Srimad Bhagavatam 11.12.19 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | ISKCON Chennai | 19 June 2021
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
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 12 Verse 19.
ŚB 11.12.19
evaṁ gadiḥ karma gatir visargo
ghrāṇo raso dṛk sparśaḥ śrutiś ca
saṅkalpa-vijñānam athābhimānaḥ
sūtraṁ rajaḥ-sattva-tamo-vikāraḥ
Synonyms
evam — thus; gadiḥ — speech; karma — the function of the hands; gatiḥ — the function of the legs; visargaḥ — the functions of the genitals and anus; ghrāṇaḥ — smell; rasaḥ — taste; dṛk — sight; sparśaḥ — touch; śrutiḥ — hearing; ca — also; saṅkalpa — the mind’s function; vijñānam — the function of intelligence and consciousness; atha — moreover; abhimānaḥ — the function of false ego; sūtram — the function of pradhāna, or the subtle cause of material nature; rajaḥ — of the mode of passion; sattva — goodness; tamaḥ — and of ignorance; vikāraḥ — the transformation.
Translation
The functions of the working senses — the organ of speech, the hands, the legs, the genitals and the anus — and the functions of the knowledge-acquiring senses — the nose, tongue, eyes, skin and ears — along with the functions of the subtle senses of mind, intelligence, consciousness and false ego, as well as the function of the subtle pradhāna and the interaction of the three modes of material nature — all these should be understood as My materially manifest form.
Purport
By the word gadi, or “speech,” the Lord concludes His discussion about His manifestation as Vedic vibrations and describes the functions of the other working senses, along with the knowledge-acquiring senses, the subtle functions of consciousness, pradhāna and the interaction of the three modes of material nature. A Kṛṣṇa conscious person sees the entire material world as a manifestation of the Lord’s potencies. There is therefore no legitimate scope for material sense gratification, because everything is an expansion from the Supreme Personality of Godhead and belongs to Him. One who can understand the expansion of the Lord within subtle and gross material manifestations gives up his desire to live in this world. In the spiritual world everything is eternal, full of bliss and knowledge. The exclusive feature of the material world is that here the living entity dreams that he is lord. A sane person, giving up this hallucination, finds no attractive features in the kingdom of māyā and therefore returns home, back to Godhead.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj:
So the previous verse was talking about the, how the Vedic literature reveals the Supreme Lord. At the same time, it is somewhat hidden. The previous verses spoke about how the Vedic sound was spiritual, but it has to manifest within this material world. So this verse describes the material world that obstructs the Vedic sound and the vision of the Supreme Lord. So it says that the material energy covers the spiritual energy. Just like we have a covering on a fruit, the skin. And we don’t eat the skin, we have to take the skin off and we can taste the sweetness of the fruit.
So in this sense, the material elements making up the material body cover up the soul and the Supreme Lord. However, question will arise, how can matter be more powerful than the spirit? Yes, it covers it up. For the Supreme Lord, that is true that the material energy can never cover the Lord. But the jiva is a small particle and he is subject to ignorance. So therefore, material energy can cover him. And when the jiva is covered, then he cannot see the Lord, even though the Lord is never covered by any material energy.
So the material energy acts, we can say, negatively for the living entities. It cannot touch the Supreme Lord or the perfect devotees. So therefore, the material energy or maya is not an enemy of the Lord or of the perfect devotee. But for the conditioned soul, maya is an enemy because it obstructs the vision of the Lord. So we have many descriptions in the Bhagavatam starting in the second canto and third canto of the analysis of matter. And there’s enumeration of the different elements as we call sankhya. So in one spiritual sense, it’s not very significant. But for the jiva in the material world, all of these elements act as an obstacle for spiritual advancement. So we have to become aware of how these various elements create obstacles.
So in the Vedic conception of elements, the senses are also elements. So we have the hands, feet and the voice etc, and then we have the nose and the eye and the ear etc. In the modern view, we will say that these are merely made up of the gross elements, earth, water, fire, air, ether etc. But in the Vedic conception, no, they are not. They are not made out of those elements. They are separate elements. And in fact, these senses are invisible. We cannot see them.
So when a person dies, the jiva goes out of the body with his subtle body. And with him go the pranas and the senses. So in other words, the senses of the jiva go with the jiva when he goes out of one body and enters another body. And of course, what we have left is a body with, we call senses which are gross manifestations. But the real senses are not made out of the gross elements. They are separate elements. So we can say that they are the senses on the subtle body.
