Srimad Bhagavatam – 10.63.27 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | ISKCON Japan | May 13, 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 10 Chapter 63 Verse 27.
ŚB 10.63.27
नानाभावैर्लीलयैवोपपन्नै-
र्देवान् साधून् लोकसेतून् बिभर्षि ।
हंस्युन्मार्गान् हिंसया वर्तमानान्
जन्मैतत्ते भारहाराय भूमे: ॥ २७ ॥
nānā-bhāvair līlayaivopapannair
devān sādhūn loka-setūn bibharṣi
haṁsy unmārgān hiṁsayā vartamānān
janmaitat te bhāra-hārāya bhūmeḥ
Synonyms
nānā — various; bhāvaiḥ — with intentions; līlayā — as pastimes; eva — indeed; upapannaiḥ — assumed; devān — the demigods; sādhūn — the saintly sages; loka — of the world; setūn — the codes of religion; bibharṣi — You maintain; haṁsi — You kill; ut-mārgān — those who stray beyond the path; hiṁsayā — by violence; vartamānān — living; janma — birth; etat — this; te — Your; bhāra — the burden; hārāya — to relieve; bhūmeḥ — of the earth.
Translation
With various intentions, You perform pastimes to maintain the demigods, the saintly persons and the codes of religion for this world. By these pastimes You also kill those who stray from the right path and live by violence. Indeed, your present incarnation is meant to relieve the earth’s burden.
Purport
As Lord Kṛṣṇa states in the Bhagavad-gītā (9.29):
samo ’haṁ sarva-bhūteṣu
na me dveṣyo ’sti na priyaḥ
ye bhajanti tu māṁ bhaktyā
mayi te teṣu cāpy aham
“I envy no one, nor am I partial to anyone. I am equal to all. But whoever renders service unto Me in devotion is a friend — is in Me — and I am also a friend to him.”
The demigods and sages (devān sādhūn) are dedicated to executing the will of the Supreme Lord. The demigods act as cosmic administrators, and the sages, by their teachings and their good example, illumine the path of self-realization and holiness. But those who transgress the natural law, the law of God, and live by committing violence against others are vanquished by the Supreme Lord in His various pastime incarnations. As the Lord states in the Bhagavad-gītā (4.11), ye yathā māṁ prapadyante tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham. He is impartial, but He responds appropriately to the actions of the living beings.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj:
So this verse, recited by the demon, explains how the Lord acts in this material world. Of course, when he comes into the material world and performs activities, there’s always a philosophical problem. How can God, who is purely spiritual, interact with a material world which is completely polluted? Of course, it is natural that He will protect the Devatas, and the devotees, etc., and He will kill the demons. But when we talk about killing, then that looks like it’s a material activity. And if He favours those who are devotees and Devatas, then it looks like He has some fault. So that is why in the purport it is quoted, ‘samo ’haṁ sarva-bhūteṣu’, even if the Lord is in the material world, He is ‘sama’, He is equal. Even if He kills demons, He doesn’t hate them. And if He protects others, it doesn’t mean He’s favouring them. But if we were critical, then we’ll say, well, no, He is favouring the Devatas and He’s doing something against the demons. It looks like He is not ‘sama’ at all.
And though Krishna says, I am ‘sama’, then in the last lines He says, but I favour the devotees. So therefore, people will criticize and say, ah, see, the Lord is not sama at all, He’s favouring the devotees. So this is because, there is a misinterpretation of the meaning of the word ‘sama’. So in normal circumstances, we may say ‘sama’ means that you don’t react to anything, you’re completely neutral. So if we take that meaning, yes, the Lord is not ‘sama’ in that way.
So, the word ‘sama’ for the Lord means that He does not respond unjustly. For instance, the judge in the court should be equal to all, and he simply follows the law. But if somehow, he is a little bit dishonest and he takes bribes, he doesn’t follow the law. He is not equal in the sense of following the law. He can take a bribe, get some money from one party, and then he will give a verdict which is favouring one party, but it’s not justice. But at the same time, if he gives justice to people who are following the law and favours them, that is not to be criticized, he’s being equal in that sense. So ‘sama’ does not mean, in terms of the Lord, does not mean He’s indifferent to everyone. But He responds very appropriately to everyone.
