Srimad Bhagavatam – 11.11.34 to 41 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | ISKCON Chennai | May 23, 2021
“Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya”
“Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya”
“ Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya”
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
śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda
śrī-advaitha gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
mal-liṅga-mad-bhakta-jana-
darśana-sparśanārcanam
paricaryā stutiḥ prahva-
guṇa-karmānukīrtanam
mat-kathā-śravaṇe śraddhā
mad-anudhyānam uddhava
sarva-lābhopaharaṇaṁ
dāsyenātma-nivedanam
maj-janma-karma-kathanaṁ
mama parvānumodanam
gīta-tāṇḍava-vāditra-
goṣṭhībhir mad-gṛhotsavaḥ
yātrā bali-vidhānaṁ ca
sarva-vārṣika-parvasu
vaidikī tāntrikī dīkṣā
madīya-vrata-dhāraṇam
mamārcā-sthāpane śraddhā
svataḥ saṁhatya codyamaḥ
udyānopavanākrīḍa-
pura-mandira-karmaṇi
sammārjanopalepābhyāṁ
seka-maṇḍala-vartanaiḥ
gṛha-śuśrūṣaṇaṁ mahyaṁ
dāsa-vad yad amāyayā
amānitvam adambhitvaṁ
kṛtasyāparikīrtanam
api dīpāvalokaṁ me
nopayuñjyān niveditam
yad yad iṣṭatamaṁ loke
yac cāti-priyam ātmanaḥ
tat tan nivedayen mahyaṁ
tad ānantyāya kalpate
Synonyms
mat-liṅga — My appearance in this world as the Deity, etc.; mat-bhakta-jana — My devotees; darśana — seeing; sparśana — touching; arcanam — and worshiping; paricaryā — rendering personal service; stutiḥ — offering prayers of glorification; prahva — obeisances; guṇa — My qualities; karma — and activities; anukīrtanam — constantly glorifying; mat-kathā — topics about Me; śravaṇe — in hearing; śraddhā — faith due to love; mat-anudhyānam — always meditating on Me; uddhava — O Uddhava; sarva-lābha — all that one acquires; upaharaṇam — offering; dāsyena — by accepting oneself as My servant; ātma-nivedanam — self-surrender; mat-janma-karma-kathanam — glorifying My birth and activities; mama — My; parva — in festivals such as Janmāṣṭamī; anumodanam — taking great pleasure; gīta — by songs; tāṇḍava — dancing; vāditra — musical instruments; goṣṭhībhiḥ — and discussions among devotees; mat-gṛha — in My temple; utsavaḥ — festivals; yātrā — celebrations; bali-vidhānam — making offerings; ca — also; sarva — in all; vārṣika — annual; parvasu — in the celebrations; vaidikī — mentioned in the Vedas; tāntrikī — mentioned in literatures such as the Pañcarātra; dīkṣā — initiation; madīya — in relation to Me; vrata — vows; dhāraṇam — observing; mama — My; arcā — of the Deity form; sthāpane — in the installation; śraddhā — being faithfully attached; svataḥ — by oneself; saṁhatya — with others; ca — also; udyamaḥ — endeavor; udyāna — of flower gardens; upavana — orchards; ākrīḍa — places of pastimes; pura — devotional cities; mandira — and temples; karmaṇi — in the construction; sammārjana — by thoroughly sweeping and dusting; upalepābhyām — then by smearing water and cow dung; seka — by sprinkling scented water; maṇḍala-vartanaiḥ — by construction of maṇḍalas; gṛha — of the temple, which is My home; śuśrūṣaṇam — service; mahyam — for My sake; dāsa-vat — being like a servant; yat — which; amāyayā — without duplicity; amānitvam — being without false prestige; adambhitvam — being prideless; kṛtasya — one’s devotional activities; aparikīrtanam — not advertising; api — moreover; dīpa — of lamps; avalokam — the light; me — which belong to Me; na — not; upayuñjyāt — one should engage; niveditam — things already offered to others; yat yat — anything; iṣṭa-tamam — most desired; loke — in the material world; yat ca — and anything; ati-priyam — most dear; ātmanaḥ — of oneself; tat tat — that very thing; nivedayet — one should offer; mahyam — unto Me; tat — that offering; ānantyāya — for immortality; kalpate — qualifies one.
