Srimad Bhagavatam – 2.3.12 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | ISKCON Chennai | Jun 1, 2026
ŚB 2.3.12
ज्ञानं यदाप्रतिनिवृत्तगुणोर्मिचक्र –
मात्मप्रसाद उत यत्र गुणेष्वसङ्ग: ।
कैवल्यसम्मतपथस्त्वथ भक्तियोग:
को निर्वृतो हरिकथासु रतिं न कुर्यात् ॥ १२ ॥
jñānaṁ yad āpratinivṛtta-guṇormi-cakram
ātma-prasāda uta yatra guṇeṣv asaṅgaḥ
kaivalya-sammata-pathas tv atha bhakti-yogaḥ
ko nirvṛto hari-kathāsu ratiṁ na kuryāt
Synonyms
jñānam — knowledge; yat — that which; ā — up to the limit of; pratinivṛtta — completely withdrawn; guṇa–ūrmi — the waves of the material modes; cakram — whirlpool; ātma–prasādaḥ — self-satisfaction; uta — moreover; yatra — where there is; guṇeṣu — in the modes of nature; asaṅgaḥ — no attachment; kaivalya — transcendental; sammata — approved; pathaḥ — path; tu — but; atha — therefore; bhakti–yogaḥ — devotional service; kaḥ — who; nirvṛtaḥ — absorbed in; hari–kathāsu — in the transcendental topics of the Lord; ratim — attraction; na — shall not; kuryāt — do.
Translation
Transcendental knowledge in relation with the Supreme Lord Hari is knowledge resulting in the complete suspension of the waves and whirlpools of the material modes. Such knowledge is self-satisfying due to its being free from material attachment, and being transcendental it is approved by authorities. Who could fail to be attracted?
Purport
According to Bhagavad-gītā (10.9) the characteristics of pure devotees are wonderful. The complete functional activities of a pure devotee are always engaged in the service of the Lord, and thus the pure devotees exchange feelings of ecstasy between themselves and relish transcendental bliss. This transcendental bliss is experienced even in the stage of devotional practice (sādhana-avasthā), if properly undertaken under the guidance of a bona fide spiritual master. And in the mature stage the developed transcendental feeling culminates in realization of the particular relationship with the Lord by which a living entity is originally constituted (up to the relationship of conjugal love with the Lord, which is estimated to be the highest transcendental bliss). Thus bhakti-yoga, being the only means of God realization, is called kaivalya. Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī quotes the Vedic version (eko nārāyaṇo devaḥ, parāvarāṇāṁ parama āste kaivalya-saṁjñitaḥ) in this connection and establishes that Nārāyaṇa, the Personality of Godhead, is known as kaivalya, and the means which enables one to approach the Lord is called the kaivalya-panthā, or the only means of attainment of Godhead. This kaivalya-panthā begins from śravaṇa, or hearing those topics that relate to the Personality of Godhead, and the natural consequence of hearing such hari-kathā is attainment of transcendental knowledge, which causes detachment from all mundane topics, for which a devotee has no taste at all. For a devotee, all mundane activities, social and political, become unattractive, and in the mature state such a devotee becomes uninterested even in his own body, and what to speak of bodily relatives. In such a state of affairs one is not agitated by the waves of the material modes. There are different modes of material nature, and all mundane functions in which a common man is very much interested or in which he takes part become unattractive for the devotee. This state of affairs is described herein as pratinivṛtta-guṇormi, and it is possible by ātma-prasāda, or complete self-satisfaction without any material connection. The first-class devotee of the Lord attains this stage by devotional service, but despite his loftiness, for the Lord’s satisfaction he may play the voluntary part of a preacher of the Lord’s glory and dovetail all into devotional service, even mundane interest, just to give the neophytes a chance to transform mundane interest into transcendental bliss. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has described this action of a pure devotee as nirbandhaḥ kṛṣṇa-sambandhe yuktaṁ vairāgyam ucyate. Even mundane activities dovetailed with service to the Lord are also calculated to be transcendental or approved kaivalya affairs.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj:
So, this is another verse glorifying the process of bhakti, and its described as giving knowledge by which one surpasses the material world. And it’s also in the third line, it’s called kaivalya-samatha-pathas. It is the path approved, and it is kaivalya. And for many people, kaivalya means impersonal realization, oneness. So, kaivalya comes from kevala. Kevala means only, or single. So, that is often the way in which it is used. However, bhakti yoga is described as being kaivalya, so it looks contradictory. So, therefore, we have to reject that commonly accepted definition of kaivalya. So, that is why Prabhupada quotes in the purport that Jiva Goswami says that kaivalya means Supreme Lord, Narayana. So, he is one Lord who is superior to all other living entities. So, because he is the single person, he is called kaivalya [Laughs]. So, in this way, kaivalya has nothing to do with impersonalism, because it’s referring to worship of the Supreme Lord.
