Srimad Bhagavatam – 11.5.32 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | 11 March 2025 | Australia
त्विषाकृष्णं साङ्गोपाङ्गास्त्रपार्षदम् ।
यज्ञै: सङ्कीर्तनप्रायैर्यजन्ति हि सुमेधस: ॥ ३२ ॥
kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇaṁ
sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam
yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair
yajanti hi su-medhasaḥ
Translation
In the Age of Kali, intelligent persons perform congregational chanting to worship the incarnation of Godhead who constantly sings the names of Kṛṣṇa. Although His complexion is not blackish, He is Kṛṣṇa Himself. He is accompanied by His associates, servants, weapons and confidential companions.
Purport
This same verse is quoted by Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā, Chapter Three, verse 52. His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda has given the following commentary on this verse. “This text is from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.5.32). Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī has explained this verse in his commentary on the Bhāgavatam known as the Krama-sandarbha, wherein he says that Lord Kṛṣṇa also appears with a golden complexion. That golden Lord Kṛṣṇa is Lord Caitanya, who is worshiped by intelligent men in this age. That is confirmed in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam by Garga Muni, who said that although the child Kṛṣṇa was blackish, He also appears in three other colors — red, white and yellow. He exhibited His white and red complexions in the Satya and Tretā ages respectively. He did not exhibit the remaining color, yellow-gold, until He appeared as Lord Caitanya, who is known as Gaurahari.
“Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī explains that kṛṣṇa-varṇam means Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya. Kṛṣṇa-varṇam and Kṛṣṇa Caitanya are equivalent. The name Kṛṣṇa appears with both Lord Kṛṣṇa and Lord Caitanya Kṛṣṇa. Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but He always engages in describing Kṛṣṇa and thus enjoying transcendental bliss by chanting and remembering His name and form. Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself appears as Lord Caitanya to preach the highest gospel. Varṇayati means ‘utters’ or ‘describes.’ Lord Caitanya always chants the holy name of Kṛṣṇa and describes it also, and because He is Kṛṣṇa Himself, whoever meets Him will automatically chant the holy name of Kṛṣṇa and later describe it to others. He injects one with transcendental Kṛṣṇa consciousness, which merges the chanter in transcendental bliss. In all respects, therefore, He appears before everyone as Kṛṣṇa, either by personality or by sound. Simply by seeing Lord Caitanya one at once remembers Lord Kṛṣṇa. One may therefore accept Him as viṣṇu-tattva. In other words, Lord Caitanya is Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself.
“Sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam further indicates that Lord Caitanya is Lord Kṛṣṇa. His body is always decorated with ornaments of sandalwood and with sandalwood paste. By His superexcellent beauty He subdues all the people of the age. In other descents the Lord sometimes used weapons to defeat the demoniac, but in this age the Lord subdues them with His all-attractive figure as Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī explains that His beauty is His astra, or weapon, to subdue the demons. Because He is all-attractive, it is to be understood that all the demigods lived with Him as His companions. His acts were uncommon and His associates wonderful. When He propagated the saṅkīrtana movement, He attracted many great scholars and ācāryas, especially in Bengal and Orissa. Lord Caitanya is always accompanied by His best associates like Lord Nityānanda, Advaita, Gadādhara and Śrīvāsa.
“Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī cites a verse from the Vedic literature that says that there is no necessity of performing sacrificial demonstrations or ceremonial functions. He comments that instead of engaging in such external, pompous exhibitions, all people, regardless of caste, color or creed, can assemble together and chant Hare Kṛṣṇa to worship Lord Caitanya. Kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇam indicates that prominence should be given to the name Kṛṣṇa. Lord Caitanya taught Kṛṣṇa consciousness and chanted the name of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, to worship Lord Caitanya, everyone should together chant the mahā-mantra — Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. To propagate worship in churches, temples or mosques is not possible because people have lost interest in that. But anywhere and everywhere, people can chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. Thus worshiping Lord Caitanya, they can perform the highest activity and fulfill the highest religious purpose of satisfying the Supreme Lord.
