Srimad Bhagavatam – 10.9.20 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | ISKCON Chennai | Nov 10, 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
Om Namo Bhagavate Vāsudevāya
Om Namo Bhagavate Vāsudevāya
Om Namo Bhagavate Vāsudevāya
nama om vishnu-padaya krishna-preshthaya bhu-tale
srimate bhaktivedanta-svamin iti namine
namas te sarasvate deve gaura-vani-pracharine
nirvishesha-shunyavadi-pashchatya-desha-tarine
jaya sri-krishna-chaitanya
prabhu nityananda
sri-adwaita gadadhara
shrivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrinda
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
Reading from Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 10 Chapter 9 Verse 20.
ŚB 10.9.20
नेमं विरिञ्चो न भवो न श्रीरप्यङ्गसंश्रया ।\
प्रसादं लेभिरे गोपी यत्तत्प्राप विमुक्तिदात् ॥ २० ॥
nemaṁ viriñco na bhavo
na śrīr apy aṅga-saṁśrayā
prasādaṁ lebhire gopī
yat tat prāpa vimuktidāt
Synonyms
na — not; imam — this exalted position; viriñcaḥ — Lord Brahmā; na — nor; Bhavaḥ — Lord Śiva; na — nor; śrīḥ — the goddess of fortune; api — indeed; aṅga-saṁśrayā — although she is always the better half of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; prasādam — mercy; lebhire — obtained; gopī — mother Yaśodā; yat tat — as that which; prāpa — obtained; vimukti-dāt — from Kṛṣṇa, who gives deliverance from this material world.
Translation
Neither Lord Brahmā, nor Lord Śiva, nor even the goddess of fortune, who is always the better half of the Supreme Lord, can obtain from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the deliverer from this material world, such mercy as received by mother Yaśodā.
Purport
This is a comparative study between mother Yaśodā and other devotees of the Lord. As stated in Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Ādi 5.142), ekale īśvara kṛṣṇa, āra saba bhṛtya: the only supreme master is Kṛṣṇa, and all others are His servants. Kṛṣṇa has the transcendental quality of bhṛtya-vaśyatā, becoming subordinate to His bhṛtya, or servant. Now, although everyone is bhṛtya and although Kṛṣṇa has the quality of becoming subordinate to His bhṛtya, the position of mother Yaśodā is the greatest. Lord Brahmā is bhṛtya, a servant of Kṛṣṇa, and he is ādi-kavi, the original creator of this universe (tene brahma hṛdā ya ādi-kavaye). Nonetheless, even he could not obtain such mercy as mother Yaśodā. As for Lord Śiva, he is the topmost Vaiṣṇava (vaiṣṇavānāṁ yathā śambhuḥ). What to speak of Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva, the goddess of fortune, Lakṣmī, is the Lord’s constant companion in service, since she always associates with His body. But even she could not get such mercy. Therefore Mahārāja Parīkṣit was surprised, thinking, “What did mother Yaśodā and Nanda Mahārāja do in their previous lives by which they got such a great opportunity, the opportunity to be the affectionate father and mother of Kṛṣṇa?”
In this verse there are three negative pronouncements — na, na, na. When anything is uttered three times — “do it, do it, do it” — one should understand that this is meant to indicate great stress on a fact. In this verse, we find na lebhire, na lebhire, na lebhire. Yet mother Yaśodā is in the supermost exalted position, and thus Kṛṣṇa has become completely subordinate to her.
