Srimad Bhagavatam – 11.5.33 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | 12 March 2025 | Australia
ŚB 11.5.33
ध्येयं सदा परिभवघ्नमभीष्टदोहं
तीर्थास्पदं शिवविरिञ्चिनुतं शरण्यम् ।
भृत्यार्तिहं प्रणतपाल भवाब्धिपोतं
वन्दे महापुरुष ते चरणारविन्दम् ॥ ३३ ॥
dhyeyaṁ sadā paribhava-ghnam abhīṣṭa-dohaṁ
tīrthāspadaṁ śiva-viriñci-nutaṁ śaraṇyam
bhṛtyārti-haṁ praṇata-pāla bhavābdhi-potaṁ
vande mahā-puruṣa te caraṇāravindam
Translation
My dear Lord, You are the Mahā-puruṣa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and I worship Your lotus feet, which are the only eternal object of meditation. Those feet destroy the embarrassing conditions of material life and freely award the greatest desire of the soul, the attainment of pure love of Godhead. My dear Lord, Your lotus feet are the shelter of all holy places and of all saintly authorities in the line of devotional service and are honored by powerful demigods like Lord Śiva and Lord Brahmā. My Lord, You are so kind that You willingly protect all those who simply bow down to You with respect, and thus You mercifully relieve all the distress of Your servants. In conclusion, my Lord, Your lotus feet are actually the suitable boat for crossing over the ocean of birth and death, and therefore even Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva seek shelter at Your lotus feet.”
Purport
The incarnation of the Personality of Godhead in Kali-yuga is described and worshiped in this verse. The sage Karabhājana, after describing the incarnation of Godhead in each of the three previous yugas — Satya, Tretā and Dvāpara — presented suitable prayers which are utilized for glorifying the Lord in each particular age. After describing the Lord’s manifestation in Kali-yuga with the verse kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇam, this and the next verse are now presented to glorify the Lord’s appearance in Kali-yuga as Caitanya Mahāprabhu, kṛṣṇa-varṇam. Caitanya Mahāprabhu appears in Kali-yuga and teaches everyone to chant the holy name of Kṛṣṇa. The members of the ISKCON movement are so much absorbed in kṛṣṇa-varṇam, or chanting the holy names of Kṛṣṇa, that sometimes ordinary persons refer to them as “the Kṛṣṇas.” Thus whoever comes into contact with Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s movement immediately begins to worship Kṛṣṇa by chanting His holy name.
The words dhyeyaṁ sadā, or “always to be meditated upon,” indicate that there are no hard-and-fast rules in this age for chanting the holy names of Kṛṣṇa. In Kali-yuga the authorized process of meditation is to chant the holy names of the Lord, especially the mantra Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. This process is to be executed constantly and always (sadā). Similarly, Caitanya Mahāprabhu stated, nāmnām akāri bahudhā nija-sarva-śaktis tatrārpitā niyamitaḥ smaraṇe na kālaḥ: in Kali-yuga, the Supreme Lord has kindly invested all of His potencies in His holy name, and there are no hard-and-fast rules for chanting such names. The mention of such rules refers to kāla-deśa-niyama, or regulations of time and place. Normally there are strict regulations governing the time, season, place, conditions, etc., under which one may execute a particular Vedic ceremony or chant a particular mantra. However, one should chant the holy name of Kṛṣṇa everywhere and at all times, twenty-four hours a day. Thus there is no restriction in terms of time and place. This is the meaning of Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s statement.
The word paribhava-ghnam is significant in this verse. In Kali-yuga human society is infected with enviousness. There is great envy, even among members of the same family, who constantly quarrel in this age. Similarly, neighbors are envious of each other and of each other’s possessions and status. And entire nations, burning with envy, go to war unnecessarily at the risk of genocide caused by terrible modern weapons. But all of these harassments caused by family members, strangers, so-called friends who are unfaithful, opposing nations, financial competition, social disgrace, cancer, etc., can be relieved by taking shelter of the lotus feet of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. It is not possible to save the material body, but one who takes shelter of Caitanya Mahāprabhu loosens the hard knot of the heart that psychologically binds him to the hallucination of identifying with the external body or the subtle material mind. Once this false identification is broken, one can be blissful in any adverse material condition. Those who foolishly try to make the temporary body eternal are wasting their time and neglecting the actual process for making life permanent, which is to take shelter of the lotus feet of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who is Kṛṣṇa Himself.
