Srimad Bhagavatam – 1.19.4 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | ISKCON Chennai | Dec 29, 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 19 Verse 4.
ŚB 1.19.4
स चिन्तयन्नित्थमथाशृणोद् यथा
मुने: सुतोक्तो निऋर्तिस्तक्षकाख्य: ।
स साधु मेने न चिरेण तक्षका-
नलं प्रसक्तस्य विरक्तिकारणम् ॥ ४ ॥
sa cintayann ittham athāśṛṇod yathā
muneḥ sutokto nirṛtis takṣakākhyaḥ
sa sādhu mene na cireṇa takṣakā-
nalaṁ prasaktasya virakti-kāraṇam
Synonyms
saḥ — he, the King; cintayan — thinking; ittham — like this; atha — now; aśṛṇot — heard; yathā — as; muneḥ — of the sage; suta-uktaḥ — uttered by the son; nirṛtiḥ — death; takṣaka-ākhyaḥ — in relation with the snake-bird; saḥ — he (the King); sādhu — well and good; mene — accepted; na — not; cireṇa — very long time; takṣaka — snake-bird; analam — fire; prasaktasya — for one who is too attached; virakti — indifference; kāraṇam — cause.
Translation
While the King was thus repenting, he received news of his imminent death, which would be due to the bite of a snake-bird, occasioned by the curse spoken by the sage’s son. The King accepted this as good news, for it would be the cause of his indifference toward worldly things.
Purport
Real happiness is achieved by spiritual existence or by cessation of the repetition of birth and death. One can stop the repetition of birth and death only by going back to Godhead. In the material world, even by attaining the topmost planet (Brahmaloka), one cannot get rid of the conditions of repeated birth and death, but still we do not accept the path of attaining perfection. The path of perfection frees one from all material attachments, and thus one becomes fit to enter into the spiritual kingdom. Therefore, those who are materially poverty-stricken are better candidates than those who are materially prosperous. Mahārāja Parīkṣit was a great devotee of the Lord and a bona fide candidate for entering into the kingdom of God, but even though he was so, his material assets as the Emperor of the world were setbacks to perfect attainment of his rightful status as one of the associates of the Lord in the spiritual sky. As a devotee of the Lord, he could understand that the cursing of the brāhmaṇa boy, although unwise, was a blessing upon him, being the cause of detachment from worldly affairs, both political and social. Śamīka Muni also, after regretting the incident, conveyed the news to the King as a matter of duty so that the King would be able to prepare himself to go back to Godhead. Śamīka Muni sent news to the King that foolish Śṛṅgi, his son, although a powerful brāhmaṇa boy, unfortunately had misused his spiritual power by cursing the King unwarrantedly. The incident of the King’s garlanding the muni was not sufficient cause for being cursed to death, but since there was no way to retract the curse, the King was informed to prepare for death within a week. Both Śamīka Muni and the King were self-realized souls. Śamīka Muni was a mystic, and Mahārāja Parīkṣit was a devotee. Therefore there was no difference between them in self-realization. Neither of them was afraid of meeting death. Mahārāja Parīkṣit could have gone to the muni to beg his pardon, but the news of imminent death was conveyed to the King with so much regret by the muni that the King did not want to shame the muni further by his presence there. He decided to prepare himself for his imminent death and find out the way to go back to Godhead.
The life of a human being is a chance to prepare oneself to go back to Godhead, or to get rid of the material existence, the repetition of birth and death. Thus in the system of varṇāśrama-dharma every man and woman is trained for this purpose. In other words, the system of varṇāśrama-dharma is known also as sanātana-dharma, or the eternal occupation. The system of varṇāśrama-dharma prepares a man for going back to Godhead, and thus a householder is ordered to go to the forest as a vānaprastha to acquire complete knowledge and then to take sannyāsa prior to his inevitable death. Parīkṣit Mahārāja was fortunate to get a seven-day notice to meet his inevitable death. But for the common man there is no definite notice, although death is inevitable for all. Foolish men forget this sure fact of death and neglect the duty of preparing themselves for going back to Godhead. They spoil their lives in animal propensities to eat, drink, be merry and enjoy. Such an irresponsible life is adopted by the people in the Age of Kali because of a sinful desire to condemn brahminical culture, God consciousness and cow protection, for which the state is responsible. The state must employ revenue to advance these three items and thus educate the populace to prepare for death. The state which does so is the real welfare state. The state of India should better follow the examples of Mahārāja Parīkṣit, the ideal executive head, than to imitate other materialistic states which have no idea of the kingdom of Godhead, the ultimate goal of human life. Deterioration of the ideals of Indian civilization has brought about the deterioration of civic life, not only in India but also abroad.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj:
So this verse, of course, this describes how Pariksit Maharaj responded when he heard about the curse of the Brahmana boy. So as not to disturb the Brahmana further, he accepted the curse. And he took this as a cause to become detached. Of course, ultimately, the whole aim is not simply to become detached, but rather become attached to the Supreme Lord.