“Śrīla Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, a famous disciple of Lord Caitanya, said: ‘The principle of transcendental devotional service having been lost, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya has appeared to deliver again the process of devotion. He is so kind that He is distributing love of Kṛṣṇa. Everyone should be attracted more and more to His lotus feet, as humming bees are attracted to a lotus flower.’”
The incarnation of Caitanya Mahāprabhu is also described in the Śrī Viṣṇu-sahasra-nāma, which appears in Chapter 189 of the Dāna-dharma-parva of Mahābhārata. Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī has quoted this reference as follows: suvarṇa-varṇo hemāṅgo varāṅgaś candanāṅgadī. “In His early pastimes He appears as a householder with a golden complexion. His limbs are beautiful, and His body, smeared with the pulp of sandalwood, seems like molten gold.” He has also quoted, sannyāsa-kṛc chamaḥ śānto niṣṭhā-śānti-parāyaṇaḥ: “In His later pastimes He accepts the sannyāsa order, and He is equipoised and peaceful. He is the highest abode of peace and devotion, for He silences the impersonalist nondevotees.”
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj:
So this verse is describing the.. it’s a series of verses describing the Yuga avatars. There are different types of avatars. We have Guna avatars – Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva. We have Leela avatars, which are most common like Narshima, Varaha, Vamana etc. We have Purusha avatars – Mahavishnu, Garbodhaksai Vishnu, Kshirodhakashayi Vishnu. We have Shaktiavesha avatars like Prithu and Narada Muni. And we have Yuga avatars. So, they are given different names because they have different functions.
So the Yuga avatars, their function is to propagate the particular type of bhakti for each Yuga – Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dvapara Yuga and Kali Yuga. So therefore we have a avatar who appears in Satya Yuga. The dharma is meditation. And therefore, that white personality, that Yuga avatar, preaches meditation. Similarly in Treta Yuga, we have a red avatar who preaches yajna or sacrifice. And in Dwapara Yuga, we have one form who is shyama in colour who teaches deity worship. And in Kali Yuga, we have a form who is usually black and who teaches sankirtana.
However, there is an irregular appearance of two persons who are not actually Yuga avatars. Once in the day of Brahma, in the 28th Yuga cycle of Vaivasavata manvantara, Krishna takes the place of the Yuga avatar, not for Dwapara Yuga. And in the Kali Yuga that follows, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu takes the form of the Yuga avatar. But they’re not actually Yuga avatars. Because Yuga avatars are expansions usually from the Manvantara avatars. So that’s another type of avatar. There’s an avatar who rules over 71 Yuga cycles in a day of Brahma. Our present Manvantara avatar is Vamana Deva. So usually in 71 Yuga cycles of Vaivasavata Manvantara, Vamana will expand and he’ll be the avatars for the different Yugas. But Krishna is obviously not an expansion from Vamana Deva [Laughs]. He is Svayam Bhagavan Krishna. And in Kali Yuga, he’s not an expansion from Vamana Deva also Lord Chaitanya. He is also non-different from Krishna. So these are exceptional cases. So when the Yuga avatar appears, he appeared with , spreading the particular Dharma.
He also has certain characteristics which will distinguish him from others. One is his colour. So the Satya Yuga avatar is white and the Treta Yuga avatar is red. Usually the Dwarpa Yuga avatar is shyam or blackish in colour. And in Kali Yuga, he’s black in colour. But there is exception here, because Krishna and Chaitanya are not the normal avatars. So we have Kali Yuga avatar being exceptional. In this case, he becomes golden.
So that exception is mentioned in the Bhagavatam where Garga Muni describes Krishna when he gives him his name. And there he talks about avatars of the different Yugas. So he mentions white, red, and yellow. And now, that’s the Kali Yuga avatar, the Lord is appearing in the Shyama color, which is Krishna [Laughs]. So he mentions that golden color avatar’s appearance in Kali Yuga, after Krishna. So that’s one example of this particular avatar being in different colour.
