Srimad Bhagavatam – 1.18.31 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | ISKCON Chennai | Dec 05, 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 31.
ŚB 1.18.31
एष किं निभृताशेषकरणो मीलितेक्षण: ।
मृषासमाधिराहोस्वित्किं नु
स्यात्क्षत्रबन्धुभि: ॥ ३१ ॥
eṣa kiṁ nibhṛtāśeṣa-
karaṇo mīlitekṣaṇaḥ
mṛṣā-samādhir āhosvit
kiṁ nu syāt kṣatra-bandhubhiḥ
Synonyms
eṣaḥ — this; kim — whether; nibhṛta-aśeṣa — meditative mood; karaṇaḥ — senses; mīlita — closed; īkṣaṇaḥ — eyes; mṛṣā — false; samādhiḥ — trance; āho — remains; svit — if it is so; kim — either; nu — but; syāt — may be; kṣatra-bandhubhiḥ — by the lower kṣatriya..
Translation
Upon returning, he began to contemplate and argue within himself whether the sage had actually been in meditation, with senses concentrated and eyes closed, or whether he had just been feigning trance just to avoid receiving a lower kṣatriya.
Purport
The King, being a devotee of the Lord, did not approve of his own action, and thus he began to wonder whether the sage was really in a trance or was just pretending in order to avoid receiving the King, who was a kṣatriya and therefore lower in rank. Repentance comes in the mind of a good soul as soon as he commits something wrong. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura and Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī do not believe that the King’s action was due to his past misdeeds. The arrangement was so made by the Lord just to call the King back home, back to Godhead.
According to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī, the plan was made by the will of the Lord, and by the will of the Lord the situation of frustration was created. The plan was that for his so-called misdeed the King could be cursed by an inexperienced brāhmaṇa boy infected by the influence of Kali, and thus the King would leave his hearth and home for good. His connections with Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī would enable the presentation of the great Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which is considered to be the book incarnation of the Lord. This book incarnation of the Lord gives much fascinating information of the transcendental pastimes of the Lord, like His rāsa-līlā with the spiritual cowherd damsels of Vrajabhūmi. This specific pastime of the Lord has a special significance because anyone who properly learns about this particular pastime of the Lord will certainly be dissuaded from mundane sex desire and be placed on the path of sublime devotional service to the Lord. The pure devotee’s mundane frustration is meant to elevate the devotee to a higher transcendental position. By placing Arjuna and the Pāṇḍavas in frustration due to the intrigue of their cousin-brothers, the prelude of the Battle of Kurukṣetra was created by the Lord. This was to incarnate the sound representative of the Lord, Bhagavad-gītā. So by placing King Parīkṣit in an awkward position, the incarnation of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam was created by the will of the Lord. Being distressed by hunger and thirst was only a show, because the King endured much, even in the womb of his mother. He was never disturbed by the glaring heat of the brahmāstra released by Aśvatthāmā. The King’s distressed condition was certainly unprecedented. The devotees like Mahārāja Parīkṣit are powerful enough to forbear such distresses, by the will of the Lord, and they are never disturbed. The situation, in this case, was therefore all planned by the Lord.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj:
So in this verse we see that Pariksit Maharaj then began to doubt what he did. And that is expressed here in this verse because it says ‘kiṁ’ and ‘kiṁ nu syāt’, which are questions. So was he actually in samadhi and thus his eyes were closed and he did not see him? Or was it false samadhi, ‘mṛṣā’ samadhi? So, he just closed his eyes and pretended to be in samadhi because he did not want to respect Kshatriya. So, if he is actually in samadhi, then the king has all blame for this event. And of course, even if it is false samadhi, still the king should not have acted in this way. But of course, the sage also should not have ignored him.
But as the purport of Srila Prabhupada explains, all of this is the Lord’s arrangement. And the reason is that Pariksit is actually faultless. So, we could not use this as an excuse. If ordinary people make mistakes, they cannot say, ‘oh, this is all Lord’s arrangement’. And even for the devotees, devotees can actually make real mistakes. Of course, even though the devotee makes mistakes, the Lord also tolerates. So, therefore, we should not use the excuse of the Lord’s plan for all situations, only in the case of exalted, very exalted devotees. So in that case, there is no fault on part of the devotee. However, if a person who is materialistic or even a devotee who is not on the highest level, makes a mistake, definitely it is a mistake.