In this verse the word tīrthāspadam means that the lotus feet of Caitanya Mahāprabhu are the shelter of all holy places. As the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement spreads all over the world, we often find, especially in poor third-world countries, that it is very difficult for people to travel to India to visit the most exalted holy places such as Vṛndāvana and Māyāpur. Especially in South America it is very difficult for a large number of devotees to visit such places in India and purify themselves. But Caitanya Mahāprabhu is so merciful that simply by worshiping Him, Vaiṣṇavas throughout the world receive the benefit of having visited the supreme holy place, namely the lotus feet of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Thus there is no loss for the followers of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, despite their external situation.
In this regard, Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura has stated, kalau dravya-deśa-kriyādi-janitaṁ durvāram apāvitryam api nāśaṅkanīyam iti bhāvaḥ. In this age the world is so polluted by sinful life that it is very difficult to become free from all of the symptoms of Kali-yuga. Still, one who is faithfully serving in the missionary work of Caitanya Mahāprabhu need not fear occasional, unavoidable symptoms of Kali-yuga. The followers of Caitanya Mahāprabhu strictly follow the four regulative principles of no illicit sex, no intoxication, no meat-eating and no gambling. They try to always chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and engage in the service of the Lord. However, it may happen that by accident an occasional symptom of Kali-yuga such as envy, anger, lust, greed, etc., may momentarily appear in the life of a devotee. But if such a devotee is actually surrendered at the lotus feet of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, by His mercy such an unwanted symptom, or anartha, will quickly disappear. Therefore, a sincere follower of the Lord should never be discouraged in the execution of his prescribed duty but should be confident that he will be protected by Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
It is also mentioned in this verse, śiva-viriñci-nutam. Lord Śiva and Lord Brahmā are undoubtedly the two most powerful personalities within this universe. Still, they meticulously worship the lotus feet of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Why? Śaraṇyam. Even Lord Śiva and Lord Brahmā are not safe without the shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord.
The words bhṛtyārti-haṁ praṇata-pāla indicate that if one simply bows down without duplicity at the lotus feet of the Lord (praṇata), then the Lord will give such a sincere candidate all protection. This verse does not mention that one need be an exalted devotee of the Lord. Rather, it is stated that if one simply bows down at the Lord’s lotus feet he will get all protection, and this also applies to anyone who is trying to serve the mission of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Even the neophyte will get all protection by the mercy of the Lord.
In regard to the words bhavābdhi-potam, or “a suitable boat for crossing the ocean of material existence,” there is the following statement by Lord Brahmā and other demigods in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: tvat-pāda-potena mahat-kṛtena kurvanti go-vatsa-padaṁ bhavābdhim. “By accepting Your lotus feet as the boat by which to cross the ocean of nescience, one follows in the footsteps of the mahājanas and can cross that ocean as easily as one steps over the hoofprint of a calf.” According to Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, a follower of Caitanya Mahāprabhu is jīvan-mukta, or a liberated soul. Thus the devotee is not worried about his future destination, for he is confident that the Lord will quickly take him across the ocean of material existence. Such confidence is referred to in the Upadeśāmṛta by the word niścayāt, meaning firm conviction about the potency of the process of devotional service. According to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, the statement śiva-viriñci-nutam is also understood to indicate that Caitanya Mahāprabhu is worshiped by Lord Śiva’s incarnation Advaita Ācārya and by Lord Brahmā’s incarnation Haridāsa Ṭhākura.
Caitanya Mahāprabhu is addressed in this verse as mahā-puruṣa, meaning puruṣottama, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Similarly, there is reference to mahāprabhu in the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (3.12), mahān prabhur vai puruṣaḥ sattvasyaiṣa pravartakaḥ: “The supreme prabhu is the Personality of Godhead, who is the initiator of the entire cosmos.” Similarly, Lord Śrī Gaurakṛṣṇa is addressed by the word mahā-puruṣa in this verse, and the whole intention of this verse is to offer obeisances at His lotus feet. Such lotus feet are the actual eternal object of meditation because they cut off the bondage of material life and fulfill the desires of the devotees. Although the conditioned souls laboring arduously under illusion pursue many temporary goals in life, there is no possibility of their achieving actual bliss or knowledge. Such eternal bliss and knowledge is actually wealth. One should not neglect the lotus feet of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, taking Him to be an ordinary person, and instead accept the temporary, useless shelter offered by the illusory energy of the Lord.
Those yogīs who falsely select some other object of meditation besides the lotus feet of the Lord are simply creating obstructions to their own eternal life. When the meditator, the meditation and the object of meditation are all on the eternal platform of the Lord, then actual shelter has been achieved. Generally the conditioned souls are engaged in bhoga-tyāga. Sometimes they run madly after material prestige and sense gratification, and sometimes they desperately try to renounce these things. However, beyond this vicious cycle of alternating sense gratification and renunciation are the lotus feet of the Lord, which constitute the ultimate abode of peace and happiness for the living entity.
