Srimad Bhagavatam – 11.11.20 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | ISKCON Chennai | May 13, 2021
SB 11.11.20
yasyāṁ na me pāvanam aṅga karma
sthity-udbhava-prāṇa-nirodham asya
līlāvatārepsita-janma vā syād
vandhyāṁ giraṁ tāṁ bibhṛyān na dhīraḥ
Translation:
My dear Uddhava, an intelligent person should never take to literatures that do not contain descriptions of My activities, which purify the whole universe. Indeed, I create, maintain, and annihilate the entire material manifestation. But all my pastime incarnations, the most beloved are Krishna and Balarama. Any so-called knowledge that does not recognize these activities of Mine is simply barren and not acceptable to those who are actually intelligent.
Purport:
The words līlāvatārepsita-janma are very significant here. The Lord’s incarnation for executing wonderful pastimes is called līlāvatāra, and such wonderful forms of Viṣṇu are glorified by the names Rāmacandra, Nṛsiṁhadeva, Kūrma, Varāha, and so on. Among all such līlāvatāras, however, the most beloved, even to this day, is Lord Kṛṣṇa, the original source of the viṣṇu-tattva. The Lord appears in the prison house of Kaṁsa and is immediately transferred to the rural setting of Vṛndāvana, where He exhibits unique childhood pastimes with His cowherd boyfriends, girlfriends, parents and well-wishers. After some time, the Lord’s pastimes are transferred to Mathurā and Dvārakā, and the extraordinary love of the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana is exhibited in their anguished separation from Lord Kṛṣṇa. Such pastimes of the Lord are īpsita, or the reservoir of all loving exchanges with the Absolute Truth. The pure devotees of the Lord are most intelligent and expert and do not pay any attention to useless, fruitless literatures that neglect the highest truth, Lord Kṛṣṇa. Although such literatures are very popular among materialistic persons all over the world, they are completely neglected by the community of pure Vaiṣṇavas. In this verse the Lord explains that the literatures approved for the devotees are those that glorify the Lord’s pastimes as the puruṣa-avatāra and the līlāvatāras, culminating in the personal appearance of Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself, as confirmed in Brahma-saṁhitā (5.39):
rāmādi-mūrtiṣu kalā-niyamena tiṣṭhan
nānāvatāram akarod bhuvaneṣu kintu
kṛṣṇaḥ svayaṁ samabhavat paramaḥ pumān yo
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
“I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who manifested Himself personally as Kṛṣṇa and the different avatāras in the world in the forms of Rāma, Nṛsiṁha, Vāmana, etc., as His subjective portions.”
Even Vedic literatures that neglect the Supreme Personality of Godhead should be ignored. This fact was also explained by Nārada Muni to Śrīla Vyāsadeva, the author of the Vedas, when the great Vedavyāsa felt dissatisfied with his work.
HH Banu Swami Maharaj:
So this verse makes clear the intention of the previous statements. Krishna’s speaking philosophy can be interpreted as impersonal. So that is the nature of many verses in Vedic literature, and particularly Upanishads. However, here we find a very clear statement that shows that what Krishna is stating is not impersonal. So in this verse, He’s talking about His own activities, which are very pure pavanam. Now, one type of activity are the activities of creating, maintaining, destroying the material world. That is mentioned in the second line with ‘sthity-udbhava-prāṇa-nirodham asya’. So, as we have got explanation from other places, these activities are carried out by the Purusha Avatars. That is Maha Vishnu, Garbhodakasayi Vishnu and Kshirodhakasayi Vishnu. And these forms are personal forms, not impersonal.
So, according to Shankaracharya, there is no creation. Because everything is illusion. All we can think of is an illusory creation. But we find that the idea of creation is repeatedly stated in the Vedic literature. And we have the whole Purusha Sukta, which describes how the different varnas and the different ingredients of the universe all come from Purusha. So, this is one of the activities of the Lord – creating, maintaining and destroying the material worlds.
And all of this is performed by a particular form of Vishnu. Apart from this then we have other forms of the Lord who do not involve Himself in creation. They are actually many types. One of the main types is called the Lila avatars. But besides that, we have Yuga avatars and Manvantara avatars. And we have Guna avatars, Shaktyavesh avatars. So, there is a variety of other forms, other than those which cause creation and destruction. Of course, the Guna avatars, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are involved also in creation of the material world. But we have the Lila avatars and the Manvantara avatars, Yuga avatars, they perform a different function. The Manvantara avatars and the Yuga avatars to some degrees have also a particular function. The Manvantara avatars provide over 71 Yuga cycles. They function something like the Kshirodakasayi Vishnu, who is one of the guna avatar in charge of maintenance of the universe. And we have the Yuga avatars, whose function is to appear in every Yuga and teach the Yuga Dharma.