Of course, the Lord also tolerates. But we should not use that as an excuse to commit more bad activities. And thus we have the verse in Bhagavad Gita, ‘even though a devotee has done the most sinful activity, I still consider him my devotee.’ But the condition there is that the devotee continues his devotional service and he doesn’t do more sinful activity. So, if he commits more sinful activity, etc., this also becomes offence, we have the offence of the holy name, committing sins on the strength of the holy name. And therefore, to commit all sorts of sins and say, ‘oh Lord is very tolerant, so it doesn’t matter’, then this becomes aparadha, even worse. So, that is why we have in devotional service, all the different anarthas and sinful activities that must be avoided. And to our ability, we have to avoid all of these activities. So, the Lord also recognizes that the devotees are not perfect, and therefore he tolerates mistakes.
So, of course, we see even at the end of the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says, ‘I save you from all your sins.’ So, therefore, this encourages the sinful person to surrender to the Lord. But the intention of the devotee should not be, ‘yes, I will surrender to the Lord for all my sinful reactions, then I will do more sinful activity, and the Lord will forgive me again’. So, in other words, when Krishna makes such a promise, ‘I deliver you from all sins’, it does not give us the freedom to do more sins.
So, that is why in devotional service, though we concentrate on developing devotion to the Lord, at the same time, we have things that we have to avoid. So, in Nectar of Devotion, for instance, Rupa Goswami mentions 64 angas of Bhakti, and then he gives 10 angas of Bhakti, which are things you shouldn’t do. So, though we are trying to engage all our senses in Bhakti, we have to be aware of things that we shouldn’t do also. So, therefore, we find also in Nectar of Instruction, the first two verses are things that we have to avoid. So Rupa Goswami mentions 6 Vegas, like ‘manasa’ and ‘krodha’ vega. And then he mentions the next verse, many unfavourable things, like gathering and possessing things. So, along with our positive engagements in devotional service, we have things that we have to avoid as well. And this is also part of surrender itself.
Krishna says, ‘surrender to me.’ But then if we analyse, there are 6 parts of surrender. And what is the second element? The first element, of course, is do favourable things and avoid unfavourable things. So, surrender to the Lord does not give you freedom to do anything you want. It also means that we do everything favourable for that surrender and we avoid everything unfavourable for that surrender. And of course, in Sadhana Bhakti, we do not do this perfectly. So, we cannot always do all the elements of Bhakti properly. And we cannot always avoid the forbidden things. But, the nature of Bhakti is that the Lord tolerates our incompetence. And the hope is that eventually all of the incompetence will disappear. So, therefore, we have to avoid certain things when we are practicing devotional service.
So, in this verse, the king is doubting, did I do something wrong? So, Prabhupada points out, ‘yes, this is a good mentality for the devotee’. If he has done some wrong activity, then he regrets it. Of course, it is explained, for normal sinful activities, the remedy is Bhakti itself. If we are not following Bhakti, then we have to do ‘Prayaschitta’ or atonement. However, when we take to the process of Bhakti, if we go back and do atonement, that also is considered to be a fault. It shows our lack of faith in the process of Bhakti itself. Of course, in any case, the devotee should regret his particular action. Because this is an impediment to his surrender.
If a person commits aparadha, particularly Vaishnava aparadha, then the devotee has to make a more particular arrangement. If he says, ‘well, I will just do Bhakti, because Bhakti destroys all sinful reactions’, then it is a fault. So in the case of Vaishnava aparadha, he has to personally of course, he has to regret his action, then he has to go to the devotee and he has to ask for forgiveness. And normally the devotees forgive. So this is a solution to his aparadha. But then, what if the devotee doesn’t forgive? So, then the devotee has to continue his Bhakti, and eventually the aparadha gets destroyed. But if he deliberately avoids approaching the person to ask for forgiveness, then the aparadha gets worse. What is the effect? That person loses a taste for Bhakti, therefore he cannot do Bhakti properly anymore. But Bhakti is the only way he can get rid of the aparadha, therefore he is in a very dangerous position. If we commit aparadhas unknowingly, we cannot do anything about that. Still, we will get the effect, the Bhakti begins to slow down. And all we can do is continue the process of Bhakti to get rid of that influence.
In any case, the idea is we have to be careful not to commit these different faults. And if we do commit some fault, then we have to have repentance or regret. And then we have to take some action. Of course, the general action is that we must continue Bhakti.