The following are additional notes on this verse given by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura.
dhyeyam — the object indicated by the word dhīmahi in the Gāyatrī mantra.
tīrthāspadam — the original shelter of holy places headed by Śrī Gauḍakṣetra and Vraja-maṇḍala; or the original shelter, namely the lotus feet of the Lord, of the great devotees of the Brahma sampradāya following in the succession of faithful hearing. The succession of faithful hearing begins with Śrīmad Ānandatīrtha (Madhvācārya) and is continued by the rūpānuga mahā-bhāgavatas, the highly elevated followers of Rūpa Gosvāmī and Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
śiva-viriñci-nutam — He who is worshiped by the incarnation of Lord Śiva, Śrīmad Advaitācārya Prabhu, and by the incarnation of Lord Viriñci, Śrīmān Ācārya Haridāsa Prabhu.
bhṛtyārti-ham — He who destroyed by His causeless mercy the misery of His own servant, the brāhmaṇa Vāsudeva, who was afflicted with leprosy in caitanya-līlā.
bhavābdhi-potam — the means of crossing over the ocean of saṁsāra; or the shelter of those who are freeing themselves from material existence, which afflicts the living entity in the form of hankering for liberation or material enjoyment. Such persons who took advantage of this transcendental boat of the Lord’s lotus feet are Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, who was saved from mukti-kāma, or desire for liberation, and Pratāparudra Mahārāja, who was saved from bhukti-kāma, or the desire for material opulence.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj:
This is a loooong purport [Laughs], explaining this first. Basically taking each phrase or word and expanding it. And as explained in the purport, this verse is directly related to the previous verse, which describes the incarnation in Kali-yuga, who propagates yuga-dharma. And so this person was ‘Krishna-varnam-tvisa akrishnam’ – not blackish in colour, but ‘Krishna-varnam’ – of the class of Krishna or one who chants Krishna’s name, like worshipped through Sankirtan. So this verse further describes that person, just as in the previous descriptions of the yuga avatars for Satya, Treta and Dvarpa, there was a description, and then verses praising that particular person. So these are verses of praise.
In verses of praise, they can do that in various ways. Of course they use descriptive words, but they also use this device of offering respects. So sometimes they say ‘namaha’, so-and-so, and they give all sorts of descriptions of Supreme Lord. So here they use ‘vande’, I offer respects. Another is like ‘namaskar’ or ‘namaha’, it says ‘vande’, I offer respects to the lotus feet, ‘charanaravindam’, of you, the Mahapurusha. So it’s directed towards this yuga avatar of Kali-yuga.
So, how is he described? We can take this as a general description. Your lotus feet are worthy of meditation. They give all desired results. They destroy samsara. They are the shelter of all tirthas. Even Shiva and Brahma take shelter of those feet. They are worthy of surrender. They destroy the pain of the devotee. They are the boat to cross over the ocean of material existence. So basically, that’s what he’s saying [Laughs].
But then he says, ‘oh, protector of the fallen souls’, ‘oh Maha purusha, I offer respects to your lotus feet’. So, in this way, there’s a general description, but this could apply to any form of the Lord, actually. The feet of Ramchandra, the feet of Vishnu, etc., they’re all giving the same thing [Laughs]. So that is why, in addition to that, we have Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati in his commentary saying how this refers to certain people like Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya or Prataparudra, Advaitacharya, Shiva, Advaitacharya, Brahma Haridas, Thakur, like that [Laughs]. So, in other words, those feet are worshipped by associates of Lord Caitanya and experienced by his servants. So, in this way, it becomes a little more particular for describing the avatar for Kali Yuga, who was Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
So the word ‘maha purusha’ is used here, which is, of course, the general, the great purusha, literally. It can refer to purusha avatars, like Mahavishnu or whatever. It can even apply to a devotee of the Lord who is a ‘maha purusha’. A great devotee is called ‘maha purusha’, but obviously in this case it’s referring to the Supreme Lord. So this is, of course, not directly saying Mahaprabhu, but it’s saying ‘maha purusha’ [Laughs]. So, kind of an indirect reference to Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
But then he quotes here from the Svetasvatra Upanishad, which actually gives a little more direct thing, ‘Mahan prabhu’, which is like Mahaprabhu [Laughs]. The Lord is also called ‘Mahaprabhu’ or ‘Mahan prabhu’. And then he’s also purusha, etc. So, it’s kind of related to this Maha purusha here. So in a sense, there’s a reference to Caitanya Mahaprabhu also.
