Srimad Bhagavatam – 10.77.32 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | ISKCON Japan | November 6, 2025 |
ŚB 10.77.32
यत्पादसेवोर्जितयात्मविद्यया
हिन्वन्त्यनाद्यात्मविपर्ययग्रहम् ।
लभन्त आत्मीयमनन्तमैश्वरं
कुतो नु मोह: परमस्य सद्गते: ॥ ३२ ॥
yat-pāda-sevorjitayātma-vidyayā
hinvanty anādyātma-viparyaya-graham
labhanta ātmīyam anantam aiśvaraṁ
kuto nu mohaḥ paramasya sad-gateḥ
Synonyms
yat — whose; pāda — of the feet; sevā — by service; ūrjitayā — made strong; ātma-vidyayā — by self-realization; hinvanti — they dispel; anādi — beginningless; ātma — of the self; viparyaya-graham — the misidentification; labhante — they attain; ātmīyam — in a personal relationship with Him; anantam — eternal; aiśvaram — glory; kutaḥ — how; nu — indeed; mohaḥ — bewilderment; paramasya — for the Supreme; sat — of saintly devotees; gateḥ — the destination.
Translation
By virtue of self-realization fortified by service rendered to His feet, devotees of the Lord dispel the bodily concept of life, which has bewildered the soul since time immemorial. Thus they attain eternal glory in His personal association. How, then, can that Supreme Truth, the destination of all genuine saints, be subject to illusion?
Purport
As a result of fasting the body becomes weak, and one thinks, “I am emaciated.” Similarly, sometimes a conditioned soul thinks, “I am happy” or “I am unhappy” — ideas based on the bodily concept of life. Simply by serving the lotus feet of Lord Kṛṣṇa, however, devotees become free from this bodily concept of life. So how could such illusion possibly affect the Supreme Personality of Godhead at any time?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj:
So, the devotees, by worshipping the Lord, get free of their bodily conceptions. Therefore no more illusion, no more lamentation. The reason they are free of lamentation and illusion is because, they worship the Lord, who is free of lamentation and illusion. So, if devotees become free of lamentation and illusion by worshipping the Lord, how can the Lord be subject to lamentation and illusion?
So, there is a principle, which is described in the Bhagavad Gita. What do you think of when you die, you attain. And then again, whatever you worship, you attain that. You worship ghosts, you go to ghosts, you worship devatas, you go to devatas. So, one attains similarity to that devata or that ghost. And if you worship Krishna, you go to Krishna. And what is Krishna’s qualities? – Eternity, knowledge, bliss. So, if you worship Krishna, you attain Krishna, then you also become eternal, free of ignorance, free of lamentation. So, with great intelligence, a person will choose to worship Krishna. Of course, people who are less intelligent, choose temporary goals. You worship a devata, you go to the devata, but the devata has a temporary body, we also continue to have a temporary body. So, it’s only the most intelligent people, the wisest people, who will choose this eternal goal, full of bliss. So, if that goal is so perfect, how then can you be subject to lamentation and illusion? And the conclusion of the devotee will be that, therefore this is not lamentation, this is not illusion, it’s not real.
However, we do have to have some explanation, otherwise there is contradiction. Of course, a person who is not a devotee, if he reads Bhagavatam, he will not accept any explanations like this. So, he will hear that, Krishna got shot in the foot, and he died, and they’ll say, look, he’s an ordinary human being, therefore I won’t worship him. However, if we look closely at Bhagavatam, we will also see that Bhagavatam makes it clear that actually Krishna didn’t get shot in the foot by the hunter and die, he actually got in his chariot and he ascended the Vaikuntha. So, the scripture will give us some hints, so that we can come to the right conclusion. But, we also have to read carefully in order to catch those hints.
So, the Bhagavatam is compared to Mohini Avatar. And the reason is that, Mohini bewildered the demons. And she was able to steal the nectar and give it to the Devatas. So, similarly, Bhagavatam will not give the nectar to the demons or the materialists, but it will give it to the devotees. In other words, some things in Bhagavatam may be hidden, and we don’t get the truth by looking at the words superficially. And so, the materialist, when he reads about Krishna’s disappearance by being shot in the foot by a hunter, then he immediately goes, oh, Krishna died like a material being. So, he’s material [Laughs]. But a devotee, when he reads that story, then he says, well, this is very contradictory to what is said in the whole Bhagavatam. So, then he looks for hints to show that it’s not a real true story. And in fact, it was a pastime to fool the materialistic people.