The word vimuktidāt is also significant. There are different types of liberation, such as sāyujya, sālokya, sārūpya, sārṣṭi and sāmīpya, but vimukti means “special mukti.” When after liberation one is situated on the platform of prema-bhakti, one is said to have achieved vimukti, “special mukti.” Therefore the word na is mentioned. That exalted platform of premā is described by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu as premā pum-artho mahān, and mother Yaśodā naturally acts in such an exalted position in loving affairs. She is therefore a nitya-siddha devotee, an expansion of Kṛṣṇa’s hlādinī potency, His potency to enjoy transcendental bliss through expansions who are special devotees (ānanda-cinmaya-rasa-pratibhāvitābhiḥ). Such devotees are not sādhana-siddha.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj:
Here we have a comparison of Mother Yasoda with other devotees, that is Brahma, Shiva, and Lakshmi. And the comparison is, of course, the mercy that Mother Yasoda got. And by that mercy she got a position of service that could not be attained by others. So, of course, to mention Brahma, Shiva, and Lakshmi doesn’t mean only them, others also are included. However, they are all regarded as very great devotees of the Lord. However, even though they are devotees, do not have the same position as Mother Yasoda. So, this is a glorification of Mother Yasoda. However, it’s a glorification of all the devotees in Vrindavan. We see, later on that Brahma, he prays, let me be a blade of grass in Vrindavan. So, the position of those devotees worshipping Krishna in Vrindavan is very special, it’s the highest of all.
Of course, Prabhupada also explains that by analysing the word vimukti. So, of course, mukti means liberation. But then the word vimukti is used. So, why do we have to say vimukti? So, sometimes this vimukti is used because the syllable ‘vi’ in front of mukti has a special significance. Just as we have a word like ‘ahalada’ which means joy and ‘prahlada’ means great joy. So, we have mukti and we have vimukti. So, the v stands for vishesha. So, that word vishesha means special, so it’s extraordinary mercy, not just ordinary mercy or ordinary liberation.
So, Mother Yasoda has a very special position in the spiritual world. Now, of course, everyone in the spiritual world has special liberation because it’s better than sāyujya [Laughs]. So, sometimes the word vimukti is used in comparison to mukti to mean beyond sāyujya mukti. However, we find that the residents of Vrindavan and of course a devotee like Yasoda, they’re even more special. And the speciality is that the Lord serves those devotees more than He serves the others, He is controlled by the devotees in Vrindavan more than He’s controlled by the residents of Vaikuntha. And of course, even among the people of Vrindavan, Yasoda has a special position. No one else is able to tie up Krishna. Even Nanda Maharaj doesn’t tie up Krishna [Laughs]. So, Mother Yasoda has a very, very exalted position in Vrindavan.
If we use the word vimukti, then we may think that ok, Mother Yasoda was in the material world and she got liberated. However, sometimes the word is not used to indicate some event that happened. So in other words, she didn’t get liberated, she’s eternally liberated. So another word we use is siddha. So, of course, that also can be used to mean a person became siddha, he became perfect. However, it can also mean that he didn’t become perfect, he was always perfect. So to make that clear, then we also use the word Nitya Siddha. So, these are persons or jivas who don’t have to practice at all, they are eternally endowed with this Prema for the Supreme Lord. So, in comparison to that, we call those persons in the material world who perform pure bhakti and attain Prema and go to the spiritual world as Sadhana Siddha, we distinguish them.
So, by saying sadhana siddha, it indicates that at one point they were in the material world without Prema, but they attained Prema. But a question will also arise, people in the material world, jivas, they perform bhakti and then they attain Bhava, then they attain Prema. But the question could be asked, Prema is spiritual. Everything spiritual is eternal. But they attain Prema, that means they just got it, so it’s not eternal. So yes, definitely in the material world they don’t have Prema and then they attain it. So, their attainment takes place at a certain point in time. But that doesn’t mean the Prema itself is not eternal. So it means that Prema is eternal, it’s not created for them, it’s eternally existing but it manifests in the Jiva.
So that is explained in the definition of sadhana bhakti given in Nectar of Devotion. So the definition of sadhana is to attain Bhava. But Bhava itself, is it eternal or not? So then the second line says that Bhava actually simply manifests, it’s not created in the Jiva, it manifests in the Jiva of the Nitya-Siddhas. So in other words, Bhava and Prema of the Nitya-Siddhas is there, it could be Vatsalya Rasa in the case of Mother Yasoda, Madhurya Rasa in the case of the Gopis or Sakhya Rasa in the case of the cowherd boys.