If we simply become detached from everything, this will lead us to liberation. If we want to attain the Supreme Lord in the spiritual world, we have to become attached to the Supreme Lord. So, if we perform Vairagya, renunciation, and Jnana, we can get detachment, and we can get liberation. But this does not bestow the spiritual world with a relationship with Krishna. And though detachment is emphasized in Karma Yoga, and in Jnana Yoga, and in Astanga Yoga, emphasis is not upon that in Bhakti Yoga. And we will see in the beginning of Nectar of Devotion, Rupa Goswami particularly mentions, Vairagya is not part of Bhakti. Because of that, people may think, Bhakti is an inferior process, it involves enjoying in the material world.
However, we also see great examples of devotees, and they were very detached. And we see that many devotees also renounced. So, Yudhisthira and his brothers, they renounced the kingdom and went off to the Himalayas. So, the reason that Vairagya or detachment is projected is because if it is very prominent, it becomes unfavourable for Bhakti. So, in discussing the Angas of Bhakti, Rupa Goswami says, Vairagya is not an Anga, it may be a little favourable in the beginning. But then if we look at the example of the Goswamis, they were very detached, a lot of Vairagya, so were they not devotees? They were rejecting the order of Lord Caitanya and becoming very renounced. So, the meaning is that Vairagya or detachment is not accepted as the means of developing Bhakti. But, when we follow the recognized Angas of Bhakti, like hearing and chanting and devotee association, etc., Vairagya manifests anyway. So it is not a direct part of Sadhana. Of course, Rupa Goswami also says, in the beginning of Sadhana, it may be a little favourable.
So we see in Bhagavatam, there’s a description of qualification for Bhakti. So, the main item is attachment to hearing about topics of the Lord. And then he also says, not too much material attachment. So, a little detachment is good. But then he also says, you should not have too much detachment. And in Nectar of Devotion, then Rupa Goswami also gives a reason for that. And he says that Vairagya will dry up the heart. Of course, it doesn’t mean you do Vairagya and you get a heart attack, or something like that, that doesn’t mean the physical heart.
But it’s described as one progresses into Bhava and Prema, then the heart melts. In other words, we develop Bhava and Prema, and our attraction to the Lord becomes very, very soft. Our mind becomes overwhelmed by the sweetness of the Lord. And if we do a lot of Vairagya, the opposite happens, the heart dries up, the mind becomes less attracted to the Lord. And what would be the reason for that? We become more attracted to Brahman. So we see that the Jnani and the Yogi have dried up their hearts. They’re not interested in Krishna, they’re interested in a form without any qualities.
So in other words, if we mix a lot of Vairagya with our Bhakti, the Bhakti becomes a type of mixed Bhakti, like Jnana misra Bhakti. Of course, even with Jnana misra Bhakti, you can get up to Santa rasa. And in this mixed Bhakti, to get to Santa rasa, the Bhakti is still most prominent. But when that Vairagya and interest in liberation becomes very strong, and the Bhakti becomes minimum, then we don’t even call it Bhakti anymore. Instead of getting Santa rasa, we get Mukti. So we’ve heard that Jnana in itself cannot give liberation, with a little Bhakti, you can get liberation. So that is the result of putting too much emphasis on the detachment aspect. On the other hand, if one develops Bhava and Prema, one has automatic detachment from everything without any effort. So therefore, the emphasis in Bhakti is not upon renunciation, but upon developing devotion to the Lord.