Translation
My dear Uddhava, one can give up false pride and prestige by engaging in the following devotional activities. One may purify oneself by seeing, touching, worshiping, serving, and offering prayers of glorification and obeisances to My form as the Deity and to My pure devotees. One should also glorify My transcendental qualities and activities, hear with love and faith the narrations of My glories and constantly meditate on Me. One should offer to Me whatever one acquires, and accepting oneself as My eternal servant, one should give oneself completely to Me. One should always discuss My birth and activities and enjoy life by participating in festivals, such as Janmāṣṭamī, which glorify My pastimes. In My temple, one should also participate in festivals and ceremonies by singing, dancing, playing musical instruments and discussing Me with other Vaiṣṇavas. One should observe all the regularly celebrated annual festivals by attending ceremonies, pilgrimages and making offerings. One should also observe religious vows such as Ekādaśī and take initiation by the procedures mentioned in the Vedas, Pañcarātra and other, similar literatures. One should faithfully and lovingly support the installation of My Deity, and individually or in cooperation with others one should work for the construction of Kṛṣṇa conscious temples and cities as well as flower gardens, fruit gardens and special areas to celebrate My pastimes. One should consider oneself to be My humble servant, without duplicity, and thus should help to clean the temple, which is My home. First one should sweep and dust thoroughly, and then one should further cleanse with water and cow dung. Having dried the temple, one should sprinkle scented water and decorate the temple with maṇḍalas. One should thus act just like My servant. A devotee should never advertise his devotional activities; therefore his service will not be the cause of false pride. One should never use lamps that are offered to Me for other purposes simply because there is need of illumination, and similarly, one should never offer to Me anything that has been offered to or used by others. Whatever is most desired by one within this material world, and whatever is most dear to oneself — one should offer that very thing to Me. Such an offering qualifies one for eternal life.
Purport
In these eight verses Lord Kṛṣṇa ends His discussion of saintly qualities in general and describes the specific characteristics of the devotees of the Lord. Lord Kṛṣṇa has clearly described both here and in Bhagavad-gītā that the ultimate goal of life is to surrender fully to Him and become His pure devotee. Herein the Lord elaborately describes the process of devotional service. One should offer everything that one acquires to the Lord, thinking, “Lord Kṛṣṇa has sent these things so that I may serve Him nicely.” One ultimately should understand that the minute spirit soul is part and parcel of Lord Kṛṣṇa, and thus one should surrender one’s very self to the Lord. Just as an ordinary servant is meek and submissive to his master, similarly, a devotee should always be submissive to his spiritual master, who is a representative of Lord Kṛṣṇa. He should realize how his body and mind are purified simply by his seeing the spiritual master or by accepting on his head the water offered to the spiritual master. It is emphasized in these verses that one should attend Vaiṣṇava festivals. As far as possible, large festivals should be held all over the world so that people can gradually learn how to perfect human life. The words mamārcā-sthāpane śraddhā are significant. Here Lord Kṛṣṇa states that one should have faith in His Deity worship, since the Lord is personally present as the Deity. The words udyānopavanākrīḍa-pura-mandira-karmaṇi indicate that there should be a serious endeavor to construct beautiful temples and Vaiṣṇava cities with ample parks, orchards and flower gardens. An outstanding example of such endeavors can be presently seen in India at the Māyāpur Candrodaya Mandira.
The words dīpāvalokaṁ me nopayuñjyān niveditam indicate that one may never use the Deity’s paraphernalia for sense gratification. If there is a shortage of electricity or lights, one may not use the Deity’s lamps, nor should one ever offer to Lord Kṛṣṇa paraphernalia previously offered to or used by others. In these verses, the importance of Deity worship and Vaiṣṇava festivals is emphasized in many ways. Lord Kṛṣṇa promises that whoever sincerely performs these activities will certainly go back home, back to Godhead (tad ānantyāya kalpate). One should offer his most dear possession to Lord Kṛṣṇa, not that which is superfluous or unwanted. If one is most attached to his family, one should see that his family is engaged in Lord Kṛṣṇa’s service. If one is most attached to money, that should be given for propagating Kṛṣṇa consciousness. And if one considers one’s intelligence to be most valuable, he should preach Kṛṣṇa consciousness with great logic and reason. If we offer our most valuable possessions to Lord Kṛṣṇa, we will automatically become dear to the Lord and go back to Godhead.