Then we have the Lila avatars. So Lila of course means past times. These avatars manifest various past times. And of course, they are also related to the protection of the world. For instance, Varaha lifts the earth out of the Garbhodaka ocean. Lord Narasimhadev comes and kills demons who are disturbing the earth and even Krishna comes to kill Kamsa and restore the earth to its proper function. As Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita, I come to destroy the demons, protect the devotees and restore Dharma (BG 4.8). This is also a function of maintaining the material world. But of course, apart from that, the Lord comes to display His pastimes to inspire devotees. So He does that through His various past times or lilas. Therefore, these avatars are called Lila avatars. The main function we can say is to increase the bliss of the devotees. And they do that by displaying their various pastimes.
So, of all the avatars, the Lila avatars, Krishna is included, but He is also special. We call Him an avatar because He appears within the material world. Nevertheless, in the list given in the first canto, when Krishna is spoken of, He is distinguished from all the others. So, He is called Bhagavan Swayam. Other forms are Bhagavan also, but then Krishna is distinguished from them. So, sometimes we also distinguish Krishna by not calling him avatar, but avatari, the source of all the avatars. We call all these avatars Amsa. And we call Krishna – Amsi. So this will distinguish Krishna from all the others. This distinction is made in the first canto of Bhagavatam. And that statement acts as a theme for the whole of the Bhagavatam. So, all other statements of the Bhagavatam will correlate with this statement. And thus, we will see in various places, various personalities are glorified. Shiva is glorified as supreme in some places. But, as I said, we have to correlate that statement with this other statement, Krishnasthu Bhagavan swayam.(SB 1.3.28)
So, the same goes for all the avatars, like the Lila avatars, like Rama, Narasimhadev and Varaha. So, even though their pastimes are all attractive, we should relate those pastimes to Krishna. So, similarly, all statements about Brahman or Paramatma should be related to Krishna. Of course, we know that Paramatma and Brahman are co-ordinates to Bhagavan. But, Krishna is the Swayam Bhagavan. So, all the forms in Bhagavatam means the same.
So, therefore, Brahman is insignificant in comparison to Krishna. So, in these previous verses, we have many statements about becoming detached from the material world and understanding you are Atma. But here, Krishna is stating that the best thing is to hear literatures that describe the pastimes of Krishna. Of course, we can say that all the pastimes of any avatar are also related to Krishna. And therefore, in Bhagavatam, we have stories of Narasimhadeva and Ramachandra, etc. But actually, we should relate these activities to Krishna.
How do we do that? And if we have seen any remarkable qualities in the activities of Ramachandra or in Narasimhadeva, we should understand those qualities are also in Krishna. But whatever power we see in Narasimhadeva to destroy demons, Krishna has also that, but more. In fact, Narasimhadeva kills Hiranyakasipu. Krishna kills Shishupal. Actually, same demon in different body. But when Krishna kills Shishupal, the result is much more glorious. Shishupal attains a form in the spiritual world. So, this is the specialty of Krishna’s fighting with demons. Similarly, we see Krishna fights with Kamsa. And what happened to Kamsa? It is said that Kamsa, because he concentrated on the Lord, even though it was in hatred, he attained a form like the Lord. So, we do not see that taking place when other forms of the Lord kill the demon. So therefore, the qualities or the pastimes of Krishna are very, very special. And all those pastimes are also included within the pastimes of Krishna.
Of course, people can object and say, well, I am attracted to Ramachandra building a bridge over the ocean to go to Sri Lanka. And so, people will say, well, Krishna does not have such pastimes, therefore, I like to worship Ramachandra. But then, our Acharya has pointed out that when Krishna was a child, He sometimes enacted the pastimes of Ramachandra on a small stream. So, they would build little bridges and run over the bridges.
It is also explained that when Krishna appears, all the other forms of the Lord merge into His body. Therefore, when Krishna is performing past times like Ramachandra, Narasimhadev, Varaha and Vamana as well. This is to illustrate that Krishna is the sum total of all of the avatars. Therefore, we call Him Avatari. This does not mean that Krishna creates other forms because they are all eternal. It means that He manifests all the wonderful qualities of the Lord in full. Whatever qualities or the pastimes of any other form manifest, those are also eternal. Therefore, the topics of Krishna or to say topics of Bhagavatam, they are considered to be the topmost topics.
Hare Krishna !
Q & A
1.) Hare Krishna Maharaj. Dandavat pranams. Generally, in the Vedas concerned with the Karma kanda portions, there is no much of direct reference about Supreme Lord. So, how do we understand that particular statement?
Karma kanda and even jnana which is personal in many cases how do we understand them? We take them as secondary processes leading to Bhakti. Because they are purifying processes leading to Bhakti, therefore we do not criticize them. If they are practiced themselves with no other goals then we will criticize them. So we will find that karma is discussed in Bhagavad Gita and in Bhagavatam as well. But we understand their position. So they are secondary processes leading to Bhakti. But Bhakti is not dependent upon them.