So therefore, you can see with your subtle body, you can taste with your subtle body, you can smell with your subtle body. And if these senses are operating, the gross senses that we see in the modern world, that are part of our body, they will not operate. So, if we offend some devata, the devata of the speech organ for instance, or the deity of the hand, Indra, then the subtle organ gets affected. And then we will have a problem with the gross. We have more subtle elements, also the mind, intelligence, citta, false ego, which are part of the subtle body also. So these are, becomes part of the internal organ or the antahkarana.
So all of these constitute elements of the material world. And it is with these elements stuck together then we get bodies of living entities, subtle and gross, and the whole material world. So how do these elements cover the soul? On one level we can say they are very gross, so therefore, in that sense they cover up like a cloth covering an object. However, the subtle body is not so gross as the gross body, but still it is also a covering on itself.
So even for a devotee in this material world who has got the perfection, he will have a gross body and a subtle body. But they will function differently from the subtle and gross bodies of the materialists. So the conditioned jiva uses the senses and the body to get enjoyment out of material objects. And in this way, he brings in this false ego of identifying with his identity in his body.
So we can say well, what is wrong with that? One is that it’s got nothing to do with the soul. It is interaction of material elements of the body, senses, etc with material objects. And the soul is quite different from those material elements. Apart from that, the problem is that when we do activities to get our enjoyment, we get karma. So we are forced to take another body and another body and another body. In other words, it is very difficult to get out of this conditioned state. So, and all of this is caused by not the body or the subtle body, but the decision of the jiva.
So when the jiva decides he wants to enjoy by himself in the material world, then this whole process of getting material bodies starts. So in this state of conditioning, the jiva cannot see the Lord, cannot even see his own atma. So the previous verse discussed how the Veda, Vedas, the scriptures can help us get a revelation of the Lord. But if we are very covered up by material energy, then we cannot access the Vedas.
So therefore, the Lord is hidden in the Vedic literature. However, the Vedas also are a hope for the jiva. If they approach the Vedas properly, then they can realize the Lord. So we have the process of hearing scripture. But it must be done. And if we do it properly, we get the proper result. If we do it improperly, we don’t get it. So if we hear from a person who is not a Vaishnava, materialist, we get poison, we don’t get amrta. If we hear the scripture from a devotee, then we get the amrta. So therefore, not only is scripture important, and the correct scriptures in the Vedic literatures, but also the proper person delivers the scripture. And not only the speaker has to be proper, but the listener has to be proper also. If the listener is not proper, again, then no effect. However, we have a, some exception.
So therefore, the name is very special. So even an unqualified person, if he hears the name, it has some effect. And thus, that is why the name is glorified so much. And it’s more powerful, the mantra is more powerful than the scriptures. So the Lord provides us with the means of destroying our connection with the material world. If we follow the proper method, using the proper scripture, then we get a proper result.
So the scripture will explain all of this. And thus, to progress on the spiritual path, we do need some knowledge. So the knowledge is necessary, at the same time, it’s not an intellectual thing. So we utilize the knowledge in a certain way to benefit our development of devotion. We don’t use the knowledge simply to get knowledge to show off to others. Or to show that we got a degree, has some degree, some title. The knowledge is there to support our practice of bhakti. So that is the importance of knowledge.
We have the example of the creeper of bhakti. Creeper of bhakti. Bhakti Lata. And we have to cultivate creeper [Laughs]. Hearing and chanting, etc. So we have the water as the hearing and chanting, etc. And we have a fence around it to prevent the elephants from coming in, that’s the association of devotees. So, and the creeper, if it grows, it grows and grows and eventually reaches the spiritual world. But we know that creepers grow on the ground, they don’t grow up.
So the creeper has to be supported also. Just like if you grow beans, you have to have a pole and the bean will wind around the pole. So what is it that supports the bhakti lata? So that is the knowledge of scripture that we have. So it is an aid for our development of the bhakti. And without it, then the creeper grows on the ground only, it doesn’t grow up. So therefore we do need that knowledge in our devotional service.
Hare Krishna!
Q & A :
1.) Dandavat pranam Maharaj. Is the holy name also covered by the material elements from the jiva. How does a jiva overcome this covering?