So those different Bhavas are eternal in the spiritual world, they are not created. But by doing sadhana, engaging our senses and mind, that Bhava manifests in the Jiva, in the material world. In other words, the eternal Bhavas of the inhabitants of the spiritual world manifest in the Jiva, through sadhana bhakti. If the devotee or the person doesn’t do any bhakti, any pure bhakti, it doesn’t manifest. And if we do follow the proper process, if we follow the scriptures and the Acharyas, then that Nitya-Siddha Bhava will manifest in the Jiva. And what is that Nitya-Siddha Bhava? It is part of the internal energy of Krishna.
All these rasas, all these Bhavas in the spiritual world are part of the Hladini and Samvit Shaktis. So the Hladini and Samvit Shakti manifests in the Jiva. So in other words, the Jiva is tatastha Shakti, but he gets the portion of the antaranga shakti, Svarupa shakti of the Lord also. But he does not change from Jiva shakti to something else, he remains Jiva [Laughs]. And then this portion of the cit shakti or Swarupa shakti becomes part of the Jiva. And thus he is completely different from the jivas in the material world. The jivas in the material world that don’t perform any bhakti don’t get that cit shakti. Instead they are covered by bahiranga shakti [Laughs], maya [Laughs]. That of course does not become part of the Jiva, it is covering of the Jiva. But it sticks to the Jiva because the Jiva is in ignorance. If we get rid of the ignorance, we get rid of the maya. That you can do with Jnana Yoga. But that doesn’t give you the cit shakti at all. So, we do sadhana bhakti, then we get the cit shakti also, so we end up in the spiritual world, endowed with that cit shakti, even though we are tatastha shakti.
So, Krishna promises in Bhagavad Gita and of course Upanishads and Brahma Sutras say, you don’t fall from that position. And the reason is that cit shakti is part of that Jiva, so it never leaves him, so he cannot be affected by ignorance, it’s cit shakti. So the Jiva in the material world ends up with the eternal cit shakti and ends up in the spiritual world. And though we can distinguish that Jiva by saying he is one from the material world who went to the spiritual world, at the same time, spiritual world is beyond time, so therefore he is there eternally. So, in this way, the Jiva from the material world ends up in the spiritual world and becomes eternally there [Laughs]. So, of course, those jivas who come from the material world and go to the spiritual world, they are called Sadhana Siddhas. Those who are eternally there are called Nitya Siddhas. However, we cannot, in the spiritual world, distinguish them. Because they all become eternally there [Laughs]. And they are all there in perfect condition. They are all endowed with Prema and Rasa.
Of course, in the spiritual world, as I mentioned, there are gradations of Prema also. So, among those in Vatsalya rasa, Nanda and Yasoda are considered the highest. And among the cowherds, we have Sridama and Sudama and others. And among the Gopis, we have Radha and her group. So, we cannot become those particular individuals because we remain separate jivas, but we can follow them. So, by following them and serving in the same way, then we can attain a similar status. So, of course, this we can say is a type of sārūpya [Laughs]. If you do devotion to Vishnu, you become like Vishnu and get four arms. If you follow Krishna, you become a cowherd [Laughs] with two arms [Laughs]. And according to who you follow, you may become a young cowherd or you may become an old cowherd or you may become a Gopi [Laughs]. This of course is natural because Krishna Himself says in Bhagavad Gita, if you worship Devatas, you go to Devatas, if you worship me, you come to me [Laughs]. So if you worship the cowherd boys, you go to the cowherd boys [Laughs]. If you worship the Gopis, you go to the Gopis [Laughs]. So, this is the general procedure for going to the spiritual world, we choose our object of worship and we perform pure bhakti. And if we perform that pure bhakti in the proper way, then we enter into Vrindavan in the spiritual world. And that position is much higher than the position of Brahma or Shiva or Lakshmi. Of course, they are all devotees [Laughs]. But as I said, the devotees of Vrindavan are in the highest position.
Hare Krsna!
Q&A
1.) Maharaj in this shloka, two words are used, like lebhire and prāpa. So these two words normally, we cannot apply these two words to the Nitya Siddha. These two words, lebhire and prāpa.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj : They don’t have to attain.