Like the previous verse, some people will not take that as Caitanya Mahaprabhu. They’ll just take it as the Yuga avatar, and you can do that by taking the general reading there. At the same time, if we’re a little more astute and we understand that the avatar is not black, so usually he does appear in a black form. That’s a Puranic statement mentioned in many places. Still, here he is not black, he is ‘akrishnam’. So you have to explain that [Laughs], why he is not black when he’s supposed to be black. And he says ‘krishna varanam’. So, therefore, from this evidence, we find that he is golden in colour or pale in colour, supported by the statement of Gargamuni that he is pita. So in this way we get some correlation and we can argue for this being a prediction of Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
That’s a description of the form, and the activity is the Nama sankirtan movement. Doing Kirtan, directly mentioned here as Kirtan. So that’s well accepted that the Yuga avatar of Kali Yuga propagates the Yuga Dharma. Nama sankirtan. So no problem with that at all. So when we ask, who is the avatar that does it, obviously it cannot be Buddha. He didn’t do Kirtan [Laughs]. Propagated Kirtan. It’s not Kalki. Kalki just kills all the demons. That’s not his activity. So it has to be some avatar who propagates Nama sankirtan. So if we look around, we see the most obvious person is Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
So, of course, we find that even Vallabhacharya, they call Mahaprabhu [Laughs]. The people in Vallabhacharya called him Mahaprabhu. But even there, we don’t find the Kirtan so prominent as in Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s movement. So generally when they describe an avatar, they’ll describe sometimes the time when he appears as Kali Yuga in this case. They will describe his form. In this case, he is golden in colour. That’s his form. And his activity. His activity is Nama sankirtan. So, if we take all these together, then most likely applies to Caitanya Mahaprabhu. We don’t have any other choice of avatars in Kali Yuga that somebody falsely claims in modern day, but we have the example of Lord Caitanya and Sankirtan. So he’s the most apt person to fit this description. So, and the words of the verse apply to him.
So similarly, this verse here is a little more general than the previous verse. It could apply to others as well. But this verse is here to show that this avatar also is not just the Yuga avatar. He’s also very, very special. And therefore he gets the worship of Shiva and Brahma, etc. I mentioned that in Kali Yuga there is no direct avatar, so we get Shakti avesha avatars in general. But they don’t have such power. They have less power. So when describing all these descriptive elements here, this will apply not just to a Shakti avesha avatar, but to full avatar of the Lord, someone who is the Supreme Lord himself. So in this way, we can say it applies to a special avatar in Kali Yuga who’s not a Shakti avesha avatar. So this puts Lord Caitanya in a very special position.
It’s mentioned here about the first word here is ‘Jayam’. His lotus feet are worthy of meditation, or you should meditate upon those feet. So meditation is one process of devotional service. It’s also performed by yogis, etc. It is not actually the Yuga Dharma. But the Yuga Dharma is chanting the Holy Name. But the Holy Name is also said to be the best meditation [Laughs]. So therefore we say ‘Jayam’, it does not necessarily mean sitting down like a yogi and meditating on the lotus feet of Lord Caitanya. It also means chanting the glories of Lord Caitanya’s lotus feet. So the feet are worthy of glorifying through kirtan [Laughs]. So we don’t have to take a yogic interpretation for that.
It says here ‘paribhava gunam’. Gunam means un destroyed / killed. And of course paribhava means the tax of material existence, etc. So this of course is a common description of Supreme Lord and devotional service. It destroys material existence, etc. It’s not the ultimate description or quality of the Lord to destroy material existence. It’s a byproduct only. Because just by destroying material existence you get liberation, and we don’t want liberation [Laughs].
But who gives liberation? Ultimately, Supreme Lord. We cannot get it simply by Jnana or by yoga. They cannot actually give liberation. So even if we want liberation, it’s ultimately Supreme Lord that gives the liberation. He destroys material existence. So it’s described that you can do jnana, but if you don’t worship the Lord, you don’t get liberation [Laughs]. So even if you desire liberation, you do have to worship the Lord. If you offend the Lord, finished. So you may think you’re liberated, but you fall from your position. So this is directly stated in Bhagavatam. So actually no one except Supreme Lord gives liberation from the material world.
The processes of jnana and yoga are actually material processes, and therefore they cannot give something beyond the material world, because they’re stuck in the material world also. So only a process beyond the material world can give liberation. So that’s Supreme Lord and devotional service. So that’s why the Lord and the lotus feet of the Lord are praised for destroying samsara, etc., because actually it cannot be accomplished by yoga or jnana.
