Srimad Bhagavatam – 1.19.17~18 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | ISKCON Chennai | Jan 12, 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 17.
ŚB 1.19.17
इति स्म राजाध्यवसाययुक्त:
प्राचीनमूलेषु कुशेषु धीर: ।
उदङ्मुखो
दक्षिणकूल आस्ते
समुद्रपत्न्या: स्वसुतन्यस्तभार: ॥ १७ ॥
iti sma rājādhyavasāya-yuktaḥ
prācīna-mūleṣu kuśeṣu dhīraḥ
udaṅ-mukho dakṣiṇa-kūla āste
samudra-patnyāḥ sva-suta-nyasta-bhāraḥ
Synonyms
iti — thus; sma — as in the past; rājā — the King; adhyavasāya — perseverance; yuktaḥ — being engaged; prācīna — eastern; mūleṣu — with the root; kuśeṣu — on a seat made of kuśa straw; dhīraḥ — self-controlled; udaṅ-mukhaḥ — facing the northern side; dakṣiṇa — on the southern; kūle — bank; āste — situated; samudra — the sea; patnyāḥ — wife of (the Ganges); sva — own; suta — son; nyasta — given over; bhāraḥ — the charge of administration.
Translation
In perfect self-control, Mahārāja Parīkṣit sat down on a seat of straw, with straw-roots facing the east, placed on the southern bank of the Ganges, and he himself faced the north. Just previously he had given charge of his kingdom over to his son.
Purport
The River Ganges is celebrated as the wife of the sea. The seat of kuśa straw is considered to be sanctified if the straw is taken out of the earth complete with root, and if the root is pointed toward the east it is considered to be auspicious. Facing the north is still more favorable for attaining spiritual success. Mahārāja Parīkṣit handed over the charge of administration to his son before leaving home. He was thus fully equipped for all favorable conditions.
ŚB 1.19.18
एवं च तस्मिन्नरदेवदेवे
प्रायोपविष्टे दिवि देवसङ्घा: ।
प्रशस्य
भूमौ व्यकिरन् प्रसूनै-
र्मुदा मुहुर्दुन्दुभयश्च नेदु: ॥ १८ ॥
evaṁ ca tasmin nara-deva-deve
prāyopaviṣṭe divi deva-saṅghāḥ
praśasya bhūmau vyakiran prasūnair
mudā muhur dundubhayaś ca neduḥ
Synonyms
evam — thus; ca — and; tasmin — in that; nara-deva-deve — upon the King’s; prāya-upaviṣṭe — being engaged in fasting to death; divi — in the sky; deva — demigods; saṅghāḥ — all of them; praśasya — having praised the action; bhūmau — on the earth; vyakiran — scattered; prasūnaiḥ — with flowers; mudā — in pleasure; muhuḥ — continually; dundubhayaḥ — celestial drums; ca — also; neduḥ — beaten.
Translation
Thus the King, Mahārāja Parīkṣit, sat to fast until death. All the demigods of the higher planets praised the King’s actions and in pleasure continually scattered flowers over the earth and beat celestial drums.
Purport
Even up to the time of Mahārāja Parīkṣit there were interplanetary communications, and the news of Mahārāja Parīkṣit’s fasting unto death to attain salvation reached the higher planets in the sky where the intelligent demigods live. The demigods are more luxurious than human beings, but all of them are obedient to the orders of the Supreme Lord. There is no one in the heavenly planets who is an atheist or nonbeliever. Thus any devotee of the Lord on the surface of the earth is always praised by them, and in the case of Mahārāja Parīkṣit they were greatly delighted and thus gave tokens of honor by scattering flowers over the earth and by beating celestial drums. A demigod takes pleasure in seeing someone go back to Godhead. He is always pleased with a devotee of the Lord, so much so that by his adhidaivic powers he may help the devotees in all respects. And by their actions, the Lord is pleased with them. There is an invisible chain of complete cooperation between the Lord, the demigods and the devotee of the Lord on earth.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj:
So, here we see a description of the arrangements of Pariksit Maharaj. So, he sat on a kusa seat. He was on the south bank of the Ganges and he faced north. And when he did so, then we see here in the second verse that the demigods or the Devatas began to praise the king, they showered flowers and they beat drums. And we see often in the Srimad Bhagavatam that the Devatas will do this, so when Krishna was born, then the Devatas are celebrating. And the reason is, as Prabhupada explains in the purport, the Devatas are devotees of the Lord. And the Devatas who are devotees of the Lord are pleased by the actions of another devotee, Pariksit Maharaj.