So, of course, in the Varanashrama system, we go through Grhastha ashram, and then Vanaprastha, and then Sannyasa. So the normal meaning of Sannyasa is ‘give up everything’. So this is Vairagya, this is detachment. Lord Chaitanya took Sannyasa. But when he took Sannyasa, then he also quoted a verse from the 11th Canto. And that’s a verse from the Avanti Brahmana’s prayers. And in that prayer, then he says that Sannyasa means not giving everything up, but giving everything to Krishna. So in other words, instead of engaging our senses in activities for our own pleasure, sense gratification, we engage our senses to please Krishna, process of Bhakti, surrender. This is actually the definition of Sadhana Bhakti given by Rupa Goswami in Nectar of Devotion. So there he says that Sadhana Bhakti means engaging the senses to please Krishna. So, therefore, as a result of that, engaging the senses in Krishna, you don’t engage them in other things. So as a devotee progresses through Ruci, Asakti, Bhava and Prema, he becomes more absorbed in Krishna. Thus he becomes less attracted to material enjoyments. And thus, when a devotee attains Prema, no material attachments at all. So that person is the perfect example of Vairagya. But that’s not the goal of the devotee. The devotee in Prema, what does he do? He’s absorbed in serving Krishna.
So, the highest renunciation is automatically achieved by the devotee. So, in the beginning of devotional service, a little renunciation is favourable. The Bhagavatam says, qualification is attraction to hearing Krishna’s pastimes, and not too much material attachment. So we have to have a little detachment in the beginning. If we have too much material attachment, it is very difficult to advance.
So an example is given in the Bhagavatam. If there is, let’s say, an animal whatever or an object whatever going to the east, how to catch it? So you have to run east, because let’s say the horse is running east, you have to run after the horse and go to the east, yes? What happens if you go to the west? So you have to go in the same direction.
So by practicing Bhakti, we are going after Krishna, we’re going to the east. But if we pursue material enjoyment, we’re going to the west. So if you’re too materially attached, you cannot do Bhakti. It’s the wrong direction. However, to begin Bhakti, it’s not necessary to have complete detachment. But we do have to have some attachment to Krishna. As we do Bhakti, attachment to Krishna increases, detachment from material energy decreases. So that is the conduct of the devotee in relation to Vairagya or detachment.
Hare Krsna!
Q & A:
1.) Hare Krishna Maharaj. Maharaj, even in our bhakti, sometimes we are too much attached to something or we are too much detached to something. So, what is the limit Maharaj? For example if I am attached to eating. Some devotee tells me, you’re too much attached to cake, so I leave you. So in that case, I’m too much detached. So what is the limit of attachment or detachment should we have?
So we should always be attached to the Angas of Bhakti, like hearing and chanting. The more attachment we have, the better. So in Bhava and Prema, the devotee is completely absorbed in hearing and chanting. And thus he’s not attached to anything else. So if you’re attached to eating cake, are you attached to eating cake because it’s prasadam or for other reason? Anything offered to the Lord is wonderful and its a type of bhakti. But of course people may be attached to prasadam not because it’s offered to the Lord but because they like the taste [Laughs]. Of course, they are attached to the prasadam also, but they may have a prominent attachment to the taste, so that of course is we can say, a mere material attachment. But even by such an attachment, one can advance. So nevertheless, the higher attachment should also develop.
2.) Maharaj, second question. Sometimes we, in whatever the service engaged or whatever the actions we perform, we push this formula called Yukta Vairagya. So what is the real Yukta Vairagya and when it has to be performed and where it has to be performed?
So the definition is, it’s linked to Krishna, Krishna’s sambandha, but it is also nirbandha. It is firmly linked to Krishna, so there is no other interest. So we use things for Krishna, fine, we use them for Krishna, but we are also using it for our own enjoyment, then this is not nirbandha, it is [Laughs] detractive. So if that material attachment is more distracting, then it can lead to anartham. So we are attached to it, not because it is a devotional service, pleasing to Krishna, but because we get enjoyment from it [Laughs]. So that can be an anartha and an obstacle to bhakti.
3.) Hare krishna Maharaj, Thank you for the class Maharaj. Maharaj, at one point you were explaining that jnana-mishra bhakti, when bhakti is more at max, the devotee will get santa-rasa, and if jnana is more, he will get liberation. So what you meant by liberation is impersonal liberation, Maharaj, is it what you meant now?
When he gets liberation, yeah.
4.) And Maharaj, in santa-rasa, the devotee reaches the spiritual world, but the spiritual world itself means service to the Supreme Lord. But what does the santa-rasa devotee do, Maharaj, in the spiritual world?
Of course, santa-rasa is a rasa, so we say that it is service to the Lord. But it is minimal service to the Lord. So Prabhupada calls it a neutral rasa. So one recognizes the Lord with form, qualities, activities, but his appreciation is also somewhat limited. What he sees the form, he appreciates his aspects as Brahman [Laughs]. Nevertheless, he can also develop parts of rasa such as sattvika bhavas, vibhachari bhavas, etc., but little. Or he may not even develop that far, he may get up to santa-rati in the spiritual world, which is a little bit even weaker [Laughs].
