Srimad Bhagavatam – 1.18.36~37 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | ISKCON Chennai | Dec 10, 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 36~37.
ŚB 1.18.36
इत्युक्त्वा रोषताम्राक्षो वयस्यानृषिबालक: ।
कौशिक्याप उपस्पृश्य वाग्वज्रं विससर्ज ह ॥ ३६ ॥
ity uktvā roṣa-tāmrākṣo
vayasyān ṛṣi-bālakaḥ
kauśiky-āpa upaspṛśya
vāg-vajraṁ visasarja ha
Synonyms
iti — thus; uktvā — saying; roṣa-tāmra-akṣaḥ — with red-hot eyes due to being angry; vayasyān — unto the playmates; ṛṣi-bālakaḥ — the son of a ṛṣi; kauśikī — the River Kauśikā; āpaḥ — water; upaspṛśya — by touching; vāk — words; vajram — thunderbolt; visasarja — threw; ha — in the past.
Translation
The son of the ṛṣi, his eyes red-hot with anger, touched the water of the River Kauśika while speaking to his playmates and discharged the following thunderbolt of words.
Purport
The circumstances under which Mahārāja Parīkṣit was cursed were simply childish, as it appears from this verse. Śṛṅgi was showing his impudency amongst his playmates, who were innocent. Any sane man would have prevented him from doing such great harm to all human society. By killing a king like Mahārāja Parīkṣit, just to make a show of acquired brahminical power, the inexperienced son of a brāhmaṇa committed a great mistake.
ŚB 1.18.37
इति लङ्घितमर्यादं तक्षक: सप्तमेऽहनि ।
दङ्क्ष्यति स्म कुलाङ्गारं चोदितो मे ततद्रुहम् ॥ ३७ ॥
iti laṅghita-maryādaṁ
takṣakaḥ saptame ’hani
daṅkṣyati sma kulāṅgāraṁ
codito me tata-druham
Synonyms
iti — thus; laṅghita — surpassing; maryādam — etiquette; takṣakaḥ — snake-bird; saptame — on the seventh; ahani — day; daṅkṣyati — will bite; sma — certainly; kula-aṅgāram — the wretched of the dynasty; coditaḥ — having done; me — my; tata-druham — enmity towards the father.
Translation
The brāhmaṇa’s son cursed the King thus: On the seventh day from today a snake-bird will bite the most wretched one of that dynasty [Mahārāja Parīkṣit] because of his having broken the laws of etiquette by insulting my father.
Purport
Thus the beginning of the misuse of brahminical power began, and gradually the brāhmaṇas in the Age of Kali became devoid of both brahminical powers and culture. The brāhmaṇa boy considered Mahārāja Parīkṣit to be kulāṅgāra, or the wretched of the dynasty, but factually the brāhmaṇa boy himself was so because only from him did the brāhmaṇa caste become powerless, like the snake whose poisoned teeth are broken. The snake is fearful as long as his poison teeth are there, otherwise he is fearful only to children. The personality of Kali conquered the brāhmaṇa boy first, and gradually the other castes. Thus the whole scientific system of the orders of society in this age has assumed the form of a vitiated caste system, which is now being uprooted by another class of men similarly influenced by the Age of Kali. One should see to the root cause of vitiation and not try to condemn the system as it is, without knowledge of its scientific value.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj:
So here we see that the Brahmana’s son out of his pride and anger, cursed the king to die in seven days. And the death also was rather unique, the snake bird comes and bites him. And the reason is the laws of etiquette had been broken. So this was a very big disaster, because Pariksit was the remaining person in the dynasty from the Pandavas. And for the Pandavas to get that position, they had to have the battle of Kurukshetra.
So of course previously, Pariksit almost died, because of the Brahmastra of Asavatthama. Krishna counteracted that, of course maybe against the normal rules, He prevented him from dying. So he was the remaining descendant from the Pandavas. The Pandavas’ sons had been killed. So just for this, this whole battle took place to get the Pandavas, and then Pariksit on the throne and then Pariksit got cursed by a Brahmana boy.
