Srimad Bhagavatam 2.6.21 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | ISKCON Chennai | 30 September 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 6 Verse 19.
ŚB 2.6.21
सृती विचक्रमे विश्वङ्साशनानशने उभे ।
यदविद्या च विद्या च पुरुषस्तूभयाश्रय: ॥ २१ ॥
sṛtī vicakrame viśvaṅ
sāśanānaśane ubhe
yad avidyā ca vidyā ca
puruṣas tūbhayāśrayaḥ
Synonyms
sṛtī — the destination of the living entities; vicakrame — exists comprehensively; viśvaṅ — the all-pervading Personality of Godhead; sāśana — activities of lording it over; anaśane — activities in devotional service; ubhe — both; yat — what is; avidyā — nescience; ca — as well as; vidyā — factual knowledge; ca — and; puruṣaḥ — the Supreme Person; tu — but; ubhaya — for both of them; āśrayaḥ — the master.
Translation
By His energies, the all-pervading Personality of Godhead is thus comprehensively the master in the activities of controlling and in devotional service. He is the ultimate master of both nescience and factual knowledge of all situations.
Purport
The word viśvaṅ is significant in this verse. One who travels perfectly in every field of activity is called the puruṣa or kṣetrajña. These two terms, kṣetrajña and puruṣa, are equally applicable to both the individual self and the Supreme Self, the Lord. In the Bhagavad-gītā (13.3) the matter is explained as follows:
kṣetra-jñaṁ cāpi māṁ viddhi
sarva-kṣetreṣu bhārata
kṣetra-kṣetrajñayor jñānaṁ
yat taj jñānaṁ mataṁ mama
Kṣetra means the place, and one who knows the place is called the kṣetrajña. The individual self knows about his limited field of activities, but the Supreme Self, the Lord, knows about the unlimited field of activities. The individual soul knows about his own thinking, feeling and willing activities, but the Supersoul, or the Paramātmā, the supreme controller, being present everywhere, knows everyone’s thinking, feeling and willing activities, and as such, the individual living entity is the minute master of his personal affairs whereas the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the master of everyone’s affairs, past, present and future (vedāhaṁ samatītāni, etc.). Only the ignorant person does not know this difference between the Lord and the living entities. The living entities, as distinguished from incognizant matter, may be qualitatively equal to the Lord in cognizance, but the living entity can never be equal to the Lord in full knowledge of past, present and future.
And because the living entity is partially cognizant, he is therefore sometimes forgetful of his own identity. This forgetfulness is specifically manifested in the field of the ekapād-vibhūti of the Lord, or in the material world, but in the tripād-vibhūti field of actions, or in the spiritual world, there is no forgetfulness by the living entities, who are free from all kinds of contaminations resulting from the forgetful state of existence. The material body is the symbol of the gross and subtle form of forgetfulness. Therefore the whole atmosphere of the material world is called avidyā, or nescience, whereas the whole atmosphere of the spiritual world is called vidyā, or full of knowledge. There are different stages of avidyā, and they are called dharma, artha and mokṣa. The idea of mokṣa, or liberation, held by the monist in the matter of oneness of the living entity and the Lord by ultimate merging in one, is also the last stage of materialism or forgetfulness. Knowledge of the qualitative oneness of the self and Superself is partial knowledge and ignorance also because there is no knowledge of quantitative difference, as explained above. The individual self can never be equal to the Lord in cognizance; otherwise he could not be placed in the state of forgetfulness. So, because there is a stage of forgetfulness of the individual selves, or the living entities, there is always a gulf of difference between the Lord and the living entity, as between the part and the whole. The part is never equal to the whole. So the conception of one-hundred-percent equality of the living being with the Lord is also nescience.
