Srimad Bhagavatam 2.4.2 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | ISKCON Chennai | 19 June 2026
jaya rādhā-mādhava kuñja-vihārī
gopījana-vallabha giri-vara-dhārī
yaśodā-nandana vraja-jana-rañjana
yamunā-tīra-vana-cārī
Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare
Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare
Jaya Prabhupāda Jaya Prabhupāda
Prabhupāda Jaya Prabhupāda
Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale
śrīmate bhaktivedānta-svāmin iti nāmine
namas te sārasvate deve gaura-vāṇī-pracāriṇe
nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi-pāścātya-deśa-tāriṇe
jaya śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda
śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda
Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare
Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare
Reading from Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 2 Chapter 4 Verse 2.
ŚB 2.4.2
आत्मजायासुतागारपशुद्रविणबन्धुषु ।
राज्ये चाविकले नित्यं विरूढां ममतां जहौ ॥ २ ॥
ātma-jāyā-sutāgāra-
paśu-draviṇa-bandhuṣu
rājye cāvikale nityaṁ
virūḍhāṁ mamatāṁ jahau
Synonyms
ātma — body; jāyā — wife; suta — son; āgāra — palace; paśu — horses and elephants; draviṇa — treasury house; bandhuṣu — unto friends and relatives; rājye — in the kingdom; ca — also; avikale — without being disturbed; nityam — constant; virūḍhām — deep-rooted; mamatām — affinity; jahau — gave up.
Translation
Mahārāja Parīkṣit, as a result of his wholehearted attraction for Lord Kṛṣṇa, was able to give up all deep-rooted affection for his personal body, his wife, his children, his palace, his animals like horses and elephants, his treasury house, his friends and relatives, and his undisputed kingdom.
Purport
To become liberated means to become free from dehātma-buddhi, the illusory attachment for personal bodily coverings and everything connected with the body, namely wife, children and all other entanglements. One selects a wife for bodily comforts, and the result is children. For wife and children one requires a dwelling place, and, as such, a residential house is also necessary. Animals like horses, elephants, cows and dogs are all household animals, and a householder has to keep them as household paraphernalia. In modern civilization the horses and elephants have been replaced by cars and conveyances with considerable horsepower. To maintain all the household affairs, one has to increase the bank balance and be careful about the treasury house, and in order to display the opulence of material assets, one has to keep good relations with friends and relatives, as well as become very careful about maintaining the status quo. This is called material civilization of material attachment. Devotion for Lord Kṛṣṇa means negation of all material attachments as detailed above. By the grace of Lord Kṛṣṇa, Mahārāja Parīkṣit was awarded all material amenities and an undisputed kingdom in which to enjoy the undisturbed position of king, but by the grace of the Lord he was able to give up all connections with material attachment. That is the position of a pure devotee. Mahārāja Parīkṣit, due to his natural affection for Lord Kṛṣṇa as a devotee of the Lord, was always executing his royal duties on behalf of the Lord, and as a responsible king of the world he was always careful to see that the influence of Kali would not enter his kingdom. A devotee of the Lord never thinks of his household paraphernalia as his own, but surrenders everything for the service of the Lord. Thereby living entities under a devotee’s care get the opportunity for God realization by the management of a devotee-master.
Attachment for household paraphernalia and for Lord Kṛṣṇa go poorly together. One attachment is the path of darkness, and the other attachment is the path of light. Where there is light, there is no darkness, and where there is darkness, there is no light. But an expert devotee can turn everything to the path of light by an attitude of service to the Lord, and the best example here is the Pāṇḍavas. Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira and householders like him can turn everything to light by dovetailing so-called material assets in the service of the Lord, but one who is not trained or is unable to turn everything to the service of the Lord (nirbandhaḥ kṛṣṇa-sambandhe) must give up all material connections before he can be fit to hear and chant the glories of the Lord, or in other words, one who has seriously heard Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam for even one day, like Mahārāja Parīkṣit, from a fit personality like Śukadeva Gosvāmī, may be able to lose all affinity for material things. There is no utility simply in imitating Mahārāja Parīkṣit and hearing Bhāgavatam from professional men, even for seven hundred years. To take Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam as a means of maintaining family expenditure is the grossest type of nāmāparādha offense at the feet of the Lord (sarva-śubha-kriyā-sāmyam api pramādaḥ).