So as I explained in one sense, the Lord is never covered and the holy name is never covered [Laughs]. Rather it’s the jiva who is covered. So if a jiva is very very covered over with aparadhas and whatever, then very difficult to access the holy name. If he had no aparadhas but he has ignorance, then there is some effect of the holy name. So as we see in the case of Ajamila, he got his karmas destroyed. So for a person in ignorance without aparadhas, then the holy name will destroy karmas, it will destroy the ignorance. So destruction of karmas can be very quick. We see in the case of Ajamila, chanting once. All of his karmas, past, present and future got destroyed. However to get rid of desires and ahankara will take some longer time. And ultimately if we chant like this in ignorance, we cannot get prema. But we can destroy all of the anarthas. If of course, then if we practice with knowledge and practice purely, then we can get prema. So according to the type of jiva, covering of aparadhas or no aparadhas, ignorance or no ignorance, then we will have different effects of the holy name.
2.) When it is said that Madhu and Kaithava demons stole the Vedas, what does it mean?
Of course the Vedas are eternal and nobody can destroy them. And even in the Bhagavad Gita, it says, the knowledge was passed down, then it got lost, and then Krishna says, I am giving it to you again. So in one sense it is eternal, but in the material world it may appear or disappear. So the demons can cause big disruption in the process of transmitting Vedic knowledge. But this of course is not ultimately true, because as I said Vedas cannot be destroyed. So it is some arrangement of the Lord for His pastimes. But what it does show is the demons are hostile to spiritual world. The demons are hostile to spiritual world. And they will do anything to suppress it.
3.) Just as the Vedas which arise from the Lord’s form, appear from the body of Brahma, material sound arises from the body of material persons in a corrupted form. The question is, Maharaj, in which phase of the speech, para, pasyanti, madhyama and vaikhari, does the material sound arise from the body of a material person?
Well, we are talking about spiritual sound. So in the materialists there is no spiritual sound [Laughs]. So it is merely his voice, the sense, the material sense, the voice speaks.
4.) Dandavat pranams Guru Maharaj. What is the role of a right attitude in the spiritual life? How does this develop in a devotee?
Well, right attitude is actually part of bhakti, it develops. So we see that in the definition of bhakti that it should be ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānuśīlanaṁ [Brs. 1.1.11], favourable cultivation of the Lord. And then within that bhakti, we will have the angas of surrender, such as accepting the favourable, rejecting the unfavourable, thinking of the Lord as a protector, etc. And the verse tṛṇād api sunīcena [Cc. Ādi 17.31]. So all of these are intrinsic within bhakti itself. Bhakti is not just the external activities.
5.) Lord’s holy name is all spiritual. When a bhakta or a newcomer comes into Krishna consciousness and he takes up the chanting, while he and his consciousness is completely material, but when he gets into chanting in the Lord’s name, it appears as if from something who is material, a spiritual sound is coming. So how do we understand this, Maharaj? In the sense that the manifestation of the holy name which is completely spiritual, somebody who is actually not into spiritual path, but when he takes to chanting the Lord’s holy name which is completely spiritual, the holy name manifests in that devotee over a period of time. Is that considered to be a causeless mercy of the Supreme Lord?
The holy name is always intact, always pure like the sun. But if a person is very covered over, it’s like cloud, then the effect of the sun is not there. But if he continues to hear the name, then gradually those anarthas will become weaker and weaker. So the effect of the name will become stronger and stronger. Just as if the sun keeps shining, then eventually the clouds become thinner and thinner and they disappear.
6.) Maharaj, you mentioned that protection of the bhakti lata is knowledge. Is it applicable for the devotees in sadhana bhakti only or only in those who are in bhava and prema as well, since the bhakti latha is grown and starts blooming and giving flowers at these stages?
So in those later stages, we cannot say that the knowledge is absent. The plant has reached the stage of bhava and prema, flowers and fruit, because it has the support of knowledge. So, and with bhava and prema, there is realization of the Lord. So that is the form of knowledge in bhava and prema.
7.) When a person chants the holy name sincerely all his lifetime, but leaves his body in a state of coma or in an unconscious state, will he still end up in the spiritual world?
More important than the consciousness at the point of leaving the body is the consciousness before that, when the devotee is practicing. And whatever stage he reached, he continues from that point.
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!!!