Srimad Bhagavatam 2.6.23 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | ISKCON Chennai | 3 October 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 23.
ŚB 2.6.23
यदास्य नाभ्यान्नलिनादहमासं महात्मन: ।
नाविदं यज्ञसम्भारान् पुरुषावयवानृते ॥ २३ ॥
yadāsya nābhyān nalinād
aham āsaṁ mahātmanaḥ
nāvidaṁ yajña-sambhārān
puruṣāvayavān ṛte
Synonyms
yadā — at the time of; asya — His; nābhyāt — from the abdomen; nalināt — from the lotus flower; aham — myself; āsam — took my birth; mahā-ātmanaḥ — of the great person; na avidam — did not know; yajña — sacrificial; sambhārān — ingredients; puruṣa — of the Lord; avayavān — personal bodily limbs; ṛte — except.
Translation
When I was born from the abdominal lotus flower of the Lord [Mahā-Viṣṇu], the great person, I had no ingredients for sacrificial performances except the bodily limbs of the great Personality of Godhead.
Purport
Lord Brahmā, the creator of the cosmic manifestation, is known as Svayambhū, or one who is born without father and mother. The general process is that a living creature is born out of the sex combination of the male father and the female mother. But Brahmā, the firstborn living being, is born out of the abdominal lotus flower of the Mahā-Viṣṇu plenary expansion of Lord Kṛṣṇa. The abdominal lotus flower is part of the Lord’s bodily limbs, and Brahmā is born out of the lotus flower. Therefore Lord Brahmā is also a part of the Lord’s body. Brahmā, after his appearance in the gigantic hollow of the universe, saw darkness and nothing else. He felt perplexity, and from his heart he was inspired by the Lord to undergo austerity, thereby acquiring the ingredients for sacrificial performances. But there was nothing besides the two of them, namely the Personality of Mahā-Viṣṇu and Brahmā himself, born of the bodily part of the Lord. For sacrificial performances many ingredients were in need, especially animals. The animal sacrifice is never meant for killing the animal, but for achieving the successful result of the sacrifice. The animal offered in the sacrificial fire is, so to speak, destroyed, but the next moment it is given a new life by dint of the Vedic hymns chanted by the expert priest. When such an expert priest is not available, the animal sacrifice in the fire of the sacrificial altar is forbidden. Thus Brahmā created even the sacrificial ingredients out of the bodily limbs of the Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, which means that the cosmic order was created by Brahmā himself. Also, nothing is created out of nothing, but everything is created from the person of the Lord. The Lord says in the Bhagavad-gītā (10.8), ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate: “Everything is made from My bodily limbs, and I am therefore the original source of all creations.”
The impersonalists argue that there is no use in worshiping the Lord when everything is nothing but the Lord Himself. The personalist, however, worships the Lord out of a great sense of gratitude, utilizing the ingredients born out of the bodily limbs of the Lord. The fruits and flowers are available from the body of the earth, and yet mother earth is worshiped by the sensible devotee with ingredients born from the earth. Similarly, mother Ganges is worshiped by the water of the Ganges, and yet the worshiper enjoys the result of such worship. Worship of the Lord is also performed by the ingredients born from the bodily limbs of the Lord, and yet the worshiper, who is himself a part of the Lord, achieves the result of devotional service to the Lord. While the impersonalist wrongly concludes that he is the Lord himself, the personalist, out of a great gratitude, worships the Lord in devotional service, knowing perfectly well that nothing is different from the Lord. The devotee therefore endeavors to apply everything in the service of the Lord because he knows that everything is the property of the Lord and that no one can claim anything as one’s own. This perfect conception of oneness helps the worshiper in being engaged in His loving service, whereas the impersonalist, being falsely puffed up, remains a nondevotee forever, without being recognized by the Lord.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj:
So anyway we have here a statement of Brahma and in the beginning of the universe Brahma was there and Supreme Lord was there. And he wants to perform yajna. But there’s no ingredients. So, it’s described in the Purusha Sukta that Brahma used the limbs of the Lord for the sacrifice. And ultimately it describes how the brahmanas came from his head and the sudras came from his feet, etc. Now, of course, we don’t take this literally that the Lord’s limbs were used and thrown into fire, etc. But it illustrates that ultimately everything comes from the Lord. And similarly we may have description of the universal form, the head of the universal form is associated with Brahma loka and Patala loka with the feet. So, aspects of the material world are coming from the Supreme Lord. So in this way there’s an emphasis upon the Lord as the origin and shelter of everything. And because of this, one should give respect and worship to the Lord.
So, how do we worship the Lord? We can do it through sacrifice or through archana. But, we should express that by offering something. But actually, everything we offer also comes from the Lord. So, what’s the use of doing that? We offer to the Lord something that the Lord actually gave to us [Laughs]. So, that of course is, in one sense, a fault. At the same time, it’s inescapable because everything is the Lord. So, what can we do? Now, of course, in the normal world, somebody gives you something and you offer it back to him. It’s not any type of worship [Laughs]. And, as Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita, you offer a leaf, a fruit or a flower. But, that’s not what is important because everything belongs to the Lord anyway. But, what is important is the devotion.
So, the Lord does not need something which ultimately belongs to Him anyway. But, He is interested in your devotion. And thus, it is often stressed that more important than the worship is the manasa worship. Without using material objects at all that ultimately come from the Lord, you just offer in your mind. And, if this is done with devotion, then it has the most direct effect on the Lord. And, ultimately, due to the devotion, instead of using material objects, we can offer spiritual objects if we have a devotional mind. However, because it is difficult for people to do everything in the mind, we have the alternative, that is external deity worship. But, there is always the danger that again, because they are external, we will think of them as material. We will think of the deity form as a material form and we will think of the flowers and the lamps as material things. And thus, to prepare the mind so that it does not think materially, we have all sorts of procedures in deity worship. One, of course, is called bhuta suddhi. And, in that procedure, we purify the body of its material elements. Then, we use mantras.