But of course, the devotee doesn’t really want that [Laughs]. So therefore, the next phrase is ‘abhishtha-doham’. It gives what the devotees actually desire[Laughs]. So it destroys material existence. Yes, it does that because that’s its power, but it gives what is desired by the devotees, which is prema. So that’s the real goal of the devotee in worshipping the lotus feet.
In the Purport, it is mentioned that, the lotus feet are the shelter of all tirthas. and actually Kirtananda Swami, he wrote the Purports, he was talking about South America [Laughs]. So South American devotees can’t go to Mayapur, because they’re all poor [Laughs]. They’re very far away, and it’s very expensive, and furthermore, they’re very poor. So most people cannot go. But, you can worship the lotus feet of Lord Caitanya, and that is the best tirtha. So you go to all tirthas by worshipping the lotus feet of Lord Caitanya. Of course, the purpose of tirtha, a holy place, is to purify. So the lotus feet of Lord Caitanya are the most purified, so they’re the best tirtha. More than going to a place, you just go to the lotus feet of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and you get the results of all tirthas – Purification, advancement, devotional service, etc.
So it mentions here also that the lotus feet are offered respects by Shiva and Brahma, who are Guna avatars in the material world. They are also in one sense forms of the Lord. They are in charge of Tamo guna and Rajo guna. Normally in the material world, they are, let’s say, the supreme devatas, and everybody worships them, including other devatas. But they are worshipping the Supreme Lord here. So he’s very, very special.
‘Charanyam’ – means, of course, worthy of taking shelter out. Everyone takes shelter out of a person or the feet, because they can guarantee safety and give all protection, etc., and give everything required. So in other words, all desires are satisfied by taking shelter of those lotus feet. And, of course, the another word here is ‘brityarthitam’, to destroy the pain or the suffering of the servant. So those who surrender, then they will get all results.
Of course, they get destruction of all the material suffering, and they also get the opposite, which is bliss and service to the Lord eternally. And the last descriptive term is ‘bhava-abdhipotam’, the boat to cross over the ocean of material existence, which is very similar to ‘paribhava-nama’, etc., to destroy the suffering of the material world, etc. So these are all fitting phrases to describe the lotus feet of Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
Of course, it’s going to be implied to others as well, but because of the previous verse, they are applicable to Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Actually in an easier way than for other forms of the Lord, because Lord Caitanya is the most approachable of all the different forms of the Lord. And by doing Nama-Sankirtan, that process of approaching them becomes very easily. Previous verse stated that through Nama-Sankirtan in general, he is worshipped by the intelligent people. So Nama-Sankirtan is the easiest approach to the Lord, so we can approach Lord Caitanya also by the process of kirtan. And then we get all of these results mentioned in this particular verse.
Okay. Any questions?
Q & A:
1) Maharaj, the Purport talks about how when we take shelter of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, we can overcome the bad qualities like lust, greed, envy etc. But even after we’ve taken up the process and then follow Mahaprabhu, we’re still struggling with these. So what is that that is lacking in which is not causing these qualities to go away? Even after we do Nama-Sankirtan, we worship Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, we accept him as a Supreme personality of Godhead, but still there seems to be that negative qualities still existing within us. So how do we…
Of course, in the process of bhakti, we go through bhajanakriya, anarta-nivritti, nishta, ruchi, asakti. So the anarthas, all the anger, envy, etc., should get destroyed. But it’s a gradual process. So we talk about anarta-nivritti as one stage, but actually it’s a continuous stage. It starts from the beginning, goes through bhajanakriya, anartana-vritti, goes through nishta, goes through ruchi, goes through asakti, into bhava. So anarthas are all being destroyed in this process. So it’s not just one little stage there, then nishta, no more anarthas. No, the anarthas are still there, but they’re less. So we have a lot of anarthas in the beginning, when we start with faith and do bhajana kriya, and as we go through the process, gradually, less and less, and attraction to Krishna becomes more and more until we actually see Krishna in bhava. Even in bhava, there is anartha. But that gets finally destroyed, and then we get prema.
So therefore, in devotional service, devotees will show some faults. They will show some anartha, unless they are in prema [Laughs]. So they will show some fault, and that is to be expected because anarthas are still there. But it becomes less and less as the devotee advances. That’s all.
So Vishwanath Chakravarti says that actually, if you had no Aparadhs, that process would be very quick. It’s such that we can’t even distinguish the stages—bhajanakriya, anartha nirvathi, ruchi, asakti, bhava—wouldn’t we have all those stages? It would be a very quick process with less stages. But if we have Aparadhs from this or previous lifetimes, then it becomes slower, and we can distinguish these distinct stages of anartha-nirvrti, nistha, ruchi, asakti, etc. In other words, the process of destroying the anarthas becomes slower due to the aparadh, nama Aparadhs particularly. So that’s one of the main reasons for slowness as the namaparadhs.