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj :
So, here it is explained that Maharaj Parikshit had everything listed here, body, wife, sons, treasury, animals, properties, relatives, etc. But he was not attached to them at all. That in itself is not the qualification for Bhakti. Jnanis and Yogis also have no attachment. And of course the emphasis in Jnana and yoga is detachment or vairagya. This is one of their main sadhanas, one of their main practices. And that is directly related to getting liberation. If we lose all attachment for everything material, we give up our material identity and then we get liberation. So, we would assume okay this detachment is very good. But we see in Nectar of Devotion, Rupa Goswami says specifically, Vairagya is not an Anga of Bhakti. And for Jnanis and Yogis, this would be very surprising. And the explanation is that Jnana and cultivation of Jnana and Vairagya dry up the heart. This does not mean that a devotee has no detachment, but at the same time it is not an Anga of Bhakti. An Anga of Bhakti is defined as an action or an attitude which directly increases your devotion. And as I said, Bhakti itself is Swarupa Shakti of the Lord.
So, these Angas of Bhakti are directly related to Bhakti. If you cultivate Vairagya, that does not produce Bhakti. It can help you get liberation, but not Bhakti. So, we can examine many activities and if we examine carefully then we can categorise them as parts of Bhakti and and not parts of Bhakti by what is the result. So we have all parts of karma yoga and varnashram. What is the goal? Not even liberation. So, what to speak of producing Bhakti, it can’t even get you liberation. And, the final result of Jnana and Yoga is liberation, but not Bhakti. So, therefore, these Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Ashtanga Yoga, and their Angas are not part of Bhakti. They are not called Angas of Bhakti. Though we practice mainly the Angas of Bhakti, we are not forbidden from practicing other things. As long as it does not introduce other desires. Therefore, you could practice Varnashrama and Karma Yoga, as long as your goals are not Artha, Dharma, Kama [Laughs]. And, you could practice parts of Jnana and Yoga, as long as the goal is not liberation. So, that is the significance of Rupa Goswami mentioning karma jnana adi anavrtam. He does not say that it is devoid of the actions of Karma and Jnana, etc., but they should not obstruct the process of pure Bhakti.
So, how would they obstruct? As I mentioned, if we get these other desires coming in, then obviously it is no longer pure Bhakti. If we perform them without any of those desires, Artha, Dharma, Kama, or Moksha, no problem, you can do them. But, the devotees should understand that they never produce Bhakti. And, Bhakti is never dependent on those. And if we begin to think, I have to follow all these rules of Varnashram, otherwise I cannot do my bhakti, then that becomes a contamination.
So therefore one can practice these other things, but one has to be very careful of one’s mentality in doing them. So if one is doing them without any attachment at all, the question will arise, why do them at all? One is interested in progressing in bhakti and they don’t help you do that also. So the answer is that usually devotees still practice these, not for any benefit for themselves, but just to encourage other people to follow Varnashram or whatever, if they don’t have any faith in bhakti, that’s all.
So in this way, they are performing these activities, not because they depend on them, but simply for other people.
Of course the counter argument can be given, well in Kali Yuga, the only process is bhakti. So why set an example of Varnashram for people when it’s not the Yuga Dharma? And that is true, and therefore Lord Caitanya emphasized more that you simply chant the holy name. And it was open for everybody, even for people not practicing Varnashram. So in Kali Yuga, then that practice of Karma Yoga, Varnashram and Jnana, whatever, is even less important.
And of course, he said, Rupa Goswami says, the Vairagya dries up the heart. So of course, we are not talking about the physical heart. Of course, may be you get health problems also, if you do too much Vairagya, and you stop sleeping and eating, etc., but that’s not the main meaning [Laughs]. In Prema, I think it is Sneha or is it Pranaya, the heart melts. So this is the opposite, Vairagya dries up the heart [Laughs]. In other words, it can impede the progress of bhakti because you become more indifferent to bhakti and more inclined to liberation. And thus, those that practice Jnana Mishra Bhakti with a lot of Vairagya, they can advance, etc., and they can even get the spiritual world. But they can’t really advance in Prema, and they end up with something like Santa Rasa or Santa Rati.
