Srimad Bhagavatam 10.87.16 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | ISKCON Japan | 6 May 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 87 Verse 16.
ŚB 10.87.16
iti tava sūrayas try-adhipate ’khila-loka-mala-
kṣapaṇa-kathāmṛtābdhim avagāhya tapāṁsi jahuḥ
kim uta punaḥ sva-dhāma-vidhutāśaya-kāla-guṇāḥ
parama bhajanti ye padam ajasra-sukhānubhavam
Synonyms
iti — thus; tava — Your; sūrayaḥ — wise saints; tri — of the three (planetary systems of the universe, or the three modes of nature); adhipate — O master; akhila — of all; loka — the worlds; mala — the contamination; kṣapaṇa — which eradicates; kathā — of discussions; amṛta — nectar; abdhim — into the ocean; avagāhya — by diving deeply; tapāṁsi — their troubles; jahuḥ — have given up; kim uta — what to speak; punaḥ — moreover; sva — their own; dhāma — by the power; vidhuta — dispelled; āśaya — of their minds; kāla — and of time; guṇāḥ — the (undesirable) qualities; parama — O supreme one; bhajanti — worship; ye — who; padam — Your true nature; ajasra — uninterrupted; sukha — of happiness; anubhavam — (in which there is) experience.
Translation
Therefore, O master of the three worlds, the wise get rid of all misery by diving deep into the nectarean ocean of topics about You, which washes away all the contamination of the universe. Then what to speak of those who, having by spiritual strength rid their minds of bad habits and freed themselves from time, are able to worship Your true nature, O supreme one, finding within it uninterrupted bliss?
Purport
According to Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, in the previous verse those śrutis whose presentation of the Supreme Truth may seem impersonal clarified their true purpose. Now, in the present verse, those who focus exclusively on the divine Personality of Godhead, who speak of His transcendental pastimes, take their turn in praising Him.
Because all the Vedas declare the supremacy of the Personality of Godhead as the cause of all causes, discriminating persons should take to His worship. By diving into the ocean of His glories, intelligent devotees help dispel the distress of all souls and loosen their own burning attachment to materialistic life. These advancing devotees gradually give up all material attachment and lose any interest they once had in the troublesome austerities of karma, jñāna and yoga.
Beyond these devotees are the sūris, connoisseurs of spiritual truth, who honor the nectarean ocean of the Supreme Lord’s glories by immersing themselves fully within it. These mature devotees of the Supreme Lord achieve unimaginable perfection. The Lord, reciprocating their sincere endeavors, empowers them to realize Him in His personal form. Remembering with rapture the Lord’s intimate pastimes and entourage, they are automatically freed from the last subtle traces of mental contamination and from sensitivity to the unavoidable pains of disease and old age.
Referring to the purifying power of devotional service, the śrutis say, tad yathā puṣkara-palāśa āpo na śliṣyante evam evaṁ-vidi pāpaṁ karma na śliṣyate: “Just as water does not adhere to a lotus leaf, so sinful activities do not adhere to one who knows the truth in this way.” The Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa (14.7.28), Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa (3.12.9.8), Bṛhad-āraṇyaka Upaniṣad (4.4.28) and Baudhāyana-dharma-śāstra (2.6.11.30) all concur: na karmaṇā lipyate pāpakena. “One thus avoids becoming tainted by sinful activity.”
The Ṛg Veda (1.154.1) refers to the Supreme Lord’s pastimes as follows: viṣṇor nu kaṁ vīryāṇi pravocaṁ yaḥ pārthivāni vimame rajāṁsi. “Only he may fully enunciate the heroic deeds of Lord Viṣṇu who can count all the particles of dust in the world.” Many śruti-mantras glorify devotional service to the Lord, such as eko vaśī sarva-go ye ’nubhajanti dhīrās/ teṣāṁ sukhaṁ śāśvataṁ netareṣām: “He is the one omnipresent Lord and controller; only those wise souls who worship Him obtain eternal happiness, not anyone else.”
In this connection Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī prays:
sakala-veda-gaṇerita-sad-guṇas
tvam iti sarva-manīṣi-janā ratāḥ
tvayi subhadra-guṇa-śravaṇādibhis
tava pada-smaraṇena gata-klamāḥ
“Because all the Vedas describe Your transcendental qualities, all thoughtful persons are attracted to hearing and chanting about Your all-auspicious qualities. Thus by remembering Your lotus feet, they are freed from material distress.”
