Srimad Bhagavatam – 1.18.29 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | ISKCON Chennai | Dec 02, 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 29.
ŚB 1.18.29
अभूतपूर्व: सहसा क्षुत्तृड्भ्यामर्दितात्मन: ।
ब्राह्मणं प्रत्यभूद् ब्रह्मन् मत्सरो मन्युरेव च ॥ २९ ॥
abhūta-pūrvaḥ sahasā
kṣut-tṛḍbhyām arditātmanaḥ
brāhmaṇaṁ praty abhūd brahman
matsaro manyur eva ca
Synonyms
abhūta-pūrvaḥ — unprecedented; sahasā — circumstantially; kṣut — hunger; tṛḍbhyām — as well as by thirst; ardita — being distressed; ātmanaḥ — of his self; brāhmaṇam — unto a brāhmaṇa; prati — against; abhūt — became; brahman — O brāhmaṇas; matsaraḥ — envious; manyuḥ — angry; eva — thus; ca — and.
Translation
O brāhmaṇas, the circumstances having distressed him with extreme hunger and thirst, the King directed toward the sage his anger and envy, which he had never before directed toward a brāhmaṇa.
Purport
For a king like Mahārāja Parīkṣit to become angry and envious, especially at a sage and brāhmaṇa, was undoubtedly unprecedented. The King knew well that brāhmaṇas, sages, children, women and old men are always beyond the jurisdiction of punishment. Similarly, the king, even though he commits a great mistake, is never to be considered a wrongdoer. But in this case, Mahārāja Parīkṣit became angry and envious at the sage due to his thirst and hunger, by the will of the Lord. The King was right to punish his subject for coldly receiving him or neglecting him, but because the culprit was a sage and a brāhmaṇa, it was unprecedented. As the Lord is never envious of anyone, so also the Lord’s devotee is never envious of anyone. The only justification for Mahārāja Parīkṣit’s behavior is that it was ordained by the Lord.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj:
So this verse just shows the anger and envy that arose within Pariksit Maharaj. So, this of course was explained in the last verse, all this was very unusual. According to this verse, envy and anger arose because Pariksit was afflicted by hunger and thirst. So this was very astonishing. Pariksit was a king. We know kings should tolerate. So they are undisturbed in spite of having hunger, thirst, etc., this is no problem for them. Furthermore, Pariksit was a great devotee of the Lord. So, what to speak of Kshatriyas being very tolerant of hunger and thirst, a great devotee of the Lord should also be tolerant of hunger and thirst. Therefore, it was most astonishing that Pariksit suddenly became angry and was afflicted by hunger and thirst.
Of course, such emotions are not uncommon in the material world. Normal people will be afflicted by hunger and thirst and also become very angry in many different circumstances. And of course, throughout the Vedic system of Varanashrama, one is taught to tolerate all of this and to control the mind and the senses. In Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna asks Krishna, ‘what is it that makes us commit all sorts of sinful activities?’ And Krishna answers, ‘it is lust in Rajo guna that turns into anger in Tamo guna’. This is the cause of all of our sinful activities. Of course, lust or kama does not just refer to sexual lust, but all sorts of material desires. In this case, Pariksit had a desire for water, food.
And of course, normal people sometimes have this problem, but we don’t expect this from a king, nor do we expect it from a great devotee. So, this is the kama aspect. And when the desire is obstructed, we have hunger and thirst, and we don’t get our water, we don’t get our food, then we become angry. And of course, when we become angry, the result is also described in Bhagavad Gita. A person becomes bewildered. They loose their sense of judgment. They forget the rules of scripture. And then, they do something which is improper.
So, this is exactly the pattern which is followed here by Pariksit Maharaj. He is not only acting like an ordinary person, but an ordinary person completely out of control. So, to control the kama and the krodha, and consequently the sinful activities, the scriptures give many solutions. One is to cultivate tolerance. Another is to cultivate humility. And if we have these qualities then even though we have hunger and thirst, we don’t become disturbed.