So of course the whole idea was Krishna came to destroy adharma and re-establish dharma. So that He accomplished. And then Krishna disappeared. But simultaneously we see it was the end of Dvapara Yuga and the beginning of Kali Yuga. And we see as from the Bhagavatam itself, as Kali Yuga progresses, all the dynasties are completely corrupted. So we can ask, what’s the use of the Pandavas having this war and Krishna establishing dharma when Kali Yuga is coming and then everything is destroyed again? In any case, we know that things are going to decline as I mentioned yesterday, it is inevitable that Tamo guna keeps rising up. And in spite of that, the Lord makes some arrangement so that dharma gets preserved. So here we see ultimately the kings who established dharma get annihilated. So Krishna made His attempt and for some time, yes, everything was fine, then Kali Yuga came, everything deteriorates. So even then, the Lord makes arrangements. And therefore, even in Kali Yuga, there is a Yuga Avatar. So this is a way in which dharma can continue in Kali Yuga.
The peculiar nature of Kali Yuga is, yes, you can have the Yuga dharma and Nama Sankirtana, Yuga Avatar can appear, etc. but there is no more kings. So what this shows is there are two types of dharma. Normally, we think of dharma as Varanashrama system established by the kings. And this continues from Satya Yuga to Treta Yuga to Dvapara Yuga. In our particular Kali Yuga, everything, that whole system gets destroyed. But along with the dharma established by the Manus and their descendants, we have the Yuga dharmas. So we have regular Varanashrama dharma established by the kings and we have the Yuga dharmas.
So the Yuga dharma is a little bit different, it’s not Varanashrama dharma at all, it is spiritual life. So what this shows is that the Yuga dharmas go on in spite of whatever is there, Varanashrama or no Varanashrama. Of course, better that they’re both there. So that’s the normal condition. But in our particular Kali Yuga, no more kings, no more Varanashrama dharma, still, Yuga dharma remains. What this shows is the independence of spiritual process. That we see illustrated by Krishna at the end of the Bhagavad Gita where He says, ‘sarva-dharmān parityajya, mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja’. The surrender to Krishna does not depend upon any dharma. Of course, in Bhagavatam, we also refer to Bhakti as Paro-dharma.
So Bhakti is the root of all dharma. And of course, dharma is favourable, but even if it’s not there, we can continue Paro-dharma. And thus we have, in our Kali Yuga, an example of the independence of Bhakti from everything else. So, of course, in this particular example, we see the beginning of the deterioration of the whole system with the kings. Pariksit was an ideal king, but he seemed to make a big mistake by breaking the rules of etiquette. So he insulted the Brahmana. And then we see the son of the Brahmana, he responds by cursing Pariksit. And through that, he shows the deterioration of the Brahmanical Varna.
So Pariksit, of course, was king who establishes Varanashrama system. But he was also a great devotee. So you can curse a king, but how can you curse a devotee, a great devotee? So this is another fault of the boy making his curse. We know in Bhakti that one of the main rules is respect all the Vaishnavas. And we should never curse them. Of course, the other quality of the Vaishnava is ‘sahishnu’, tolerance. So if someone insults or offends, we tolerate.
So here we see that the Brahmana boy could not tolerate. He did not respect the position of the king. Nor did he respect the position of Pariksit as a devotee. Furthermore, he was just a boy, a little boy. So generally, he also should not act independently, he should go to his father and ask what to do. But he acted in this way. So Prabhupada points out that this is symbolizing the deterioration of qualification of the Brahmanas in Kali Yuga.
Of course, at the end of the purport, then Prabhupad says, yes, of course, then we can criticize Brahmanas. And we see in modern society, the Brahmanas often get criticized. So certainly, some of the Brahmanas are not acting according to their proper qualification. Nevertheless, that does not mean we condemn the whole system. On the other hand, though we can point out faults in Brahmanas, we can also point out faults in everybody else in society also, even worse faults. So of course, then of course, we can just reject the whole system. But then there is no valid system to replace it also. So we invent some system. And this is an experiment. In the western world, that’s been going on for maybe three, four hundred years and in India, maybe it’s been going on for the last, what, 50 years. And we can also find faults with that system. So therefore, instead of looking for faults in systems, etc., the emphasis here is, don’t concentrate on those systems at all, rather concentrate on the Yuga dharma.
