Srimad Bhagavatam – 10.77.1-9 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | ISKCON Japan | November 3, 2025 |
jaya rādhā-mādhava kuñja-vihārī
gopījana-vallabha giri-vara-dhārī
yaśodā-nandana vraja-jana-rañjana
yamunā-tīra-vana-cārī
Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare
Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare
Jaya Prabhupāda Jaya Prabhupāda
Prabhupāda Jaya Prabhupāda
Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevaya
nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale
śrīmate bhaktivedānta-svāmin iti nāmine
namas te sārasvate deve gaura-vāṇī-pracāriṇe
nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi-pāścātya-deśa-tāriṇe
jaya śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda
śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda
Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare
Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare
Reading from Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 10 Chapter 77 Verse 1.
ŚB 10.77.1
śrī-śuka uvāca
sa upaspṛśya salilaṁ
daṁśito dhṛta-kārmukaḥ
naya māṁ dyumataḥ pārśvaṁ
vīrasyety āha sārathim
Synonyms
śrī-śukaḥ uvāca — Śukadeva Gosvāmī said; saḥ — He (Pradyumna); upaspṛśya — touching; salilam — water; daṁśitaḥ — fastening His armor; dhṛta — taking up; kārmukaḥ — His bow; naya — take; mam — Me; dyumataḥ — of Dyumān; pārśvam — to the side; vīrasya — of the hero; iti — thus; āha — He spoke; sārathim — to His driver.
Translation
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: After refreshing Himself with water, putting on His armor and picking up His bow, Lord Pradyumna told His driver, “Take Me back to where the hero Dyumān is standing.”
Purport
Pradyumna was eager to rectify the discrepancy of His having left the battlefield when His chariot driver carried Him away unconscious.
Text 2
In Pradyumna’s absence, Dyumān had been devastating His army, but now Pradyumna counterattacked Dyumān and, smiling, pierced him with eight nārāca arrows.
Purport
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī comments that Pradyumna challenged Dyumān, saying “Now see if you can strike Me!” After saying this and allowing Dyumān to shoot his weapons, Pradyumna released His own deadly arrows.
Text 3
With four of these arrows He struck Dyumān’s four horses, with one arrow, He struck his driver, with two more arrows, his bow and chariot flag, and with the last arrow, Dyumān’s head.
Text 4
Gada, Sātyaki, Sāmba and others began killing Śālva’s army, and thus all the soldiers inside the airship began falling into the ocean, their necks severed.
Text 5
As the Yadus and Śālva’s followers thus went on attacking one another, the tumultuous, fearsome battle continued for twenty-seven days and nights.
Text 6-7
Invited by Yudhiṣṭhira, the son of Dharma, Lord Kṛṣṇa had gone to Indraprastha. Now that the Rājasūya sacrifice had been completed and Śiśupāla killed, the Lord began to see inauspicious omens. So He took leave of the Kuru elders and the great sages, and also of Pṛthā and her sons, and returned to Dvārakā.
Text 8
The Lord said to Himself: Because I have come here with My respected elder brother, kings partial to Śiśupāla may well be attacking My capital city.
Text 9
[Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued:] After He arrived at Dvārakā and saw how His people were threatened with destruction, and also saw Śālva and his Saubha airship, Lord Keśava arranged for the city’s defense and then addressed Dāruka as follows.
Purport
Lord Kṛṣṇa placed Śrī Balarāma in a strategic position to guard the city, and He also appointed a special guard for Śrī Rukmiṇī and the other queens inside the palaces. According to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī, by a secret route special soldiers conveyed the queens to safety inside Dvārakā.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj:
So, the attack on Dwaraka happened when Krishna was not present. Krishna and Balarama and the queens were all at the Rajasuya sacrifice of Yudhisthira. At the Rajasuya sacrifice, Sisupala was killed. So after that Rajasuya sacrifice, then Krishna thought, may be Sisupala’s friends are going to attack Dwaraka. So, we see that’s exactly what happened. Salva attacked the city, and Krishna Balarama weren’t there, so Pradyumna was taking charge of that city at that time. So, then He and Balarama entered the city with all the queens, and then Krishna began to lead the fight.
