Srimad Bhagavatam 11.10.34 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | ISKCON Chennai | 17 April 2021
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 11 Chapter 10 Verse 34.
ŚB 11.10.34
kāla ātmāgamo lokaḥ
svabhāvo dharma eva ca
iti māṁ bahudhā prāhur
guṇa-vyatikare sati
Synonyms
kālaḥ — time; ātmā — the self; āgamaḥ — Vedic knowledge; lokaḥ — the universe; svabhāvaḥ — different natures of different living entities; dharmaḥ — religious principles; eva — certainly; ca — also; iti — thus; mām — Me; bahudhā — in many ways; prāhuḥ — they call; guṇa — of the modes of nature; vyatikare — agitation; sati — when there is.
Translation
When there is agitation and interaction of the material modes of nature, the living entities then describe Me in various ways such as all-powerful time, the Self, Vedic knowledge, the universe, one’s own nature, religious ceremonies and so on.
Purport
One can experience the potency of the Personality of Godhead by observing how different species of life — demigods, human beings, animals, fish, birds, insects, plants, etc. — gradually evolve their natures and activities. Each species of life executes a particular process of sense gratification, and this function is called the dharma of the species. Lacking knowledge of the Personality of Godhead, ordinary persons catch a glimpse of the Lord’s potencies in the above-mentioned manifestations. Śrīla Madhvācārya has cited the following information from the Tantra-bhāgavata. The Lord is called kāla, or time, because He is the mover and controller of all material qualities. Because He is complete and perfect, He is called ātmā, or the Self; and He is the personification of all knowledge. The word svabhāva indicates that the Lord fully controls His own destiny; and as the maintainer of everyone He is called dharma. One on the liberated platform can achieve unlimited bliss by worshiping the Personality of Godhead, whereas those who are ignorant of the Lord try to find happiness by concocting other objects of worship. If one stubbornly imagines that anything is independent of the Lord, one will remain in the grip of the illusory network of the Lord’s potency. Seeing the inevitability of the destruction of material things, one is constantly fearful and perpetually laments in the darkness of ignorance. In such darkness there is no question of happiness. Therefore, one should never think that anything is independent of the Personality of Godhead. As soon as one considers anything to be independent of the Lord, one is immediately gripped by the Lord’s illusory network, called māyā. One should always remain humble and obedient to the Personality of Godhead, even when one is liberated, and thus one will achieve the supreme spiritual happiness.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj:
This is the conclusion on the modes of material nature. So, the statement here is that, when the prakrti transforms in various ways, then living entities describe the Lord in different ways, not understanding that the Lord is the cause of everything. So, here it gives a list of the different items that people designate as supreme, some of which are, in one sense, good, like āgamaḥ means the Vedas. So, yes, the Vedas represent the Supreme Lord. About loka or planets, of course, it’s material. And we have these other items also, like dharma, also is comsidered to be material. And time, of course, is material.
So, in this way, people concoct various ideas about what is the ultimate truth. So, these things are the Lord, but they’re indirectly the Lord. So, the Lord has his shakti called maya shakti or achit shakti. And this is considered to be non-different from the Lord, but also different from the Lord. So, it is different because it is achit, unconscious. So, time and karma and svabhava, etc, loka, these are all material. Of all these items, we can say may be Atma is not [Laughs] material, it’s spiritual, but those in the material world think I’m the body, so then again, the self also becomes material.
So, in this way, a person in the material world views everything in terms of enjoyment. And as explained previously, this gives rise to suffering. So, on the other hand, if we have knowledge, then we understand the true position of these items. So, we know that time is a subtle aspect of maya shakti. And in the material world, it has past, present, future. And within time, there is creation and destruction. So, therefore, ultimately, time is a negative factor. To counteract that, the living entity, the human being at least, tries within time, within his lifetime, to get enjoyment.
From the spiritual point of view, of course, time does not exist. In the spiritual world, there is no past, present, future. So, spiritual world is quite different from material world. But within this concept of time in the material world, then, we think of times for material enjoyment. And there must be a beginning and end to that enjoyment. In the spiritual world, there is no beginning and no end to anything. So, therefore, the happiness is eternal.
So, once we are stuck within time, we identify with a body. Then we do action to get the enjoyment. And if we are more fortunate, we will at least follow scriptures, that is karma scriptures to get the enjoyment. And as a result of all of this, we get a better body like a devata body. So, all of this is material world. And material living entities, material consciousness, then they work within these parameters, time, loka, body, etc, karma, to get their enjoyment. And all of this is resulting from gunas of material nature. And the living entity doesn’t see that behind all of this is the Lord, the controller of everything.