Devotee : Because it’s already there. But in Sanskrit, we don’t have any other words to use. Because to replace these two words, in Sanskrit we don’t have anything else.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj : So, we also have examples of such usage, where it says that, in the first canto and second canto and other cantos, where the Lord accepted the form of Matsya or Kurma. So, it gives an accepted, which means a particular point in time. But actually, the forms are eternal. So how could he accept it? Because always, eternally He has those forms. So, therefore, our Acharyas’ always comment when that word comes up, and says it doesn’t mean that it happened at once. It’s an eternal situation. So, instead of giving in a certain time that they accepted that form, they have eternally accepted that form. And the same can be said for this, that she eternally has attained this mercy, which the others did not attain. Sometimes, just to make clear the eternal nature of things, the present tense is used. And the present tense means it’s eternally like that, in that condition.
So, the verses may explain or describe Krishna’s past times, but it’s put in the present tense to indicate that He is playing in Vrindavan eternally. So, from this we learn that we cannot always use the tense verbs to come to some conclusion, because it can mean past or present, eternally. It doesn’t mean certain time. Sometimes it indicates a condition, which may be eternal. Sometimes it may indicate a particular event in the past.
2.) Another question, you are saying that when a conditioned soul goes to the spiritual world, although he is a sadhana siddha, because in the spiritual world the time, which is eternal, due to the eternity of the time, we cannot trace out when he came to the spiritual world. So, can you explain a little bit more? Because, see, there is a… that conditioned soul was once in a material world. So, in the material point of view, there is a certain period of time, but when you compare it to the spiritual world, that time factor doesn’t work, because of eternity.
So, perception of past, present and future are due to the influence of kala, which is part of material maya. So, if there is no kala in the spiritual world, then nothing should happen. Actions happen over time for us. And if that time is not there, how can there be actions? But, we do see the spiritual world is full of past times. So, instead of material time, we have spiritual time. But, material time is destructive. Time is there to destroy everything. So, how is time used in the spiritual world? It is used to increase bliss. So, time is simply a factor, part of the internal energy of Krishna, the perception of time there, to produce past times, to increase rasa and consequently bliss. And that time is flexible according to the will of Krishna. So, it can increase, it can decrease, it can go backwards, it can do anything. Because, that has no meaning in spiritual [Laughs]. And it is completely unrelated to material world. So, if you are in the spiritual world, you cannot remember anything from material world, which is part of material time. One is continually experiencing bliss in the present.
3.) Hare Krishna Maharaj. Maharaj a few classes ago you mentioned that all the five rasas are meant for human form in the spiritual world. So, how do we understand it for Santa rasa Maharaj? Because, we usually think that Santa rasa is like paraphernalia, trees, cows, birds and all those things. So, Santa rasa, basically what I thought was, it was trees, birds, paraphernalia and all those things in the spiritual world….
If you look in the Nectar of Devotion, in the later sections, in the southern section for instance, and in the next section, the western section, the Santa Rasa is described. And the persons who are described in Santa Rasa are people, not plants and animals, etc. Just like we do have the Kumaras they are in Santa Rasa. So, you have some elders in the spiritual world, persons who are attracted to Santa Rasa, and they are experiencing some very peaceful existence on seeing Krishna [Laughs]. So, it is included in Rasa, even though it is not glorified much, because it has the elements of individual perception of the Lord, and we have Anubhavas, Sattvika bhavas, Vyabhīcārī bhavas and Sthayi bhavas.
Devotee: Maharaj, do they have any interaction with the Lord in that case?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj : Yeah, because that’s the definition of the rasa [Laughs]. We see when Krishna entered the wrestling arena in Mathura, then the yogis saw Krishna as Supreme Brahman [Laughs]. So, they see that wonderful form of Krishna, and then become inspired by Brahman.
4.) Hare Krishna Maharaj, will there be any distinction or differences between the Bhava or Prema experienced by Nitya Siddha devotees and Sadhana Siddha devotees?
Well, the only difference is those who do Sadhana are in a lesser position of intensity. They can have similar, but less intense.
Devotee: Once they attain the spiritual world, there is no difference, because both are the same. Only the difference is we see in the material world only.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Well, yeah, in the spiritual world. So, in the spiritual world, we can analyze and say, OK, there is less intense Prema, more intense Prema, etc. But in the spiritual world, that kind of conception of more and less is not there.