In the field of nescience, activities are directed toward lording it over the creation. In the material world, therefore, everyone is engaged in acquiring material opulence to lord it over the material world. Therefore there is always clash and frustration, which are the symptoms of nescience. But in the field of knowledge, there is devotional service to the Lord (bhakti). Therefore there is no chance of being contaminated by the influence of nescience or forgetfulness (avidyā) in the liberated stage of devotional activities. The Lord is thus the proprietor of the fields both of nescience and of cognition, and it remains the choice of the living entity to exist in either of the above regions.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj:
So, here it talks about the Supreme Lord as being in charge of ignorance and knowledge. In relation to this, in Srila Prabhupada in the purport, it talks about the Kshetrajna. So, jna, of course, means knower. So, the Jiva is called the knower of the field. But the Supreme Lord is also called the knower of the field. So, in that sense, they have a similar quality of knowing. However, we also distinguish the Lord as Kshetrajna from the Jiva as Kshetrajna.
So, as Srila Prabhupada explains in the purport, yes, the Jiva has knowledge, but it’s never as complete as the Lord’s knowledge. Furthermore, because he does not have complete knowledge, therefore he can also have ignorance. But the Supreme Lord, because he has full knowledge, has no ignorance. So, this is one way of distinguishing the two Kshetrajna’s, the Jiva with limited knowledge and possibility of ignorance, and Supreme Lord with full knowledge and no ignorance ever. The Jiva with limited knowledge and possibility of ignorance, and Supreme Lord with full knowledge and no ignorance ever.
So, here it talks about Purusha, who ultimately controls both ignorance and knowledge. The Jiva, on the other hand, does not control all knowledge or ignorance. He is qualified by knowledge, but can also be qualified with ignorance. So, he is not a real controller of either of them. And thus, we have to distinguish the Lord from the Jiva. So, that distinction is eternal and never changes. So, if a Jiva emerges in Brahman, he still remains a Jiva, he does not become anything else. However, the followers of Shankaracharya will say, no, the Jiva ultimately is Maya and he becomes the Supreme Brahman. So, thus Prabhupada and the Prabhupada says, therefore, this philosophy also is a type of ignorance.
Now, if one does attain liberation, we cannot say it is ignorance, because there is no ignorance, no karma, no material body, etc. But the idea of the Jiva disappearing and becoming Supreme Lord or Brahman is ignorance. Bhagavatam further states that, if one, in this way, negates the idea of a Jiva and Supreme Lord being different, and offends the Lord, then he can’t even get liberation. So, the only way that we can attain liberation is to at least admit that there is a Supreme Lord and there is a Jiva who are separate.
For the Jiva to think that he becomes Supreme Brahman is offence to the Lord. And Bhagavatam directly says that one who offends the lotus feet of the Lord, what happens? Falls back into the material world, he doesn’t get liberation. However, it is possible to get that impersonal liberation. But to do so, one must accept the Supreme Lord and also worship him to some degree. Then the Supreme Lord, by his mercy, dissolves all your material bondage and your ignorance, etc. and allows you to get that liberation. However, at the same time, even that, we can say, is a type of ignorance. Even if such impersonalists do accept the difference between Jiva and Supreme Lord, and even if they accept that there is a Lord with form, qualities and activities, if they choose the impersonal form, you can say that’s also ignorance. At the same time, because it is beyond the ignorance that we know in the material world, we don’t call it that.
Similarly, we could say that we are given a choice. You worship Krishna and go to Goloka Vrindavan, or you worship Vishnu and go to Vaikuntha. So, if you choose Vaikuntha, you say, Ah you are ignorant [Laughs]. So, of course, in one sense we can say bad choice, but at the same time, it is all forms of the Supreme Lord, so we don’t condemn it. However, to choose no form over form, that’s more of a discrepancy [Laughs]. And thus, merging in Brahman, etc., is often criticized. Not because it is false, but because the devotee in that state of mere liberation is deprived of the ocean of bliss of Prema.
