Srimad Bhagavatam – 1.19.16 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | ISKCON Chennai | Jan 11, 2026
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 19 Verse 16.
ŚB 1.19.16
पुनश्च भूयाद्भगवत्यनन्ते
रति: प्रसङ्गश्च तदाश्रयेषु ।
महत्सु यां यामुपयामि सृष्टिं
मैत्र्यस्तु सर्वत्र नमो द्विजेभ्य: ॥ १६ ॥
punaś ca bhūyād bhagavaty anante
ratiḥ prasaṅgaś ca tad-āśrayeṣu
mahatsu yāṁ yām upayāmi sṛṣṭiṁ
maitry astu sarvatra namo dvijebhyaḥ
Synonyms
punaḥ — again; ca — and; bhūyāt — let it be; bhagavati — unto Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa; anante — who has unlimited potency; ratiḥ — attracting; prasaṅgaḥ — association; ca — also; tat — His; āśrayeṣu — with those who are His devotees; mahatsu — within the material creation; yām yām — wherever; upayāmi — I may take; sṛṣṭim — my birth; maitrī — friendly relation; astu — let it be; sarvatra — everywhere; namaḥ — my obeisances; dvijebhyaḥ — unto the brāhmaṇas..
Translation
Again, offering obeisances unto all you brāhmaṇas, I pray that if I should again take my birth in the material world I will have complete attachment to the unlimited Lord Kṛṣṇa, association with His devotees and friendly relations with all living beings.
Purport
That a devotee of the Lord is the only perfect living being is explained herein by Mahārāja Parīkṣit. A devotee of the Lord is no one’s enemy, although there may be many enemies of a devotee. A devotee of the Lord does not like to associate with nondevotees, although he has no enmity with them. He desires association with the devotees of the Lord. This is perfectly natural because birds of the same feather mix together. And the most important function of a devotee is to have complete attachment for Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the father of all living beings. As a good son of the father behaves in a friendly way with all his other brothers, so also the devotee of the Lord, being a good son of the supreme father, Lord Kṛṣṇa, sees all other living beings in relation with the supreme father. He tries to bring back the upstart sons of the father to a saner stage and to get them to accept the supreme fatherhood of God. Mahārāja Parīkṣit was certainly going back to Godhead, but even if he were not to go back, he prayed for a pattern of life which is the most perfect way in the material world. A pure devotee does not desire the company of a personality as great as Brahmā, but he prefers the association of a petty living being, provided he is a devotee of the Lord.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj:
So here, Pariksit Maharaj expresses his desire. Of course, we will say a devotee should have no desires, he shouldn’t pray for anything, because he should have pure bhakti. But we also see praying as one of the angas of bhakti. So it’s not that praying is wrong, but we have to be careful, what we pray for. So our prayers have to be in line with the very definition of pure bhakti. Of course, we say, well why we pray at all? But then as I said, prayer is also one of the angas of bhakti. It’s also an expression of our devotion to the Lord. So if a devotee prays, ‘May I always be a good devotee’, there is nothing wrong with that. Or if we pray for money or position, that of course is rejected. So we have to be careful what we pray for.
So the aspiration of the devotee is that, he always serve the Lord. He always prays to be absorbed in the Lord, to have complete attachment to the Lord. So if we have prayers of this sort, it doesn’t contradict our definition of bhakti, which is no other desire than the desire to please the Lord. So therefore, Pariksit here is praying for rathi, or attraction to the Supreme Lord. If I take birth, may I gain, have attraction, but even greater attraction to the Lord. And the attraction to the Lord is not so we can ask for material things, it’s so that we can serve the Lord.
