Srimad Bhagavatam 10.86.46-47 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | ISKCON Japan | 25 April 2026
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 vāsudevāya
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 86 Verse 46.
ŚB 10.86.46
śṛṇvatāṁ gadatāṁ śaśvad
arcatāṁ tvābhivandatām
ṇṛṇāṁ saṁvadatām antar
hṛdi bhāsy amalātmanām
Synonyms
śṛṇvatām — for those who are hearing; gadatām — speaking; śaśvat — constantly; arcatām — worshiping; tvā — You; abhivandatām — offering praise; nṛṇām — for men; saṁvadatām — conversing; antaḥ — within; hṛdi — the heart; bhāsi — You appear; amala — spotless; ātmanām — whose minds.
Translation
You reveal Yourself within the hearts of those persons of pure consciousness who constantly hear about You, chant about You, worship You, glorify You and converse with one another about You.
Text 47
Translation
But although You reside within the heart, You are very far away from those whose minds are disturbed by their entanglement in material work. Indeed, no one can grasp You by his material powers, for You reveal Yourself only in the hearts of those who have learned to appreciate Your transcendental qualities.
Purport
The all-merciful Lord is in everyone’s heart. Seeing Him there, however, is possible only when one’s heart is completely purified. Materialists may demand that God prove His existence by coming into view as a result of their empirical investigations, but God has no need to respond to such impudence. As Lord Kṛṣṇa states in Bhagavad-gītā (7.25):
nāhaṁ prakāśaḥ sarvasya
yoga-māyā-samāvṛtaḥ
mūḍho ’yaṁ nābhijānāti
loko mām ajam avyayam
“I am never manifest to the foolish and unintelligent. For them I am covered by My internal potency, and therefore they do not know that I am unborn and infallible.”
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj:
So, for a person using his material senses, it is very difficult to even see the atma. Atma is spiritual, your senses are material, so how can you see the spiritual atma with material senses? So, even to prove the existence of the atma by science is impossible. So, if that is impossible, how much more impossible it is to perceive the Supreme Lord with His form, qualities, and activities? Of course, it is may be praiseworthy that some scientists try to find the atma by scientific means, at least they think may be there is an atma [Laughs]. But, it is ultimately impossible.
So, you cannot see the atma with a microscope. It does not have a material form. So, when the scriptures say that the atma is smaller than the smallest and one ten thousandth of the tip of the hair, what it means is ultimately we can’t see it [Laughs]. So, with a microscope, we can see small things. But, that has a limit. So, then they have the electron microscope, they can see even smaller things like particles, atoms, etc. So, perhaps they can see something one ten thousandth of the tip of the hair, even if they can, they cannot see the atma because it’s not material.
Some scientists have tried a different thing. They weigh your body when you are alive and when you are dead [Laughs]. They say there is a little difference in the weight [Laughs]. But, the atma has no weight [Laughs]. So, difference in weight is not because the atma has left the body, but because your pranas and subtle body have left [Laughs]. So, subtle body is material, so we can say yes, it does have a little bit of weight to it.
So, we cannot prove atma by seeing or weighing or whatever. So, of course, then we have other means we could try. So, in the modern world, they have testimony, like we have sabda for scripture, that is testimony also. So, people may not believe in scripture, but they may believe in testimony of people of the present time. However, we can’t believe the testimony of any ordinary person. A person says, I see the atma, another one says, I don’t see the atma.
So, how do we believe one and not believe another? However, we do have indirect testimony from near-death experience, and those people have very similar experiences, and they say, I am not the body, I am the soul. So, there is testimony there from a certain type of person who has had an experience. But then again, we could say, I believe this testimony, I don’t believe the testimony. So, ultimately, we cannot definitely prove. We may have some idea that may be it could be so, but we have no definite proof.
So, the other way we can prove is simply accept scripture. So, it is similar to testimony of people who have near-death experience [Laughs]. So, you can accept or not accept, depending on your faith. Some people accept scripture as true, some people reject it. So, therefore, ultimately, according to science or whatever, we can’t prove even atma, what to speak of Supreme Lord.
The other way you can try to prove is by, we say, absence or negation. So, we cannot explain things in science unless we accept a conscious being like atma or God [Laughs]. So, that is the problem in quantum physics at the moment. It looks like there’s consciousness and there is no way of explaining it except consciousness, but some people still don’t want to accept [Laughs].
Devotee: Didn’t understand the meaning of?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Quantum physics [Laughs]. Yeah. So, in quantum physics, it looks as if consciousness is there. It looks like consciousness influences matter.
So, this is a problem in science that nobody can explain without accepting consciousness. You have to accept consciousness. If you don’t, then you are stuck. But still, they don’t want to accept [Laughs]. So, the only thing that can be done is to devise an experiment to show that, this particular experiment won’t work unless you do accept consciousness. If they devise such an experiment, then fine, everyone has to accept consciousness [Laughs].
