Srimad Bhagavatam – 10.77.33-37 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | ISKCON Japan | November 7, 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 33.
ŚB 10.77.33
taṁ śastra-pūgaiḥ praharantam ojasā
śālvaṁ śaraiḥ śaurir amogha-vikramaḥ
viddhvācchinad varma dhanuḥ śiro-maṇiṁ
saubhaṁ ca śatror gadayā ruroja ha
Synonyms
tam — Him; śastra — of weapons; pūgaiḥ — with torrents; praharantam — attacking; ojasā — with great force; śālvam — Śālva; śaraiḥ — with His arrows; śauriḥ — Lord Kṛṣṇa; amogha — never exhibited in vain; vikramaḥ — whose prowess; viddhvā — piercing; acchinat — He broke; varma — the armor; dhanuḥ — the bow; śiraḥ — on the head; maṇim — the jewel; saubham — the Saubha vehicle; ca — and; śatroḥ — of His enemy; gadayā — with His club; ruroja — He broke; ha — indeed.
Translation
While Śālva continued to hurl torrents of weapons at Him with great force, Lord Kṛṣṇa, whose prowess never fails, shot His arrows at Śālva, wounding him and shattering his armor, bow and crest jewel. Then with His club the Lord smashed His enemy’s Saubha airship.
Purport
Śrīla Prabhupāda writes: “Then Śālva thought that Kṛṣṇa had been bewildered by his mystic representations, he became encouraged and began to attack the Lord with greater strength and energy by showering volumes of arrows upon Him. But the enthusiasm of Śālva can be compared to the speedy march of flies into a fire. Lord Kṛṣṇa, by hurling His arrows with unfathomable strength, injured Śālva, whose armor, bow and jeweled helmet all scattered into pieces. With a crashing blow from Kṛṣṇa’s club, Śālva’s wonderful airplane burst into pieces and fell into the sea.” The fact that Śālva’s insignificant mystic power could not bewilder Lord Kṛṣṇa is here emphatically demonstrated.
Text 34
Shattered into thousands of pieces by Lord Kṛṣṇa’s club, the Saubha airship plummeted into the water. Śālva abandoned it, stationed himself on the ground, took up his club and rushed toward Lord Acyuta.
Text 35
As Śālva rushed at Him, the Lord shot a bhalla dart and cut off his arm that held the club. Having finally decided to kill Śālva, Kṛṣṇa then raised His Sudarśana disc weapon, which resembled the sun at the time of universal annihilation. The brilliantly shining Lord appeared like the easternmost mountain bearing the rising sun.
Text 36
Employing His disc, Lord Hari removed that great magician’s head with its earrings and crown, just as Purandara had used his thunderbolt to cut off Vṛtra’s head. Seeing this, all of Śālva’s followers cried out, “Alas, alas!”
Text 37
With sinful Śālva now dead and his Saubha airship destroyed, the heavens resounded with kettledrums played by groups of demigods. Then Dantavakra, wanting to avenge the death of his friends, furiously attacked the Lord.
Purport
Thus end the purports of the humble servants of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda to the Tenth Canto, Seventy-seventh Chapter, of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled “Lord Kṛṣṇa Slays the Demon Śālva.”
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj:
So these verses show how Krishna, in the end, finally killed Salva. Previously we saw how Salva fought, and then he used his mystic power to seemingly bewilder Krishna. But finally Krishna decided to kill him, so He threw His Sudarshan Chakra and cut off his head. So, we often see battles, for instance, Hiranyakasipu fighting with Narasimha Dev. So, the Lord, of course, can immediately kill the demon. We see, for instance, with Sisupala, Krishna just threw His Sudarshan Chakra, cut off his head, no fight [Laughs].
However, in other cases like this case, we see that there is some prolonged fighting taking place. In the case of Narasimha Dev, it’s described how they were fighting intensely and then Krishna or Narasimha Dev, He was fighting very furiously, and then suddenly Hiranyakasipu escaped from His grip. And then there is a comparison given, it is like Garuda, he has a snake. Of course, he is the enemy of the snakes and he has a snake in his paws, then he lets it go, then he lets the snake wiggle around, then he catches the snake again. Or we see a cat catches a mouse, and then it can actually kill the mouse, but it lets it go, and then the mouse will run for some time, and the cat will catch it again. So, in this way, we see how the Lord also enjoys a fight.