And moreover, he prays for association with the devotees. So this of course is also without personal material desire. Association with the devotees is one of the most important angas of bhakti. So it is through the devotees, that we can increase our attachment to the Lord. In the Nectar of Devotion, Rupa Goswami, he gives this definition (of) ‘anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ’, you should have ‘kṛṣṇānu-śīlanaṁ’ without other desires. Then the question may be asked, with ‘kṛṣṇānu-śīlanaṁ’ we can worship Krishna, but what about if i worship Rama or Vishnu ? Is that pure bhakti or not? So if we take the literal words, it is ‘kṛṣṇānu-śīlanaṁ’, does not mention anybody else, so therefore, if you are worshipping Vishnu, now we are not doing bhakti, that would be the conclusion. This of course is a contradiction to scripture. So our Acharya’s point out, when we say the word Krishna, this does not exclude other forms of Bhagavan. So we can say Rama anusilam, Narsimha anusilam, Vishnu anusilam, yes it’s all ok, but then why does he just mention Krishna? He could have said Bhagavan Anusilam [Laughs]. So of course, Nectar of Devotion also is about getting the ocean of Prema for the Lord. But the greatest sweetness in that ocean is, to develop a relationship with Krishna. So it is reasonable that, he says ‘kṛṣṇānu-śīlanaṁ’ for that reason. Of course, in the first verse of the Nectar of Devotion, it’s all about Krishna. So why not other forms of the Lord? Because Krishna is the most perfect, complete expression of all Rasa’s. Moreover, he doesn’t mention all the Rasa’s, he only mentions Madhurya Rasa. So this doesn’t mean that other Rasa’s are excluded from Bhakti or from Nectar of Devotion. But it’s the highest Rasa, so he mentions that one. So when he mentions the word Krishna, then the commentary is that, it means Krishna and cultivating a relationship with all other forms of the Lord. Because Krishna includes everybody else anyway [Laughs].
But then he also says, this word ‘kṛṣṇānu-śīlanaṁ’ also means cultivate relationship with devotees [Laughs]. So all the angas of bhakti – sravanam, kirtanam, vandanam etc can apply to devotees as well. Devotee kirtan, glorify the devotee, hear about the devotee, offer respects to the devotee. All the angas that are applicable to the Supreme Lord, also applicable to devotees. So in this way, the position of the devotee is considered very elevated. So it is therefore not surprising that Pariksit Maharaj, he prays for association with the devotees. In fact, we can’t separate the Lord from the devotees. So when we pray for eternal service to Krishna, it also means, we pray for eternal service to the devotees of Krishna. And of course, the way we can approach Krishna is through the devotees. We get the mercy of devotees, then we get the mercy of Krishna. So Pariksit Maharaj shows his great maturity in devotion, by not only praying for attraction to Krishna, but praying for association with devotees.
But then he also prays for a friendly relationship or ‘maitry’ with everyone else. Now of course, on one level we’ll say, oh, why is Pariksit so compassionate to all living entities? We have demons and so many people. So yes, very good, we have association with devotees and Supreme Lord and we pray for that. But why we have to respect other living entities? But if we look even in the Shishashtakam, we’ll see that Caitanya Mahaprabhu, when he talks about chanting the name, then he’s saying that one should respect all others. Of course, we respect devotees, Supreme Lord, but he doesn’t make that statement, he makes a general statement, respect everybody [Laughs]. We also see, in defining Bhakti, what is Bhakti, then Rupa Goswami says that when we start practicing Sadhana Bhakti, one of the qualities that manifests is called Subhadha. It gives auspiciousness. But the word auspiciousness is very broad, so what does that mean [Laughs] ? So then our Acharyas, they define that, this Subhadha means that you are friendly to all living entities [Laughs]. And all living entities are friendly to the devotee [Laughs]. So in other words, with the development of Bhakti, that the devotee should manifest friendliness to all living entities. And of course, in one of the angas of Bhakti, we also have – do not commit violence against any living entity. That’s one of the angas of Bhakti. And we see in the teachings of Kapila, for many verses, he’s saying that the devotee is compassionate to all living entities. So this seeing all living entities as one’s friends is also intrinsic to Bhakti itself. So when Pariksit Maharaj prays for this friendliness with all living entities, he’s also expressing the very nature of Bhakti.
Of course, that friendliness with all living entities may be expressed in different ways. And for the Madhyama adhikari, particularly, we find there are some restrictions. So the Madhyama adhikari, he avoids the non-devotees completely [Laughs]. And he shows mercy to the innocent people or the Kanisthas. And he shows maitri or friendship with devotees [Laughs]. So it may look like the Madhyama adhikari, who is practicing pure Bhakti is again not following this rule of being friendly to everybody. However, that is not so. He is not hostile to any living entity. But for his development of Bhakti, then he must follow certain rules. If one is on Uttama adhikari, then he is friendly to all living entities, everybody is in Prema [Laughs]. So the Uttama adhikari can do that, Madhyama does not do that. So the Madhyama adhikari makes distinctions. And that is helpful for his own advancement. At the same time, he does not hate any living entity. So in that way, he maintains this principle of being friendly to all living entities. So he is friendly to all living entities, but in terms of his activity, he will treat different living entities differently.