2) Maharaj, Just a continuation. We also hear from.. when we talk about Mahaprabhu, you were mentioning he is merciful yesterday, and today you’re saying that he’s very approachable. And then in Caitanya Caritamrita, we see these different texts that say, oh, you read this chapter, you’ll get Krishna Prema. If you attend the Shantipur festival, you’ll get Krishna Prema, and things like that. So these boons are they immediate? How do we interpret it? Because as you rightly said, there’s also aparadas that’s holding us back, but on the other side, we see Mahaprabhu very merciful, you’ll get Krishna Prema immediately and anybody without…
Yeah.. “If you don’t immediately develop tears in your eyes, you are a demon” [Laughs]. Yeah, so we get statements like that. So, of course, with scripture, we cannot say anything is exaggeration. And that’s mentioned in the Nectar of Devotion also that talks about we can’t take the statements and think they’re exaggeration. At the same time, we also know that everybody doesn’t get immediate effect. So it happens in some cases. It’s not that it must happen in all cases, but it’s there to show the power of, say, Chanting the Holy Name, etc., that it does have great power.
And if we were to say, no, it’s exaggeration, that becomes an offence to the Holy Name also [Laughs]. So we have to accept the statements, at the same time there are reasons why it may not give immediate effect in many cases. So, as I said, Aparadh is one of the things which will delay the effect. So, therefore, if we have Aparadhs, then we get some effect, but it is delayed because of the problems that Aparadhs give.
Devotee: Thank you.
3) Maharaj, when we understand about Karma, we know that it will come into effect when the circumstances right for the person to get that effect and all those things. But in the case of Aparadh, is it immediate or is it like, you know, you mentioned that it is also from the previous lifetime. So, is there something that we can draw parallel to Karma as to when it will happen or how it will happen or anything like that?
Well, even Karmas are coming from previous lifetime. They’re only manifested in this lifetime, some of them, and not all of them, and some are waiting for next lifetime and next lifetime and next lifetime. They are designated to manifest at certain times in this lifetime and future lifetimes.
It’s not mentioned about Aparadhs, when they will manifest, but as for the devotee, we’re only interested in how they affect devotional service. So, therefore, if one begins the practise of devotional service, then those Aparadhs will affect the Bhakti at that time. It’s not designated five lifetimes you can get the effect of Aparadh. You’ll get the effect when you start devotional service because it will slow down the whole process. That’s all.
So, whenever you start devotional service, then we’ll start getting the effects of the Aparadhs. However, Aparadhs are similar to sins in one sense because they give some reaction, whatever, and according to the amount of Aparadh or the seriousness we get greater effects, so that’s not like karma also.
And they give effects in the future like karma. What is the difference? The difference for Aparadh is it’s like a sin, but it is a devotional sin [Laughs]. Sin against Krishna, sin against devotees, sin against the Holy Name and Bhakti. If you offend those things, then it becomes, it’s like a sin but it’s worse because it affects Bhakti itself. It also gives the bad effects of karma, but it gets worse because it affects Bhakti itself. So, according to the degree of Aparadh, then it will affect.
Now, the nature of Aparadh is it is harder to get rid of than sin. So, of course, in Ajamil’s case, he just chanted the name of Narayan accidentally to get rid of all of his karmas and it was not even Bhakti, it was Abhas, it was accidental chanting, whatever, but he had no Aparadhs. If he had committed Aparadhs, he would have got some effect, but it is slower, not all immediately.
Now, if we have devotees and are not just accidentally, seriously chanting the name, then, of course, we should expect quicker effect. So, very quick effect if there’s no Aparadhs. So, therefore, as I said, Vishwanath Chakrawarthy says that we don’t even see the stages of Bhakti going through so quick [Laughs], but with Aparadhs, it becomes slower.
And it is such that even after all your karmas are gone, which is by the end of Asakti, all your karmas should be gone, the effect of Aparadh will continue into Bhava. So, therefore, it is more sticky [Laughs], it sticks to you more, more difficult to get rid of the effect of Aparadhs. So, that was the case of Bharat, previous lifetime, some Aparadh, and therefore in Bhava, he became attached to a deer. So, that’s the effect of Aparadh in previous lifetime. So, even in Bhava stage, the effect of the Aparadh can still touch you.
4) In Mayapur, you go to Dhameshwar Mahaprabhu’s place and one day they say that you can get rid of all your offences, but even after visiting all these places, still our Bhakti is very slow progressing. Is it again the Aparadh that is holding back or we are committing new Aparadhs?