HH Banu Swami Maharaj
Here we have a whole series of activities which constitute Bhakti. This was one of the requests of Uddhava to describe the process of Bhakti. So, in the Nectar of Devotion and in Hari Bhakti Vilas we have other lists of activities. And in Nectar of Devotion, there Rupa Goswami mentions that these are only some of the activities of Bhakti. So therefore, the scriptures mention many other things, but Rupa Goswami took 64 elements as major ones. Therefore, we shouldn’t think that the activities of Bhakti are limited in any way. So, one way of dividing them is according to the senses that are engaged.
So, more or less, in the Nectar of Devotion, that’s how Rupa Goswami classified. We have activities for the eyes, such as seeing the deity or the festivals of the Lord. We engage the ear by hearing about topics of the Lord. We engage the voice in doing kirtan or in reciting verses. We engage the feet in going to the temple. We engage the nose in smelling the flowers and incense. We engage the tongue in tasting the prasadam. We engage the sense of touch in touching the deity. We engage the mind in smaranam, remembrance or in meditation. So, this is one way in which we can divide the activities.
So, of course, we can have other ways we can divide the activities as well. So, one can divide them according to, for instance, Archana. Many are involved with the worship of the deity. We can look at Archana in another way. And, of course, we also speak of the nine processes of devotional service. So, in these nine, we have all the other 64 items. And some of the activities involve action. And others involve mainly mood. Such as thinking one is the servant of the Lord or the friend of the Lord. So, in this way, we understand that there are many ways in which we can engage our body, our mind and our senses in service of the Lord.
Then we can engage time as well. So, therefore, at certain times we have festivals. We can engage family and society. And, therefore, for the society, we have temples so that all sorts of people can participate in worship. So, the whole purpose of this is to keep the living entity engaged in the service. So, in the process of Sadhana Bhakti, we engage the senses. Though the senses are material and the body is material, because the intention is to please the Lord, they have no material effect. Rather, this activities, destroy all material effects – our karmas. So, as long as we have the material body, then we have to engage this body.
If one develops a spiritual body, then one can serve in the spiritual body. And at that point, the material body may be engaged less. But to develop and manifest that spiritual body, we have to start by engaging this material body. This is the definition of Sadhana Bhakti. So, by this practice, the Atma itself becomes active. So, the example was given of the insect that gets trapped by the wasp. And because it’s in fear, it thinks of a wasp all the time. And then later on, it becomes a wasp. So, by engaging our senses and our mind in the Supreme Lord more and more, then eventually we develop that spiritual body. If you don’t do this devotional service for the Lord, then that spiritual body will not develop. And thus, we see that one who practices Jnana, the impersonalist, doesn’t manifest the spiritual body in liberation. Therefore, in Sadhana Bhakti, we have to do these activities. So, in spite of the fact that we are using a material body with material senses, the effect is spiritual.
However, very important is, along with these activities, we have to have the right intention. That is defined in the definition of Bhakti by Rupa Goswami. So, in his definition, he says that Bhakti is the cultivation of a relation to Krishna with affection, which is devoid of all other desires. So, when we do these activities with that conception, it’s called pure Bhakti. When we do the same activities, trying to please the Lord, but we also have some material desires, then that is called mixed Bhakti. And if we do the activities, but we have no Bhakti, then we don’t call that Bhakti. We can call this accidental Bhakti. So, when we accidentally fast on an Ekadasi, that’s accidental Bhakti. So, we don’t generally call that Bhakti. However, the nature of these activities is such that even then, without that devotion or affection, still it has very great effect. So, when we accidentally fast on an Ekadasi, we get some effect. One actually names one son as Narayana, then one get some effect like Ajamila. However, in order to get Prema, then we have to practice pure bhakti. So, to help us in that practice, we have here a description of all the different types of activities we can do.
Hare Krsna !