So here, in this verse also, we have such a state. Of course, it can be interpreted also. So ‘Krishna Varnam’, can of course mean, ‘Varna’ means colour. So it could be ‘Krishna Varnam’. But then it says, ‘tvisha akrishna’. So that doesn’t make sense, because ‘tvisha’ means complexion. And ‘akrishna’ means not black. So if he’s black in colour, how can he not be black in colour? It doesn’t make any sense. So therefore, the usual interpretation is that Krishna Varnam does not refer to colour. Varnam does not refer to colour. It can refer to two things. Varnam can also mean a class, like we have Sudra Varnam and Vaishya Varnam and Brahma Varnam. It can mean a classification. So he’s Krishna by class. So that makes sense, because Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is actually non-different from Krishna. So he’s in the same class as Krishna. He is like svayam Bhagavan. We refer to Krishna as avatari, the source of all the avatars. And similarly, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is avatari, the source of all the avatars. So in that sense, they are same varna, same class. But that’s one way of interpreting it. And still we have this colour. It is not Krishna, but the opposite. It’s whitish in colour or golden in colour.
The other interpretation taken in this translation is that ‘varna’ refers to, of course syllables [Laughs]. So one who utters the syllables Krishna. This is what Lord Chaitanya does. That’s the one who keeps glorifying Krishna. That he is a ‘akrishna’ and ‘tvisha’ in his complexion. He is male in complexion, but he keeps uttering the name Krishna. Well, that’s the other way of describing this.
This particular verse is describing the Kali Yuga avatar. Already, previously, the Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga and Dwaraka Yuga avatars are described. So the Kali Yuga avatar is described here. So there’s a description of each avatar with his colour and his kind of activities, etc. Its particular purpose. So here the purpose is sankirtana. In each yuga, the Lord has a particular dharma to propagate. So in Satya Yuga, we have meditation, in Treta Yuga – Yajna, Dwapara Yuga – paricharya or deity worship, in Kali Yuga is sankirtana.
So all of these are actually types of bhakti. We shouldn’t think that meditation means impersonal meditation in Satya Yuga. Avatars coming and is teaching meditation on Vishnu. And when we do Treta Yuga – sacrifice, it is not sacrifice in the karma mimasha sense to go to svargaloka. It is homa, to worship Supreme Lord. So in that sense, it’s also bhakti.
Of course, in Satya Yuga, we’re using the mind with no external function. So it’s all internal worship. But as the ages go on from Satya to Treta to Dwapara to Kali, people’s minds become less attentive, more distracted, etc. So in Treta Yuga, not so many people can congregate internally and worship. So they have external worship. But that worship is not what we expect. It is fire [Laughs]. So the Lord is represented not directly, but as fire. And then they have mantras to worship the fire and invoke Vishnu. So in other words, the Lord appears in terms of a material element – fire. And they use the mantras that worship the Lord that way. That’s the type of worship.
As the people enter Dwapara Yuga, their minds are less concentrated. So it’s also difficult to see Vishnu in fire. They can’t even see the form of Vishnu in fire. So therefore, they have an actual form of the Lord to worship. That’s the murthy / deity form. So again, they worship, but not by putting grains of ghee in fire. They offer flowers and incense. It’s the same Lord worships in meditation through Homa and through a deity form. But that’s the Dwapara Yuga prescription. And most of the people can follow that procedure, because they still have some concentration, at least on the deity form.
In Kali Yuga, the people have one quarter of Dharma left. Their minds are very disturbed. They are short-lived. They are not intelligent, etc. So they can’t even concentrate on deity worship properly. If they look at the deity, they will see material elements. So what to do? Because already things have become simplified to deity worship. So in Kali Yuga, the worship is Sankirtan. No longer even a form of the Lord there. It’s simply the name of the Lord. So that is the process of Kali Yuga, chanting the name of the Lord. For the unqualified people of Kali Yuga.