So, in the spiritual world, as Prabhupada mentions in the Purport, there is knowledge and there is no ignorance. So, what happens to the jiva in the spiritual world? Certainly, he cannot have ignorance there, he has to have knowledge. But even with his knowledge, he remains jiva, so his knowledge is limited in comparison to the Lord’s knowledge. So, the question may arise, ok, so the jiva remains a jiva in the spiritual world and he has got partial knowledge, why doesn’t he again fall into ignorance. Of course, in the spiritual world, there is no choice of ignorance. There is no temptation of matter at all. The only choices available there are choices of different rasas, which are spiritual [Laughs]. But, jiva is still jiva. So therefore, still he has not got complete knowledge like the Lord, so there is possibility of fall down. However, the Lord says the opposite, no fall down once you are there. So, what this means is that, if you become qualified for the spiritual world by striving until you have no more ignorance, and you have your capacity of knowledge, the Lord is very merciful to you, and he doesn’t allow you to come into the material world again and get ignorance.
Of course, the only way you can get to that position is through cultivation of bhakti. And, unless that bhakti becomes fixed in the jiva, you cannot go to the spiritual world. So, that also is a guarantee that you don’t fall, because the bhakti is fixed. And, what is that bhakti? It is the internal energy of the Lord, the samvit and the hladini shakti. Not the complete shakti, hladini in the complete form is Radharani [Laughs].
But, each devotee becomes fixed with a portion of that cit-shakti of the Lord, internal energy. How it becomes fixed again is mercy of the Supreme Lord. So, this also guarantees the position of the jiva in the spiritual world. The jiva in the material world does not have that shakti. He is tathastha shakti, that’s all. He has a capacity to cultivate the cit-shakti also, but most of the jivas in the material world do not do so. So, when they have faith and they choose to cultivate bhakti, then they can add that cit-shakti to their jiva nature, and they become different from the jivas in the material world. So, though the jiva in the material world remains the jiva in the spiritual world, they are not exactly the same. Jivas in the spiritual world are endowed with that cit-shakti. Therefore, their position in the spiritual world is permanent. They do not fall. All of this is arranged by the Supreme Lord. Bhakti itself is mercy of the Supreme Lord. If the jiva chooses the path of devotional service, the Lord shows more mercy. And then he allows the jiva to transform into this special jiva in the spiritual world with the cit-shakti. Still, the jiva remains tathastha shakti, even in the spiritual world. So still, there is difference between jiva and the Supreme Lord. However, as one worships Krishna, then even that difference becomes minimized. The bliss and the rasa increase so that the distinction between the Lord and the jiva disappears. The Lord hides his powers [Laughs]. So Krishna acts like an ordinary person. And the devotees in the spiritual world increase their power. So they are able to control Krishna.
So even though the Lord is supremely independent, he becomes dependent on the devotees. This of course exists even in Vaikuntha to some degree. The Lord is controlled by his devotees, like Lord Vishnu is controlled by Ambarish. But still, with the forms of Vishnu, the reverence for the Lord continues. But when the devotees control Krishna in Vrindavan, then even that reverence disappears. And because of that, the relationship becomes even more intense. That intensity produces more bliss. And therefore we say that the form of Krishna is superior for that reason. So though actually there is only one supreme lord we do differentiate different forms based upon the amount of, nature of qualities that they manifest. And the form of the lord that manifests qualities that produce the most intimate and intense relationship is Krishna. And therefore we put Krishna at the very top.
Of course, even in Krishna, there are differences. People in Dwaraka perceive Krishna differently from people in Vrindavan. And even in Vrindavan, people perceive Krishna differently. So the gopis perceive Krishna differently from Yashoda and Nanda. The cowherd boys perceive Krishna differently from Nanda and Yashoda and the gopis. So all the forms of the Lord are praiseworthy and all the forms of Krishna are praiseworthy. Nevertheless, in Vrindavan, when we see the intensity, ultimately the most intense relationship is with the gopis. So therefore that is considered supreme.