Of course, we can ask the question, well, why are they praising him? because he is dying, they should make him live. But they appreciated him being completely detached from birth and death, kingdom, etc. They admired him because he was respecting the curse of the brahmana so he respects the brahmana as his father. And they praised him because he was fasting in order to attain the highest goal. So, the devotee is always pleased when another devotee advances and when he shows wonderful devotional qualities. So, one quality of the devotee is that he is completely detached from material enjoyment, from material body. And that is illustrated here by his complete detachment from his kingdom. But the more important quality of a devotee, not as he is simply detached, is that he is attached to the Supreme Lord. And that was illustrated in the previous verse where Pariksit Maharaj prays to always be attached to the lotus feet of the Lord. So, in this way, he showed the greatest quality of all, of a human being, to be absorbed in the Supreme Lord.
I mentioned the other day that when one practices devotion, then automatically other qualities manifest. One of course is klesa-ghni, which means destruction of all sufferings. So he doesn’t have to fear the curse and [not clear] one sense, because the Lord takes care of the devotee and there is no karma for him. Of course, superficially, it may look like the king is doing some atonement because of his insult to the brahmana. But we also know that the quality of the devotee is that he is not interested in atonements. Surrender to the Lord is the best atonement. And we see that in the end of the Bhagavad Gita, where Krishna says, ’Give up all dharmas, just surrender unto me, you are freed from all sins’. And of course, in let’s say the sixth canto, for instance, with the story of Ajamila there, it is stated that simply chanting the name of the Lord is the best atonement.
So generally, people are interested in becoming comfortable in this life and next life. And if they commit a sinful activity, then this enjoyment is obstructed and they may have to suffer. So then the scriptures supply all sorts of atonements or Prayaschitta for particular sins. And the more serious the sin, the more severe is the atonement. So you may have to fast for 12 years or something like this if you have a serious sin.
So this, of course, all these atonements are there for people who do not have faith in the Supreme Lord. So if you worship the Lord or you surrender to the Lord, you don’t have to worry about atonements. And even if you don’t worship the Lord, but you chant His name, you still don’t have to worry about atonements. So that is the faith of a devotee. So some people may have some faith in the Lord but then if they commit a sinful activity, they think, well, I still have to do some atonements. Or they may think, I will do some atonement and I’ll worship the Lord and I’ll chant His name to get rid of my sinful reactions. So this, of course, is not pure bhakti. But it may also be offensive bhakti. Because they may think, OK, this chanting the Lord’s name or worshiping Narayana, OK, it’s another Prayaschitta like any other Prayaschitta. So this is one of the Nama-aparadhas, you think that chanting the holy name is equivalent to pious activity, karma kanda, yajnas, etc., etc. Or they may think, yes, we’ll do all this worship of the Lord, chant His name, etc. but actually, it’s not even as powerful as my other atonements that I’m doing. So therefore, there is, doing bhakti, chanting the Lord’s name, but there’s also aparadha involved. In spite of that, the Lord does give some result. He does clear up your sinful reactions. At the same time, He does not give pure spiritual results.