So, people often, when they read these purports, they often wonder why Prabhupada often criticizes impersonal liberation. And the reason is that, in impersonalism, kaivalya means, one, there is a Lord, but nothing else. But, in bhakti yoga, there is a Jiva, and there is a Supreme Lord. And, in perfection, the Jiva remains, and Supreme Lord remains. So, kaivalya is not possible, in that sense. On the other hand, if we take impersonal kaivalya, they say, yes, ultimately, only Brahman exists, one. Nothing else exists. However, we say, yes, Lord exists, and others exist, but they are not the same as the Lord, the Lord is supreme, and they are dependent. So, the Vaishnavas say, the Lord is one, He is supreme, and there are also Jivas, who are dependent. And the impersonalists, like Sankaracharya, say, no, only Brahman exists, Jivas do not exist.
But, of course, the question arises, who are we in this material world? Are we Brahman or not? We cannot be a different Brahman, because there is only one Brahman. So, then the answer is, yes, the conscious Jiva is Brahman, but he thinks he is separate. So, through the process of jnana, we get rid of the ignorance, and then the Jiva realizes he is Brahman. Being a Jiva is illusion, and when we have knowledge, then we are one Brahman. So, in that state of Brahman, no bhakti yoga. So, this is opposite of bhakti yoga. So, in this impersonal conception, Jiva is illusion. Furthermore, Bhagavan with form qualities and activities is also illusion. Brahman has no form, no qualities, no activities. So, not only there is no Jiva, there is no Supreme Lord, there is only his formless Brahman. So, because it is so negative, in the sense of negating the Supreme Lord and negating the Jiva, the Vaishnavas criticize it. If it were not very prominent, then we wouldn’t have to criticize it so much.
We see that materialism is very, very common, so Prabhupada also criticizes that a lot. However, within India, the impersonal philosophy has become very prominent, and therefore we criticize it. And it is not only Prabhupada who is criticizing, it goes back to Ramanujacharya criticizing, Madhvacharya criticizing, thousand years ago. So, the reason for this is because that philosophy of impersonalism was very strong, and therefore the Vaishnavacharyas had to constantly defeat it. And we see, even 500 years ago, Lord Caitanya also had to argue against it. So, we have huge philosophical sections of Caitanya caritamrita dedicated to refuting Mayavada philosophy of Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya and Prakasananda [Laughs]. So, it is something newly introduced, it has been traditional within India for the last thousand years [Laughs].
So, in the modern world, of course, we don’t have so much precise understanding of Sankara’s philosophy, but still people are influenced by it. And thus most religious leaders from India and who preach around the world are impersonalists also [Laughs]. So of course many people hear this and they adopt them in some way, but they are not fanatical adherents of that. So, therefore, it is possible to preach to these people and give them proper knowledge. So, the basis of that, of course, is Bhagavatam. Bhagavatam’s main point is to show that Krishna with form, qualities and activities is supreme. And therefore, repeatedly, through every canto, we find rejection of this idea of impersonalism. At the same time, we will find Bhagavatam also takes a different strategy.
Some of our Acharyas, previous Vaishnava Acharyas, condemned Brahman as being absolutely useless, it is illusion, it is false, it doesn’t exist, it’s maya. On the other hand, Bhagavatam says, no, Brahman is part of the Supreme Lord, so it is factual [Laughs]. And thus Bhagavatam also concedes there are some Jnanis who can realize Brahman. I think Ramanujacharya takes position you cannot realize Brahman because there is no form qualities and activities, so we can never realize anything like that [Laughs].
In fact, he says, such a thing cannot exist. However, we see Bhagavatam does accept, okay, Brahman, Paramatma, Bhagavan are part of Bhagavan [Laughs]. So we do accept it as spiritual and its possibility of realizing it but at the same time it is not supreme. And thus the intelligent person will choose the complete realization, the supreme realization I.e Bhagavan.