So, the question will arise, why does scripture want to fool people [Laughs] ? The answer is that, the truth of scripture is not available to unqualified people. So, in other words, the truth may be somewhat hidden, and those who are unqualified will not understand the truth. So, thus, Sukadeva, when he speaks, he hides some things from the demons. They cannot access the sweetness of Bhagavatam. So, this is a technique used not only in Bhagavatam, but in scripture in general. So, this technique is called ‘Parokṣavāda’ – indirect expression. So, we’ll find this in the Vedas, in the Upanishads, and other Puranas as well. So, in other words, we cannot always take the direct meaning of the words.
Of course, I said the other day that generally our principle is, we take the direct meaning. However, I also said, if there’s a contradiction, then we’re forced to take another meaning. So, I gave the example, there’s a village on the Ganga. If we take the direct meaning, there’s a village floating on the Ganga, but that does not make sense. So, there is a contradiction in that statement. There’s a contradiction to common experience. We don’t see villages floating on top of the water. So, because of that contradiction to common experience, then we say it must mean, there is a village on the bank of the Ganga. So, instead of saying on the Ganga, we say on the bank of the Ganga. That’s our interpretation [Laughs].
Now, when we come to scripture and past times of Krishna, it’s a little more difficult. Krishna’s past times are often contradictory to our common experience [Laughs]. So, Krishna lifts Govardhana Hill when he’s seven years old. We never see that in our common experience. It’s a contradiction [Laughs]. So that’s a contradiction to our common experience, because we experience material world. But it’s not a contradiction to Krishna. Because we have so many descriptions of Krishna, where Krishna has great power, inconceivable shakti etc. So, those past times do not contradict the statements of scripture itself, which talk about the great powers of the Supreme Lord.
So, if Krishna begins to lament and look like he’s in illusion, again, that looks little bit contradictory to scripture. So, therefore, it looks contradictory to scripture, so we have to resolve the contradiction. So, Sukadeva Goswami says, some sages describe Krishna as falling into ignorance or lamenting, but he says, this isn’t true. He didn’t fall into illusion [Laughs]. So, therefore, it’s a completely false story, and some sages talk about this, but it didn’t happen [Laughs].
Devotee: So, this is a completely wrong story?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yeah, that’s one alternative [Laughs].
Or He actually looked like he was lamenting and falling under illusion, but it was only an act [Laughs]. So, why would he do that? One is to fool Salva [Laughs]. Another is to fool materialists, like Krishna has the past time of getting shot in the foot, just to fool materials [Laughs]. So, when there is an apparent contradiction, we do have to get some sort of solution. We have to resolve the issue somehow or other. And thus, when we read statements in scripture, we have to compare them with other statements in scripture and see if there is some contradiction.
So, therefore, reading scripture requires some intelligence. So, we cannot take every statement of scripture as literally true, if there is contradiction. So, to make this process of understanding scripture easier, we have explanations of Acharyas. So, that is why, we emphasize we take scripture, but we follow the Sampradaya, the parampara. Unfortunately, we do have many learned people making commentaries, but they are also untrue, false [Laughs]. So, therefore, we choose a Sampradaya which is recognized, authorized, and then we can follow those conclusions. So, we can learn the basis from the authorized definitions, and we can understand the basis without contradictions.
And for that reason, Prabhupad often mentions, we are coming in the Brahma-Madhva-Gaudiya Sampradaya, authorized Sampradaya [Laughs]. So, Prabhupad, when he was writing Bhagavad Gita commentaries, he said, well, so many publications of Bhagavad Gita are there with explanations, but he is writing another one. Why? So, the others are not following an authorized Sampradaya. And thus, all the explanations are going to be wrong [Laughs].
Hare Krsna !