So in one sense, if you consider any other rasa, you are considered ignorant. But from the point of view of rasa, if one has chosen a certain rasa, that becomes supreme. So for the cowherd boys, sakhya rasa is supreme. So from one point of view, we can make gradations in the spiritual world. From another point of view, we cannot do so. That knowledge in the spiritual world acts completely different. And different choices of different jivas there is not determined by ignorance. It’s all knowledge. And of course that knowledge is under the samvit shakti of the Lord. And with that samvit shakti, then there is no possibility of material ignorance at all.
Hare Krishna!
Q & A:
1.) Maharaj, If you see the nature of the Supreme Lord, He is Svarat. Svarat means who is fully independent. But when you see the aspect of Prema, the nature of Svarat doesn’t manifest. The nature of Svarat is covered due to the Prema?
So if we take an example from the material world, we have the leader of the country like a Prime Minister. So he acts as the supreme authority. But when he is with his family and playing with the children, he does not act like that [Laughs]. So in different circumstances, he acts differently. However, in the forms of the Lord, that Svarat or independent supreme position is kind of one of their inherent qualities. So though the Lord can show affection etc, that Svarat type of reverence is always there. However, with the form of Krishna, even that Svarat becomes less evident because Krishna is just a small boy, not a king or anything. So the form itself makes it easier to hide his Svarat nature. So when he manifests himself as Krishna, it is his choice to minimize his show of supremacy. And the reason is that the less the Svarat manifests, the more intimate the relationship becomes. So just like the Prime Minister, yes, he has got his role there. But then at a certain point, he say I’ll forget about that and he will just play with the family all the time [Laughs]. And he doesn’t let his position as Prime Minister interfere with his family relationships at all.
So therefore, Krishna by his choice does this and he hides his, covers up his nature and power etc. But his choice is dependent upon the choice of the devotee [Laughs]. So if you choose him with power, then he manifests the Vishnu form or Dwaraka form or whatever for you. So that choice of the Lord itself is an aspect of his independence and Svarat nature. But the idea of being controlled by the devotees, even for Vishnu, being controlled by the devotees, that also is not a fault. Because the Lord must show affection for a devotee.
If we have a spiritual world with no affection and simply a Supreme Lord ruling over everybody, it looks material, very material. So therefore affection also is inherent in all the forms of the Lord in the spiritual world, even those who act independently. But that affection of the Lord for the devotee and his ability to be controlled by the devotee also manifests from the Lord’s internal energy itself. So that internal energy itself being inherent to the Lord, we can say even his nature of being controlled by his devotees is inherent in the Svarat nature of the Lord.
Normally we say the Lord is the Shaktiman, he controls his energies, Shaktis. But what if the Shakti controls the Shaktiman? That sounds strange [Laughs]. And definitely it cannot happen with the external energy, it’s always the servant. But we see with the Jiva in the spiritual world and with the internal energy, then the Lord himself acts subservient to it in many cases. Though it may seem contradictory, it is really not because the energy and the Shaktiman are also non-different. And the internal energy is called internal because it’s so essential for the Lord himself.
2.) Hare Krishna Maharaj, many times we do some activity and later on we feel that it is not correct, the way we behave with the devotee. Many times after doing a particular activity, we feel an internal guilt or we get some feelings internally that it should have been done this way or I should do this way. Nowadays people define this as the voice of conscience. Is this the voice of Paramatma Maharaj? Is what we say? Is this the voice of Paramatma Maharaj?
Well, ultimately of course, Supreme Lord controls everything in one sense but he allows the Jiva to operate with some independence. And then to help the Jiva, there is scripture so then the Jiva can understand what he should do and what he should not do. And so, based on that knowledge, then certain activities he avoids and other things he does. So, when he breaks the rules, then of course, he may feel guilty or whatever. So, that’s all within the purview of the Jiva and his own consciousness. Of course, the mechanisms of the Jiva in terms of consciousness and then his subtle body etc. are ultimately guided by the Supreme Lord as Paramatma. But the Supreme Lord never makes the Jiva feel this or do this or whatever.