So, anyway, there is a problem to prove even atma, what to speak of proving Supreme Lord. So, for that reason, some people will simply give up that idea of proving by science and they will just accept scripture. And the interesting fact is that the testimony of people who have near-death experience is very similar to what is said in scripture. So, we can say that whatever the people who have near-death experience, whatever they experience, is similar to what the sages must experience when they write scriptures.
Of course, counter-argument, we can argue against this and say, well, it’s all because they are experiencing in a certain way, but that’s all prejudiced by their individual, you know, ideas, whatever, individual consciousness. So, it doesn’t mean it’s true, it just means that’s what they experience [Laughs]. So, that’s true, but then again, we can also argue the same about science. If we say all the people that are saying, yes, soul exists according to scripture or near-death experience, they’re all an illusion. So, we can say, scientists also are using consciousness to prove whatever, you know, it could also be illusion [Laughs], everything could be illusion for them also [Laughs], just another illusion [Laughs].
So, that is why scripture itself says, the use of logic ends up with endless arguments [Laughs]. Most intelligent people will establish a conclusion which will defeat everybody else. But then another person a few years later, more intelligent, will defeat that and put a new theory up [Laughs]. And then for some time, everybody in the world accepts that, and then a few years later, another intelligent person says that’s wrong, and he establishes a new theory. So, this will go on forever [Laughs]. So, that is why scripture says logic itself is insubstantial. Ultimately, there’s no end to the arguments [Laughs]. Of course, one positive aspect of the human consciousness is we want a definite answer, we want a conclusion [Laughs]. However, logic and science cannot give us that final conclusion. Translation.
So, the solution is go to scripture. There you get a conclusion. It doesn’t say it’s insubstantial, there’s something higher. This is the final conclusion. That’s what scripture says. But to accept scripture requires faith. And if we don’t have faith, they don’t accept. So, scientists don’t have faith, they won’t accept it [Laughs]. So, this is the problem with the human being. He can choose different methods to get his knowledge.
So, scripture itself says the advanced human being, he will accept scripture. And then, of course, in scripture, there are different types of scripture. Ultimately, we have to come to the conclusion of scripture also [Laughs]. And our Acharyas say that finally, Bhagavatam is the conclusion of all the scriptures [Laughs]. Of course, even in Bhagavatam, then we get various propositions. So, therefore, the Acharyas give us the final conclusion of Bhagavatam [Laughs]. o, through this, we get proof by the statements of scripture that atma exists, different from material world. But more than that, we have a description of the Supreme Lord with form, qualities, and activities. So, if it’s difficult to accept atma, it’s even more difficult to accept the Supreme Lord [Laughs].
We find that some scientists, not all, but some, will tend to accept, okay, there’s some universal consciousness [Laughs]. But if we say, okay, the universal consciousness is Maha-Vishnu, He’s a huge form, and He’s lying on an ocean sleeping, and out of His pores come [Laughs] all the universes, scientists cannot even believe that [Laughs]. But it’s even harder for such a scientist who may accept an impersonal atma or something. It’s even more difficult if we say, well, the ultimate form of God is a little boy playing with the cows [Laughs]. But a person who has faith in scripture will accept that. So not only the person who has faith in scripture accepts this idea of Krishna is God, but if he follows the process in Bhagavatam, he can also realize it. So that is the ultimate proof.
So, as this verse states here, materialists cannot see the Lord. But He’s not on some far off planet beyond this universe. He’s actually in your heart. He’s very close. But a materialist can never see Him. So this is the misfortune of a materialist [Laughs]. The Lord is present before the person, but he can’t see Him [Laughs]. But one who is a devotee, then he hears, chants, worships the Lord, talks about the Lord, he can see Him. So this verse says, the present verse says, You appear in the heart of those persons who hear, chant, remember, etc.
Hare Krishna!
Q & A :
1.) Maharaj, Bhagavatam says that, become completely pure, then Krishna appears in the heart. But before that, we are now, before that situation, so sadhana bhakti, so gradually process. So pure devotee six kind of symptom, always depends on Krishna, Krishna protects me, etc. And he’s not attached to liberation, like that. So slowly, slowly we are attached to six kinds of symptoms, like appearing slowly, slowly. Right? So we have step by step only, not white and black, grey zone. Can you explain like that?
So, in sadhana, we do not see the Lord, but in bhava stage, then we can see the Lord. But in prema, we can see the Lord constantly. But not only we see the Lord, we experience the Lord fully in prema. So, before bhava, we do sadhana bhakti. And because we are not so pure, our senses are covered, etc, we don’t see the Lord. However, in the stage before bhava, that’s called asakti, you almost see the Lord [Laughs]. So it says, you have a vision of the Lord, like a reflection of the Lord in the heart. So, in other words, through sadhana bhakti, gradually that form of the Lord becomes more and more revealed. So we get a glimpse in asakti, and finally in bhava we get real vision of the Lord. So, before the asakti stage, then of course the bhakti is gradually growing, so we are becoming more and more qualified. So, we don’t experience the presence of the Lord by seeing Him, but there are symptoms. So, because of contact with the Lord, even in beginning bhakti, then we get destruction of sins and suffering, manifestation of good qualities. And the atma begins to experience a happiness, which is not material happiness, nor the happiness of liberation. So, that experience of happiness in the atma matures and becomes bliss when we see the Lord in bhava.