So, we see throughout the Vedic literature, there are so many rules to control the senses, to control the emotions, and thus we can control our conduct. In the material world, what is the impetus to control the senses and the mind? For some people, there is no reason why they should control their senses and mind. So such people say, ‘I will do whatever I want, when I want.’ So these are considered to be the lowest persons, the people in Tamo guna. However, we do have some people in Tamo guna, the Sudras, who are a little more intelligent, so they agree to follow the rules. Why? Because they understand that by controlling their senses and mind, they get ultimately a higher goal.
Of course, what the scriptures do is they reward you. If you control your senses, you get something nice. So, there are many rewards promised in the scriptures. One of course is, you don’t have to suffer, nobody likes suffering, so to avoid suffering, we should follow the rules. And then the other one is if you follow the rules, you get rewards. And so there are promises of Swarga Loka. So this is the motivation for people of lower consciousness, if you do these, you get nice rewards. And, of course if you don’t follow, you get some suffering. The king is there to enforce the rules. So, if you don’t follow the rules, what is the suffering? You get some punishment by the king. So, this, of course, is the motivation of people that is understood around the world, and therefore, that is the impetus for following the laws. It works to some degree. But, it’s also a little bit artificial. And thus, people if they think that they can do the wrong activity and not get punished, they will do the wrong activity. They will cheat. But, in general, these rules operate effectively for the majority of people.
But of course, Bhagavatam also criticizes this type of reward. So it’s compared to the normal person, it’s compared to a small child. And if they follow good conduct and they won’t commit bad activity, then the parents reward them, they give them some sweets. So, they give them the sweets and they follow the rules. So that giving the sweet fulfills a certain purpose. But if you don’t give the sweet, then they won’t follow the rules. So, it’s not a perfect system. So as long as we identify with the material body, we’ll have this problem. Senses will constantly be looking for some enjoyment in the material world, that’s their function. So, as long as you have a body with the senses, then you cannot escape this.
But, there is one solution. You control the senses, you control the mind, you control the body, then you’re saved. So, this is what the Jnanis and Yogis try to do. They will stop the activities of the mind and the senses. There will be no temptation from hunger, thirst or body. Consequently, there’ll be no anger, there’ll be no envy. So this actually is described in the 2nd chapter of Bhagavad Gita, when Krishna describes the ‘sthita prajña’, one situated in knowledge. Though he still has a body and senses, etc., the circumstances of this world don’t affect him at all. So that is a solution to this problem. However, it is difficult to attain that state. And thus, not many people can reach this state. So, they depend on the rules and regulations of Varanashrama system to keep themselves in line.
However, Krishna also offers another solution to the problem. Instead of trying to stop the senses and mind, which are very difficult to do, we engage them in a different activity. But of course, immediately we will say, ok we are going to engage the senses, it means you’re going to be subject to lust, anger, greed, hunger, thirst, etc., this is the main problem. So, then the solution is, engage your senses and mind, but the object will be Supreme Lord, Krishna and the goal is not to satisfy your senses materially, but to express your love and affection for Krishna.
Of course, we can ask the question, well, why don’t the Jnanis and Yogis do the same thing? Instead of trying to stop the senses, engage them in worshipping the Supreme. So, the problem is, for them, the Supreme doesn’t have a form, doesn’t have qualities and activities. So, we can’t use our senses and mind to concentrate on them, because there’s nothing to concentrate on. And thus, they are forced to simply stop the senses and mind. But that’s difficult to do. So therefore, in Chapter 12 of Bhagavad Gita, where Krishna says, ‘people who try to do this, they’re full of suffering – kleśaḥ adhika-taraḥ’.
So, therefore, the easy solution and permanent solution is to simply engage the senses in worshipping Supreme Lord with His form, qualities and activities. So, why would we do this? You’re supposed to do this and not have any desire. But, in the material world, our senses and our body and our mind all have desire, and they want some nice result. So, though we say, you have to worship the Lord without desire, it’s not completely without desire. There is desire to please the Lord. Of course, when we say, I desire to please the Lord, it looks like we also have false ego, ‘I’. And the answer is, there’s nothing wrong with Ahankara, as long as it is identifying itself as the servant of the Lord.
And thus, when you’re free of your material body and you go to the spiritual world, you have desire, you have a sense of ‘I’, and you have your senses and body, all engaged in serving Krishna. Of course, then the question can be asked, well, yes, okay, we serve Krishna, we have no desire for ourself, but, that also seems a little bit strange, because, what’s the motivation there? For instance, in the material world, you get a job, and you work. But then you expect a result, money. If you don’t get money, you don’t work. So, that’s normal position in this material world, you need some result in order to motivate you to do something.