This case is a little more complicated. He didn’t get a chance to apologize to the sage because his son cursed Pariksit. But Pariksit’s response was also proper, he tolerated that and he accepted the curse. Even the father regretted the son cursing, still, Pariksit did not protest. So that was the extent of his regret for having insulted the sage.
So, of course, this led to the manifestation of Srimad Bhagavatam. So, all of this was arranged by the Lord so that Bhagavatam could be manifested. So therefore ultimately, there is no blame put upon Pariksit.
Hare Krsna!
Q & A:
1.) We see Srimad Bhagavatam was heard from Sukadeva Goswami. Is the curse material or how it can act on generally neophytes and all that ? How the great devotee is also influenced by the curse?
So, in general, curses have no effect on devotee. Of course, the devotee has no interest in counteracting the curse. And of course, we see that in the case of Ambarish. He was completely protected by the Lord. However, in this case, we see that Parikshit voluntarily accepted the curse. Of course, he is also protected by the Lord. So, the Lord could have prevented the snake from biting him. However, all this is a Lord’s arrangement, so, he has accepted the curse and the snake coming later on was arrangement of the Lord.
2.) Maharaj, Parikshit committed offense towards the sage, Samika rishi. But here curse is given by his son Sringi. But he didn’t commit any offense to Sringi, but how Sringi has a right to give curse? Normally, for the offense, when we commit offense to some devotees, we are supposed to go to him and ask forgiveness. If Parikshit Maharaj goes to Samika rishi and asks forgiveness, he could be free from the curse, But here Sringi is giving curse, he is the third person, not second person.
But it is also stated in the scripture that, the father is born as the son. So, therefore, son represents the father [Laughs]. Of course, we see that this son, in one sense, was also not so qualified. He appears to be quite young. He also became angry. Father did not become angry, son become angry [Laughs]. So, just as Parikshit got angry, the son became angry. So, this also looks a little strange. If the father was so elevated in samadhi, how could the son be so unqualified [Laughs]? Prabhupada in the purport says, well, this shows the influence of kali yuga. The sons of brahmanas in kali yuga may not be very qualified. But another explanation can be that, it is also an arrangement of the Lord again.
3.) If Parikshit Maharaj goes and asks forgiveness from Samika rishi, then the curse will work or not?
Well, in one sense, it could show no effect at all, because Parikshit is a great devotee protected by the Lord. It doesn’t really matter what he does [Laughs]. The father himself regretted that the son did this. So, he was also willing to withdraw the curse in one sense. But Parikshit, he accepted the curse. So what could be done [Laughs]? In one sense, he does this to show that, the word of the brahmana, even if it’s a son is, cannot be counteracted. So, he’s showing respect for brahmana. So, this is a good quality for a king to show.
4.) Maharaj, see, as devotees advance, they become very expert in scripture and also injunction of the vedas. But sometimes it happen, you know, side by side, they also develop some kind of ego that they are advancing. And because of that, if they commit some kind of offense also or sin also, it becomes very difficult for them to accept it because they have also become expert in logic. So how to understand this here?
So we have the anarthas or the weeds such as puja, pratishtha, and pride etc. And if we advance in devotional service, these anarthas should be less and less. But if we don’t cultivate bhakti properly, then these anarthas may not disappear. So, it is like the gardener and if he is cultivating bhakti, but he’s not looking around, then the weeds grow up. A good gardener will recognize weeds and he will pull them out. But another person, being inattentive, will not realize that these are weeds that are not beneficial for the growth of bhakti.
The nature of the weed is, it can grow without taking care of, without cultivating, it grows up nice, quickly. If the weeds grow up, then they take all the nourishment from the soil, and the bhakti plant is nothing and it starves. It doesn’t grow [Laughs]. And in fact, a person who is inattentive may mistake the weed for the bhakti creeper. So, a devotee may advance or think he is advancing, and then he may associate his position and his power, wealth, or whatever, followers or whatever with bhakti. They think that’s the bhakti. So, I have increased my followers, increased my bhakti.
And we see in the angas of bhakti after the first ten, we have the second ten, number eleven is, don’t have many followers. Don’t make many disciples [Laughs]. And Rupa Goswami also points out when he is talking about the angas of bhakti, he says, well, varnashrama is not an anga of bhakti, vairagya and jnana are not part of bhakti. And attachment to followers also is not part of bhakti. Unfortunately, we may equate the two things.