So this is where we have four different processes. And different avatars will propagate these. So in Kali Yuga, we have an avatar who propagates Kirtan. So this happens 1,000 times in the day of Brahma, because there’s 1,000 yuga cycles. So there’ll be 1,000 Kali Yugas, and 1,000 avatars in Kali Yuga propagating Nama Sankirtan. So what is special about Lord Caitanya? Why we have to have Krishna himself come in a golden colour to propagate [Laughs]?
There’s something very, very different. He’s not the usual avatar. Additionally, the forms of the Lord are expansions. It’s from Vamana, so they are amsas. But it is also said that, in Kali Yuga, the Lord does not appear. So he’s called Tri Yuga. But nevertheless, we have to have avatar in Kali Yuga [Laughs]. So how do we not contradict scripture? So the answer is, we have Shakti avesha avatar. So usually the avatar that comes is Shakti avesha avatar. Black in colour, propagating Sankirtan.
Now this yuga, different. It’s not a Shakti avesha avatar. He is Krishna himself. So then it seems to violate the idea of Triyugas. How can he be Tri Yuga? Now he appears as the Lord himself in Kali Yuga. Answer is that though he is not Krishna, therefore not a Shakti avesha avatar or anything. He is covered. He’s called the Channa avatar – covered avatar. So he’s not a Shakti avesha avatar, he’s Supreme Lord. But he’s covered over. How is he covered over? He acts more like a human being, even than Krishna [Laughs]. But that is Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. He did not proclaim himself as God. He acts as a devotee of God. So this is the essence of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. So he’s not black in colour, but he is still ‘Krishna varnam‘ – in the category of Krishna. So as Krishna has all qualities and all powers, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has all qualities and powers also.
So then what is the difference if they’re both Supreme Lords? One is colour, of course. Lord Chaitanya is not black. He is the opposite, whitish or golden, or pink as Gargamuni said. But then again, another difference is that he has to cover himself. So he cannot be like Krishna and kill demons and show his powers. He doesn’t do that. So again, he’s covered over. His actions are quite different. So what is his main action here? It is Sankirtana. He mainly chants the name of the Lord. That’s his main activity. So that makes him a little bit distinct from Krishna. He acts like a devotee of the Lord rather than Supreme Lord himself. So these are the differences.
There’s another difference, of course. That is that Krishna is Krishna, but Lord Chaitanya is Krishna, but he has the mood of Radha, which again is devotee. As He has the mood of Radha, which means Madhurya Rasa, etc. So that Lord Chaitanya, particularly is an avatar imbued with Madhurya Rasa for Krishna. But this also is a little bit different from Krishna himself. Finally, of course, we say Krishna is merciful, etc. Krishna is wonderful. Krishna has all wonderful qualities. Krishna is ultimately sweet. That’s his four special qualities of Krishna in the 64 qualities. Four sweet qualities are there – Madhurya Venu, Madhurya Lila, Madhurya Rupa, Madhurya Bhakta, etc. Very intimate in Rasa.
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu cannot show everything, because it’s covered over. So not exactly. He cannot show all this Madhurya explicitly like Krishna. So what does he do? He’s got another problem quality, whereas Krishna is Madhurya. So we have Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. His quality is Audarya, which means special mercy. So that’s the special quality of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. So what he does is manifest mercy in the most extraordinary ways. That’s his special quality of Lord Chaitanya. Krishna is all sweetness in Rasa.
Lord Chaitanya manifests mercy. So therefore, we often see Lord Chaitanya thinking of how to deliver all the souls of the material world, etc. Preaching Nama-Sankirtan to do that. And then he instructs all the disciples to do that. We don’t see Krishna doing that. Krishna is just playing in Vrindavan. Not saying, oh, we’ve got to deliver all the fallen souls. So Lord Chaitanya is acting like a devotee and very concerned about the fallen souls of Kali Yuga, and therefore he performs Nama-Sankirtan. And he doesn’t kill them. He tries to convert everybody. So this is the special quality of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Extraordinary, merciful attitude towards all living entities. So that’s what distinguishes Chaitanya Mahaprabhu from Krishna, even though they are essentially the same.