So, at the beginning of the 10th canto, we see that the devatas went to the milk ocean with Brahma, and then Brahma said that we have to get some protection, because Kamsa and the demons are causing big problem on earth. So, at that time, the Lord said He would appear. So, He came as Krishna, along with Balarama to kill Kamsa and the other demons. So, that was the direct cause of Krishna appearing in this world. And of course, in Bhagavad Gita, Krishna also says, when dharma is disturbed, then I come and I restore dharma, and I kill the miscreants [Laughs]. Generally, the devatas are supposed to do this. So, the devatas are empowered to make sure that dharma is being followed properly. And the Lord appoints Manus and the descendants to also rule over and establish dharma and keep the demons under control. So, that is the Lord’s general arrangement for keeping peace in this world.
But the nature of the material world is, it is unstable. Sometimes Sattva is prominent, sometimes Rajas becomes prominent, sometimes Tamas becomes prominent. But of course, we know that in general, things tend towards Tamo guna ultimately. So, we start out with Satya Yuga, which is very Sattvic, we end up with Kali Yuga, very Tamasic. So, the Lord arranges, the time itself also creates a balance. So, when it gets too Tamasic, then suddenly Satya Yuga appears, everything becomes [Laughs] Sattvic again. And even though the devatas are there, and the Manus descendants are ruling, still we get Treta Yuga, Dwapara Yuga and then Kali Yuga, still appearing. So, as well as descendants of Manu to keep dharma intact, the Lord also comes as avatars. So, He has a avatar in Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dwapara Yuga and Kali Yuga to teach dharma. However, these Yuga avatars, in general, their dharma is to preach spiritual life [Laughs], Spiritual teachings. So, we have the kings to maintain the dharma, and we have the Yuga avatars to give the spiritual teachings.
So, in spite of the general arrangements of the Lord, sometimes the demons become very powerful. And then the Lord personally appears. So, because of Hiranyaksha, Varaha appeared. And because of Hiranyakasipu, Narasimhadeva appeared [Laughs]. Because of Ravana, then Rama appeared [Laughs]. So, when a very powerful demon comes, then the Lord also comes as a Lila avatar. So, the Lord kills the demons and re-establishes dharma. So, that is one of the reasons why the Lord appears in the material world to restore dharma, but that’s not the only reason.
So, the other reason is that He appears in order to give joy to the devotees. And He gives joy to the devotees by displaying His wonderful qualities. So, some of those qualities are displayed when He kills the demons. So, when Narasimhadev kills Hiranyakasipu, then everyone, all the devotees understand the great power and ferocity and affection of the Lord. So, of course, in killing the demons, one of the purposes is to restore dharma, the other is to protect the devotees. So, in this case, we see that Dwaraka is attacked, Dwaraka is filled with all the devotees, so the Lord comes and He protects the devotees by killing Salva.
Krishna when He left Vrindavan, said, I will return very soon. But He said, I will have to stay some time to protect the Yadus. And then, of course, we see that Jarasandha attacked Mathura, then He had to move to Dwaraka [Laughs], and here we find all these demons attacking Dwaraka [Laughs]. So, there was not one demon, as in the case of Varaha killing Hiranyaksha [Laughs]. Here, there was demon after demon, there was Kamsa, all of these demons he sent to Vrindavan, and all these other demons like Jarasandha, etc. But, because He had to kill all these demons, and it took a long time, He couldn’t return to Vrindavan, so He broke his promise.
Of course, His other promise is to protect the Yadus [Laughs]. And He actually moved His capital to Dwaraka in order to protect the people of Vrindavan, because Mathura was being attacked and was very close to Vrindavan. So, He moved everything to Dwaraka, so the enemies would attack Dwaraka instead of coming to Mathura and Vrindavan. So, Krishna killing all the demons is not just to protect the people of Mathura and Dwaraka , it’s also for protection of the people of Vrindavan. Of course, by doing that, then He had to separate Himself a long time from the people of Vrindavan. So, Krishna continued to kill these different demons until He killed Dantavakra. After that, He didn’t kill any more demons [Laughs]. So, He didn’t kill any more demons, no more excuse, He had to go back to Vrindavan [Laughs]. So it’s described in the Padma Purana, that after killing Dantavakra at Mathura, because Dantavakra was there, so Krishna came from Dwaraka to Mathura, killed him, then Krishna returned to Vrindavan.
Devotee: Dantavakra was in the Mathura?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yeah, somehow he was there. He didn’t go to Dwaraka to attack, he was at Mathura, so then Krishna came to Mathura and killed him at the gate of Mathura. Of course, nobody was living in Mathura then. So, He returned to Vrindavan and everybody became very blissful. And He stayed there for some months. But, it’s also described in Bhagavatam that He was back in Dwaraka again after that [Laughs]. So, what happened? Did He leave the people of Vrindavan again? No. Actually, He expanded Himself, one form went to Dwaraka, another form stayed in Vrindavan. So, there was no more separation from the people of Vrindavan. At the same time, He also stayed in Dwaraka and he fulfilled His promise to the people of Dwaraka . So, in this way, Krishna appeared in the material world to kill demons, etc. But then ultimately, it is to have pastimes with His devotees.
