagavatam.
All scriptures purify. Supreme Lord is most purifying in any form. However, Krishna is put in a special position, because He excels even the forms of the Supreme Lord in many qualities. And thus, we see that Krishna does things that other forms of the Lord don’t do. And thus, even demons like Putana or Aghasura get to the spiritual world. So, Vishnu or Rama or Narasimha Dev, Varaha kill demons, but they don’t go to spiritual world. So, Krishna is very special and His actions, His pastimes that show this are described in Bhagavatam.
Hare Krishna.
Devotees: Grantharaj Srimad Bhagavatam ki jai!!! HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj ki jai!!! Srila Prabhupada ki jai!!!