So, Vairagya or renunciation detachment is not part of the practice of bhakti itself. However, it’s also a symptom of bhakti. The more one advances in bhakti, the more one is detached from everything in the material world. So, it is not a practice in bhakti, but it’s a symptom of one’s advancement in bhakti. It is not the only symptom, it is one symptom. So, the more one becomes attached to Krishna, the more one becomes advanced in bhakti, the less one is attached to everything in the material world. The more one becomes attached to Krishna, the more one is advanced in bhakti, the less one is attached to everything in the material world. So, it is a symptom, it’s not a practice.
However, in that same Nectar of Devotion, Rupa Goswami says, Vairagya may be a little favorable in the beginning. [Laughs]. So, if one has some detachment in the beginning, fine, that’s no problem. And thus, Bhagavatam, in discussing the qualification for bhakti, says that you should have attraction for hearing about topics of Krishna. And not too much material attachment. So, in other words, a little vairagya, okay [Laughs].
But in the same verse, it says, Nirvinda, not too much detachment [Laughs]. So, this will incline you more into jnana or jnana-misra bhakti. So, to have a little detachment is favorable for beginning bhakti. But to also continue to cultivate that after doing bhakti, also can lead to a type of mixed bhakti.
So, as I said, the more advanced one becomes, the more detached one is. So, Parikshit was on highest level. so therefore, he was completely detached from everything. Simultaneously being detached from everything, he was completely attached to Krishna. The danger of practicing intensified vairagya is to become detached not only from everything, but also from Krishna [Laughs]. So, the cultivation of bhakti itself gives rise to natural detachment. And thus, in the Gaudiya Sampradaya, the emphasis is not so much upon sannyasa or renunciation. Whatever you are doing, you just do bhakti. And by performing bhakti, one becomes naturally completely detached from everything in the material world.
So, the Goswamis in Vrindavan were most detached. But that was not a practice, that was simply a symptom of their absorption in Prema. So, a devotee should not think, I’ll become more advanced by becoming more detached and imitating the Goswamis. That’s improper logic. Rather, one should become more attached to Krishna. Then, automatically one is detached from everything else. So, that detachment may not manifest as external renunciation. And thus, the Pandavas did not renounce. But they were completely detached from all material things. And Parikshit Maharaj also upto the point when he was cursed by the Brahmana also he was completely detached, but at the same time ruling the kingdom. So, the main symptom of advancement is complete absorption in the Supreme Lord.
Hare Krishna.
Q & A :
1.) The qualification of bhakti is that that person should not think, he should have faith, simultaneously he should not be too attached and too detached. So how will you measure this? That he is not too attached and not too detached? How will you measure this? Because it is dependent, person to person.
It’s not so much a measurement, but the person, if he tries to practice bhakti, when he has too much material attachment, ultimately his interest in material things is more than his interest in hearing about Krishna. So, then he won’t practice much, less interest in the practice of bhakti itself. This does not make him a hopeless person. If he has a little faith, good. If he has too much material attachment, then it’s going to be a struggle all the time. Of course, slow process is there, because he is not doing much bhakti, but whatever he does gradually, he can become less attached. But it will be a long practice, because his bhakti is not that intense. So, he can advance, but slowly. And if we try to artificially make him advance, that’s also not going to work [Laughs]. So, as I said the other day, artificially people try to come up to one standard, but after a while, they fall back down again.
2.) Normally, when someone comes to the temple, actually their purpose is not to take up the bhakti. Their purpose is that they have a faith on the Supreme Lord, so they come to have darshan, and they pray to the Lord also, for their material opulence, or to get a job and other things. But still, it is that desire for material, but they have a little bit of faith on the Supreme Lord. How that faith will lead them to detach from whatever attachment they have?
So Krishna in Bhagavad Gita says people who have material desires they are still my devotees. So they can also gradually become purified but slow process. And at a certain point, if they get mercy of devotees practicing pure bhakti, then they can advance more quickly.
Devotees: Grantharaj Srimad Bhagavatam ki jai!!! HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj ki jai!!! Srila Prabhupada ki jai!!! Nitai Gaura Premanande Hari Haribol!!!