However, if we look in the material world, then we will find an example where we don’t strive for a result. So, the mother serves the child, not because she’s looking for something from the child. So, every day she feeds the child, dresses the child, bathes the child, and does so many things. And she’s not thinking, well, I will do this now, and when he grows up, then I’m going to get some payback. So, she doesn’t think, well, I’m doing all this now, and it’s such hard work, but I’ll do it anyway, because later on, I will get the money from them when they start working, so mother doesn’t think like that, hopefully she doesn’t.
Of course, in this material example, it is just an example. It’s not really pure love, but it’s that level where there is minimum of personal desire. So, the ideal example of course is spiritual life and spiritual world, where one serves the Lord with pure affection. And there is no expectation of getting something from the Lord. However, that type of expression of love, which of course is bhakti and Prema, in itself is full of joy. So the act of offering to the Lord without personal desire itself is a joyful act, so therefore the devotee will continue to do it. And the result for the devotee, though he is not expecting it, is he is also fully satisfied and fully joyful. So, from the beginning of bhakti, that has to be the motivation. And as bhakti develops, then that motivation becomes stronger and stronger, because the taste of that devotional service becomes stronger and stronger. And in Bhava and Prema, then it becomes Ananda.
Hare Krsna!
Q & A:
1.) In the stages of sadhana bhakti, one may be attracted to other things besides pure devotional service. So, one may feel drawn towards other activities also. However, if one decides, okay, I want to surrender unto the Lord, but I have these anarthas, so, in such a state of mind, is the Lord actually taking care of the devotee’s life? Or sometimes the Lord is taking care, sometimes mahamaya is taking charge, how does it work?
So, in the beginning of bhakti, when one starts with faith, then it’s expected that you’re not going to be pure. You’re going to have lots of desires and maya and so many things. And unlike jnana and yoga, qualification is not being in sattva guna. So, therefore, the initial point where you get sraddha and start practicing can be full of all sorts of maya [Laughs]. But the Lord permits that.
However, with the practice of bhakti, it’s expected that gradually those things decrease, you know, klesaghni etc happens, karmas disappear, anartha-nivrtti takes place, so they gradually become less and less. So, in other words, the bhakti becomes purer and purer the more we practice it. But that is provided that when we start the bhakti, we’re starting with an understanding of what is pure bhakti. If we don’t have that understanding, we do bhakti and bhakti, bhakti, worship the Lord, whatever, and we let our desires simultaneously [Laughs] manifest in all directions [Laughs].
So, therefore, we practice bhakti, but we practice bhakti because we get association with devotees and they tell us about pure bhakti, and we’re able to start that process. So, Krishna is very merciful and He accepts these people are not highest level of purity or whatever in their devotion, but the expectation is that through the process, eventually they will reach that stage. And thus in Bhagavad Gita, Krishna also says, even if you’ve done the most sinful activity, you’re still my devotee [Laughs]. Not only does Krishna accept, everybody else should accept him as a devotee also, sādhur eva sa mantavyaḥ (Bg 9.30).
So, Krishna is very tolerant. This is unlike other processes, karma, jnana and yoga. In jnana and yoga, you have to reach sattva guna and you’re going to be situated there before you can even start the process [Laughs]. And if you make a mistake, you fall down from your position. And if you do karma yoga, you make a mistake, then also, you fall from your position. So, thus, bhakti is full of the mercy of the Lord.
2.) Maharaj, in the verses that we’re reading now, and similarly in the Bhagavad Gita, Prabhupada repeatedly speaks about how this Parikshit Maharaj’s anger and envy were ordained by the Lord. So, coming back to the question that I asked yesterday, for example, in Kardama muni’s purports, you don’t find such explicit declarations. So, my concern is that when we look at the pastimes of the Lord, if we just by default conclude that everything is ordained by the Lord, then it may become some kind of a sahajiya kind of thing. So, how do we know, how do we distinguish between what actually is ordained by the Lord and what is not?