So, this verse also answers the question, well, why should we choose Bhakti Yoga over Brahman? And so, this verse says, well, who would not be attracted to hearing about the wonderful qualities of the Lord? In other words, when we accept Bhagavan with form, qualities and activities, then we can establish a relationship with the Lord and develop real attraction. And we can experience bliss. This word in the last line, nirvritta, actually means bliss. So, we hear all about the wonderful qualities of the Lord, etc., and develop attraction to that, and we develop attraction to the Lord, and we develop bliss through rasa. So, of course, we can say, well, there is also bliss in Brahman. So, true, of course, the Lord is Sat-cit-ananda, and Brahman is part of that. So, there must be some ananda even in Brahman. Just like we have a body, we have parts of the body, all the parts of the body have qualities, like the whole of the body. However, we see in these three forms of the Lord, Brahman, Paramatma and Bhagavan, we find the qualities and form, etc., are fully manifested in Bhagavan. And thus, the bliss is fully manifested in Bhagavan.
So, Brahman also is Sat-cit-ananda, but it is prominently Sat. But what about cit and ananda? So, definitely, they have to be there, but the nature of Brahman is no form, no quality, no activity [Laughs]. So, therefore, the bliss is minimal, we can say. You can’t even describe Brahman as being a blissful state. Because Brahman has no qualities, bliss is a quality. So therefore yes in one sense, there is cit-ananda in Brahman but there is prominence of sat.
Which means the existence is the most prominent aspect, eternal existence. So that of course is not material, its spiritual, part of the lord . But, it is said that the bliss of Brahman is like a drop of water in the desert. If you’re in the desert and you’re thirsty, what can one drop of water do? Nothing [Laughs]. On the other hand, it often speaks of the devotees. They are drinking the topics of the Lord in their ears, like cups [Laughs] going in their ear [Laughs]. So, the bliss of Brahman is like a drop of water in the desert. The bliss of Prema is an ocean [Laughs].
So, in Nectar of Devotion, when it describes the 6 unique qualities of Bhakti, in the beginning section, there one of the last qualities is Sandrananda. Condensed, intense bliss. So, of course, then the Mayavadis say, No, Brahman is blissful [Laughs]. So, then Rupa Goswami gives all these quotations to say that the bliss of Brahman is nothing compared to the bliss of Prema. So, we can emphasize the greatness of Bhakti by comparing it to the realization of Brahman, we see that there is no comparison in terms of bliss. So, the intelligent person will choose Bhakti because the goal is more attractive. And that is expressed in this question in the last line, Who would choose who would not become blissful or attracted to hearing all about Supreme Lord with his qualities, form and activity. Hare Krishna.
Q & A:
1.) Maharaj, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu said that māyāvādi-bhāṣya śunile haya sarva-nāśa. He encouraged not to hear anything from mayavadis.Even he said that, you know, Mayavadi is more dangerous than materialistic. So, why they are so dangerous, the Mayavadis?
So, it is condemned, Mayavadis are condemned so much because it is so offensive to Bhagavan and Bhakti. So, by listening to such talks, one becomes contaminated. So, it is said, when you see the Mayavadi, you don’t have to hear him. When you see him, you jump in the river with your clothes on and wash yourself [Laughs], purify yourself. Of course, we can say that material philosophies like Charvaka Muni are also completely opposite of Bhakti and offensive. However, Sankaracharya is cleverly using many logical arguments to present his position and people can become convinced by that. And thus, there is the warning not to hear that type of discourse.
2.) Maharaj, Brahman doesn’t have any quality, no form. So how will you explain Brahman that which exists without existence because we cannot see anything in Brahman and we cannot feel also. Then, how can something exist which doesn’t have physical existence?
Well, it does exist [Laughs]. That’s why we say Sat.
Devotee : How will you prove that it exists?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj : Well, we prove by scripture [Laughs]. That’s what Sankaracharya does [Laughs]. So therefore he goes to Upanishads and Brahma sutras and say they are the proof that Sat, Brahman exists.
Devotee : Maharaj is there any scripture. That’s okay. Suppose, there is a, this table is there. If I am to prove that this table exists, I have to have some proof that some perception should be there that there is an existence of the table. But that is not there.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj : Well, not only Brahman, Bhagavan also is not perceptible [Laughs]. It’s not subject to material senses or mind. Even Brahman. So, the only way we know about Brahman, Paramaham or Bhagavan is by scripture, not by sense perception and logic. So, then the argument is not does it exist or not exist, but the Brahman mentioned in scripture, what is it? Is it impersonal or is it Bhagavan? So then a lot of the arguments back and forth are concerning interpretation of words to say what does this mean does it mean this or do you mean that like that.