So the sages of Naimisaranya asked, ‘where is dharma in Kali Yuga’? ‘What is the dharma explained in Srimad Bhagavatam’? So, it isn’t ruling kings, it is not Varanashrama at all. It is Bhakti Yoga, Nama Sankirtana, surrender to the Lord, that is the dharma. So, it’s not a concocted system, it’s an eternal spiritual system. It does not depend on its success upon any other dharma. So that is the advice given in Srimad Bhagavatam. And that’s the advice of Vedavyasa and Sukadeva Goswami.
So in other words, the solution to everything is quite simple. Though the system has fallen apart, we can try to repair it or we can make a new system, in any case, the main emphasis is on something quite different, that is, our spiritual development. Of course, it can operate nicely in a favourable system, but even if the system is not there, it can still be successful. So that is the final solution in the Bhagavatam.
Hare Krsna!
Q&A
1.) I can understand that in the Satya Yuga itself, there are two kinds of systems going on. One is Yuga Dharma and one is Varanashrama.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: I suppose there is only one Varna.
Devotee: In Satya Yuga. So then, the question is that when people are pious, following the proper Varanashrama system, because even it is said that, the purpose of the Varanashrama system is to please the Supreme Lord. So what is the purpose of the Yuga Dharma here? Because already by Varanashrama Dharma, they have fulfilled the purpose.
So why do we need Yuga Dharma when there is Satya Yuga? Because by performing the Varanashrama Dharma, they are pleasing the Lord. The purpose of Yuga Dharma is also to please the Lord. And by following the Varanashrama Dharma, they can please the Lord.
And what is the necessity of Yuga Dharma?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Though ultimately the Varanashrama system is meant to please the Lord, it is not direct. It is indirect. If we examine its activities, emphasis is upon the duties in Varnas, occupations, following rules to get up to Sattva Guna. Within that system, there is worship of the Lord, no apparadh of the Lord, and that helps you progress upwards. So we say there is a little bhakti there, and as well the goal is worship of the Lord ultimately. But still we say it is indirect. So what is the goal? Artha, Dharma, kama. And then finally when you get to jnana, you get to moksha. Where is the bhakti?
Still the system is very useful for people who do not have full faith in the Supreme Lord, and for people who have material desires. So it allows people to get their material desires fulfilled without offence to the Lord. And it ultimately elevates them to Sattva Guna, where they start becoming detached from material enjoyment. But it does not directly lead to surrender to the Lord. So therefore we see that people may be Sattvic, but not necessarily Vaishnavas. They could be Mayavadis, Shankarites, Impersonalists, nayakas, or whatever.
So, of course now we can also purify or spiritualize the whole process by doing your Varanashram duties. Offer the results to the Lord. That is one step better. Nishkama. But even that does not lead to Prema.
So bhakti on the other hand are activities which are of course eternal, arising from Svarupa Shakti of Krishna. And their very essence is pleasing the Lord, serving the Lord. Of course you can execute the activities of bhakti with material desires. Even so, these activities are superior to following Dharma. Why? Because the Svarupa of Bhakti is directly related to the Lord. The Svarupa of Varanashram system of Dharma is not related to the Lord. It is related to the Gunas. So we can modify that Varanashram system and make it favorable to bhakti, fine. But still, that Svarupa is different from the Svarupa of Bhakti. And thus, the results are different. So if you do pure bhakti, you can attain Prema. If you do Varanashram system, you cannot attain Prema.
And if you do bhakti and there’s a little mixture, a little bit of impurity, still you can get almost Prema. You can get up to Vaikuntha at least. Because bhakti is the Svarupa Shakti of Krishna, and it’s non-different from the Lord, when you practice bhakti, you directly get the mercy of the Lord.
And what does Krishna say in Bhagavatam? I’m not pleased with jnana, with dharma, with tapasya, with all these things, as I’m pleased with bhakti. And in Chapter 12 of Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says, very quickly I will deliver the devotee from the ocean of samsara. So bhakti is directly related to the Lord, more powerful, you get the mercy of the Lord, and you get Prema. So that is the sense when Krishna says, reject all dharmas, because they’re not the same.