Well, it’s not difficult if we know definitely that devotee is an eternal associate of the Lord. Again, if we know definitely they are situated in prema, then no problem. If they’re situated in bhava or sadhana bhakti, then it is possible they could make mistakes. But Rupa Gosvami, concerning the bhava bhakta, he says, even then, you should not see fault in him [Laughs]. But there may be fault, because in bhava, you still have the effect of aparadhas, which may create problem. And thus we have the example of Bharata. So, that was not an arrangement of the Lord, that’s because he had done some previous aparadha, therefore he became attracted to the deer, and then he forgot the Lord.
In the case of Brahma, offending the Lord, then Acharyas point out, well, Lord promised you won’t fall into maya in your life, so if he falls into maya, the Lord breaks His promise. So therefore, it’s not real maya, it’s the Lord’s arrangement. Nevertheless, if the devatas, including Lord Brahma, are not in the highest position, or prema, then it is possible they can make actual mistakes. But in the case of Shiva, he is not a regular devata, so then if he seems to make a mistake, we cannot also say it’s a real mistake. It must be arrangement of the Lord [Laughs].
Devotee: So, Maharaj, unless we know whether someone is on bhava or prema, then we can’t automatically conclude, and to know that someone is on bhava or prema, we need to hear from the Acharyas themselves. Is that right?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Okay.
3.) Maharaj pranams. I would like to know, how do we free from the inflicting karma, good karma or bad karma, each moment, and how do we safeguard as we keep getting a lot of information to our ears, and then we keep acting on it. We are in several situations, every day, as we pass. So, how do we keep…Every day we are getting difficulties, even though we are listening from so many devotees and Acharyas, Gurus, even listening from them, we are afflicted by maya. Afflicted by maya. So, how can we protect ourselves?
Oh, well, as long as we are in the material world, possibility is there, because maya is everywhere. But if we come atleast to the stage of nishtha or steadiness, then the maya is tolerable. We can continue our bhakti with minimum disturbance from anarthas. So, therefore the initial goal of the devotee, instead of going for prema directly, which may look far off, he can strive for nishtha. And so nishtha is achieved after we practice bhakti and we go through this process called anartha-nivritti.
So in the anartha-nivritti stage, the major obstacles to our steady practice are destroyed. So it’s all destroyed because of our practice of bhakti itself, not from some outside process. So we should attempt to chant the name, hear the scriptures, and associate with devotees. This will bring us to the stage of nishtha.
4.) So, you are explaining regarding this. For the jnanis, although they try to control the senses, but it is very difficult. kleśo ’dhika-taras teṣām (Bg 12.5) And for devotees, they engage the senses in the service of Krishna to please Krishna. So my question is, is there any example in the scriptures about those who already could control the senses, especially the jnanis? Because we see that the maximum jnanis, once they control, they can fall down, especially jivan mukta, that we see from the scriptures.
Are there any examples of?
Devotee: Jnanis who control the senses?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Oh, well, Durvasa Muni.
Devotee: Influence of [Not clear]
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: [Laughs] What is the sage who was looking at the fish, then he developed a desire to enjoy grihastha life. Yeah, yeah.
Devotee: [Not audible]
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yeah, so then?
Devotee: [Not audible]
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Who can control the senses? Of course, it is difficult, so then we get the examples of people who have difficulty. So it is also possible, and therefore it is mentioned in the scriptures. So, in the second canto, there we have a whole description of astanga yoga, and then you get out of your body, etc. They don’t give a particular example, but they say it is possible. And of course, in the upanishads, then there are examples of sages who are fixed in jnana and Brahman.
Devotee: [Not audible]
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Well, it is easier, but still difficult. It takes thousands of years.
5.) We see the nine stages of bhakti, that start with sraddha till prema. But anartha-nivrtti, that is in the middle, in between. But anartha-nivrtti even starts from sraddha also. Why it is in between? Even anartha-nivrtti is there in bhava also, there is a little bit of anartha is there. Why is it kept in between, before just nishtha, sorry bhajana kriya?
So, faith is the conviction that we can do bhakti and get a result. But if we don’t start the practice, nothing is going to happen [Laughs]. So therefore, after sraddha, we have bhajana kriya, so we start. Of course, immediately we start, we can get some anartha-nivritti. So, we start with bhajana kriya for one minute, five minutes [Laughs], we get some anartha-nivritti [Laughs]. And we continue, we get more anartha-nivrtti.
