Srimad Bhagavatam – 2.3.14 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | ISKCON Chennai | Jun 3, 2026
ŚB 2.3.14
एतच्छुश्रूषतां विद्वन् सूत नोऽर्हसि भाषितुम् ।
कथा हरिकथोदर्का: सतां स्यु: सदसि ध्रुवम् ॥ १४ ॥
etac chuśrūṣatāṁ vidvan
sūta no ’rhasi bhāṣitum
kathā hari-kathodarkāḥ
satāṁ syuḥ sadasi dhruvam
Synonyms
etat — this; śuśrūṣatām — of those eager to hear; vidvan — O learned; sūta — Sūta Gosvāmī; naḥ — unto us; arhasi — may you do it; bhāṣitum — just to explain it; kathāḥ — topics; hari–kathā–udarkāḥ — result in the topics of the Lord; satām — of the devotees; syuḥ — may be; sadasi — in the assembly of; dhruvam — certainly.
Translation
O learned Sūta Gosvāmī! Please continue to explain such topics to us because we are all eager to hear. Besides that, topics which result in the discussion of the Lord Hari should certainly be discussed in the assembly of devotees.
Purport
As we have already quoted above from the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu of Rūpa Gosvāmī, even mundane things, if dovetailed in the service of the Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, are accepted as transcendental. For example, the epics or the histories of Rāmāyaṇa and Mahābhārata, which are specifically recommended for the less intelligent classes (women, śūdras and unworthy sons of the higher castes), are also accepted as Vedic literature because they are compiled in connection with the activities of the Lord. Mahābhārata is accepted as the fifth division of the Vedas after its first four divisions, namely Sāma, Yajur, Ṛg and Atharva. The less intelligent do not accept Mahābhārata as part of the Vedas, but great sages and authorities accept it as the fifth division of the Vedas. Bhagavad-gītā is also part of the Mahābhārata, and it is full of the Lord’s instruction for the less intelligent class of men. Some less intelligent men say that Bhagavad-gītā is not meant for householders, but such foolish men forget that Bhagavad-gītā was explained to Arjuna, a gṛhastha (family man), and spoken by the Lord in His role as a gṛhastha. So Bhagavad-gītā, although containing the high philosophy of the Vedic wisdom, is for the beginners in the transcendental science, and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is for graduates and postgraduates in the transcendental science. Therefore literatures like Mahābhārata, the Purāṇas and similar other literatures which are full of the pastimes of the Lord, are all transcendental literatures, and they should be discussed with full confidence in the society of great devotees.
The difficulty is that such literatures, when discussed by professional men, appear to be mundane literature like histories or epics because there are so many historical facts and figures. It is said here, therefore, that such literatures should be discussed in the assembly of devotees. Unless they are discussed by devotees, such literatures cannot be relished by the higher class of men. So the conclusion is that the Lord is not impersonal in the ultimate issue. He is the Supreme Person, and He has His different activities. He is the leader of all living entities, and He descends at His will and by His personal energy to reclaim the fallen souls. Thus He plays exactly like the social, political or religious leaders. Because such roles ultimately culminate in the discussion of topics of the Lord, all such preliminary topics are also transcendental. That is the way of spiritualizing the civic activities of human society. Men have inclinations for studying history and many other mundane literatures — stories, fiction, dramas, magazines, newspapers, etc. — so let them be dovetailed with the transcendental service of the Lord, and all of them will turn to the topics relished by all devotees. The propaganda that the Lord is impersonal, that He has no activity and that He is a dumb stone without any name and form has encouraged people to become godless, faithless demons, and the more they deviate from the transcendental activities of the Lord, the more they become accustomed to mundane activities that only clear their path to hell instead of return them home, back to Godhead.* Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam begins from the history of the Pāṇḍavas (with necessary politics and social activities), and yet Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is said to be the Pāramahaṁsa-saṁhitā, or the Vedic literature meant for the topmost transcendentalist, and it describes paraṁ jñānam, the highest transcendental knowledge. Pure devotees of the Lord are all paramahaṁsas, and they are like the swans, who know the art of sucking milk out of a mixture of milk and water.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj :
So this is a further request simply to explain more about the Supreme Lord since everyone in that assembly is eager to hear that. Of course in the first canto, in the assembly they began to ask questions to Suta Goswami and all these questions are ultimately about the Supreme Lord. But as Prabhupada mentions in the purport sometimes when we read all the Bhagavatam or Mahabharat then we will wonder how is this all spiritual because so many topics are there which look like material affairs. But as Prabhupada explains ultimately all these topics are pointing to the highest truth. Some people may not be interested in the lower topics, fine, they can just go to the highest truth. But those who are interested in the other topics eventually they should come to that highest truth.