So because they are the same, that’s very good. But this leads to another difference. And that is that Krishna is hard to achieve, and, of course, Radha Krishna is harder to achieve, because it’s very, very rare, and it’s open to a few people. Lord Chaitanya is the opposite. He wants to reveal everything and give mercy to everybody [Laughs]. But not only does Lord Chaitanya want to deliver all the fallen people, he wants to deliver Madhurya Rasa to all the people in the material world. In other words, Krishna becomes not so rare. So it is said that in order to attain Krishna or Radha and Krishna, we have to go through Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. So they are Krishna, but how to get to him? If we want to get to Krishna, we have to go through Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. So therefore, before we worship Radha Krishna, we worship Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. That’s the procedure we follow. So Lord Chaitanya is the gateway for us to approach Krishna.
In this way, Lord Chaitanya takes on a very special significance for us. Through Lord Chaitanya, we get access to Krishna. So therefore, he’s not the normal Yuga avatar. In fact, it is said that, yes, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu acts as a Yuga avatar, as a function performs. It’s actually a secondary function. Just as Krishna also, what does he do? He comes and delivers the earth from its burden of sinful activities, etc as Krishna can do. But that’s not his main activity. These are incidental. These are excuses for the Lord to appear. So why does Krishna come? He comes to please his devotees who want to see his pastimes, to experience Madhurya Rasa.
So similarly Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, this being the Yuga avatar is an excuse [Laughs], for appearing in the material world. Okay, I’ll take the function to be demonstrated. But actually, what he wants to do is, beyond spreading the Yuga Dharma is, to encourage everyone to take to the worship of Krishna. Now, the wonderful thing is that, he does this through the Yuga Dharma. So, through Nama Sankirtan, through Hare Krishna, he allows all the Jivas of Kali Yuga to attain Radha and Krishna. That’s his special mercy.
Lord Chaitanya appears with this particular form, which is different from the other Yugas, where in other Kali Yugas, Krishna, the Yuga avatar, is black. Here he is – Pita / akrishna / not black. So this distinguishes Lord Chaitanya from the other 999 Yuga avatars of Kali Yuga. Very, very special. Like the other Yuga avatars, he does the same activity – Nama Kirtan. But, specially, Radha Krishna is the realization through that Kirtan, so little different. So, a very, very special avatar.
So, along with that, it’s described that he has his Sangha, or his Anga, his Anga and Upanga as an Ashtra and Upasanam. When the Lord appears in this material world, he does not appear alone. He appears with his associates. He appears with his weapons. He appears with all his limbs, etc. So, this is a normal procedure for the Lord to appear. So, Krishna appears with his associates. In Vrindavan he has all of his parents and cowherd boys, etc. He appears with his weapons. Of course, Krishna does not manifest so much weapon in Vrindavan, but he does in Mathura and Dwaraka. And he has, of course, Sudarsana Chakra, etc. And, of course, his limbs, etc.
So, Lord Caitanya also has his associates, as described here, like in Vrindavan etc. So many Parshads as described in the Caitanya Charitamrta. But Astra, he does not show explicitly. Of course, it is described when Lord Caitanya got angry at Jagai and Madhai that he raised his hand, it looked like Chakra was in his hand. But not explicitly. He does not show weapons, because he is not showing himself as Supreme Lord. He is Channa Avatar. But nevertheless, what does he do? Instead of killing with his Sudarasana Chakra, he converts everybody with the holy name. So, that’s his weapon [Laughs], chanting the holy name. Nama sankirtan. And, of course, he has his beautiful form, etc. So, this is the verse which, for us, will describe Caitanya Mahaprabhu as the Yuga Avatar.