3.) Hare Krishna Maharaj. Maharaj, which means the description that you were explaining that how the Jiva when he reaches the spiritual world he is influenced by Samvid and Hladini Shakti so which means in the spiritual world there is the Lord there is the Jiva and there are other personalities of Sandhini Shakti. So, there are three types of personalities Supreme Lord, Jiva with Samvid and Hladini and then personalities of Sandhini Shakti like the parents of the Lord. So, is there any perceptual difference between who is from Sandhini and the Jivas who have reached the spiritual world with Samvid and Hladini?
In general, we can say that the inhabitants of the spiritual world are Tatastha Shakti Jivas but they are either Nitya Siddha or Sandhana Siddha Jivas. And then they will all need Tatastha Shakti with some portion of Samvid and Hladini. Then we have special cases like Radha who is personification of Cit Shakti we have other Shaktis also available whatever is described in Vaikuntha there are 16 Shaktis of the Lord which are expansions from his Hladini and Samvid Shaktis etc. But that is normal persons.
4.) The parents are from Sandhini Shakti that’s how it is described.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj : So, what about?
Devotee : So, there are personalities with Sandhini Shakti which may not like Srimati Radharani is personification of Hladini but then there are so many other personalities which are manifested from the Sandhini Shakti of the Lord
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj : So, we can say the parents act as Sandhini in the sense that for instance we see in the material world when Krishna appears, Vasudeva and Devaki act as the parents of Krishna. So, in one sense they are acting as the Sandhini Shakti or the support for the appearance of Krishna. At the same time we see the Sandhini Shakti is presided over by Balaram who is an Adishesha and he produces the whole Dham etc. in the spiritual world
5.) So, the role which means that as you were mentioning they are all Tatastha Shakti but because of the function or the role that they are executing they are endowed with that Shakti they are endowed with Sandhini Shakti because parents are giving support to the child. So, they are Tatastha Shakti but they are supported by the Sandhini Shakti.
Yeah, we can say the Sandhini Shakti functions through them.
6.) So, Maharaj Jiva goes to the spiritual world after doing sadhana which means he has got a little bit of all the three Shaktis, Sandhini, Samvid and Hladini Shakti’s.
So, yes as I said the Bhakti itself in the form of Prema becomes or manifests from the Samvid and Hladini Shakti. Form, qualities and activities of not only the Jiva but the Supreme Lord manifests through the Sandhini Shakti. And the place where the Jiva lives in the spiritual world, the Dhama is also a manifestation of the Sandhini Shakti.
7.) You said in the spiritual world there is a choice of rasa What does it mean? Can one change or choose the rasa in the spiritual world?
We can say the choice is eternal. So, everything is eternal in the spiritual world so your particular rasa that you have is also eternal. The only possibility of choice is when you are in the material world and you are doing a sadhana. As you do a sadhana then that Samvid and Hladini Shakti become fixed as a sthayi bhava in bhava stage Of course, even that is eternal. So it is described in Nectar of devotion that through sadhana you manifest the sthayi bhava not that it is created at a certain point. So why it is simply manifested and not created is because it is spiritual and everything spiritual has no creation. So we can say a portion of the sthayi bhava in the spiritual world will become manifest in the jiva.
8.) The relationship between Krishna and his devotees in Dwaraka and the relationship between Vishnu and his devotees in Vaikuntha are they same.
So in Dwaraka we will have Dasya, Sakya, Vatsalya, Madhurya as in Vrindavan but is tinged with Aishwarya. So it is still the form of Krishna. In Vaikuntha there is no choice it is all Dasya And there the Aishwarya is much more prominent than in Dwaraka.
9.) In the beginning see we love Krishna because of his supremacy but how it will be turned to a natural love for Krishna like Vrajavasis.
So yes in the beginning we may be attracted to the power of the Lord but if we hear from Bhagavatam about Krishna’s pastimes in Vrindavan then we can become attracted to that form and that particular mood. So due to our association with devotees then hearing Bhagavatam in the past times that Krishna may become prominent and then we develop attraction for worshipping Krishna.