So Prabhupada here I think he mentions about civic activities and whatever political things, historical activities, whatever like that. So the whole purpose is to come to that final conclusion of the highest truth. If we are already convinced of the highest truth we don’t find these topics very interesting. But other people they may find these topics very interesting. And in fact they become very absorbed in these other topics. Of course it is also dangerous. You can get absorbed in the topics and never get to the truth [Laughs]. And that is why Narada Muni suggested to Vasudeva all writing all these Puranas and telling to worship Shiva and Brahma etc, all a waste of time because people aren’t going to get to the highest truth, they get stuck on the lower levels. And for that reason the Jnana Sastras like the Upanishads they often condemn that lower level of karma.
At the same time our Acharyas say that yes all these things are there. They are authorized by the Lord. And they should ultimately lead to the Supreme Lord. So in that sense it talks about the Varnashram system and what is its purpose? hari-toṣaṇam, satisfy the Supreme Lord. But simply doing the Varnashram system in itself as satisfying the Lord as a minor part. But at least the minor part is there. And hopefully by doing that eventually it becomes the major part and Varnashram becomes the minor part. So that is why we have all these different topics in the Bhagavatam, Mahabharata, Ramayana etc. And we have these topics also in the Vedas themselves. But as we know Bhagavatam is the ultimate scripture. And it has to be accepted as the final authority. So Bhagavatam is the conclusion but many people may not accept the conclusion.
So at the beginning of this purport Prabhupada says that many people don’t accept Ramayana, Mahabharata etc. Puranas as authoritative. They will accept the vedas as authoritative. So there is a section of people even in India that will challenge you know the Puranas. So there has to be some standard of what we accept as scripture. So we will see all of our Acharyas, all the other Vaishnava Sampradayas, they accept the Vedas, they also accept the Puranas, Mahabharata and Ramayana. In fact it is said in the Bhagavatam itself and other places as well that the Puranas and Mahabharata are the 5th Veda. So that makes them equal. So in that sense whatever the Puranas say is equally authoritative as what the Vedas say.
But Jiva Goswami in Sandarbha then he also makes the point that of the Puranas the Bhagavatam is considered to be the final statement of Vedavyas. And thus we accept what is stated in Bhagavatam as final conclusion of everything. So Bhagavatam of course is written for the people of Kali Yuga. And it is very practical. And thus we see that Bhagavatam very emphatically rejects everything even if it is Vedic. We see the same thing in the teachings of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, he rejects everything. And that is to emphasize that the process of Bhakti, worshipping Supreme Lord and Nama Sankirtan is the ultimate activity.
So when we say it is the highest activity, Bhakti is the highest activity, then we assume that it is independent, not dependent on anything like the Lord is Supreme, he is not dependent on somebody higher. And thus everything else can be rejected. So thus we see many statements in the Bhagavatam, reject everything else, just do Bhakti. Of course that does not mean that we just completely reject it, but it should not encumber in any way the process of Bhakti. So that is the final conclusion of Bhagavatam. And of course it does mention other processes, Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Astanga Yoga. But Bhakti is not in any way dependent on them. So if we maintain that you have to do Karma Yoga and follow Varnashram before you do Bhakti, that is a false statement. Even some devotees preach, you have to come to Sattva guna before you can do Bhakti. But if we read Bhagavatam carefully, we see all that is rejected. Bhakti is not dependent on any gunas. And all the other processes, even Jnana Yoga arises from the gunas.
So Bhakti is a special process because it is a spiritual process, not a material process at all. And thus it cannot be dependent on anything material. So the devotees should have this clear understanding of what is that final message of the Bhagavatam. And even if we follow some other process, still it should never interfere with that Bhakti. It should only support and never contradict. So if the other processes start interfering with that Bhakti process and we come out with something which contradicts Bhakti, then that has to be rejected.
So if we read Bhagavatam carefully, we see that is the conclusion. It is the highest knowledge. And therefore everyone should hear this conclusion. So in this particular verse, the sages are requesting you have to have topics about the Supreme Lord. However, some topics are not directly about the Supreme Lord, they are indirectly about the Supreme Lord. But if we read them or hear about them in the proper way, then they lead to the Supreme Lord. So in that way, these topics are also beneficial for the listener.
Hare Krishna.
Q&A:
1) Maharaj we see we have four sampradayas. Each Sampradaya emphasizes on different scriptures. Like the Sri sampradaya, they emphasize on Vishnu Purana. And the Madhva they are so much Mahabharata. But according to the scriptures, there is a different conclusion. So now, the same Vedavyasa, he has given different conclusion, different scriptures. It is quite contradictory. If you see from the standard point of view, it is quite contradictory.