As I said, it is an interpretation. People will not take it like that. But then, as explained here in the Purport, we also quote from Vishnu Sahasra Naam, and there is described how the Lord appears, and he is ‘Suvarna’ / ‘Hema Anga’, which means golden limbs. And then he has excellent body, and he’s got Upanga, that is, a sandalwood on his body, etc. And then there’s another verse there. From Vishnu’s Sahasra Naam, and it says, he who takes sannyas – sannyasakrit. So that, of course, is referring to Lord Caitanya, who takes sannyas. We have some avatars who are renounced, like Nara Narayana, whatever, a few like that. But we don’t really have a sannyasi [Laughs]. But Lord Caitanya is a sannyasi, definitely.
So this, again, identifies Lord Caitanya as the avatar of the Supreme Lord. So these are the verses we use to support this verse in the Bhagavatam. So, in this way, we have a prediction of the Kali Yuga avatar, but not just any Kali Yuga avatar, that of our particular Yuga, that is, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
Okay, any question there?
Q & A:
1) Hare Krsna Maharaj, Dandavat Pranams. If Caitanya Mahaprabhu is Yuga avatar, then what is the role of Kalki avatar? Because he come at the end of Kali yuga..
So, in one Yuga, we have a Yuga avatar, but we can have other avatars as well. For instance, in Satya Yuga, we can have other avatars as well. So, in our particular cycle, we don’t only have the Yuga avatar, we have Kalki at the end. We also have Buddha, who also appears. So we have three avatars. But again, they can also not be Supreme Lord, because Lord is Tri yuga. But they’re all shakti avesha avatars. What is their function? Slightly different functions. Buddha is there to stop animal sacrifices. Kalki comes at the end of Kali Yuga to destroy all the miscreants and then herald in Satya Yuga again. So that’s this particular function.
2) So Maharaj, you mentioned that from Vamanadev, all the avatars appear?
Yeah, that’s for the Yuga avatars for our particular Yuga cycle. In other Yugas, there will be different Manvantara avatar.
3) Maharaj, you were talking about the different avatars and different, different types of avatars. How do we consider, like, for example, Balaji in Tirupati? How do we consider him? What kind of an avatar? Or is he descending by himself? Or How do we consider him? In what category do we consider him?
Well, of course, Balaji is a deity form. So it’s not the normal avatar in the sense that he appears and disappears like Krishna appears and disappears, Rama appears and disappears. So we’ll have forms like Balaji or even Srinath or so many different deities. So these are deity forms rather than avatar forms.
Of course, we can call them avatar in one sense. We can say the Nama also. Hari Naam is avatar also [Laughs]. That’s a form of the Lord. But when we speak of technically avatars, we’re meaning particular forms, spiritual forms, who appear or disappear at certain times.
Devotee: Even though they are deity forms, they also have some pastimes or stories associated with them?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: So the deity form is non different from the Lord. We do Pratishtha ceremony and we invoke the Lord. We call the Lord into the deity. So after that point, then it’s non different from the Lord. So therefore, he’s also infinite. He can have pastimes. He can do so many different things. That form.
So we have like Shakshi Gopal deity walking to Vrindavan back or whatever like that. We have other deities like in Lord Caitanya’s lila, there are deities who actually take the prasadham and eat it, whatever. So we do have, you know, pastimes of these deities as well. That’s not that they’re limited because they’re standing there as a deity. They can also do things.
4) So those pastimes kind of.. like how we see the pastimes of Krishna, they are explained in Bhagavatam, different different pastimes and all those things. So these kind of pastimes, are they defined in any Puranas? Or Are they just happening as and when?
Yeah, they’re particular for that deity. We have, what is it, also in Lord Caitanya’s lila, the stealing the kheer. So that’s particular for that deity and that particular devotee or whatever. They’re usually in relation to certain devotees and their pastimes. Similarly, we have Jagannath. And also some pastimes with his devotees. They’re all unique for that particular form.
5) You were saying that for each anga of bhakti in Bhagavatam, there are teachers. So Krishna when he was here, he taught deity worship ?