So what is that appropriateness or correct way? It’s according to certain principles. So the Lord’s response to people in the material world follows the course of natural justice. So we do have laws of a country. Laws of different countries are different, but they have common laws that all countries follow. So those are the general laws that the Lord also follows. So therefore it allows no killing, no stealing, etc., no attacking, without justice, etc… So therefore, in the second line of this verse, this demon is saying that the Lord maintains the codes of religion, or ‘loka-setūn’, He maintains the laws that the Lord has set up. So in that sense, the Lord is ‘sama’.
Of course, we know that even in material world, we have laws, but there are also exceptions. Sometimes the king overrides the court and he may pardon somebody. So the Lord can also do that. So sometimes demons should get punished, etc., and the Lord rewards them. So Krishna kills Putana, and she ends up in the spiritual world, that’s an exceptional case. But the motive cannot be criticized. In the material world, yes, the king can pardon people but he made us pardon his friends, then it’s criticized. His friend is in jail and is getting killing out in the jail, but then the king overrides the court, and then he says, OK, you’re free. So he’s favouring unjustly his friend. So therefore the king is, we can say, selfish, he’s acting out of his own motives. But if Krishna puts Putana in the spiritual world, what does Krishna gain from that? Nothing. But certainly, there’s great gain for Putana. She gets purified of all of her impurities, and she’s able to experience bliss in the spiritual world, eternally.
So, the Supreme Lord is equal, and He allows the principles of justice to go on nicely, and He empowers the Manus and their descendants, the kings, to enforce those laws. And in special cases, when the situation is very difficult, then the Lord comes as avatar. So, He punishes those who are breaking the law, that is, the demons, and He protects those who are following the law, that is, the Devatas and the devotees. So that is His standard, and that is all ‘sama’, He’s being equal, He’s distributing the justice nicely with no prejudice. But as Krishna says here ‘ye bhajanti tu māṁ bhaktyā mayi te teṣu cāpy aham’, if one worships the Lord with devotion, then this becomes a special case. Thus, we see that normally, you commit a sinful activity, you get punished, so you get karma. If you want to get free of the karma, you follow the scriptures. So what does scriptures say, you do an atonement, a prayaschita, you do a punya to counteract the sin. But if you become a devotee and worship the Lord with devotion, you don’t have to follow that prescription.
And as Krishna says, you surrender to me, I free you from all sins. So therefore, the devotee is exempted from following all those other laws. And there is some good reason for that. And the reason is given also in this purport, where Bhagavad Gita is again quoted ‘ye yathā māṁ prapadyante tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham’. So though the Lord is ‘sama’, and impartial, whatever, He also responds according to the degree of surrender to the Lord. So we have those who are neutral, no surrender, not much sin, but no surrender also. So the Lord is neutral. And then there is also opposite of surrender, minus surrender, so the demons. So they do the opposite of surrender and they encourage other people not to surrender. So the Lord responds to them, how? If they’re demons, He’ll kill them. And if they are the opposite, they surrender to the Lord, the Lord rewards them. If they surrender a little, the Lord responds a little. And if they surrender a lot, the Lord responds a lot. So no one can also criticize that principle.
So, therefore, the Lord has affection for the devotee because the devotee shows affection for the Lord. So this can never be criticized as being a bad quality in the Lord. All of this arises because the Lord is very affectionate, and we can never criticize the Lord for having affection. If the Lord showed inappropriate affection, affection for the demons and hatred of the devotees, we’d criticize that. So the Lord responds appropriately to everyone. Of course, responding to the people who are neutral or opposed, the Lord is not personally involved. He lets the law of karma operate. And he lets the kings, descendants of Manu, institute the laws. But with the devotees, then he personally involves. So this principle operates within devotion itself. This principle of responding appropriately operates within bhakti. And thus we have different forms of the Lord you can worship.