So therefore, we find these three prayers of Parikshit Maharaj to be very symptomatic of an elevated devotee. He didn’t hate the son of the Brahma for cursing him, he didn’t hate the snake bird. He remained completely peaceful, why? Because he was completely absorbed in the Supreme Lord. So his only prayer is, may this continue, may my absorption of the Lord continue, birth after birth after birth [Laughs]. He does not pray, take me to the spiritual world, give me a spiritual body, etc [Laughs]. He simply prays, may I take shelter of you and have attraction to you birth after birth. So this is a very good example of the prayer of a very very elevated devotee.
Q & A:
1.) Hare Krishna Maharaj, even Lord Himself or His elevated devotee also looking on the same level, for the materialist people it is looking different. So, how the material people come in contact with them?
Often in the Bhagavatam and other scriptures it is described that people in the material world see in terms of duality. This duality is based on the idea, this is good for my enjoyment, this is bad for my enjoyment. And this conception causes action, action causes karma and then one suffers in the material world. So, in practice of spiritual life, we have to have the opposite vision. And therefore, we see in chapter 2 of Bhagavad Gita, Krishna talks about the stitha prajna, one who’s situated in knowledge. So, he sees everything equally. And we have description of the sage who sees the elephant, the dog and the dog-eater, the outcaste and the brahmana as all the same [Laughs]. So, just as the jiva has to develop that sama, equal attitude, we see that is inherent in the Lord Himself. He says I am equal to all living entities.
So, how to get from the stage of duality to sama? Very difficult. So, of course, we have different methods of doing that, one is jnana and other is yoga. So, if we stop the functions of the mind, we stop the functions of the senses, this becomes helpful for getting rid of our duality. Ultimately we get rid of ahankara. So, if we can destroy all these things, fine, then we can come to this sama, equal vision. But it’s also very difficult to do that.
So, Krishna gives the easier process, you do bhakti. And by performance of bhakti, then all good qualities develop, including sama. But that is just a by-product of the main goal of the devotee. So, the main goal of the devotee is surrender to the Lord. So, by practicing bhakti and surrender to the Lord, automatically that sama will develop. As I said, it’s rather intrinsic to bhakti, so as bhakti develops, this equal attitude also develops. We don’t have to cultivate it separately from our cultivation of bhakti.
2.) Hare Krishna Maharaj. Maharaj, in one of your previous lectures I have heard that, praying for purification also leads to, weakens the bhakti. How do we understand this?
Probably what I said is that, practice of jnana and vairagya or cultivation of good qualities, they are not angas of bhakti. And as I mentioned, the second quality of bhakti that develops in sadhana is subhadha, which means compassion for all living entities and development of all good qualities. So, we don’t have to practice anything separate from bhakti at all.
So, by taking shelter of other methods, we weaken our faith in the process of bhakti. Just as we will say that, chanting the holy name is the best atonement for all sins. A person commits a sinful activity, then he will think, well, I will go to the guru and I will tell him all these different, you have to give a charity of a cow, this you have to feed thousand brahmanas just like that. So, he will go for these different prayaschittas to get rid of his sin. So, that weakens bhakti if we do that.
So, as I said, the second quality of bhakti that develops in sadhana is subhadha, development of all good qualities, being friendly to all living entities. So, may be we say, well, may be it’s not so, so I’ll have to start developing good qualities by doing something else. I’ll have to somehow become practice friendliness to all living entities separately, by may be starting a hospital or doing this and that. So then, we show our lack of faith in the process of bhakti.
3.) Maharaj, one question from yesterday’s class Maharaj. Maharaj, Sri Vaishnavas predominantly follows saranagati. So, in Bhagavad Gita 18.66, Prabhupada has given the shad anga saranagati, the definition of saranagati. Is it the same what Prabhupada has given by Sri Vaishnavism?
Well, yeah, it’s the same. We see at the end of the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says, surrender unto Me. So, not all Sri Vaishnavas, but a portion [Laughs] of the Sri Vaishnavas say, okay. That’s the main item, more than bhakti even, is surrender. Of course, we say surrender is part of bhakti. They’ll say, surrender is a different item from bhakti itself. And that’s the most important element of all. And of course, there are this six divisions there again, same thing. So, same definition. But the emphasis is different there. So, you simply approach the Lord and say, I surrender to You. Finish. And you get all the mercy of the Lord. Easiest process of all [Laughs]. This, of course, may be taking the words of the Bhagavad Gita, may be literally, very literally [Laughs].