Of course, fighting in the material world is Rajoguna. And one of the characteristics of a Kshatriya is he likes to fight. So that may seem a little strange to some people, why do people like to fight? But some people have that nature in Rajoguna. So, in a Kshatriya, if he follows codes for fighting, then atleast that fighting quality in material nature is engaged properly. So, However, if that same fighting spirit is not governed by the Kshatriya codes, then it becomes useless. Of course, we see that many of these demoniac Kshatriyas like the Kauravas and here Salva, and then his friend Dantavakra, they seem to follow Kshatriya codes. So, what’s wrong with that? So, they seem to follow the Kshatriya codes, but they miss one important point. They like to fight the Lord [Laughs]. So, whatever good qualities of Kshatriya they follow, if they oppose the Lord, and they fight with the Lord, all of that is useless. So, they follow the codes of Kshatriya, and they don’t obey the Lord, then actually it’s adharma.
It’s described in Mahabharata, for sometime, Duryodhana ruled the kingdom, and he seemed to rule very nicely as a Kshatriya. But, he hated the Supreme Lord, he hated the devotees of the Supreme Lord, the Pandavas. So then he showed bad qualities. So, we see in this chapter, Salva fought very bravely, he was killed, and then his friend, like Dantavakra, they wanted revenge, this is natural for Kshatriya. But, because they all opposed the Lord, all of their values were useless. It all became adharma and then the Lord had to kill everybody. So, if one follows the Kshatriya codes in the material world nicely, with, you know, obedience to the Lord, that is called dharma. Still, it’s part of the material world.
So in the spiritual world, we don’t have Rajoguna, so technically, there are no Kshatriyas in the spiritual world. Here we see Krishna acts as a Kshatriya in Dwaraka. Krishna’s acting, or Vishnu acts as a Kshatriya by sitting on a throne in Vaikuntha. But we should never think Supreme Lord is bound by Rajoguna. So, the Lord can act as if He is in the gunas, but He isn’t [Laughs]. So, before Krishna went to Mathura and Dwaraka, He was in Vrindavan, He was acting like a Vaishya. A Vaishya is Rajoguna and Tamoguna. So, how can the Lord be in Tamoguna [Laughs]? So, therefore, when the Lord takes up the role of a Vaishya, Kshatriya, or Brahmana, or whatever, it has nothing to do with the material gunas at all. So, He may do this simply to set an example for people in the material world, so they can follow their dharma properly.
So, though there is no material gunas – Tamas, Rajas and Sattva, in the spiritual world, nevertheless, pastimes have to go on. Pastimes require action, behind the action you have to have emotions and desires. And there will be great variety of actions, desires, etc. But, not material. But, it may look material. So, therefore, we saw how Krishna seemed to be affected by lamentation and illusion, all ignorance. So, in the spiritual world, in separation with Krishna, the devotees are in lamentation. When Krishna is separated from Radha, He is in lamentation. But, this is all part of the spiritual world, nothing to do with ignorance. So, there is variety in the spiritual world, but nothing to do with material gunas. All this variety is there in spiritual world, simply as part of pastimes to create bliss.
So, if material person looks at the pastimes of Krishna, then they will look like material pastimes, because Krishna is happy, Krishna is sad, Krishna is lamenting, etc. Or even the impersonalists, they will look at the pastimes of Krishna and say, how can we aspire for this? We don’t want to suffer like Krishna. So, in Bhagavad Gita, it is described how a person fixed in jnana is not affected by gaining something in this material world or losing something. So, they cannot appreciate spiritual qualities, instead they go for no qualities, so they end up in impersonal Brahman. So, therefore, only a very fortunate person will be able to appreciate the pastimes of Krishna.
Hare Krsna !
Q & A:
1.) Why even impersonalists become fortunate? They can?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Oh, yes [Laughs].
Devotee: For example?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Sukadeva Goswami [Laughs]. So, that is the explanation of the Atmarama verse, which Krishna explains in Caitanya Caritamrta. So, this is one of the unique qualities of the Lord that, He has such attractive qualities, spiritual qualities, that even an impersonalist who doesn’t like qualities becomes attracted to the Lord [Laughs]. However, of all of the forms of the Lord, Krishna shows the most attractive qualities, so, then, by hearing the pastimes of Krishna, the impersonalist can become attracted to Bhagavan.
Of course, there’s a problem, because if you enter into Brahman, you don’t have any form, you don’t have any senses, so how could you hear the pastimes [Laughs]? However, if you are a Jivan Mukta impersonalist, you realize Brahman, you still have a body, so you still have ears, you still have eyes, so then you could get the possibility of hearing about Krishna. Of course, because you do have a material body, even if you are a Jivan Mukta, you can also become attracted to material things again.