Some people prefer to surrender to Narshimhadeva, some people to Rama, some to Krishna, so a variety is there, and the Lord allows that. Those who do mixed bhakti get one result, those who do pure bhakti get a much better result. And if we get into details, then one can choose, with Krishna at least, different rasas. So if you choose to worship Krishna as a friend, then you get a body in the spiritual world as a cowherd boy. If you prefer to worship Krishna in Vatsalaya Rasa, then you get a body of an elder cowherd. And if you are attracted to worship Krishna in Madhurya Rasa, then you get a Gopi body. So all of this is an appropriate response of Krishna to the devotion of the devotee. So, this is the principles that Krishna follows.
But then He may break the principles also. But when He breaks the principles also, it is not a fault. So if He gives Putana, a spiritual body in the spiritual world, we can never criticize that. Rather, we praise Krishna because of extraordinary mercy. Of course, even for the demons, when Krishna kills a demon, getting a body in the spiritual world is extraordinary. The majority of the demons that Krishna kills get ‘sayujya mukti’, impersonal liberation. For the jnanis and yogis, this may seem extraordinary. For the devotees, yeah, fine, if they get liberation, fine, because devotees don’t want liberation. But even the devotees will be astonished if the demons get to the spiritual world. But it is not common. If it were common, then everybody would aspire to be a demon and get killed by Krishna and get the spiritual body. Of course, even for the devotees, the Lord may show that extraordinary mercy. So this is what we call the Kripa Siddhi, you get perfection by mercy, not even doing anything, but you are a devotee of sorts. But that’s rare, and the normal is sadhana siddhi. you do sadhana, and eventually you get perfection.
However, we should not think that if one is doing sadhana, that there is no mercy, the Lord is always giving mercy, even in sadhana. In Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says, ‘I give you the intelligence by which you come to me’. And in Bhagavatam, Krishna says, ‘I am situated in the heart, and I purify you of all your anarthas’. So, in Chapter 12 of the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says, ‘better to do bhakti than to do jnana, because it’s much quicker’. Though it is much quicker, because in bhakti, we get the mercy of the Lord. If you do jnana, karma yoga, ashtanga yoga, no mercy. So the Lord acts appropriately in all circumstances.
Ok. Any questions?
Q & A
1) What about Krishna said in Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 9, even sinful activities, He is still my devotee. Can you explain this point?
So, this statement applies to a person who is practicing bhakti. And even if he commits a sinful activity, he perseveres and continues his bhakti.
He does not refer to a devotee who is continually performing sinful acts. He is not doing sinful activities every day. So he has done a sinful act, but he is not using bhakti as an excuse to do more sinful acts and not get punished. So if we have that attitude, this becomes the 7th offense of the Holy Name, committing sinful activities in the strength of chanting the name. So if he commits a sinful activity once or whatever, the Lord does not consider that very significant. Bhakti itself absolves the person of the reaction.
So in the Bhagavad Gita Krishna says, ‘ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣhayiṣhyāmi’, free you from all sins. So the process of bhakti destroys all the reactions. And Krishna doesn’t say sinful activity, He says very sinful activity, ‘su-durāchār’, very bad activities done still I consider him My devotee. In the end of Krishna’s Bhagavad Gita, if you repent to Me, I promise to purify all your sins and reactions.
So, the Lord understands that people in the material world who become devotees, are not going to be able to practice perfectly. So it is always possible in devotional service, even into Bhava stage, that you can make mistakes. So therefore, the Lord does not consider the sins that will manifest at that time to be very significant. It is not so significant for the Lord. So this bad conduct, ‘su-durāchār’, is sin, but that does not include aparadha.