Yeah, but we see in the Ujjwala Nilamani, in describing the different types of Sakhis of Radha, then there is like two grades [Laughs], if you can attain. Prana Sakhi, and Prana Sakhi, and Priya Sakhi, and Parama prestha Sakhi, etc. So, the Jivas who are from material world, they can get up to one level, by following after those on a higher level. So, then we have two types there. Which would indicate slightly less intensity in their type of Prema.
5.) Few classes ago, you said that Gopakumara chanted the mantra given by his Guru, then chanted the holy name given by Narada muni. Finally, Radharani awarded him, as well as the Brahmana, who also chanted the mantra given by Guru, with Sakya rasa. Why did not she award Vatsalya or Madhura? Vatsalya or Madhura is awarded by Krishna or Radharani, or both?
Well, actually it was awarded by Gopa kumara to the Brahmana. But it was because of Radha. She told him to go there and give mercy to the Brahmana. But we cannot separate Krishna’s mercy from Radha’s mercy.
6.) What is the emotion that we should have while offering a lamp to Lord Damodara? To whom? To Lord Damodara. When cooking or making a garland, we have the emotion that we are cooking for Krishna’s pleasure. What specific emotion should we hold in our hearts while offering a lamp to Krishna?
So the offering of lamps and of course other offerings also you can do are traditional type of welcome. But the origin actually is the welcome is a purification. Just like you wash somebody’s feet when they come. So by offering the fire, you purify the aura. Of course, Krishna doesn’t have to be purified. But that is done just as a type of service. Just as Krishna doesn’t have to eat, but we cook for him.
7.)Maharaj please accept my Namaskaram. If I realize that I have deviated from Guru, how do I correct my mistakes? Or can you suggest that what prayashcitham I should follow?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj : So what happens if you deviate from the Guru’s instruction?
So the Guror avajñā is one of the namaparadhas. So we follow the order of Guru or we don’t disrespect the Guru. What if we disobey the Guru when the Guru says you jump off a cliff? Some people very very dedicated will jump off the cliff. Others will say, well, why should a Guru say something like that? Is he qualified as a Guru anymore? So a disciple has to be discreet. He has to use his discrimination in determining what are the orders of Guru. So we accept a Guru in order to advance in spiritual life. And thus we should accept all those instructions which are favourable for that advancement. And not to accept those instructions is offense.
So if Guru says the main way in which we advance in devotional service is Nama Sankirtan and you say, I don’t like Nama Sankirtan, so I’m not going to chant the holy name, then that’s offense. However, then there are orders or instructions that may not be directly devotional service. So the Guru may say, marry this person. And then you may marry the person and then you suffer. So should you refuse the Guru? Is that Guru Aparadh to refuse that order? So is not a direct spiritual order and there’s nothing in scripture that says the Guru should tell you how to get married. There’s nothing like that. And so therefore we do have to have some discretion in following orders of Guru.
8.) There are two kinds of instructions we see from the Guru. One is primary instruction and the second is details instruction. The primary instruction we cannot avoid it. A secondary instruction which is not connected with our devotional life, we might avoid it. Is it okay?
So, if the Guru orders to practice the primary anga of Bhakti, there can never be any negative things about that. If the Guru is ordering you to do something which is not Bhakti but which may be favourable, then of course it may or may not be favourable according to the circumstances [Laughs]. So marriage is an example. It’s got nothing to do with, it’s not mentioned as an anga of Bhakti to get married. However, if one is unsuitable as a Brahmachari, then the option is to get married. And if you’re married, then you could do your devotional service better. So that’s favourable in that sense.
So that type of instruction, you’re having difficulty, so better you get married. That’s not a bad instruction. But to give more details than that may be problematic. So who to get married to, how to get married, when to get married, how many children to have, what job you should have, all that is all very secondary. But it may lead to that. So the problem with these secondary elements that may support, they may or may not be favourable for your Bhakti and we cannot predict. So therefore, you may or may not do [Laughs].
Devotees: Grantharaj Srimad Bhagavatam ki jai!!! HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj ki jai!!! Srila Prabhupada ki jai!!! Nitai Gaura Premanande Hari Haribol!!!