10.) Brahma is the first inhibitant of Supreme Lord Brahma is the creator of Jiva Why Brahma is also called Jiva ?
Brahma does not create Jivas He just gives bodies for Jivas. But even the power of Brahma to create bodies for the Jivas and to create Lokas for the Jivas to live is endowed by the Supreme Lord. So he is a secondary creator only.
11.) What could be the permanent position of Jiva who attains five types of Mukti
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj : Well if they actually attain Mukti then it is permanent.
Devotee : But what will be the position. How will he live there ?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj : Well if he is in Sayujya there is no form, no qualities, no activities. If one practices pure Bhakti and develops Prema automatically he goes to the spiritual world, salokya is there. Automatically he gets the spiritual form, so sarupya is there. Automatically he gets special powers, so sarsti is there. So in this way The Jiva in the spiritual world who does Bhakti gets these different assets but they are not his desire, they are only what is favorable for his service. If a Jiva performs mixed Bhakti If a Jiva performs mixed Bhakti Like Karma mishra Bhakti He can eventually get purified He can also go to the spiritual world He can get Salokya and Sarupya etc but Prema does not fully develop.So living there with that body is wonderful but there is less service.
12.) Though Gopis relationship with Krishna Is considered supreme, we see the Gopis often recall Krishna as the Supreme Lord because Lakshmi never leaves his chest. How to understand this.
So the Gopis will make statements like this to indicate their own, say, humility. And they can talk about Vishnu and Lakshmi. And how they do that is because they also equate Krishna himself with Vishnu. For instance, we see when Gargamuni was talking about Krishna, then he says previously he was like that. So somehow he is related or very similar to Vishnu in one sense. At the same time, they don’t, let’s say, understand as complete identity. And thus, when Krishna kills demons, they say, well, yes, because Vishnu is there protecting him.
So they think of it more as some sort of similarity.
Devotee : But we see Mother Yashoda never cites that Krishna is the Supreme Lord. Could you kindly explain this difference? That Mother Yashoda never thinks that Krishna is the Supreme Lord, whereas Gopis, you know, sometimes they say Krishna is the Supreme Lord.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj : Of course, even among the Gopis or even among the other persons like Yasoda, temporarily they may exclaim something about Krishna as Achyuta, Madhava, etc. And then Krishna showed to Mother Yashoda the universe within his mouth.
So then she thought, how can this be my son? He’s got the whole universe inside him. So then they have temporary realizations of Krishna as Supreme Lord, but very quickly that disappears and they forget about it.
13.) Jiva from the material world need to endeavor to develop bhakti, relationship, etc. to attain prema before reaching the spiritual world. But we don’t hear about such endeavor for eternally liberated jivas. Could you kindly explain?
Liberated soul. Already liberated. From where though? Then he would struggle previously to get liberation. And if he’s from spiritual world, of course, then he’s nitya-siddha. So there is no struggle at all.
Why do we have nitya-siddhas and conditioned souls? Is that the question? That’s the choice of the jiva. So jivas by nature are unlimited in number. They also are tatastha, so they have possibility of being influenced by ignorance. And each jiva is an individual. So therefore, some jivas eternally choose spiritual world, some choose material world.
14.) Hare Krishna Maharaj, we see in Goloka, the doubt is, all Vrajavasis are energies of the lord or they are nitya-siddhas also?
No, nitya-siddhas. Some may be sadhana-siddhas, in the case of the sages of Naimisharanya or the Vedas, the Upanishads, whatever prayers are presented by Vedas, those Upanishads [Laughs].
15.) Maharaj, one more thing is, we see Yadus. Yadus are also the energies of the lord or are they considered to be as jiva?
Yadus, they are also jivas.
Devotee : [Not audible].
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj : Well, they may function in the terms of the parents, that’s all.
Devotees: Grantharaj Srimad Bhagavatam ki jai!!! HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj ki jai!!! Srila Prabhupada ki jai!!! Nitai Gaura Premanande Hari Haribol!!!