Q & A
1.) Hare Krishna Maharaj Dandavat Pranams , I Hope you are doing well. Maharaj I was just going thru the purport where it says that following the activities which Krishna describes here awards the supreme goal of going back home back to Godhead and living eternally On one hand, we see Maharaj, the Sadhaka Bhaktas, they glorify Krishna, they honour Krishna Prasadam, and they serve Vaishnavas. And in this process, sometimes the Sadhaka Bhaktas go on for multiple lifetimes, so that journey could be longer in one sense. However, on the other hand, we also see that in cases of pastimes of Krishna, even to Putana and Kamsa, he is awarding them the eternal life, their spiritual body, instantly. So, how do we understand this, Maharaj?
So, of course, if you get killed by Krishna, then of course, you can get such an effect. If you don’t even meet Krishna, then don’t expect such an effect. So, when Krishna is not before us, we have to completely depend on Sadhana Bhakti and the mercy of the devotees. This is in no way inferior. Through Sadhana and one’s gradual development, that devotee gains a lot of devotion. That devotion gives him the reward of love. Usually, it’s a gradual process but even then, there may be sudden advances due to the mercy of a great devotee. Therefore, sometimes Narada Muni gives a great mercy, and a person can advance very quickly. However, Narada Muni also, we don’t get to see him regularly. And he may not even give you any mercy. So, our primary method is through the Sadhana itself.
2.) Thank you, Maharaj. I’ll move on. You said that a devotee can consider himself, herself a friend or servant of Krishna. The bhava that a devotee assumes such as Madhurya or Dasya or Sakya is already embedded in the Atma or the Atma develops on its own. Kindly explain
Usually, it is described by Acharyas that this tendency will develop with association. So, in that sense, it looks like it is not inherent. It develops according to association. However, if one attains the spiritual world, then one feels that this is eternally one’s position. So, in that sense, it’s innate.
3.) Thank you, Maharaj. Maharaj, you took the example of the wasp, the insect, the example due to fear. So, in this case, devotees are also need to be sufficiently fearful of Maya. Then is it not that the result is opposite? Is it not a concern?
Actually, the example is given only to illustrate the intensity of the meditation. If the meditation is only based on fear, it’s not even bhakti. So, therefore, the real devotional service will have a favourable emotional element such as servitude or friendship.
4.) Thank you Maharaj. When we pray to Krishna sometimes for changing current material situation, so that situation becomes favorable for bhakti. Will that desire be called spiritual or we should tolerate being in such situation and that makes our devotion better.
Actually Kunti prays for the opposite. But if we are more difficult as we think of you more. So, the danger of course of praying for material benefits is that once we get them, we’ll forget Krishna. But if we can manage to use the results for Krishna, there’s no harm in it. However, we should not make this condition for doing our service.
5.) Thank you Maharaj. What are the services that can be rendered in the spiritual world. We are aware of the services in the material world to some extend but could you please clarify what services are possible in the spiritual world.
So, if we read the pastimes of the devotees in Vrindavan, what they are doing for Krishna, these are some of the services in Goloka. So, just as in the family, the mother serves the husband and the children. So, in spiritual world, people are serving Krishna.
6.) Thank you, Maharaj. In this verse, many activities are recommended for all-around engagement in Krishna consciousness. But in Nectar of Devotion, there is the warning that one should not endeavour for accomplishing major projects. What should be the guiding principle so that we fulfil both instructions?
So, big projects are discouraged here, if they are unfavourable for one’s practice. In other words, if we get so involved with material aspects of the project that we forget to chant or hear or associate with the devotees, then this is not proper.
7.) Thank you, Maharaj. Maharaj, requests to please explain the difference between external realisation through reading scriptures, etc., and internal realisation.
Well, I don’t know, we call that external realisation. We can say that a person gets knowledge through hearing and chanting, etc., this is, of course, spiritual. But to gain that knowledge, we have to use our senses and our minds. However, the effect is spiritual development. The Atma develops its own senses, its own mind. And through that, we could say the Atma’s senses and mind, then one perceives the Lord. And that takes place in the stage of Bhava after Sadhana. So the result of Sadhana is Bhava.
Devotee: Granthraj Sri Srimad Bhagavatham ki Jai !! His Holiness Banu Swami Maharaj ki Jai !! His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupad ki Jai. !! Nitai Gaura Premanande Hari Hari bol !!