Devotee : Maharaj, if you read the Srimad Bhagavatam, Bhagavatam says that in over period of time we can perceive the Supreme Lord by doing sadhana. Whereas, it doesn’t say in Srimad Bhagavatam or any other scripture that we can perceive or we can know that Brahman, that we cannot do it. That means there is.. What we cannot do it, what we cannot perceive, how can we say that it exists?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj : So, if we say you can perceive Bhagavan, we also must say you perceive Bhagavan not with material senses, but with spiritual senses. So, this implies that Jiva develops spiritual senses and he is different from the Lord who is also spiritual. If there is Brahman, there are no senses, so you cannot see Brahman, you can realize Brahman. But then how do you realize? Because you have no mind. So, attaining that Samadhi of Atma or Brahman ultimately for the Mayavadi means you are not, the mind is not doing anything. It is simply you exist. Cin-matra. Consciousness just exists. That’s it. There is no perception of anything. So, by negation we can say that that realization would be there is no awareness of material bodies, birth and death, suffering, etc. So, in a negative way we can describe that existence. So, this realization is very similar to Nirvana of Buddhism. And therefore it is said covered Buddhism.
Devotee : Nirvana even that would have the concept of atma also.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj : No. No Brahman, nothing. He calls it Brahman but it is similar in one sense because no form, no qualities, no activities of what actually is being experienced [Laughs]. So, it is similar in that sense to Nirvana, nothingness [Laughs].
Devotee : One more problem is that those who realize them Brahman when they become free from the senses, material body, everything, that consciousness exists. But they say that consciousness is Brahman. That is according to the concept. Is a Brahman. Is not a individual consciousness. Is a totality of the consciousness. Different.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj : Of course, when we talk about Brahman and the Mayavadis talk about it, it is a little different. For the Mayavadi, the Jiva ceases to exist. So, he can’t be aware of anything. He simply is Brahman [Laughs]. We say the Jiva can realize Brahman. So, the Jiva does not destroy itself. He can be aware of Brahman. So, it is a little bit, slightly different [Laughs]. And, of course, for the Mayavadi, there is nothing except that Brahman. And for us, Brahman is part of the Supreme Lord. So, dependent on Bhagavan. So, it is a little different concept. So, we give the example that Jiva can realize Brahman, which is like the sun rays but, he can also realize the Sun God in the Sun, which is like Bhagavan.
3.) Hare Krishna Maharaj. Maharaj, so we have this phrase no maharaj, athāto brahma-jijñāsā. So, that, enquire about Brahman. So, in that Brahman refers to the Supreme Absolute Truth or it refers to the Self or True Own Self.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj : In the Brahma Sutras?
Devotee : That Brahman refers to?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj : For the Vaishnavas, Brahman means Bhagavan [Laughs]. So, in what the Sri Bhasya, Ramanujacharya says Brahman is Narayana [Laughs]. Nimbarkacharya in his commentary says Brahman is Krishna [Laughs].
4.) Maharaj, so, this is regarding the space class Maharaj. So, at the very early stage of our bhakti, our enthusiasm, our everything will be high and we will do everything enthusiastically for 2-3 years or more than 5 years. But, after sometimes the taste is reduced and there is no I mean no satisfaction and there will be some plateau. So, even I mean Krishna gives this real taste at the beginning after that we want to endeavor. Even this happens to Narada Muni also. Narada Muni got the darshan in his previous life and after that Krishna told that he will not give darshan for this lifetime. Next lifetime only he will get. So, for us, is like, is this due to our aparadha or what Maharaj? No satisfaction and no inclination towards bhakti and it is getting reduced. Is this due to aparadha?
So that lack of taste could be due to aparadhas because with aparadhas then our taste for bhakti decreases. Or it can just lead to obstacles or aparadha on, anarthas. Some aparadhas take longer to weaken. So in any case the solution is to continue the process of bhakti and be careful that we don’t commit aparadhas and we’re concentrating on trying to please the Lord. So bhakti is such that the Lord responds to the needs of the devotee.
5.) Hare Krishna Maharaj, please accept my humble obeisances. Maharaj, it’s a follow-up question. We had a taste in the beginning but anarthas were always with us. Even before we came to bhakti, anarthas were there. But in the beginning we got some taste and we are still hankering for it. How that taste came and how did we lose it?