So, the example is given, of course, we have the bhakti creeper and then we have different weeds. So, in Bengal, they grow a lot of rice. So, there is another plant called shamgach, which looks like rice also, same leaf, same color. So, the foolish farmer will cultivate his fields, put the water in, he will plant his rice, etc., then the little sprouts come up. So, the foolish farmer cultivating the rice and then gradually grows and grows and grows, takes care of it, makes sure the birds don’t come, whatever. And then the rice plant grows very big. So, he has a field full of nice rice growing up and he thinks, ah, I’ll get a nice crop. But he waits for the rice to come out, no rice. He cultivated a field of shamgach.
So, therefore, we have to be careful in the cultivation of bhakti, that these anarthas do not grow and overtake the bhakti.
5.) Maharaj, we see that weeds you are saying na, that grow faster than that original plant. Why it is so?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Why they grow fast?
Devotee: Yes.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Well, the nature of the Jiva is that he has mind, intelligence, false ego, ignorance and he has been cultivating that for life after life after life. So, as long as we are covered by ignorance, then all of these anarthas will naturally, not naturally, but [Laughs] spontaneously [Laughs] keep popping up, growing. As we do the more bhakti and the bhakti takes control, then of course, things cannot grow so nicely. So, thus, as one advances in devotional service, then there is less likely to be so many anarthas.
6.) Hare Krishna Maharaj. Maharaj, this point of contemplation which Parikshit is having, and specifically you explained that how if one commits Vaishnava aparadha, then one should reach out to that particular Vaishnava and seek forgiveness, otherwise there is no resolution to that. So, Maharaj but there is a possibility that in doing that contemplation, one may become more self-critical, and one may excessively think that I may have offended this devotee or I may have offended that devotee. So, it can also, I mean, how do we balance it out that we don’t become over-critical? And because at our stage, all devotees have anarthas. We have anarthas, others have anarthas and there are conflicts on so many various issues. So, how do we balance it out ?
So, the main solution to this is to cultivate bhakti properly. So, bhakti by it’s nature has humility and tolerance. And of course, the main element is, we are trying to develop affection for Krishna. So, the anarthas, of course, though they are present, they will diminish with the progress of bhakti. At the same time, we are aware that there are weeds or anarthas that we have to be careful of. But part of the devotee’s cultivation is to use his intelligence.
So, in Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says, ‘I give you the intelligence by which you can come to me’. So, it’s like the farmer. So, he has to use his intelligence when he’s growing his crop. So, certainly he must know what is favorable for the cultivation of the plant. He must also take care to pull out the weeds. But he does not become obsessed with pulling out weeds all the time and not taking care of the plant growing [Laughs]. So, he realizes what is the important element to grow the plant. So, in cultivating bhakti, we also have to use our intelligence.
7.) First question is, does the usual fight between devotee husband and devotee wife, will it cause aparadha to each other?
What’s that? Fighting? What about it?
Devotee: [Not audible]
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Oh, I see [Laughs]. Well, fighting itself is a material activity. So, and of course, fighting arises because of what? Anger. Anger arises because of greed etc. So, therefore, even in between husband and wife, that should be minimized.
8.) Maharaj, the next question is, will bhakti devi allow an aparadhi to continue to perform bhakti, even though he has not sought forgiveness?
In the case of Vaishnava aparadha, then without doing any remedy, the taste for bhakti decreases. And therefore, progress becomes slow. If progress is very slow, the devotee may become disturbed and not do any bhakti at all. So, once they lose a taste for bhakti, it is also difficult for them to get a taste again.
9.) Hare Krishna Maharaj, next question is, which is more dangerous, whether it is aparadhas or anarthas?
Well, aparadhas are included as anarthas. But, the aparadhas also can actually destroy bhakti. So, that is why we beware particularly of the aparadhas. The nature of the aparadhas is that, they are directly an expression of animosity towards devotees or bhakti or the Lord. So, they counteract any progress of bhakti that is there.
10.) What is the grammar of bhakti? Is there any specific definition for bhakti?
Well, the definition of bhakti is given in the Nectar of Devotion in the very first chapter. So, that is cultivation of an affectionate relationship with Krishna with no desire for material enjoyment or liberation.
Devotees: Grantharaj Srimad Bhagavatam ki jai!!! HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj ki jai!!! Srila Prabhupada ki jai!!