2.) Hare Krishna Maharaj, Thank you for the wonderful class. You mentioned that the pastimes of Lord can be appreciated by only a few people. And in Bhagavad Gita also, Krishna says ‘manusyanam sahasresu kascid yatati siddhaye yatatam api siddhanam kascin mam vetti tattvatah’, a few people can appreciate. But sometime Maharaj, the young devotees, they ask a question that, if God is sometimes, and God and His pure devotees, they are covered by Yogamaya, so it becomes even more difficult to understand the God. But God appears here and do His pastimes to liberate the conditioned soul. Then why God is making the process so difficult that it is difficult to understand Him? So how to understand His appearance and His pastimes, that is difficult to understand. So how conditioned soul, they are not getting a very clear message. So how to understand this?
So to make it easier, the Lord comes as avatar. But even then, if a demon sees the avatar, he doesn’t change, he fights with Him, fights with the Lord [Laughs]. So, Hiranyakasipu fights with Narasimha Dev, Ravana fights with Rama, they see the Lord, but still, they cannot appreciate. So for such materialistic people, philosophy doesn’t work, and even if the Lord appears directly, still doesn’t work [Laughs]. For those who are not demoniac and so opposed to the Lord, they may be neutral or slight devotional, then, they can get great inspiration, they can appreciate the Lord’s pastimes.
However, Krishna acts even more human than any other form of the Lord, and therefore more difficult to understand, even by some devotees. So even if they hear the pastimes of Krishna in Bhagavatam, still they are more attracted to Rama or to Vishnu [Laughs]. So in that sense, Krishna is more difficult to understand. And thus even Indra or Brahma can fall into illusion also about Krishna.
3.) Maharaj, like we see these different fights in Bhagavatam, but like devotees, like sadhana bhaktas, like we, our state, we don’t fight physically and we associate only with devotees. Then that’s why devotees fight more, like, they more fight within the devotees, don’t associate outside. [Devotees laugh]
Well, if the gunas are still present in the devotees as anarthas, then obviously Rajoguna is there, so that can cause fighting. So when we’re doing sadhana bhakti, we’re following a process of doing bhakti, which destroys anarthas. So that means that some anarthas are still present. So, since they are present, then at certain times they show influence.
So, one of the effects of Rajoguna is kama and then that can turn into krodha, which is in ignorance. And this display of these anarthas is an obstacle to bhakti. However, if that anger or whatever is expressed against devotees, then it also becomes aparadha. So it’s not just unfavorable for bhakti, it actually can begin to destroy bhakti.
Devotee: Is there no solution?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: No. Solution is bhakti itself. If we continually indulge in the anarthas, of course, then it’s difficult to get rid of them. The tenth offense to the Holy Name is, inspite of hearing all the glories of the Name, one still maintains all one’s material attachments, so, this becomes an offense where we make no effort to give up our maya [Laughs]. So, we have the example of the boatman going up the river, but he has the anchor in the water, so you don’t go anywhere.
So if one hears about bhakti and how we get, supposed to get rid of our material attachments, and how we’re supposed to become attached to Krishna, but we keep indulging in our material desires, our material attachments, our anarthas, etc., with no endeavor to control them at all, then it’s like holding the anchor and then, yes, bhakti very nice, but I’m [Laughs] so attached to my material things, all the bhakti we do, nothing happens because we’re too attached. So anartha nivritti will not take place in that case.
Another example is given, a person is, say there is a dog running towards the east and you are trying to catch the dog. So you have to run on the same direction to catch the dog, go east if the dog is going to the east. So we also have to run east to catch the dog [Laughs]. If we run to the western direction, how can you catch the dog [Laughs]? So we’re trying to catch Krishna, but we go in the opposite direction for maya. How you can go and catch Krishna when you’re going in the opposite direction [Laughs]?
So, this of course, it becomes a little confusing for devotees because, we get the, if we do bhakti and we get some material results. So, they may identify those material results with bhakti and try to acquire more material results, more money, more position, more power, but they’re actually going in the wrong direction [Laughs]. So due to punyas, you may get money and power. Or due to bhakti, you may get money and power and control, but it becomes anartha, if you’re attracted to those things. So instead of going towards Krishna, we’re going in opposite direction, thinking this is Krishna, but it’s not [Laughs].
Another example is given. We have, we’re trying to grow the bhakti lata, the little plant growing up. So, similarly, the farmer plants the rice, and then he’s trying to get the rice to grow up, so he can get the grains to harvest. However, in India, there is a type of grass called samagas, it’s very clever. When it grows, the leaves look just like rice leaves. So foolish farmer sees that grass and says, oh, I got such nice rice, and he starts taking care of the samagas, and it grows and grows and grows, until the seeds come, no rice [Laughs]. So we think something is bhakti, but actually it’s an anartha [Laughs]. So in this way, we’re cheated of Prema.
Okay, Hare Krishna.
Devotees: Grantharaj Srimad Bhagavatam ki jai!!! HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj ki jai!!! Srila Prabhupada ki jai!!!