Q & A:
1.) Then, finally, we take Sukadeva Goswami statement that Krishna laments, this is the story, a self-wrong story.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: So, in this particular case, that’s all?
Devotee: Yes, yes.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Well, he says, yeah, some sages say this, but this is all wrong he says [Laughs].
Devotee: We should take this statement?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Well, we cannot say that he fell into illusion and he lamented, so at least that is false [Laughs]. He didn’t lament. If it looked like, he was, it’s not true. He was only pretending, that’s all, at best.
2.) What about Krishna’s so much spiritually attached to devotee? That’s why he lamented, by spiritual vision, attachment.
Okay, yeah. Yeah, yeah. So, in the spiritual world, then, there is lamentation, fear, etc., but this is completely different. So, in the spiritual world, we have five primary rasas, Santa, Dasya, Sakhya, Vatsalya, Madhurya. So, these are positive, the loving relationships. Then we have seven secondary rasas. These are temporary, and they depend upon the primary rasa.
And some of them look non-affectional [Laughs]. So, we have fear rasa. We have lamentation rasa [Laughs]. So, we have anger rasa [Laughs]. So, then, how can that exist in the spiritual world? So, as I said, these are temporary, and they depend on the primary rasas. So, they manifest simply to increase the primary rasa.
So, Radha and her followers, they get angry at Krishna, because Krishna is going to see Chandravali [Laughs]. And we will see fear. Krishna is afraid of Mother Yasoda with a stick. So, these are temporary manifestations to simply increase the primary rasa. They are not based upon identification with the material body [Laughs]. It all arises from great affection for Krishna.
So, many people, even people who practice spiritual life, do not appreciate these negative rasas in the spiritual world. So, they may prefer Santa rasa, which is much more peaceful. But even that is a little disturbing, so therefore they may become impersonalists and just merge in Brahman [Laughs]. So, no negative, no positive emotions at all [Laughs].
3.) It means that this lila, this case, Krishna lament, not based on primary rasa?
Yeah. If we have lamentation, lamentation for, let’s say, when Krishna came into the arena of Kamsa, then Vasudeva and Devaki were lamenting, oh, Krishna is so weak and the wrestlers are so strong, they’re going to crush him and they began lamenting [Laughs]. So, this is secondary rasa.
Devotee: But this lamentation is not by, not Krishna.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yeah, devotee, yeah, yeah, yeah. But then, of course, Krishna can also do the same. So, in Dwaraka, in Bṛhad-Bhāgavatamrita, there is a description of Krishna and he is lamenting, because all the people in Vrindavan were so much lamenting for him, so he laments in Dwaraka [Laughs]. So, in this case, with Salva, the illusion, then we could say, well, yeah Krishna is lamenting for Vasudeva, his father. But of course, we also know Vasudeva is eternal associate, cannot get killed. Krishna is also omniscient. So, how can he get fooled by Salva’s magic [Laughs]? So, we can explain this as, a little play of Yogamaya to cover Krishna momentarily or we can think as in the case of when Brahma stole all the calves, Krishna knew what he had done [Laughs], but he appeared to be, you know, puzzled after he saw all of his calves and cowherd boys disappeared. So, he can just be putting on an act to fool Salva and then attack him.
4.) What is the form of Yogamaya? What is the personal name of Yogamaya?
Well, in Vrindavan, Paurnamasi is said to be the form of Yogamaya. It’s not mentioned what happens in Dwaraka, who is [Laughs] Yogamaya in Dwaraka or other places. She’s an old lady [Laughs], and she arranges all sorts of things in Vrindavan for the Gopis.
Devotee: Thank you very much.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Hare Krsna !
Devotee: You mentioned before like in Vrindavan, like small children and old man.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Santa rasa.
Devotee: They don’t have particular rasa like Santa rasa.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Santa rasa, Santa. This is described in Nectar of Devotion, Rupa Goswami describes that.
Devotee: In this case, Paurnamasi also?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Oh, no. Well, no. She’s, she is more advanced [Laughs]. She’s not so neutral [Laughs].
Hare Krsna !
Devotees: Grantharaj Srimad Bhagavatam ki jai!!! HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj ki jai!!! Srila Prabhupada ki jai!!!