Well, it could be either[Laughs]. And even without Aparadhs, things may not manifest immediately. Just like if we grow a mango tree, we don’t get mangoes two days after we plant the mango seed. It may take years to get the thing. So, devotional service also takes maturity. Some, let’s say, time to mature and Krishna often prefers that process of gradual development.
He can give, immediately go to the spiritual world or whatever like that, but he rarely does that. And even a person like Narada Muni may not give that mercy so you can’t get immediate results. And so, you continue doing sadhana and it’s a slower process.
And that’s often preferred by the Supreme Lord Himself. Just as if we have, we may get hybrid mango trees which grow quickly and they give the results after three years. And then we have the normal tree that may give results after ten years. But the result of the ten-year tree, the result is a sweeter mango [Laughs]. And the instant one is like a little bit not so sweet after the mango, but it’s not so sweet. So Krishna often prefers the slower process, that is sadhana siddha, you become perfection, get perfection through sadhana bhakti. The result is, you can say better.
5) Hare Krsna Maharaj, Dandavat Pranams. As you mentioned that jnana and yoga are just material things, but isn’t that anything or everything about the Lord is something spiritual, as we understand? So how do I understand the statements when jnana and yoga are just material things?
Yeah, so jnana and yoga are manifestations of sattva guna. Karma yoga is tamo guna-rajo guna mixture [Laughs]. It allows you to get to sattva guna. When you get to sattva guna, you give up those lower things and you do jnana or yoga. So in the 11th canto, Krishna tells Uddhava, yes jnana arises from sattva. That’s not spiritual. So if that is so, technically it cannot give liberation, it can give purification up to liberation, cannot give liberation, which is beyond the gunas. So that is why mercy of the Lord is necessary to get liberation, because something in sattva cannot get you beyond sattva.
So we can say, well, Brahman can give mercy, but Brahman doesn’t do anything. It’s inactive. So you cannot get mercy of Brahman [Laughs]. So you have to get mercy of a person, so you get mercy from the Supreme Lord. But how do you get mercy out of the Supreme Lord if you’re a jnani? You have to respect the Lord. Then you have to worship the Lord. If you don’t worship the Lord and you disrespect the Lord, it says the Lord has no form, no mercy, no liberation. So in that sense, your jnana is useless because you will fall from your position and you will not get liberation. So you have to have a little bit of devotion in your jnana or yoga. Then you can get liberation because the Lord is merciful to you.
6) If we sincerely pray to Sri Radha, will she give her prayer to Krishna and maybe the effect of knowingly or unknowingly whatever aparadhas we did, the intensity of that can it be subdued or reduced?
Yes, the performance of bhakti in any form or chanting the holy name can get rid of the Aparadhas. But of course, if we know if it’s done in this lifetime and we know committed an aparadha, particularly a Vaishnava aparadha, then we have to follow a certain procedure. That is, we have to recognise the aparadha, we have to go to the person we’ve offended, we have to apologise. And if we don’t do that, we avoid it all, then the aparadha will continue. If it’s not a Vaishnava aparadha in this lifetime, of course we have no way of knowing what it was in the past. Like in the case of Bharat, he didn’t know either what his aparadha was. So only the process of bhakti itself will gradually destroy that.
So of course if we worship Radharani also, that’s also good. So devotion itself will gradually destroy, but it takes a long time.
7) We see in India there’s so many holy places and thousands, millions of people go and visit Chardham, or Himalayas, and so on and so forth. Will these people get only a ajnana-sukhrti or devotional service?
Well, ajnana-sukhrti is devotional service. But that’s unconscious. So it’s not unconscious because they’re going there consciously. But it’s not punya, definitely, if it’s related to the Supreme Lord. If it is a devata place, of course, then it is punya, material punya. If it is a place of the Supreme Lord, then of course it is spiritual. But then people may go for material reasons. They go to Balaji for material reasons, not spiritual reasons. Of course, it’s mixed bhakti. So they get some result, but they don’t get prema.
But they get fulfilment of material desires, a little bit closer to Krishna, or whatever, in that way. So they get some positive effect, but they don’t get the ultimate result. If we have a pure devotee on practising pure bhakti who goes to these places to worship the Lord, fine, but this is an anga of bhakti. And particularly the places of Lord Caitanya and Vrindavan, the place of Krishna, then this is an actual anga of bhakti. So it is just like doing hearing and chanting. We live in the Holy Dham, visit the Holy Dham. It helps our bhakti itself.