So, if we take Vishnu Purana, then the conclusion is, worship Vishnu. So in one sense yes contradicts the Bhagavatham where it says worship Krishna but then they are the same so in that sense no contradiction [Laughs]. If you go to Mahabharata and you take Bhagavad Gita, then it is also worship Krishna, so the same conclusion. So, all the Vaishnava Sampradayas in general will have same philosophy in one sense, Supreme Lord is there, Jiva is there, material energy, they are all real. Jiva is dependent on Supreme Lord. So, that is intact everywhere. And that is very clear in all the different scriptures. But they may worship Vishnu instead of Krishna because of that scriptures glorification of Vishnu. And they may have more involvement in Varanashram whereas Bhagavatam generally kind of rejects it. So, therefore, there are minor, we can say minor differences. But the scriptures in general they give the same conclusion.
2) Hare Krishna, Maharaj. This point of Vedas versus the other literature, other scriptures. Maharaj, we see in the 11th canto, it is described that how the importance of Vedas as the means of worship of the Lord decreased. So, in Satyayuga and Treta, Vedas were pre-eminent. In Dwapar, Vedas and Tantras were used. But for Kali Yuga, Karabhajan Muni said, only Tantras, Vidhanena….nana tantra Vidhanena, he makes that point. So, we can understand that, I mean, just for our clear understanding, Vedas need not be considered in any way, in that way to worship the Lord in Kali Yuga. So, that is why the importance of the supplementary scriptures, supplementary Vedic scriptures becomes more prominent and important in Kali Yuga compared to other scriptures.
We see that, Vedavyas wrote the Puranas and Mahabharata, because he thought that the Vedas was too difficult for the people of Kali Yuga to understand. So, it was particularly meant for that. And it is the same message, but in an easier way. So, therefore, in that sense, it must be equal. The followers of Sankaracharya will argue that the Vedas are the main proof. If we see contradictory statements in the Puranas, then we go back to the Vedics, which means basically Upanishads, that should be a stronger statement. Of course, using that argument, then they use the Upanishads to show that the impersonal Brahman is supreme [Laughs]. But, the other argument is that the same conclusion is in the Puranas, because it is written by Vedavyas to explain the Puranas, it is the fifth Veda, etc. So, therefore, equal authority. What this means is, the followers of Sankaracharya can take all the statements in the Puranas and they can start interpreting whatever they like, because it is less, has to agree with whatever the they say, the Upanishads say [Laughs].
The Vaishnavas of course also put equal authority with the Puranas etc but then they also analyze the Upanishads themselves and they say that Sankara’s interpretation is wrong [Laughs]. And though Upanishads do glorify Brahman, they also glorify Supreme Lord with His form, qualities and activities. So therefore there is going to be arguments over the interpretations of the Upanishads [Laughs]. But of course we can also take support from the Puranas to make the argument stronger.
So of course just to argue or to debate with those people then we do have to accept the Vedas and give them more emphasis in one sense and argue on the basis but if there’s no argument with that we can just go to Bhagavatam and not worry about Upanishads or whatever [Laughs]. And thus the followers of Lord Caitanya do not pay too much attention to the Upanishads or even the Brahma Sutras [Laughs]. And Bhagavatam is supposed to be the commentary of the Brahma Sutras so we just take that.
3) Hare Krishna Maharaj. Maharaj when we talk about Bhakti, is it limited only to the Vaishnavas or what about Christians or people of other religion? So would that also come under Bhakti if they do the 9 processes of devotional service but as per their scriptures?
So in a broad sense we can call it Bhakti also but technically when they’re describing these processes of Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Astanga Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, they’re referring to what’s in the Vedic literature. So there are similarities with various religions of the world. So the activities may look very similar, kirtan for instance. However, the conception of God is quite different because in other religions there is no form for God. So therefore the Bhakti itself is on maybe a lower level we can say.
4) So Maharaj, people following other religion and if they’re following it very sincerely, devotionally, so do they have any option of getting out of this material world or it is not possible for them?
Well certainly they can progress to a certain level. Just as if you follow Karma kanda you can also progress up to Sattva guna. But because that final goal is a little ambiguous therefore what do they achieve ultimately [Laughs]? If they do have a clear idea of what their final goal is then of course they can work towards that. But usually it tends to be quite impersonal.
5) So Maharaj, they can attain impersonal Brahman realization like till that point if the goal is impersonal?
Well, they never have the goal of merging their consciousness into the Lord’s consciousness and becoming God themselves, so they don’t have such a goal. So there is a separation between the individual and God. But again it is ill-defined because God has no particular identity or form etc.
6) Maharaj, what about Sunyavadis then?
So of course this is Buddhism. Of course Buddhism has many forms also. But then their goal is simply like liberation.
Devotees: Grantharaj Srimad Bhagavatam ki jai!!! HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj ki jai!!! Srila Prabhupada ki jai!!! Nitai Gaura Premanande Hari Haribol!!!