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj:
So, the original question of Parīkṣit is, how can the Vedas describe that Supreme Brahman? The previous verse mentioned Brhad, so by that it is indicating that we are talking about Brahman. And that Brahman remains, after everything else is destroyed. And the sages glorify that Brahman. So this verse continues by talking about who glorifies the Lord. But instead of talking about Brahman, they talk about the ocean of bliss, topics of the Lord.
So, descriptions of the Lord are very sweet. And they’re actually talking about topics of Brahman. The topics of Brahman are sweet [Laughs]. But obviously, this Brahman must have some sweet qualities. Must have, must have. Why because these topics, like Brahman, destroy all suffering in this world. In other words, that Brahman is Bhagavan. And Bhagavan has sweet qualities and sweet pastimes. Hearing those pastimes and qualities of the Lord, people destroy their suffering in this world.
So, people hear the topics and they can destroy their suffering. What to speak of about people who realize the Supreme Lord? So, those who realize the Lord definitely have washed away all contamination. And what do those people realize? They realize that sweet form. And because of that, then they become completely blissful. So, generally, when we talk about realizing Brahman, we don’t talk about experiencing the highest bliss. The emphasis is upon destroying illusion and suffering and ignorance of this world.
What happens when we destroy ignorance, illusion and suffering of this world? Well, we become peaceful. But is peace equal to bliss? Of course, the Srutis, the Vedas, Upanishads say this Brahman is Ananda, it is bliss. So, such a statement is a little bit of a problem for the impersonalist. Brahman should have no qualities, but Brahman is blissful [Laughs]. So, the only way they can counter that objection is to interpret Ananda. So, explanation of Ananda is, Ananda does not mean bliss, it means absence of suffering. So, we can describe Brahman in terms of negation.
Devotee: We can describe?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yeah. So, this is the argument they give [Laughs]. Of course, the Vaishnavas object to this and say this is not the direct meaning of bliss [Laughs]. So, there is a very famous verse in the Taittiriya Upanishad. There it says that the Brahman is rasa. And the Jiva realizing that Lord who is rasa become blissful. So, in other words, the Taittiriya Upanishad says that the Lord does have qualities, or Brahman does have qualities, and if we realize those qualities, the Jiva becomes blissful [Laughs]. So, there is no contradiction to say the Brahman is bliss [Laughs]. Instead of defining bliss by absence of something negatively, the Vaishnavas define bliss positively. And the Jivas realizing the Lord develop that bliss.
Of course, as Taittiriya Upanishad says, the Lord is actually rasa. Which means that the essential nature of the Lord is to establish relationships with His devotees. So, these blissful relationships with the Lord are called rasa. And the whole of Nectar of Devotion is about realizing the different rasas with the Lord. So, in that relationship or rasa, the Lord experiences bliss, the devotee experiences bliss. So, the devotee gets bliss from seeing the Lord’s wonderful qualities and the wonderful activities of the Lord. And the Supreme Lord becomes blissful on seeing the wonderful activities and qualities of the devotee. So, this is quite different from the bliss of an impersonalist.
So, those who cultivate jnana and liberation are said to have dried up hearts. There is no appreciation of rasa. Certainly, they get freedom from material miseries, but on the other hand, they have no experience of a relationship with the Lord. So, the scriptures describe that Supreme Brahman or Supreme Lord. There are two types of description. One is the philosophical description. Lord is supreme, independent, controls material energy, establishes relationships with the devotees. The other descriptions are concerning the pastimes of the Lord with His devotees in the spiritual world. So, scriptures can describe Supreme Lord in both these ways. Why? Because, ultimately, that Supreme Lord does have qualities and does have activities [Laughs].
So therefore, this verse is describing how the devotees, hearing those descriptions of the Lord, which are very sweet, they are able to give up their material pain completely. So, though the scriptures use words, the effect of hearing those words is very different from hearing material words. So therefore, we should not consider the words of the Vedas or other scriptures to be material. These words of scripture are filled with the Shakti of the Lord. And thus, they can destroy your pain and they can give you an experience of bliss in the spiritual world.
So, because it’s the Srutis or the Upanishads who are uttering these prayers, we see in the commentary that Jiva Goswami, Vishwanath, they’ll start quoting all Sruti [Laughs] to show how the Srutis are glorifying the sweet qualities of the Lord. So, one who worships that Lord and glorifies that Lord or hears descriptions of that Lord who has wonderful sweet qualities, he attains perfection. So, no one can say that the Vedas only talk about impersonal Brahman. So, all of the Upanishadic verses quoted here are showing that Upanishads describe the Lord with qualities.
Okay, Hare Krishna!
Q & A :
1.) Thank you very much Maharaj. So can you describe about an advanced devotee who is very blissful but they are free from material bondage, example is sick and very difficult for us. But very advanced devotees, they are always blissful. How? Can you explain? Hare Krishna.