But as I said here, just chant the Holy Name and worship the Lord. Lord Caitanya is the best tirtha to go to [Laughs]. We don’t have to go to Badrinath, or Kumbh Mela, or anything. Don’t put all that effort into that. Just chant the Holy Name [Laughs].
Devotee: Also it is said that, the devotees already did all the Yajna or visited all the holy places or they worshipped all. So if somebody starts devotional life, we can understand he has already done all these things. It’s not that it’s necessary for the devotees.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: He surpassed everything, actually[Laughs].
8) Maharaj if some one is pious, but when it comes to hearing scriptures or chanting the Mahamantra, they don’t want to do that. Does the past karma stopping them ? And if so, how can we bring them? Is the karma stopping them?
Another devotee clarifying the question again : They are pious, but they don’t want to do devotional service. Is karma stopping them?
Well, it could be many different things. Basically, people who have faith, will be attracted and will accept. People who are not faith, but have no offensive attitude, they’re willing to hear at least a little bit. And those who have done some offences, they will not like to hear [Laughs]. So this is what we call the demons and whatever. You can’t preach to the people who are, you know, averse to the Lord or very materialistic because you can say there’s karma or whatever.
But even worse than that is that if they’ve done offence, so they offended the Lord or offended the devotees or devotional service, that is very difficult for them to advance. Very, very gradually, of course, they can get purified by ajnana-sukriti or something. But because they are averse, they don’t want to listen.
So you can’t directly associate with them [Laughs] and give them mercy, that way because they won’t accept it. So the only thing available for them is ajnana-sukriti unconsciously, giving them some association with bhakti.
9) If it is a conscious aparadh, it is like more intense. If it is not conscious, it’s not that intense. But the ajnana is continuing.
Well, yeah, if it is not intentional, just out of ignorance, fine. So the effect is not so bad. But still, we get some effect and it will mean disinterest in devotional service. So you can’t force them to take it [Laughs]. But we can just expose it to them, let’s say, in a way that they can, it will affect them without their having to accept it [Laughs].
Like give them prasadam or something, let them hear the holy name or something. But if we start preaching Bhagavad Gita, they definitely won’t accept. So all we can do is ajnana-sukriti type of things.
10) Maharaj, Is there any gradation of aparadha in the sense for a devotee that if you do it to a kanishtha adhikari or a madhyama adhikari or a uttama adhikari, is there any gradation of the severity of the aparadhas?
Yeah. Well, it depends, it all depends on many things. One is, of course, if you offend a greater devotee, then it’s more effect or whatever. And lesser devotee, less effect. Then we shouldn’t think, well, I can offend all the lesser devotees. You can’t do that either. So that’s one thing, gradation of devotees.
The other is the intention. If it’s unintentional, then of course it’s not so bad. If we actually have hatred or envy or something, then it’s very bad.
And then, of course, one is mental. There’s something there. If it becomes verbal, it’s worse. If it becomes physical, it’s worse. So we get all sorts of variations on the intensity of aparadhas.
11) It says that whoever pray to lord like devotees and whoever not believe in lord are like asuras, demons. So in this page also, it is still the same ? All devotees are like devotees ? Whoever pray to lord are devotees. Whoever don’t believe are like asuras, demons.
Well, those who have faith in the existence of the lord, have faith in the scriptures, they do devotional service activities, we call them devotees.
Those who have a type of mixed faith, not based on proper knowledge, who may worship the lord, like people go to the temples and worship, that is, we can say, a lower form called Kanishtha [Laughs]. Still, it’s acceptable because Krishna says, I accept all these people who come to me, even if they have material desires, etc. So, in one sense, that’s acceptable.
Then we have people who are, they have no real interest. They don’t offend, but they have no real interest. Another category, and we can also preach to them to some degree.
There are others who actually hate the lord [Laughs]. And they will offend the lord or offend devotees, etc. These people we don’t associate with at all. We have to avoid those people. So, these are what we call the demons [Laughs]. They actually have a hatred of the lord, like Shishupala or Kamsa, etc.
12) He likes to do bhakti, but bothered. Why?
Well, this is kind of natural at the beginning of bhakti. We call this Anishtha. Nistha is nice and steady. No problem. You just do one devotional service. No problems. Anishtha means unsteady. We like sometimes, sometimes we don’t like. Sometimes we can do enthusiastically. Sometimes no enthusiasm, whatever. Like this.
And that’s because the bhakti is weaker and the material desires are more. But if we continue the bhakti, gradually, bhakti becomes stronger, these disturbances become less, and then we come to steadiness. So, by continuing the process, gradually we get to a state of love.
Thank you Maharaj.
Devotees: HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj Ki.. Jai !!