We see that Ajamila, however, was a little different. He chanted the name ‘Narayana’, not to get rid of his sinful reactions, he didn’t care. He wasn’t even aware that he was following a process of bhakti. So there was no offense. Of course, there was no devotion also. But the chanting of the name is so powerful that the first time he chanted the name ‘Narayana’ to indicate his son, all of his karmas were destroyed, completely. So, the devotee has this very firm faith in worshipping the Lord, meditating on the Lord, and chanting the Lord’s name. If Ajamila gets such effect from chanting the holy name, then what to speak of a person who chants with pure bhakti? So, therefore, Pariksit Maharaj was an ideal example. His only goal is to concentrate on the Supreme Lord.
So here we see that the Devatas are appreciating this action of Pariksit Maharaj. The nature of the devotee is that he respects and has friendship and admiration for other devotees. And the devotee is pleased if another devotee makes spiritual advancement. And therefore, they spontaneously offer their praise to Pariksit Maharaj. So they’re praising not because he’s dying, but because he’s exhibiting the most glorious qualities of an exalted devotee. So we see that in the other verse from yesterday that Pariksit Maharaj was praying not only for absorption in the Lord, but also for association of devotees. So just as the Devatas were respecting devotees because they’re devotees, So Pariksit Maharaj as a devotee was also respecting other devotees.
So this is the quality that distinguishes the actual devotee or the Madhyama Adhikari from the Kanistha who is called a Vaishnava-praya, almost a devotee. So the Kanistha Adhikari is described as a person who worships the Supreme Lord, so he’s giving respect to the Lord, recognizing the Lord, but he doesn’t respect devotees. And on the other hand, the Madhyama is one who has friendship with the devotees. So, in this way, the devotee is always friendly with and respecting other devotees. So not only does a Madhyama Adhikari respect the Lord, he respects all of the devotees as well. And even those who are inferior, such as the Kanisthas, he gives great mercy to them.
So, in this way, Pariksit Maharaj showed his great devotion by respecting devotees, and the Devatas also, they respected, showed their great qualities by respecting Pariksit Maharaj. Of course, Pariksit Maharaj was superior to the Devatas. He had direct mercy of the Lord. He was an associate of the Lord in His pastimes on earth. So his destination after he gets bit by the snake bird is for certain. Destination of the Devatas is not certain. So they are devotees, maybe after one manvantara, their role is over, maybe they get promoted to Brahmaloka. And after Brahma’s life is finished, if Brahma goes to the Vaikuntha, maybe if the devatas on Brahmaloka are qualified, they will also go, but if they are not qualified, they will stay in the material world. We see that the Devatas, they praise the people of Kali Yuga. The people of Kali Yuga have the Yuga Dharma of Nama Sankirtana, they get the mercy of Lord Caitanya, they are very certain to attain the Lord, Devatas are not so certain.
So, the Devatas are praising Pariksit Maharaj for his greater elevation. The opposite quality is called envy. When one sees another person’s advancement, then one thinks, oh that person doesn’t deserve any advancement, I deserve the advancement. But a true devotee appreciates another devotee if he is more advanced and whatever. And of course the Lord is pleased when the devotees act in this way. He is pleased with Pariksit Maharaj, he is pleased with the Devatas. As the devotee is pleased with another devotee’s advancement, the Lord himself is pleased when the devotee advances.
Hare Krsna!
Q & A:
1.) He did something as a sacrifice for atonement of the mass killing. So this killing is almost like a karma kanda, but he is a pure devotee we can say. So in that sense you know its like offense to the Supreme Lord?
Even he killed horses. He killed horses [Laughs] for sacrifice. Yes, so we see that Yudhishthira Maharaj, after the Kurukshetra war, he carried out these yajnas as atonement, etc. He doesn’t have to. So if he did so, that means he lacked faith. No, how can that be? Yudhishthira is an eternal associate of the Lord. He could not have lack of faith. So the only reason he is doing this is because he is acting as a king and he is acting according to the rules of dharma and he is supposed to set the rules for dharma [Laughs]. So it is said in relation to pure bhakti that one can do karmas, duties, or whatever in the varnashram system, provided one has no attachment to them.