So, we can say that bhajana kriya and anartha-nivritti take place rather simultaneously. And at a certain point, the anarthas are reduced and the bhakti is increased to the extent that the anarthas no longer cause great obstacle. So, the anarthas are not completely destroyed, but they don’t cause much problem, so that’s called nishtha. So, before we come to that stage, we can call the whole thing anishtitha bhakti [Laughs].
So, when we’re practicing bhakti at nishtha stage, anarthas are still destroyed. So, anartha-nivritti is still taking place. And anarthas will continue to get destroyed more and more in ruchi and asakti and bhava. So, therefore, when we say anartha-nivritti is a stage before nishtha, it simply indicates that the anarthas are getting destroyed to an extent that we can come to nishtha. That’s all. But it’s not completely destroyed.
6.) Last question is, Maharaj, see, Brahma did mistake from his side, but it was a plan of Krishna. Brahma, he also committed mistake, from his side, I’m saying, not the side of Krishna. But from Krishna’s side, it was a plan of Krishna. There are two opinions, one is Brahma said, I did a mistake. But Krishna said, this is my arrangement. But in that case, Brahma is feeling guilty. But from Krishna’s side, it’s different, correct? It’s not that both are same. Not the same opinion, we can say?
Now, the nature of the devotee is, in any case, that they feel unqualified. And even if the Lord says, you made no mistake, still the devotee feels, oh, I made great mistake. So, that is the very nature of bhakti itself. So, therefore, at the beginning of bhakti itself, there should be this humility. So, we’re lower than a blade of grass. So, that is expressed by Brahma. But, it is expressed by all devotees. It’s inherent in bhakti itself.
7.) Maharaj, you mentioned that, benefit a devotee gets is the joy from his service. The joy that he gets. However, in the initial stage of a sadhaka, that joy is difficult to get because of a jaundice kind of a disease. So, how to understand that Maharaj?
So, ananda, or bliss, does not really manifest until bhava stage, where we get samvit, hladini shakti manifesting. Nevertheless, from the beginning of bhakti, bhakti is always bhakti, like the name is always the name, whether we’re chanting purely or impurely or whatever, name is always the name, bhakti is always bhakti [Laughs]. But, due to our coverings of maya, we cannot access that. So, we don’t feel that ananda.
Nevertheless, it is distinctly different, bhakti is completely different even in sadhana stage, from karma, jnana and yoga, which got none of the hladini shakti at all. So, though in sadhana, we do not experience ananda, atleast the bhakti is there, and out of that, we can experience bhakti sukha, some happiness from bhakti itself. And finally, when all the anarthas are gone, then it manifests as bliss.
8.) As I understand that, there are so many layers till we achieve the ananda stage. But as a base, very, very base stage, as a grihastha, the question that I have is, in the material world, we go, earn money, and we have to be associated with multiple people, and certain aspects of sadguna become a problematic situation when you are handling other people, because when humility as a practice, but when we go out in the actual world, the humilities, people take you for a ride. So, how to balance this for a grihastha? Second aspect is, as a person starts working towards securing the family and taking care of the younger ones, what is the point at which the person should stop worrying about the family and start focusing on himself?
Well, whatever we practice in bhakti is not completely isolated from our activities in the material world. So, in other words, when we practice bhakti, we develop good, spiritual qualities, so those should manifest even when we are dealing with materialists. Of course, it may be difficult because the material world is full of all sorts of materialistic properties. But it is particularly the nature of the grihastha life that they have to face this difficulty.
So, if you make a choice of having family, then necessarily you have to work, and if you have to work, then you are back in the material world. So, you have to face that problem. So, whatever qualities we develop through bhakti, then that should carry over into our material actions also. Otherwise, we will get the opposite effect, then we say, okay, devotional life is this, material life, I can do all opposite activities [Laughs]. So, those opposite activities are going to influence your spiritual life also and cause problems.
Devotees: Grantharaj Srimad Bhagavatam ki jai!!! HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj ki jai!!! Srila Prabhupada ki jai!!