Srimad Bhagavatam 11.11.46 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | ISKCON Chennai | 29 May 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 11 Verse 46.
ŚB 11.11.46
dhiṣṇyeṣv ity eṣu mad-rūpaṁ
śaṅkha-cakra-gadāmbujaiḥ
yuktaṁ catur-bhujaṁ śāntaṁ
dhyāyann arcet samāhitaḥ
Synonyms
dhiṣṇyeṣu — in the previously mentioned places of worship; iti — thus (by the previously mentioned processes); eṣu — in them; mat-rūpam — My transcendental form; śaṅkha — with the conchshell; cakra — Sudarśana disc; gadā — club; ambujaiḥ — and lotus flower; yuktam — equipped; catuḥ-bhujam — with four arms; śāntam — peaceful; dhyāyan — meditating; arcet — one should worship; samāhitaḥ — with complete attention.
Translation
Thus, in the previously mentioned places of worship and according to the processes I have described, one should meditate on My peaceful, transcendental form with four arms holding a conchshell, Sudarśana disc, club and lotus flower. In this way, one should worship Me with fixed attention.
Purport
The Lord has previously explained that He appears in different transcendental forms to His pure devotees so that they may unlimitedly increase their love of Godhead. Here is given a general description of the four-armed Nārāyaṇa form, which pervades the material world as Supersoul, or Paramātmā. The pure devotees, however, do not meditate upon the Lord within the heart but rather render active service to a specific form of the Lord, such as Rāma or Kṛṣṇa, and thus perfect their realization of Bhagavān, or the Supreme Lord, who engages in transcendental pastimes with His devotees in the spiritual world. Yet even within the material world one can spiritualize one’s existence by seeing the Supreme Lord within everything and worshiping Him by constant meditation. As mentioned in the previous verses, one should also go to the temple and specifically worship the Deity and participate in spiritual festivals. One should not be puffed up and claim that because one is meditating on the Lord within nature there is no need to go to the temple. Temple worship has been repeatedly emphasized by the Lord Himself. The word samāhita in this verse indicates samādhi. If one very carefully worships the Deity or hears and chants about the pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa, one is certainly in samādhi. By worshiping and glorifying the Lord twenty-four hours a day one becomes a liberated soul and gradually rises completely beyond the influence of the material creation. The living entity is called ātmā, or eternal soul, because of his relationship with the Paramātmā, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. By worshiping the Lord, our eternal nature revives, and as we increase our enthusiasm and steadiness in devotional service, material existence fades away.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj:
So the previous verse described how to worship the Lord in various elements. This verse describes the form of the Lord that you worship in these different elements. So this form is as explained in the verse is the form of Vishnu. Not the form Krishna. So one reason for this is that Krishna, though He is non-different from the forms, He pervades through these expansions. One of these expansions is the Paramatma form. And this Paramatma form is related to the material world. Of course, that same form of Paramatma is also in Vaikuntha. The form is not different, but the function is different. So the function is different because as Paramatma, the Lord is witnessing and supervising and permitting activities in the material world. In the spiritual world, that same form of Vishnu is carrying out pastimes with His devotees. In other words, the activities of the Paramatma are one feature of the Lord to take care of the material world. That same form also exists in the spiritual world but that form is not thinking anything about material world. He’s only serving His devotees and being served by His devotees.
In the spiritual world, besides this form of Vishnu, there are many other forms. So we have the form of Narasimha and Varaha and Vamana and Krishna. So all of these forms are labelled Bhagavan in spiritual world. The form that involves the material world is called Paramatma. So that Paramatma also has three forms and they all involve with the material world. We have Maha Vishnu or Sankarashan, Maha Sankarshan or Karanodakasayi Vishnu who glances over prakrti. So He supervises the production of mahat-tattva and all the material elements by glancing. So He is related to the material world. The second form is Garbhodakasayi Vishnu. So Maha Vishnu expands in each universe and enters into it as Garbhodakasayi. And Garbhodakasayi Vishnu rests on the Garbhodaka ocean and from His navel sprungs lotus and then Brahma was born. So in this way the Vishnu form enters each universe. This form of Garbhodakasayi Vishnu expands again into Ksirodakasayi Vishnu. He supervises sattva guna. And He expands into all of the jivas in the material world.
So in this way the Supreme Lord associates with and pervades the whole material world. However, the jivas in the material world do not have prema. So the Lord prefers to associate with His devotees in prema. So He does that in the spiritual world. So this form of Paramatma is considered to be a secondary form of the Lord. That is because in this form the Lord carries out activities in relation to the material world and the jivas in the material world. So therefore it is considered to be secondary form.