5.) Hare Krishna Maharaj. Actually, faith is not an anga of bhakti. But it is a qualification to start the process of bhakti. So why can’t it be an anga of bhakti, Maharaj?
So faith is called the qualification for bhakti. So if you have the faith, then you perform the angas of bhakti, like hearing and chanting. And without that faith, you don’t do them. So a qualification is different from the actual actions we’re doing. So you have the qualification to study medicine at university. But the actual study of medicine is different from the qualification. So by doing the angas of bhakti, of course, that bhakti develops into prema. When we have the faith, but we don’t do the angas of bhakti, nothing happens [Laughs].
6.) Hare Krishna Maharaj, one more question. So now you said for the previous question, sometimes they can only get shantarati, but not shantarasa. Do you mean that other ingredients of the rasa are not added? So it’s only rati, Maharaj?
So rati, of course, is next to prema and rasa, etc. But it will mean that there is relationship established or sthayi-bhava. But there’s not complete manifestation of the other elements like sattvika bhavas, Vyabachari bhavas and anu-bhavas.
7.) Also in Raghanuga bhakti they say like you know they should have the raga of the Vrajavasis and also Krishna should be Vrindavan Krishna with Kaisora form. So then how does Yashoda ma have vatsala rasa, Maharaj, if it’s kaishora form of Krishna?
In Raghanuga bhakti you can be attracted to any form of Krishna in vraja. So one can be attracted to becoming like a devotee in Dasya or Sakhya or Vatsalya or Madhurya.
8.) When we are practicing sadhana bhakti, we are sometimes affected by material things. So how we have to improve our attachment towards Krishna and detachment towards material activities, Maharaj? Please explain, particularly for grahastha life.
The nature of bhakti is that anybody can practice. In sadhana, one is not expected to be fully attached to Krishna. If one were completely attached to Krishna, one would no longer be in sadhana. So sadhana bhakti is a gradual decrease of material attachment, gradual increase of attraction to Krishna. And this can be done in any ashram or any varna or with no ashram or no varna. So, whatever position we are in, we accept what is favorable for the development of the bhakti and we reject what is unfavorable. But we also realize it is a gradual process. And thus gradually we decrease our material attraction and material engagements and we gradually increase our spiritual attachments and engagements.
9.) Hare Krishna. Maharaj, we hear so many times like in the offenses it is mentioned that we have to be detached. Like If we are hearing those instructions, also we have attachment towards the things and still we are attached in the beginner stage. We are not able to give up so many things. But we thought that it is not good, it should not be like this, not like this. But still we are attached. So, at this stage, we are creating some offenses towards the holy name also, towards devotees also. So, how the beginner will understand this thing and how he tries to detach from those things which is not favorable. Because it is very hard for a beginner to detach immediately from those things or slowly, gradually it is also very hard. It is not easy.
So, we act according to our qualification. We are more attached to Krishna, we are capable of renouncing more. And if we are less attracted to Krishna, then we have more attachments. As serious devotees, of course, we are aiming to become more attached to Krishna and less attached to material things. So, whatever we are qualified for, whatever stage we are at, then we set that as our standard. And then we try to go for a higher standard. So, yesterday we had this Siksha ceremony. So, first stage, you chant one round of japa. Read one book. You follow one regulative principle. If you go to next stage, then you follow more rounds of japa, more devotional activities, less material activities. So, in that way, bhakti is flexible and it is adapted to all circumstances.
10.) Hare Krishna Maharaj. The reference from Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu, Eastern section, 294 verse, Vishvanath Cakravati Thakura’s commentary, talking about Raganuga Bhakti, now starts the description of the method of Raganuga sadhana. One should remember the most dear form of Krishna, the son of Nanda of Kaisora age, and the devotees of that particular form of Krishna. So, related to this, I asked Maharaj, it says of Kaisora...
Of course, Krishna in the spiritual world is eternally Kaisora age. But if one is in Vatsalaya rasa, one meditates on Krishna as being Kaumara age. And even if he is of Kaisora age, one sees him as Kaumara.
Devotees : Granthraj Srimad Bhagavatham ki Jai!!! HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj ki Jai!!! Srila Prabhupada ki Jai!!!