Because ordinary people will look at Pariksit (Yudhisthira) Maharaj and say, you are responsible for all the deaths of the battle of Kurukshetra. What are you going to do? So then he says, okay, I’d have to do some prayaschitta. So on one hand, he is completely surrendered to the Lord. On the other hand, he has to fulfill his duties as the king. But his mind is not bewildered by doing all these varnashramic activities.
2.) We know that demigods, we can say that there are karma-mishra bhakti, but devotees are following pure bhakti. But sometimes, see in the case of Dhruva Maharaj, these demigods kept so many obstacles to Dhruva Maharaj while he was performing the bhakti.
But in the senses, demigods are not helping. They are stopping the sadhana. How can you understand that? Because in the purport it is, they free them from the adi-daivika.
Then how can we understand this?
So it actually is said in the scriptures that the devatas also get envious of the devotees and cause obstructions [Laughs]. But that is true on a certain level. But we can say that this is to test the devotees and see if they have sufficient determination. We see that for Nara-narayan, they got [Laughs], they sent [Laughs] all these apsaras [Laughs] to tempt them[Laughs] because they thought they get too much power. So let’s reduce their power [Laughs]. But then ultimately, the devatas realize the devotee is most powerful.
3.) Hare krishna Maharaj, we hear this shloka,yan-nāma-śruti-mātreṇa pumān bhavati nirmalaḥ (ŚB 9.5.16). So once you hear my name, whatever sins you have, you become nirmala, you become pure. If a person in a material world is committing more sin, even by hearing one name of Krishna has become pure is what my question.
Yeah, so to say that just simply hearing the name Govinda, all unlimited sins are finished [Laughs]. So hearing as well as. However, there should be no aparadha.
Devotee : Sometimes, although they might not know the glory of the Supreme Lord, they don’t know the devotees and they don’t know what is aparadha. Sometimes, you know, mockingly or jokingly, they say Govinda, you know, sometimes. But according to the scripture that all sins are supposed to be finished, no more karma for them. But again they commit sinful activities ?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj : So we can say the same thing about Ajamila [Laughs]. Of course, having sins destroyed is one thing. Committing other sins is something else. However, if you chant without aparadha, even accidentally, all the sins, past, present, future are destroyed, plus the root of sin, the vasanas, etc., are all destroyed also. But if one has committed some aparadha previously, whatever, then we don’t get complete eradication of sins and root of sin, etc. In the case of Ajamila, he had no aparadha, so all the sins, plus the root of sin were gone. But then he seemed to commit more sins. So it looks like he had vasanas. So it’s described that this, what looks like sin, it doesn’t carry any reaction for him. Because all the sins are gone, [Not clear] but there is no reaction. But what about his vasanas? They should all be destroyed also. So the answer is that the Lord preserves, in many cases, a person and he just looks like he was previously, even if all of his karmas and everything is gone. So he doesn’t look like he’s completely changed suddenly. And why does the Lord do that? And one reason is that he doesn’t want to discourage other processes like atonements and karma-kanda, etc., for other people. Otherwise, they will do this, but they will also do it with aparadha, then they’ll have more problems for themselves.
Devotee : Maharaj, in the case of Ajamila, he didn’t do any aparadha, but unknowingly he chanted holy name because of that all the karmas are destroyed. And we see many jivas, unknowingly also they might chant holy name. But how to understand that they committed aparadha or not? Because in the case of Ajamila, it’s still same kind of sinful he was doing. So if we compare both, it’s very difficult to understand that actually he has done aparadha or not.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj : So, we cannot understand. Maybe he committed no aparadha, so therefore all of his karmas are gone, but the result is hidden for some time. Or the person has committed some aparadha, and therefore the process is much slower.
Devotee : At the time of death, only that is shown, that result of the holy name.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj : Yeah, yeah. Of course, we can also not detect that also. When another person dies, we don’t see Yamaraja coming [Laughs] or whatever like that [Laughs]. So, we don’t know [Laughs].
4.) Maharaj, yesterday you have mentioned that in Sri Vaishnavism, they follow Saranagathi, which is higher than Bhakti. What is the difference between Saranagathi and Bhakti, Maharaj?