Devotee: Maharaj, In Satya Yuga, treta yuga, dvapara yuga Varnashrama is quite intact we can say, but in Kali Yuga, almost Varnashrama doesn’t work. But in 1st canto of Bhagavatam (1.2.13) – ‘ataḥ pumbhir dvija-śreṣṭhā; varṇāśrama-vibhāgaśaḥ; svanuṣṭhitasya dharmasya; saṁsiddhir hari-toṣaṇam’
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: That is the goal.
Devotee: But that is the goal of Varnashrama also..
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: hmm, its final goal is to please the Lord, but it’s not a direct system. Everything is pleasing to the Lord in the Vedas. You follow Karma kanda, it’s also pleasing to the Lord. You follow Jnana kanda, pleasing to the Lord, because it’s all part of Vedas. In that sense, everything is pleasing to the Lord in the Vedas [Laughs]. And certainly it’s pleasing to the Lord, because if you’re not qualified for bhakti, at least you follow that system.
But then he says, ‘I’m not so pleased with dharma, and study of the Vedas, and renunciation, and jnana, and sankhya, etc., as I’m pleased with bhakti‘ [Laughs]. So we always have to look at the context of statements made in scripture, even in Bhagavatam [Laughs].
2.) Maharaj, it is from yesterday’s class, normally it is said that Brahma’s life has been 100 years, and he has given 100 years to all the living entities. Some people say, now the question is that, see, in Kali Yuga, although 100 years, but it reduced now. Even being the Kali Yuga people, it’s still more than 100 years. And also, in Dwapara Yuga, it’s 1000 years, and Tretha Yuga, 10,000 years, and satya Yuga, 1 lakh. Then how will you calculate this? 100 years, they say. How will you calculate this 100 years life for each jiva? How will you calculate this?
Well, he’s talking about the human being, not about the cats, or the dogs, or the whatever. So that’s a general comparison. It doesn’t mean everybody lives to 100 years, but we can say within 100 years. And then due to karma, it’s going to be short.
Devotee: It’s not the same. So how will you apply? Because of karma? Because that is not 100 years, that is more than that ? Yeah, so they have better karma ?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Brahma’s has a very long life span, that is his good karma [Laughs].
3.) In Kali yuga, especially there is no really Brahmana, no ksatriya, no Vaishiya no sudra according to scriptures
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: They are not by birth, if they are educated properly , they have the qualities and they can be brahmanas ksatriyas…
Devotee: Because whole system is contaminated.. so my question is that but bhakti is different from the Varnashrama system and also, if someone takes up the bhakti, even he can surpass the varnashrama system, he can surpass even the four ashramas also, four varna also. So my question is that, you know, this bhakti is completely separate from the system, and which is Yugadharma. But that doesn’t work much in other yugas, like Satya Yuga, Tretha Yuga, Dwapara Yuga. Because they are doing bhakti with varnashrama system.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: So the varnashrama system is not completely rejected, but we don’t depend on it in bhakti. We have kings like Pariksit or Yudhishthira or other great kings in the past, Ambarish, they are following the system, they act like kings, but they don’t have any need for it, as far as their spiritual life is concerned. So they follow that system to give good instruction to others who are not devotees.
Some, even then, become completely renounced. They become Paramahamsa. Or according to Baladeva Vidhyabhusan, Nirapaksha, completely renouncing even varnashrama, everything about it. So that option was always there in the other yugas. Yeah, it was less, and those who were following but were devotees, they were following without attachment. So they were doing it out of loka sangraha, just to educate others. It was seen as less, but even though less people followed it, the devotees followed it as an example for others. Without attaching too much to this system, the devotees followed it. And they qualified themselves.
4.) Thank you Maharaj. Irrespective of work, ISKCON is awarding Brahmin diksha to those who qualify. However the children of those devotees, brahmans can’t proclaim Brahmana status unless they themselves qualify ?
Ofcourse, in that diksha, along with the diksha we have this brahma gayatri mantra etc., this doesn’t make people into brahmanas as such, because we’re trying to get beyond the whole system. So as Lord Chaitanya also states in Caitanya caritamrita , the real Vaishnava, is beyond all varnas and ashramas. So all that illustrates that ceremony is that one is Brahmanatha – one has surpassed the qualification of a Brahmana. And therefore, he’s qualifying to do Brahmanical activities if necessary. Just like if you have $100, you have $50 or $10 included in it [Laughs]. So you’re a Vaishnava, you can do anything within the varnashrama system [Laughs]. But one is not obligated for any duty in the varnashrama system.