So we talk about Brahman, Paramatma and Bhagavan. So they are all non-different from each other but nevertheless Bhagavan is superior. Brahman is the most inferior. Because in that form the Lord does not manifest a form at all. The form of Paramatma does have a form. So this is superior to the Brahman. But this form does not manifest qualities in relation to the devotees, therefore it is inferior to the Bhagavan. So for people in the material world they may find that worship of Paramatma is very interesting. He is very involved with the material world, He is in the heart etc. So it is a convenient form for worship. For this reason many yogis choose to worship Paramatma. However as I said, this Paramatma form is actually inferior. However if we worship that Paramatma form and then we start developing devotion to it then that form can turn into Bhagavan. Unfortunately many yogis don’t reach that stage. And they may realize Paramatma to some degree but they don’t appreciate a personal relationship. And their primary goal is liberation. So though they recognize and realize the form of the Lord they prefer impersonal Brahman. So such yogis they cannot really attain liberation unless they get mercy of Paramatma. So they have devotion to the Lord because they want liberation. And getting liberation they reject the form of the Lord. So Jiva Goswami describes they may merge into the effulgence of Paramatma. Or they may merge into the body of Paramatma. So therefore the goal that they reach is inferior to that of the devotees. If such yogis associate with devotees then they can develop devotion and surpass this.
So the form itself is not just Paramatma it depends on the worship. If you worship this form as Bhagavan then He becomes Bhagavan. And Paramatma yogis who become devotees they can also go to Vaikuntha. And their, with their four-armed form they can worship the form of the Lord. And of course they have some sort of prema. They have prema also. However often that prema is weak. And it may take the form of santa rasa. And that is because in their sadhana they mix the bhakti with this idea of liberation. So that is not always the case however.
Some people who are in the impersonal stage can surpass that and become very great devotees. So an example is Sukadeva Goswami. He was atmarama, very involved with meditation on Brahman. So it is described when he was born, he had no attachment to his father or his mother and he walked away from the house. And then he went under a tree in the forest and meditated and went into samadhi. However Vyasadeva, he sent some disciples. Those disciples saw him meditating under the tree. Following the order of Vedavyasa, they began reciting Bhagavatam. So when they recited the Bhagavatam suddenly Sukadeva Goswami broke his trance and he started concentrating on Bhagavatam. So even though a person may be fixed in impersonal realization, when he hears about the qualities and activities of Krishna, then he can develop higher taste.
So Vedavyasa then taught Sukadeva Goswami, Bhagavatam. And by his mercy Sukadeva Goswami understood and realized. And when Sukadeva Goswami recited the Bhagavatam it became even sweeter. So by the mercy of Vedavyasa, Supreme Lord even the impersonalist can surpass liberation. But the important factor here is hearing the pastimes of Krishna. This will make us attracted to the Supreme Lord. So these are particularly the Bhagavatam verses not the Vishnu Purana or any other work and the reason is that Bhagavatam has detailed descriptions of Krishna’s pastimes. Hearing the pastimes of Krishna can deliver us from impersonal Brahman. It can also deliver us from material existence. So they are valuable for all types of people. The pastimes of Krishna are attractive to the materialist, to the one doing karma yoga, to the jnana yogi and to the astanga yogi. But everyone gets the highest benefit from hearing Bhagavatam. So that form of Krishna is different from this form of Vishnu mentioned in the verse.
Sometimes Krishna will manifest four arms and hold the sankha and chakra etc. We see when He was, Krishna was in Dwaraka, Paundraka wanted to imitate Krishna so he also put on two extra hands and then he was holding a sankha and chakra and a lotus. But other times Krishna in Dwaraka doesn’t manifest those forms, He is two armed. And in Vrindavan, Krishna usually has two arms only. So this form of Krishna is quite unique. Of all the forms of the Lord, He is the most attractive. Therefore the devotees prefer to worship and meditate on that form, not on the form of Vishnu mentioned in this verse.
So I think someone asked the other day, well, all these descriptions are here but we really don’t have time to do all this worship. So I answered these descriptions are given for different types of people. So we see here that the people are advised to worship the four-armed form of Vishnu. But at the same time the Bhagavatam is glorifying the two-armed form of Krishna. So we understand from this that though these descriptions are given, this does not mean that this is all necessary for all of the devotees. The devotees generally prefer to worship the two-armed form of Krishna.
Hare Krishna.
Q & A:
1.) Maharaj, request to explain the difference, if any, between Sukadeva and catur Kumaras before becoming devotees?