So, the first work of the scripture, the duty of the scripture is to make the jiva understand that beyond all of these items mentioned here, we have atma and Supreme Lord. And then we can see that working with these different items here ultimately is meaningful. At the same time, we can see that since these are all emanating from the maya shakti, this energy of the Lord, there are positive elements in the spiritual world that resemble these things. So, with the maya shakti, the Lord creates all of these things mentioned in this verse. And with His chit shakti in the spiritual world, He creates similar types of things.
So, we don’t have the material type of time, but we do have a resemblance to time. So, events happen and there is a beginning and middle and then an end to each activity. But there is no destructive element of time where over time, one gets old and dies. So, as we have bodies in the material world, we have bodies in the spiritual world. We have senses in the material world, we have senses in spiritual world. We have activities in the material world such as dharma and karma and in the spiritual world, we also have activities. But in the spiritual world, all those activities are bhakti. So, technically they are called anubhavas. And as we have places and lokas in the material world, so we have places in the spiritual world like Vaikuntha and Goloka. But the places in the material world are temporary, the places in the spiritual world are eternal.
In the material world, we have the svabhava, which means the power which transforms a living entity into a devata or an animal etc. However, in the spiritual world, there is no change of body etc. However, we have the chit shakti of the Lord, expanding as the lila shakti, to create events in the spiritual world for the enjoyment of the Lord. So, of course, in the material world, we have the gunas, sattva, rajas and tamas. All of that is covered by ignorance. These gunas do not exist in the spiritual world. But we do have a type of spiritual ignorance. This is part of the chit shakti. So, we call this Yogamaya.
So, by this power of Yogamaya, the jivas in the spiritual world are not aware of certain things. For instance, because of the Yogamaya potency, Krishna made Brahma see all of these Vishnu forms and then suddenly He disappeared. So, certain things are hidden from the vision of the jiva in the spiritual world. So, this is by the Yogamaya shakti. But this does not create any problem like the material ignorance. It is used by the Lord to increase the prema. So, it’s quite different from the ignorance of the material world.
We see that, sometimes we describe the sleep of Vishnu as yoganidra. But then, if the Lord is sleeping, that is tamoguna. So, then our Acharyas explain that this sleeping is called yoganidra. And it is actually the Lord enjoying pastimes with His associates. So, it may look like sleep, but rather it is internal experience of bliss with devotees. So, rajoguna in the material world gives rise to passion and lots of activity. But of course, it is material activity for material enjoyment. So, in the spiritual world also, there is a very, there’s a lot of activity. There is eagerness to serve the Lord. So, this is not a bad quality in the spiritual world, it is a good quality. And it also is useful for increasing prema.
In the material world, we have sattvaguna, which creates heavenly planets. And of course, in the spiritual world, we don’t have that sattvaguna. But we often hear the word visuddha sattva. So, this means pure spiritual existence with no sattvaguna of the material world at all. So, like in the material world, we have gunas, so, we do have something like gunas in the spiritual world but they are also quite different. In any case, everything in the spiritual world and everything in the material world is because of the shaktis of Supreme Lord.
So, the spiritual world is under the control of the Supreme Lord. And the material world is under the control of the Supreme Lord. So, in the material world, the jivas in ignorance cannot appreciate this. They think that, everything is here in the material world, operating without a Supreme Lord. So, that’s why this verse says, that they say that all of these different elements like the lokas, dharma and kala are Me or the Supreme Lord. In other words, by using these different things, they believe that they can get happiness. However, the only way they can get happiness is by realizing that all of these elements are arising from the maya shakti of the Supreme Lord.
And because they are all operating for giving enjoyment to ignorant jivas, then one can understand that ultimately we should get out of this situation completely. So, instead of being under the control of all of these material elements, it is better that we are under the control of the spiritual elements. So, the scripture reveals these things so that jiva can make a good choice. If the jiva does not have knowledge, it is very difficult to choose. So, therefore, I think as Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur says, in the material world, what is the choice? It is like the drunkard, his choice is whisky or brandy. So, in the material world, you can choose one body or another body, one or in the other guna, it’s all material world, all prison. Then we understand that there is a bigger choice. But it is up to the individual to choose.
Hare Krishna!
Q & A :
1.) Maharaj, you mentioned with regard to the Acharyas mentioning about the yoganidra is the Lord is having His pastimes. How to appreciate in case of our deities like Lord Ranganatha or Ananta Padmanabha who are also kind of such a posture?