So, protecting the devotees from demons is one type of pastime. And to do that, then Krishna will show virya, he will show this warrior spirit of fighting. But, this virya rasa is actually a secondary rasa. So, though killing demons is one of the Lord’s pastimes, the more important pastimes of the Lord is pastimes with devotees. So therefore, in Vrindavan, pastimes like Damodara Lila or Rasa Lila are more important than killing the demons [Laughs]. And, His pastimes with the queens in Dwaraka and other devotees in Dwaraka are more important than killing the demons. But, it all involves rasa. All the rasas manifest from the primary rasas. And, the primary rasas are always with those devotees. We see that Krishna is displaying Virya rasa, but it’s with the demons, actually [Laughs]. But, the primary rasas are always with the devotees [Laughs].
Hare Krishna.
Q & A:
1.) Maharaj, Krishna break promise with Vrajavasis, but because He want to protect Vrajavasis, but they don’t know right, the intention. They understand? or They don’t know?
[Laughs] So these relationships of affection are not so simple. So, certainly, people of Vrindavan understand that Krishna has to stay in Mathura and Dwaraka to protect the Yadus who are his direct relatives and His parents etc. So they understand that and it’s also, you know, display of affection. However, they have such strong attraction and affection for Krishna that, that overrides or overpowers all this understanding. Of course, they tolerate. But, they are always hoping, yes, Krishna will soon come back, Krishna will soon come back and, they tolerate more, and again they hope [Laughs]. And, they never give up their hope. And, this shows the great strength of their love.
Still, there is a little contradiction. If Krishna makes a promise and He says to the Gopis I’m going to return soon, and He doesn’t, then that’s breaking His promise. So, if Krishna breaks a promise to the highest devotees, the Gopis, He could break the promise [Laughs]. So, therefore, the Gopis say, yes, Krishna is such a nice person, but He breaks all those promises. How we can believe Him? How we can believe Krishna? He always breaks His promises. So, it does look contradictory. So, Visvanatha Chakravarti gives a solution. And, he says, Krishna must have returned after a few months. And, then he gives a little bit of a proof. When Uddhava came to Vrindavan from Mathura to give his message to Nanda and Yasoda and the Gopis, Uddhava saw two different Vrindavans. Yeah [Laughs].
So, one description is given when He came there, everybody was joyful and they were taking care of the cows and milking the cows, etc [Laughs]. And, the other description is everybody almost dying, nobody eating [Laughs]. So, how did he see two different Vrindavans? So, Visvanatha Chakravarti explains, yes, there were two different Vrindavans simultaneously present [Laughs]. In one Vrindavan, Krishna was in Mathura, didn’t return, everybody was dying [Laughs]. In the other Vrindavan, Krishna came back after three months and everybody was joyful. In other words, one Krishna stayed in Mathura and then went to Dwaraka , another Krishna went back to Vrindavan. So, this is not astonishing for Krishna, because He can expand Himself unlimitedly. But, this means that the people of Vrindavan had to have two forms, one in separation and one when Krishna came back. So, He also did that. All the people expanded and there was one form in separation from Krishna, one form when Krishna came back. So, two Vrindavans were there [Laughs].
And the two Vrindavans were completely separate and then people in the separation were not aware of the people in union [Laughs], with Krishna [Laughs]. This also is not astonishing, because we see that Krishna is eternally in the spiritual world with Nanda and Yasoda and the Gopis etc. Simultaneously, He is in the material world with Nanda and Yasoda and the Gopis, so they all expand [Laughs]. So, with no effort, through His acintya shakti, Krishna can do all of these things [Laughs]. So, in this way, Krishna also fulfilled His promise to the people of Vrindavan and the Gopis [Laughs].
Devotee: Thank you very much. Uddhava see this two Vrindavan?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yeah, if you look in Bhagavatam, you’ll see two descriptions there [Laughs].
Devotee: Only Uddhava understand this two version?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yeah. He alone, among all the people, Yadus, could simultaneously appreciate Vrindavan and also appreciate Dwaraka [Laughs].
Hare Krishna.
Devotees: Grantharaj Srimad Bhagavatam ki jai!!! HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj ki jai!!! Srila Prabhupada ki jai!!!