The Kumaras are empowered to preach jnana. They are Saktyavesa avataras, so they have eternal forms in the spiritual world. And though they teach jnana and impersonal Brahman, they are actually devotees. However they are described as being santa. So that is because they are in association with jnana. Sukadeva Goswami on the other hand is identified as a person who relished madhurya rasa. So therefore he is considered to be much more elevated.
2.) What is the role of catur vyuha expansions in material creation? Are they independent of Maha Vishnu and prakrti?
So catur vyuha manifests in the spiritual world. And we see in Dwaraka we have Vasudeva Krishna, Sankarshan, Balarama and Aniruddha and Pradyumna. And in Vaikuntha these forms expand into 24 forms. And the purusha avataras, Maha Vishnu, Garbhodakasayi and Kshirodakasayi Vishnu, they are said to be expansions from Sankarshan, Pradyumna and Aniruddha.
3.) Advaitis, smarthas seem to read and hear Srimad Bhagavatam through saptaha vidhi. Despite engaging in such hearing sevas, they ultimately resist to accept the personal form and attributes etc of the Lord. How do we understand this Maharaj?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Who are these people?
Devotee: Advaitis, smarthas.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: The problem is that they have associated with impersonalists who give impersonal interpretations to the Bhagavatam and therefore the Bhagavatam loses its meaning. So on the other hand, if we associate with devotees in a Vaishnava sampradaya then we will get the correct Bhagavatam. So it is said that if the katha, Hari katha comes from the lips or the mouth of a non-believer, does not believe in the Lord then it becomes poison. So Bhagavatam coming from the mouth of a non-believer in Krishna becomes useless.
4.) Hare Krishna Maharaj. How do we understand Sukadeva Goswami who had only Brahman realization became a devotee greater than Vyasadeva from whom he got to hear Srimad Bhagavatam? What qualification made Sukadeva a celebrated speaker of Srimad Bhagavatam? Is it Lord’s mercy or did he do any sadhana to attain this stage?
So he learned the Bhagavatam from his father Vedavyasa. Vedavyasa is also avatar of the Lord, so therefore he also has great shakti. But he also got the mercy of Krishna. It was Krishna who ordered him to come out of the womb. So he got mercy from Vedavyasa and from Krishna.
5.) What sort of meditation does Shiva do as he got agitated by Parvati whereas Haridasa Thakur did not get agitated?
Well, these examples of Shiva becoming bewildered or Brahma becoming bewildered or Indra becoming bewildered are explained usually as some arrangement of the Lord. So there is no fault on the part of those persons as part of the Yogamaya potency. And Krishna uses the Yogamaya potency to bewilder the devotees for certain types of pastimes.
6.) Hare Krishna Maharaj. Maharaj mentioned some Paramatma yogis reject the Paramatma form and merge into Him. Would they fall down later because of the offense of rejecting His form?
Once the yogi or the jnani gave up the material body completely and merge in Brahman then they stay there. Those who are jivan-muktas and are still within this body they can fall from that position.
7.) The sages in Dandakaranya forest were attracted by the form of Sri Rama and so they became Gopis during Krishna’s advent. The sages were aspiring to merge in impersonal Brahman or they were meditating on the Paramatma feature of the Supreme Lord when they were in the Dandakaranya forest?
So they desired to have a relationship with the Lord, Bhagavan. If they simply involved with impersonal liberation of Paramatma they could never achieve position of Gopis. So they aspired for madhurya rasa They cannot not have madhurya rasa with Rama as Rama has only one wife. But with Krishna, Krishna has madhurya rasa with them.
8.) Maharaj mentioned that the worship of the Supreme Lord, Shyamsundara in His two handed form holding flute is the supreme and I think in this modern world we see that probably only ISKCON where we see Krishna being worshipped to a large extent, two handed form. But what we see Maharaj, you know, outside Gaudiya Vaishnava sampradaya and even outside ISKCON, outside Vrindavan worship of this two handed form is quite rare. It is predominantly found only in Vrindavan, concentrated in that place. Specially in South India it is very rare. Is there a special reason or some background about that Maharaj? If you could kindly explain.
So actually in the Vallabha sampradaya and in Nimbarka sampradaya they also worship Krishna, two armed. And of course in Madhva they have Udupi Krishna, He also has two arms. But at the same time worship of Krishna is a little rare. He is the highest form, so it takes a special type of person to develop attraction to that form. And the descriptions of Krishna, scriptures about Krishna are much less than the scriptures about other forms. So in the sense Krishna is a little rare.
Devotees: Grantharaj Srimad Bhagavatam ki jai!!! HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj ki jai!!! His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada ki jai!!! Nitai Gaura premanande Hari Haribol!!!