5.) We see in the brahman initiation, he is not obligated to any Varnashrama duties. See, even during the Brahmin initiation we get the first mantra that brahma gayatri and one should follow the tri-sandya also, which is included in Varnashrama system then how can we say he is not…he is following varnashrama system there.. ?
Well, as I said, getting the mantra and the thread etc. are more or less symbolic of surpassing it. And if we chant the Brahma Gayatri mantra, we’re not following the system, we’re not doing Sandhya Vandana. In order to get effect of the mantra, you have to do the whole Sandhya rites. So we’re not doing that. We are doing it, but not perfectly. In other words, we can say it’s loka sangraha in one sense. Just to show the smartha Brahmanas [Laughs], that we can worship the deities even if we came from a lower caste. Something like that. That’s all.
Of course, if you got your pancharatrik mantras, you’re allowed to worship the deity. Even if you’re not a Brahmana, even if you didn’t have that mantra, which is what should have happened before Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati. It was not included at all, that mantra was in Diksha at all. And still they were worshipping the deity.
6.) We don’t have any history of six Goswamis those who have their personal deities, but they’re still worshipping the deities without Pancharatrik and Brahma Gayatri.
Those deities usually were usually worshipped by Brahmins.
Devotee: But they were also worshipping.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: We have to see the history, but actually they took Bengali Brahmins – they were doing the worship in Vrindavan, When they established their temples.
Devotee: Sanatana Goswami, he took goddesses..
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yeah, and then it was the Brahmans worshipping it.
Devotee: But before Sanatana Goswami ???
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yeah, we don’t know [Laughs].
7.) Just to understand. To ensure my understanding is right. Are you saying the purpose of the Gaudiya Vaishnavas and ISKCON devotees chanting Gayatri Mantra, Brahma Gayatri Mantra is just for the sake of Loka Sangraha?
Looks like.. because it wasn’t included at all in initiation before Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati. And only because of the criticism in Bengal by some Smartas. That’s all. It wasn’t there before.
Devotee: Maharaj, through Varnashrama system, there is no way one can attain Prema. That’s only a stepping stone. They have to come to the platform of pure Bhakti to attain Prema. There is no way Varnashrama can be by following Varnashrama system. Nobody can attain Prema.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: If you get the Sattva and you do Jnana, you get Mukti. But in bhakti, you have to get the mercy of Vaishnavas [Laughs].
Devotee: In that same Jnana aspect Maharaj, again as far as devotees are concerned, their Jnana is nothing to do with their real Jnana. All the Bhakti, all the scriptures, the knowledge that they acquire or hear. It’s all part of Bhakti. It has nothing to do with Jnana. It has nothing to do with Jnana. The devotees are learning more and more.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yeah, we have Sambandha Jnana, Bhagavat Jnana. All this is part of Bhakti. Sravanam… So that we need. Jnana in other sense is Brahma Jnana, Atma Jnana, Mayavad Jnana. All that Jnana ,that we don’t want.
8.) Maharaj, what is the goal of following Varnashrama Dharma?
Artha Dharma and Kama. Artha Dharma and Kama will be lost. Of course, ultimately they should practice Bhakti and surrender to the Lord, but that is not the inherent nature of the system.
9.) Hare Krishna Maharaj. Maharaj, in Satya Yuga, the Yuga Dharma is meditation, Treta Yuga – Yajnas. How these are related to Bhakti?
All of the Yuga Dharmas are types of worship of the Lord. So Jnana or meditation is worship of the Lord using the mind. It’s also one of the angas of Bhakti mentioned in Nectar of Devotion. Yajna in Treta Yuga is also.. Yajna, of course, means worship. So it’s worship of the Lord through fire using mantras. And Dwarapa Yuga is worship of the Lord with an actual murti or form.
Devotees: Grantharaj Srimad Bhagavatham ki jai!!! HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj ki jai!!! HDG Srila Prabhupad Ki.. Jai !!