2.) Although the avatars do not manifest qualities of Krishna, are these avatars as potent as Krishna to manifest those qualities? Are they equally potent even though they don’t manifest?
Actually, they are all one. So, one Bhagavan manifests many forms. And in those forms, when He performs His activities, He will manifest certain qualities. Like I say, yes, He has all the qualities, but He doesn’t show them. So, there’s no way in which we can know about those qualities. So, for instance, we see Narasimhadeva and He’s tearing apart Hiranyakasipu. So, there’s no indication of Madhurya Rasa in Narasimhadeva. But we have no way of understanding that there is some Madhurya Rasa there, because He is Bhagavan. So, we appreciate His other features.
So, it is like the moon. We have a full moon, full of light. If we take the Dasami, there’s light, but it’s not full light. But it’s the same moon. So, we can say, yes, it’s the same qualities of the moon, but the light that’s manifested is lesser. But if we wait a few days, then we get the full light of the moon. So, one Bhagavan is full of all of His qualities, but He only manifests certain amount in certain forms of the Lord.
3.) We see that Krishna manifests qualities and past times of other avatars as well. In any of His lilas did Lord Krishna manifests Sri Caithanya Mahaprabhu’s, whatever Sri Chaithanya Mahaprabhu performed, any part of that, in any of His lilas?
We can say that the pastimes of Radha are the manifestation of Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
4.) Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu being a Yuga avatar, still His lilas are most enchanting as well. So, how do we see this?
Well, Krishna is also a lila avatar, but of course, Krishna is also avatari. So, similarly, Caitanya Mahaprabhu, of course, we can say that Krishna is also a Yuga avatar for Dwapara Yuga. So, Krishna is an avatar for Kali Yuga, a Yuga avatar, but He’s also avatari.
5.) We see people from other sampradayas, like Sri Sampradaya, they worship Vishnu as Supreme and they attain Vaikuntha and not beyond. Is it wrong if we preach to neutral people amongst them about Krishna, so that they can attain more bliss through people in different rasas or also satisfied in their own rasas?
We can follow the example of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He went to Sri Rangam and stayed there for four months. Everyone there was worshipping Ranganatha as a form of Vishnu. And they were very attached to Vishnu. Sometimes Caitanya Mahaprabhu would joke with them and tell them, Krishna is more attractive. Even Lakshmi wants to join the rasa lila. But they were fixed in the worship of Vishnu, so He did not disturb them.
6.) Maharaj, can we say all the forms of the Lord are simultaneously one with and different from Krishna?
Well, they are actually more one than being different. Of course, Jivas and Prakriti are one with Krishna and different. But there we emphasize difference. So with the avatar forms and the Lord, there we are emphasizing the oneness form. Yes, we say difference in the sense that Vishnu and Krishna have different forms, but ultimately, they are Abheda. We emphasize the non-difference more than the difference.
7.) Maharaj, just like Vrindavan Krishna comes once in a day of Brahma, does Vasudeva Krishna also come once in a day of Brahma? How to understand this, Maharaj?
Well, if you mean Vāsudeva, the son of Vasudeva, yes, Krishna is born in Kamsa’s prison as Vāsudeva. So He only comes, that Vāsudeva comes once in a day of Brahma. However, there is a Vāsudeva, who is part of the Chathur yuga, a Vishnu form.
8.) Among the pastimes of Krishna, are there different categories of importance for practicing devotees to meditate upon?
Well, Krishna has different ages and according to the age, we can also concentrate on certain rasas. So for His baby past times, there is Vatsalya Rasa. When He grows a little older, five years old, that’s called Pauganda age, so there is Sakya Rasa. When He grows to be over eight years old, then He enters Kaishora period, that is suitable for Madhurya Rasa. Then we have the form in Mathura and Dwaraka, this form, the sweetness is mixed with Aishwarya, or powers, so it’s considered to be inferior. But some people prefer Vāsudeva.
9.) Whatever happens in the spiritual planet or in the material planet, either it is under Adhi Devata or under the control of Vishnu Tattva or the Lord directly ? Whereas how about Brahma jyothi, for Brahma jyothi who is the controller?
Well, ultimately, it’s Krishna. It is the effulgence of Krishna. There’s no Adhi Devata in one sense, because Brahman is so impersonal, that there’s no form, no qualities, no activities, nothing. But like light comes from the Sun, so Brahma Jyothi comes from the Lord.
Devotees: Granthraj Sri Srimad Bhagavatam ki Jai. His Holiness Banu Swami Maharaj ki Jai. His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupad ki Jai. Nitai Gaura Premanande HariHaribol.