4.) Hare Krishna. Maharaj we see different devotees, all pure, have different grades of their feelings. Like here, Parikshit Maharaj is saying, not going to spiritual world, but association of devotees and a constant association to the Lord. In the prayers of Prithu Maharaj, he’s praying to the Lord. O Lord, I will come to Your association and I will serve Your lotus feet. That time, he in fact mentions even, that I and Lakshmi Devi may have a small fight like that and You will take my favor. So, there he wants association. Again, in the prayers of Kulasekhar he feels that, O Lord, now I’m in a better position, you know, take my life now. Rather than waiting for the death, where I’ll be in a very chaotic situation. I’ll not be able to pray for You and remember You. So, we accept, Maharaj, that there are different ways the pure devotion can be expressed. Right, Maharaj?
So, each person, each jiva is an individual. So, definitely the way he expresses his surrender and his desire for service will be slightly different. At the same time, there will be the common element of pure bhakti. So, that, the ultimate desire is to simply serve the Lord eternally and then, may be in the spiritual world, may not be in the spiritual world. And different devotees may have different rasas with the Lord, so they will express themselves with different desires according to the rasa as well.
5.) Hare Krishna Maharaj. Maharaj, as a sadhaka, what should our desire be Maharaj?
Well, it’s the same for all devotees that we want to serve the Lord eternally, whether it is in heaven or hell or spiritual world or whatever. The only desire is to serve the Lord. We are not praying for, you know, salokya, sarsti, all these different things.
6.) Hare Krishna Maharaj. Maharaj this point of the prayers of Parikshit and other exalted devotees, we read in so many places Srila Prabhupada writes, go back home, back to Godhead. Prabhupada says finish your business and go back. So he is very keen that, we should fix that as our goal because of his repetition. And I am sure Srila Prabhupada is not recommending anything other than pure devotional service.
So, we will see in the scriptures like Bhagavatam and other scriptures that, it will say you practice bhakti and you destroy karmas and you go to Vaikuntha. So, by making such general statements, it doesn’t imply that that’s our only goal. And Krishna in Bhagavad Gita says, you remember my birth and activities, then you don’t return to the material world. So, it definitely takes place, but that’s not the real goal of the devotee.
So, if we desire to go to the spiritual world, that’s it, then that’s what we call salokya. But because the devotee desires eternal service to the Lord, the Lord makes arrangement for going to the spiritual world, getting a spiritual body, etc etc, to enable the devotee to serve the Lord properly. So, some of the side effects may be mentioned, but that doesn’t indicate that they are the ultimate goal for a person practicing pure bhakti.
7.) Hare Krishna Maharaj. If a devotee has a desire to associate with the Lord, so he wants to attain the spiritual world and want to serve the Lord with His association. So is it pure bhakti or how can we understand it?
So, we should never separate desire for spiritual body or going to the spiritual world from the desire to serve the Lord. So, if we get eternal service to the Lord and the Lord takes us to the material world to participate in pastimes, then we should not feel sorry. But as I said, the Lord responds to the devotee’s desire for his service. He arranges suitable place, suitable body, etc. And in raganuga bhakti, then one even aspires for a certain type of body according to the particular rasa. But that is not the main desire. The main desire is to serve the Lord in that particular rasa and please the Lord.
8.) We need to respect all living entities. Sometimes we kill scorpion, snake, rat, cockroaches due to fear on that. How can we understand this type of action?
So, we have certain rules of conduct defined in the scriptures to deal with different living entities. And though we respect all living entities, there are also rules for how we deal with hostile living entities. So, if a thief comes and steals all your wealth or he burns down your house, you don’t have to sit there. Oh, everybody is nice, but you can defend yourself. So, though the scriptures say non-violence, at the same time, under certain conditions, violence is permitted. However, that doesn’t mean we hate the living entities, other living entities, because we commit violence against them. So, therefore, when the other living entities, without good reason, attack you, then you can defend yourself.
9.) Can we say, prayer to serve the very elevated devotees is higher than prayer to serve the Lord directly?
In one sense, yes. So, we go to the devotee of the Lord to please the Lord, so therefore we pray for Radharani’s mercy to get Krishna’s mercy. But we can never separate the two. The devotee himself is defined as being the servant of the Lord [Laughs].
Devotees: Grantharaj Srimad Bhagavatam ki jai!!! HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj ki jai!!! Srila Prabhupada ki jai!!!