So if the sin involves normal people in the material world, fine. If it involves devotees that you are doing the sin against, then this rule does not apply. The Lord does not forgive. If the person commits an offense to a devotee, which means a sin against a devotee, a violence against a devotee, then that’s not included here in this rule of the Lord.
Devotee: Devotees means devotees intentionally performing bad sinful activities?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Against devotees, which means aparadh.
Devotee: Like a demon against devotees ?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Well, we’re not talking about demons, we’re talking about devotees. You’re already a devotee. So when we talk about sins, it means against normal living entities. Aparada, that’s a sin against a devotee. So in other words, if the devotee is an aparadi, then the Lord does not forgive in the same way.
2) Hare Krishna Maharaj. Thank you for the wonderful class. In Bhagavad Gita, I think chapter 4, sloka 11, So here Krishna declares that according to the surrender, he rewards. But in case of Putana, I am wondering like Krishna definitely understands because He’s in as Paramatma. So you understand the intention of Putana. But still, He has given the ultimate success.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yeah, so she didn’t deserve a place in heaven. Extraordinary mercy.
Devotee: Yes. And again, if we see Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s pastime and devotees do some mistake, He immediately punishes. For example, the Chhota Haridasa. So, but I understand from your explanation that you mentioned that we can understand that this is extraordinary mercy of Krishna. So that is wonderful, Maharaj. Yes. So even though it’s, it seems seemingly it is contradictory, but we should understand that it is the mercy of extraordinary mercy of Krishna. Is that my understanding is right, Maharaj?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yes.
Devotee: Okay. Thank you, Maharaj.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Of course, even in the case of Putana, there’s also an explanation why Krishna showed extraordinary mercy. So though she had the intention of killing Krishna, she dressed up like a gopi. So because she did that, He was merciful.
3) Maharaj, then what about unconditional love and selflessness? Unconditional love and selfless. Like the devotees are selfless and they have unconditional love. They give mercy to everyone. So how about that? Krishna, we heard today that He is reciprocate according to the level of the surrenderness of the person. Yeah.
So what do you think about unconditional love and selflessness? Question? Contradiction. Why the contradiction? Devotees should be merciful. Without considering unconditional love. Krishna does not do like that. He is not unconditional. He surrenders. If he surrenders 1%, he responds 1%. 100% for 1%.
So those who are doing sadhana bhakti, then they also have to follow the rule, don’t preach to the faithless. So we’re not being merciful to everybody in essence. So, we make distinctions. We preach to the faithful, avoid the demons, and worship Krishna. Those who are in prema, of course, have prema for everybody, even the demons. But they don’t preach at all.
4) I have a question. So, devotee, offensive devotee, sometimes, so, but they know Krishna consciousness, offensive is very effective for devotee. So he knowing, then make envious or criticize, that’s no good. But how about general people, they don’t know devotee. How attitude should be make attitude. So they are ignorance.
So that there’s also a reaction, but if a person don’t know Krishna consciousness, devotee, unknown, then the reaction is, I think, very small, because they don’t know. So that point, can you explain?
So, we have accidental offenses that a devotee commits against another devotee, not so serious.
So, we have people in the material world, rather neutral, and they unknowingly make an offense, also not so serious. But then we have people who are very opposed to the Supreme Lord, very opposed to the devotees, and they’ll do anything to harass them or stop them or whatever. Like Kamsa or Sishupala, so their offense is very great.
So, some people who are not devotees, fine, accidentally, not much effect, but those who have very great hatred of the Lord and devotees, they get great reaction from their aparadh. It depends on the intention.
5) Maharaj, we often hear that to develop unconditional love is what we we are here, but how to develop that uncondiontal love, how to do that?
Okay. So that means to follow the process of pure bhakti. So, in sadhana, it’s not literally pure, but our intention is to attain that status.
So, consciously, because we have knowledge, then we avoid asking for material benefits from our devotional service. So, that’s how unconditional love manifests in sadhana bhakti.
Devotees: Grantharaj Srimad Bhagavatham Ki Jai!!! HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj Ki Jai!!!