So, the more the devotee advances in bhakti, the closer he comes to the Lord. And the closer he comes to the Lord, the further away he is from the material world. So, in other words, as the devotee advances, he becomes less attached to his material body. And if that devotee realizes the Lord in bhava and prema, he completely forgets his material body. So, the functions of the body continue, but the devotee is not even aware of it [Laughs]. And he may also not even be aware of society around him. So, such a devotee who has realized the Lord has manifested a spiritual body, and he identifies with that. And he regards that material body as some sort of burden. It’s something not useful to him which he has to carry around [Laughs]. So, very willingly, he’s ready to give it up. So, devotees who are not at the stage of bhava and prema, of course, are not so detached. So, they still have some identity with their material bodies. Still, they are not too disturbed by all the problems the body gives. So, in Nectar of Devotion, Rupa Goswami lists 64 Angas of Bhakti. One of them is, don’t be overcome by lamentation and other emotions [Laughs]. Even a devotee practicing sadhana should develop that quality of not being disturbed by his material circumstances. But the more advanced he becomes, then the more this manifests.
2.) Thank you, Hare Krishna. I have a question. In the Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 18, verse 54, it is described that after realizing the brahma bhuta stage, we can go to the happier stage of devotional service. At one time, if I’m very much attached to this material body, material society, etc., and I get pain from the material body. It means I’m not at the stage of the bhakti process?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: What?
Devotee: I’m not on the stage of bhakti process?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: If we get pains from our body?
Devotee: Yeah.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Oh [Laughs]. So, as I mentioned, as the devotee advances in bhakti, he becomes more tolerant of the disturbances from material body. So, the devotee will still feel pain and get sick and whatever, but he doesn’t become overwhelmed by those conditions. So, the more the devotee advances, then the more he becomes indifferent to all of these material conditions.
Devotee: Indifferent?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Indifferent, not effected by. So, a devotee cannot expect that immediately he will feel no pain from material circumstances, etc. This is a gradual process. In any case, the devotee should not blame the Lord for his suffering. He takes the suffering as a result of his karmas, and he simply continues to serve the Lord with devotion. And Bhagavatam says that a devotee that continues his bhakti in this way, he gets the mercy of the Lord.
Devotee: So, even without reaching brahma bhuta stage, we can do bhakti?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yeah, obviously [Laughs]. That particular verse has a nice meaning given by Vishwanath Chakravarti Thakur. So, he takes that verse as a verse concerning a jnani. So, the jnani advances and advances, and he gets indifferent to material world. So, in that process, the real jnani who wants liberation has to do a little bit of bhakti. If he does not do even a little bhakti, he cannot get liberation. So, the intelligent jnani will do a little bhakti and respect the Lord, even though he is trying to merge in Brahman, he will give respect to the Lord. However, when he is practicing jnana, that bhakti is not so noticeable, you can’t see it too much [Laughs]. So, when that jnani advances upto liberation, he has to give up all the processes of jnana which are in sattva guna, otherwise he has to stay in the material world. So he has to give up all those sattvic things in order to get liberation. So, he gives up all of the jnana processes, what’s left? The little bit of bhakti [Laughs]. So, that’s why that verse says, he attains bhakti to Me [Laughs]. So, he gives up all the jnana, only the bhakti is left, and then with that bhakti, the Lord allows him to merge [Laughs].
Devotee: Thank you so much.
3.) In purport, it says that you free yourself from the time. What does it mean? In purport, free yourself from the time.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: What?
Devotee: Then what to speak of those who, having by spiritual strength, rid their minds of bad habits and freed themselves from time, are able to worship your true nature, O Supreme One, finding within it uninterrupted bliss. So, this is the translation? So, what is the influence of time or which time is this?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Oh, free themselves from time? So, if one realizes the Lord, one is freed from all aspects of maya. So, a devotee automatically, if he attains the Lord, is free from everything in the material world. So, if devotees attain the Lord, they automatically become free from everything in the material world. So, here it mentions, vidhutāśaya-kāla-guṇāḥ he destroys his mind, he destroys time, he destroys gunas. Which means that when he realizes the Lord, he has developed a spiritual body, and that’s no longer under the influence of material time. It’s eternal. His prema and his rasa, his spiritual form is eternal. No influence of time.
Okay. Hare Krishna!
Devotees: Grantharaj Srimad Bhagavatam ki jai!!! HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj ki jai!!! Srila Prabhupada ki jai!!! Nitai Gaura Premanande Hari Haribol!!!