So without taste we cannot start the process of bhakti. But in the beginning the taste is usually small. But compared to the material world it is quite different. So therefore we can be aware of that difference from the very beginning. However later on, because we are used to bhakti, we don’t feel the novelty of it anymore. Just like when you have a new food or something that tastes nice, if you take it for 24 hours then you don’t have the taste anymore [Laughs]. So if bhakti is properly executed, then of course the bhakti increases and the taste increases. So that’s the natural progress of bhakti. Like eating food, natural processes, you eat it and you become satisfied. So if the taste does not increase later on for some reason, then that means there is some blockage to the progress of bhakti itself.
6.) Maharaj, we were speaking about mayavad and advaitavad. Is there a difference and what was Sankaracharya teaching? And also we see many mayavadi sanyasis carry ananda in their own name. So if they deny that there is no, only existence is there but nothing else is there, then how can you say that there is ananda? How do they append this ananda to their name? And if this ananda is not there, then sat only existence is there, but cit is not there, the awareness of own existence is also not there. Is this what Sankaracharya says?
So advaitavad and mayavad are the same thing. So if they have the name ananda, then obviously you cannot describe brahman because brahman has no quality. So there is a whole discussion about ananda and brahman. So one, of course, you can just say ananda means brahman and it’s just another name for it. It’s not descriptive at all. It’s just that state. Another way of describing it is the opposite state of the material world. Absence of misery, absence of ignorance, absence of karma, that is called ananda. So it just means you are free of the material world. There is no misery, there is no ignorance, there is no karma. This is the state that can be described because we can be free.
Devotee : But still Maharaj, can sat alone exist without cit?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj : Well, in the material world we have objects that exist. They don’t have no consciousness, no bliss. All matter is sat.
Devotee : Maharaj, is that the goal of Sankaracharya?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj : What?
Devotee : That sat alone?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj : Yeah, brahman means that state of sat, existence, mere existence.
7.) Hare Krishna Maharaj. Maharaj, we often hear about how it is very important for us to avoid aparadha. But then we also hear that devotees like Rupa Goswami or Saci Mata, I mean Caitanya Mahaprabhu took that as offence and Rupa Goswami indirectly, unintentionally committed an offence and he was losing taste in his devotional service. So how do we actually avoid aparadha Maharaj? It seems it is impossible for us to avoid aparadha. As long as we are in the material world, it is impossible for us to avoid unintentional aparadha.
We cannot predict how people react to us. However, the reaction for that unintentional aparadha is slight compared to the intentional aparadha. So when we talk about the ten aparadhas, we are more or less talking about intentional commission of the aparadhas. So, that we should avoid.
8.) Hare Krishna Maharaj. You said that as a Caitya Guru, Krishna is there in the heart. So Krishna is there in the heart and while chanting Krishna is in my tongue and I see Krishna everywhere and being with the devotee, still why I am unable to overcome anartha-nivritti Maharaj? So which is stopping me to realize completely.
So usually the process will be gradual and therefore we say you go through these stages of anartha-nivritti, nistha, ruchi, asakti, bhava, prema. So the advancement may be slower or quicker according to the individual. And according to the individual, the effort maybe more or less. The aparadhs maybe more or less. So in response to one’s efforts and one’s aparadhs the mercy of the lord maybe more or less. And thus people progress at different rates.
9.) Maharaj, if impersonal Brahman does not provide any sort of experience, why do the impersonalists desire for it?
Well it is an experience in the sense that you stop birth and death, karma, all miseries, all lamention, etc.
10.) Maharaj, only by getting proper siksha, that is knowledge, can a sadhaka devotee attain perfection?
Yeah. Well, ultimately that is what Bhagavatam is illustrating. If you take diksha and you don’t have any knowledge about who is Krishna, what is the use? And if you go through the ceremony and you don’t know what it is doing, and you have no knowledge, then how can you attain Prema?
11.) Maharaj, what is Brahmavadi? Is it also same as Mayavad? Scripture mentions that Sukadev Maharaj and the four Kumaras were Brahmavadis.
Philosophy is mayavad which says that only brahman exists, jiva does not exist, matter does not exist. Brahmavadi or regular impersonalist who doesn’t follow Sankaracharya doesn’t necesssarily claim everything is illusion, but he wants to merge in Brahman.
Hare Krishna.
Devotees: Grantharaj Srimad Bhagavatam ki jai!!! HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj ki jai!!! Srila Prabhupada ki jai!!! Nitai Gaura Premanande Hari Haribol!!!