Oh, yeah. So that’s in the usual form. But of course, in a broad sense, he does. But again, it’s a problem, because he appears at the end of the overview but not the beginning. So he can’t teach. So he’s kind of an exceptional form. Nevertheless, the prescribed activity there is deity worship, rather than homa. He emphasis on that. But he only appears at the end because he wants to come close to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. So therefore, he doesn’t carry that function so much. But of course, we do have, for instance, in the 11th Canto of Bhagavatam here, there’s a whole section on deity worship in which Krishna instructs Uddhava on deity worship. So it’s there. That’s not the main function [Laughs], because he appears at the end of the millennium.
We see also that Krishna appears, then people make forms of Krishna to worship. So we have Madhavacharya deities, whatever, from Dwapara. Deity from Dwapara. So we have forms of the Lord also, of Krishna appearing at that time. That does not mean, of course, that we don’t do other activities of bhakti in Kali Yuga, we said Nama sankirtan. We do it, but Sankirtan is prominent. But we do have deity worship, homa and whatever. It’s not forbidden, but the main activity is Sankirtan. Everything so forth.
6) Maharaj, I know he’s called the Tri Yuga, but why not Chatur Yuga?
Why is it like that? [Laughs] Well, he’s as famous as Tri Yuga. I would suppose, maybe because Kali Yuga is so contaminated. So he can appear, but usually appears as a Shaktiavesha avatar rather than his full form. I don’t know. It doesn’t give any particular reason why.
7) Maharaj, Just a follow-up question on Krishna appearing at the end of Dwapara Yuga. So then who taught deity worship, if Krishna appeared only at the end of Dwapara Yuga?
As I said, this is an exceptional case. Usually he would appear much before in other Yugas. But in this particular case, he appears at the very end. That kind of links up to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu appearing at the beginning of this Yuga to teach Sankirtan.
8) Since Krishna spoke the Bhagavad Gita, which is more essential for people of Kali Yuga, did he come to educate the people of Kali Yuga as well?
So of course, Supreme Lord has extraordinary powers. He also has his particular, let’s say, time when he appears, and that’s a very special inspiration. So Krishna, of course, can influence Kali Yuga, and he did that. Arjuna was a Nitya siddha, so he doesn’t fall under illusion, he was bewildered [Laughs]. So it’s not normal bewilderment, but this was a bewilderment arranged by Krishna himself so that Bhagavad Gita could be spoken to give benefit to the people of Kali Yuga [Laughs]. So, in other words, yes, Krishna made some arrangement for Kali Yuga. So these are instructions in Bhagavad Gita that ultimately everyone should perform bhakti. So that’s one thing.
But then, of course, bhakti has 64 angas, 64 types. Which of these things we do? Now, of course, it is mentioned that chanting the name of the Lord is there also among the angas in Bhagavad Gita, but not, doesn’t become so prominent there. So, therefore, it’s left to Lord Chaitanya to reveal it.
It’s also, of course, in the Bhagavatam, we’ll have Kirtan there. And we’ll see that many people read Bhagavatam, but they don’t really pick up the ideas of chanting the holy name is the main thing in Kali Yuga. So we’ve four Vaisnava Sampradayas, but they’re not doing Kirtan [Laughs]. In spite of that, they read the Bhagavatam also. Even in the Vallabha Sampradaya, largely it is deity worship again. You look in Ramanuja’s Sampradayas, a lot of deity worship. They’re stuck on previous Yugas [Laughs]. So it’s there, it’s in the Bhagavatam. They also know it. It’s in other Puranas, you know, the Yugas and the different Dharmas, but they don’t really pick it up.
So it’s Lord Caitanya is the one who actually emphasises and points out in scripture and Bhagavatam and other places that this is the Yuga Dharma. And then he begins to propagate it. So he’s the one who takes the active role in propagating Nama Kirtan, though he is Krishna who also teaches in general, but not so particularly for the people.
Devotees: HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj Ki.. Jai !!