So, all of these are representing the Lord lying on Ananta Sesha. And when He is lying down, obviously He is resting [Laughs]. And sometimes He is also sleeping. So, it says that for four months He goes to sleep on the milk ocean. That’s from, I think, oh, it’s probably the whole chaturmasya period [Laughs]. At the end of chaturmasya, He wakes up. But that is the same type of sleep. Obviously, the Lord cannot be an ignorant. So, of course, in our sleep, we may have dreams. In the Lord’s sleep, it is not really a dream, but He is also having pastimes. But we cannot see them. So, that sleep is, we can say for, may be we can say it is for fooling the jivas [Laughs]. It gives an appearance of the Lord that He is something like a human being. But for pastimes, the Lord may take rest. But Lord is never put under tamoguna. So, within that sleep, then the Lord is still 100% conscious.
Devotee: Such pastimes are also known to these pure devotees of the Lord, Maharaj?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Well, if the jiva attains prema, then he can enter into any of these Lord’s pastimes.
Devotee: Maharaj, you mentioned prema bhaktas can enter into any pastimes? Any prema bhakta of any rasa can enter into any pastimes?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: It’s up to the Supreme Lord and the qualification of the prema bhakta.
2.) Is there something like vitamo or virajo like visuddha assuming ‘vi’ here means visesha?
Not commonly used, but we do have words like tama, then we have andha tama [Laughs], and I think there are a few of them describing the five different states of tamas.
3.) Maharaj, if we have the same qualities as the Lord has, then how is it that we have envy here?
We don’t have all of the same qualities as the Lord. Jiva is tatastha. It can fall into ignorance. The Lord cannot fall into the ignorance. Then in ignorance, the jiva takes up a material body, develops all sorts of material desires, etc. None of these are in the Lord.
4.) Maharaj mentioned that activities in the spiritual world are of devotion, bhakti. Is there a difference between the activities in the material world and in the spiritual world with regard to the pure devotees?
As long as the devotee is in the material world, he has a material body limited by time and space. He deals with material objects in time and space. So there is a little difference. So, his experience of prema is also limited. So, when that devotee gives up his material body, then he can have full experience.
5.) Maharaj mentioned that generally the devata’s body is better body. In the context of a living entity in this material world, he has an oppurtunity to go back within this lifetime because the duration is less than 100 or something. Whereas if someone takes to a devata body isn’t a disadvantage? Then in that context, how is it a better body?
Well, we can say that a devata, because he has a longer lifespan, he can practice serving the Lord for a longer time, and Brahma has such a long lifespan, he can have lots of time for sadhana. They are not afflicted so much by the old age and hunger and thirst, etc. So, therefore, they can spend more time on devotional activities.
6.) Hare Krishna Maharaj, dandavat pranam. In the purport there is a statement that “Each species of life executes a particular process of sense gratification, and this function is called the dharma of the species.” Elsewhere in connection with sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo [ŚB 1.2.6] or in other places, we see that dharma is the eternal occupational duty of the living entity. So, how to understand this Maharaj?
Here, the word dharma is taken in a more general sense. For instance, Prabhupada speaks of the dharma of water. So, it’s dharma is to flow around, it has a sweet taste, quenches thirst. So, unlike human beings, animals don’t have a real choice of whether to follow dharma or not follow dharma. But they do have some common features. So, dogs have certain characteristics which distinguish them from cats. So, they have their particular food. And their particular way in which they live. So, that’s their dharma.
7.) Have devatas got their position due to their fruitive activities in their previous lives which is contradicting to that they are Vishnu gupta sena, depend on Vishnu?
Oh, well, we have different people like people who go to swarga loka. Some people just go to swarga loka by doing karmas. They also do a little bhakti but not so much. However, to be a devata and enjoy as a devata enjoys, then, they also have to have devotional qualities to a greater extent. So, for instance, we have Brahma who is the greatest devotee. So, he has that position, one, because he’s a great devotee. And it’s on activities, which are, say the top of sattvaguna [Laughs].
8.) In our case, interaction with material modes of nature for us is unavoidable. So, how to minimize the agitation which is the resultant of that material modes of nature?
As long as we live in the material world, we have a body and senses and they contact sense objects. But as a devotee we try to minimize our contact with material objects for maintaining the body etc, and we try to maximize using our body and senses for service.
9.) Hare Krishna Maharaj. Maharaj, you have mentioned that devatas doesn’t have anger or thirst like that, so they have more opportunities to do bhakti there. But I heard some lectures that the demigods wanted to come to the material world because in kali yuga the easy process is Nama Sankirtana and they can attain the devotional service. How we can understand this Maharaj?
Wherever there is mercy of the Lord, that’s the best place to be for spiritual advancement. So, if we have Caitanya Mahaprabhu manifesting with His devotees on earth planet, then that becomes the best place to get mercy.
Devotees: Grantharaj Srimad Bhagavatam ki jai!!! HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj ki jai!!! Srila Prabhupada ki jai!!! Nitai Gaura premanande Hari Haribol!!!