2.) Mostly we are, life is difficult, so liberation attachment so much I have [Laughs]. But I follow Krishna consciousness, that’s okay?
So, we see that even in scripture, the idea that we want to get rid of the material world is quite prominent. Therefore, in scripture itself it always says, perform bhakti, get rid of all your suffering [Laughs]. You hear this pastime of the Lord, you get rid of fear of snakes or something [Laughs] like that. So, in the beginning of devotional service, then we may expect such results, okay, I’ll get rid of my suffering, whatever like that. But the mature devotee will understand that his main process is simply to serve the Lord, and all these other aspects like getting rid of material suffering is accompanying symptom only. So, as the devotee advances, he develops more tolerance. And as he gets more tolerance, then he has not so much concern anymore for the sufferings of this material body.
3.) Hare Krishna Maharaj. Thank you for wonderful class. Maharaj you mentioned about these nine steps, sraddha, sadhu-sanga, bhajana-kriya, anartha-nivrtti etc. But in adi-lila, I think Mahaprabhu said that I am not so much attracted by sadhana bhakti, I like spontaneous or raganuga bhakti. So, I’m just wondering, like, in this nine-step process, can you connect it to sadhana bhakti, like beginning of sraddha, sadhu-sanga, bhajana-kriya, and then automatically, this is spontaneous raganuga bhakti will come? Or this is a different thing, this nine-step process and sadhana bhakti and raganuga bhakti. What is the transition? When we can experience transition between sadhana bhakti and raganuga bhakti?
So, raganuga is actually one type of sadhana. It’s not different from sadhana.
Devotee: Raganuga is not one type of sadhana?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: It is one type.
Devotee: Okay, okay.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: So, sadhana has two types, vaidhi and raganuga. However, both lead to bhava and prema. But, the result in prema will be slightly different. If we follow vaidhi sadhana, the prema will also have reverence for the Lord. And, we can realize Vishnu or the avatar forms, or even Krishna in Dwaraka or Aishwarya Goloka but if we do raganuga sadhana, we can realize Krishna in Vrindavan with no reverence.
Devotee: Thank you, Maharaj.
4.) Maharaj, I have another question. Your Divine Grace mentioned about the logic. And, I was remembering, Jaimini rishi, he was the propounder of this nyaya sastra. And, in Kalyana Kalpataru of Bhakti Vinoda Thakura, he also mentioned about this nyaya sastra. Is it the same thing that our, some of our Acharyas, they also studied for some time, this nyaya sastra?
So, nyaya sastras, nyaya is one of the six darshanas [Laughs], founded by Gautama. And, we don’t reject logic, but we don’t depend on it. So, we can use logic to establish siddhanta. But, we cannot distort the logic [Laughs], to try to prove something also [Laughs]. So, we can use logic, but it should follow the scripture, it should not depart from the conclusion. For instance, in Bhagavad Gita, then we can use logic and we can conclude that what Krishna says at the end, Surrender unto Me, in Me alone, that is the conclusion. We can establish that by logic. But, we can also misuse logic and say that the statement of Krishna, Surrender unto Me, is not the final statement, and we’ll say some other statement [Laughs] is final instead. But to come to that false conclusion, we do have to distort the meaning of words in scripture and start giving indirect interpretations. So, logic is useful, but at the same time, we realize its limitations.
5.) Hare Krishna Maharaj. We are using smartphones everyday, so much, many people are using, even homeless people [Laughs]. So, some country decided children should not use smartphone because brain doesn’t work. How do we use nicely smartphones because we don’t want reaction.
So everything we can use in Krishna consciousness, at the same time, we have to be careful. So we should try to link it somehow with development of our Krishna consciousness. So, a mobile phone, we can utilize because it’s convenient to communicate, etc. However, that same phone is utilized by other people to exploit you [Laughs]. They can exploit it to control your opinions, your views, your ideas, give you false knowledge. And exploit you and take your money [Laughs]. So the cell phone is there, but a lot of the content is there to take your money away [Laughs]. Why companies are interested in cell phones because they make a lot of money out of you [Laughs]. So they influence your mind and they make you want to buy different things [Laughs]. And of course, though, it’s useful if we depend on it, then we stop thinking and we let the phone think [Laughs]. So instead of thinking, we let the phone think for us [Laughs]. So of course, behind the phone there’s some other person, so actually somebody is controlling us [Laughs]. So therefore, we lose our independent capacity to think [Laughs]. So that’s why they want to limit the use for children [Laughs]. Because the child cannot distinguish how they’re getting exploited.
Hare Krishna. Jai. Haribol!
Devotees: Grantharaj Srimad Bhagavatam ki jai!!! HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj ki jai!!! Srila Prabhupada ki jai!!! Nitai Gaura Premanande Hari Haribol!!!