So in their definition of Bhakti, Bhakti is these processes like hearing, remembering, whatever, which take effort. So, we put forth effort every day, and gradually we become better and better at doing it. And if you surrender, then instantly, with no effort, all your karmas are gone [Laughs].
5.) Hare Krishna Maharaj, we see that Ajamila chanted the holy name once, and the sins are completely destroyed. Is that because he chanted the name at the end of the life, Vishnuduta’s came, or is that just by once chanting the name itself, he is completely purified, Maharaj?
In one sense, everything was accomplished when he simply named his son Narayana. All karmas gone, all roots of karma is gone, etc. When he chanted after that, the name of his son, that also had further effect. Though it is namabhas and accidental, etc., it helps to increase bhakti, even if it’s accidental.
6.) Hare Krishna, Maharaj. We know about aparadhas because we have knowledge about aparadhas. But for a newcomer, he doesn’t have any knowledge about aparadhas. So, is there any possibility for a newcomer to commit aparadhas ? Because he doesn’t know anything about aparadhas.
So, we see the case of people who are not even devotees, they may chant the holy name, they may worship the Lord, but because they don’t have knowledge, they may have aparadha and think chanting of the name, only punya activity or whatever like this, or it has limited results, or it’s material, etc. So, if we don’t have knowledge, then we can make lots of aparadhas [Laughs]. If a new devotee has some knowledge from devotees, then he won’t commit those aparadhas. But if he has no knowledge at all, he’s a real new devotee, he just starts chanting or whatever, then yeah, he could have lots of aparadhas.
7.) Maharaj, a person chants the holy name of the Lord once, and his sinful reactions are gone, and then never again he chants the holy name, he doesn’t have bhakti also. So, what is his destination, Maharaj?
So, if he chants only once, he has committed no aparadhas in this life or previous lifetimes, then it’s like Ajamila, when he first chanted the name, all his karma is gone. But, it also means that he may not get more than liberation, because he hasn’t got attachment to the Lord.
8.) We see that even surrendered devotees suffer the results of past sins or planetary influences. How can we believe that Lord destroys all past sins of such devotees?
So, the answer is that, as I said, we can’t always judge if karma is gone or not, as in the case of Ajamila or others. And when we think, even for a prembhakta, he may have accidents, ultimately he dies. So, he’s got karma, he died. He had an accident, he got sick. But then we say, prembhaktas have no karma, definitely. What to speak of Ajamila, but even a prembhakta has no karma. But, they seem to suffer. So, why is that? So, the answer is that, for the prembhakta, again, it is will of the Lord only. So, it looks like karma, but it’s will of the Lord only. Or, in the case of someone like Pandavas, Pandavas have to suffer banishment in the forest for so many years. How is it possible? Bad karma. But no, will of the Lord. But, even in the case of a person doing sadhana bhakti, all the karmas are gone. But, they may seem to be suffering from different karmas. In some cases, due to aparadha, as in the case of you know even Bharat [Laughs], because of aparadha he became a deer. He had to suffer as a deer, but we don’t know what the aparadha was. Nobody even knew about it. So, we can’t tell in all cases.
9.) King Parakshit did not have any hostile feelings towards Brahmana boy or the snake bird. But his son Janamejaya who is also a great devotee, tried to kill all the serpents as a revenge. How to understand this?
So, we have to take such actions as also will of the Lord. We see that Dhruva decided to kill all the Yakshas one time and then they had to stop him finally [Laughs].
10.) Is there any difference in the result with regarding to committing aparadha unknowingly in case of new comers and committing aparadha knowingly.
So even if we do know, then unknowingly we may offend somebody. So, that is not as serious as if we intentionally do offend or disturb people. So, the aparadhas are serious when one consciously commits them. If it is unconscious, there is some effect, but not very strong.
Devotees: Grantharaj Srimad Bhagavatam ki jai!!! HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj ki jai!!! Srila Prabhupada ki jai!!!