So, mantras are non-different from the Lord. So, we consecrate all the materials with mantra. There is also a procedure called nyasa. So, you place the deity mantra all over your body and your hands. So, your body becomes spiritualized [Laughs]. We have the Manasa Puja. So, therefore, your mind becomes purified by performing all the steps of Puja in your mind.
So, all of these procedures are there to take the devotee off the material level. And then, you also do meditation. You meditate on the form of the Lord in the spiritual dhama. And after you have thus trained your mind to think of the Lord as a spiritual form, then you can do the external puja. So, therefore, though the objects are material, and the form of the Lord is made out of stone or metal or whatever, there is no danger that the devotee, in his worship, has material consciousness. And what’s the purpose of that worship? It is to show the Lord that, one is in an inferior position, the Lord is superior. And, we express our gratitude to the Lord because He is giving everything to us. So, in other words, we are recognizing the supreme position of the Lord and our inferior position and we are appreciating the Lord for His care for the individual.
Now, of course, we should not just appreciate the Lord because He takes care of your material body. Certainly, He does so, but this is material consideration. So, the spiritual intention is that we are expressing our gratitude to the Lord because He is taking care of us spiritually. He is spiritually nourishing us. So, this is the meaning of Bhakti Yoga. And, this is the definition given by Rupa Goswami in Nectar of Devotion. So, the main definition is Krishna anusilanam. So, we are cultivating a relationship with the Lord which is favorable. Of course, we can ask the question, why do we have to cultivate it? And the answer is that the Jiva is covered by ignorance. So, the seed of Bhakti is planted by the mercy of Guru and Krishna. And then, we do the anusilanam with that seed.
So, what are we cultivating? We are cultivating the seed to make it grow into a plant. But, obviously, it is not a plant. It is the growth of Bhakti. So, Bhakti can be cultivated. And the Jiva provides the fertile ground for that. But, if you don’t have a seed, there is nothing to cultivate. And, even if you have the seed, if you don’t take care of it, it won’t sprout. So, that mercy of Guru and Krishna or devotee and Krishna provide our connection with the spiritual world. So, without the seed, nothing happens [Laughs].
So, we say that faith and Bhakti arise because of mercy of devotees. And, though you can do all sorts of Vedic processes like Karma Yoga and Varnashrama and Jnana Yoga or Astanga Yoga, it doesn’t produce a seed. So, therefore, no seed is there, how you can develop your Bhakti? Of course, in one sense, we do have a seed. But, it is a different seed. It is Bhakti used as a secondary process, which is not pure [Laughs]. So, by cultivating that seed, you can get Swarga Loka. You can get liberation. But, you don’t get Prema. So, we have to get the seed of pure Bhakti planted by the devotees. But, it doesn’t grow on its own.
So, getting the mercy, then the devotee has to cultivate that seed through the actions of Bhakti Yoga. Of course, the actions of Bhakti Yoga are also the seed [Laughs]. So, by doing the actions of Bhakti Yoga, the plant grows [Laughs]. And, in this way, eventually, the plant grows and bears flowers and fruit. But, it requires that constant cultivation. And, that is the responsibility of the individual devotee. So, we should not think that immediately I get the mercy of Guru or Krishna or whatever, then it’s finished. No. The devotee has to continually engage his body, mind and senses in serving Krishna. And, how does he do that? He takes these objects from the material world and offers them to Krishna. Of course, even his body and mind and senses are material. So, his body, mind and senses are coming from Krishna. Everything he offers is coming from Krishna [Laughs]. And, it’s all material. How does it give a spiritual result? So if the basis is that intention to worship and please the Lord, then it becomes spiritualized.
So, as I said, the Lord has no interest in offerings because ultimately they are material energy and they are also His secondary products anyway. He possesses everything already. And we make efforts using our body and our mind and our senses, which are also coming from the Lord [Laughs]. And without the consent of the Lord, even the body, senses and mind cannot operate. However, by employing body, mind and words and material objects in offering to the Lord, it gets accepted because of our devotion. Which means, we are cultivating this affectionate relationship with Krishna. We are cultivating, which means, we are trying to make our affection increase and increase. And to help us, as long as we are in the material world, we use material objects and we use our material body. How do these things become spiritualized? Because of our intention to please the Lord, the Bhakti. So, by doing these activities with the Bhakti, then the Bhakti increases. That means, the plant of Bhakti grows.
So, the more we just do the activities, but we separate that from our devotional intentions, the weaker the whole process becomes. However, even if it is completely separated from devotional intentions, things like the Holy Name still have power [Laughs]. So, this is the unique feature of Bhakti, that everything remains spiritual, even if we don’t have spiritual intentions [Laughs]. And the effect remains. Not the complete effect, but nevertheless we have effect. So, Ajamila will get some effect by chanting the name of Narayana. And, even if we have hostile intentions, still we get some effect [Laughs]. So, Sisupala had dvesha, hatred of the Lord. Ajamila was neutral. But, even Sisupala got results. So, Bhakti and the Supreme Lord, especially the form of Krishna, are very special. And, the reason is that Bhakti is not part of the material world at all [Laughs]. So, therefore, there is no problem in offering items of this material world to the Lord, using our material senses because of the devotion there, that purifies everything.
Hare Krishna!
Glorification of a devotee by HH Bhanu Swami maharaj who passed away :
So today they are having a smriti sabha which means a gathering to remember the devotion of Vaikuntha Prasad who disappeared. So, of course, it is always auspicious to glorify the devotees of the Lord. Generally, we think of kirtan as glorifying Krishna. This is Krishna anusilanam, cultivating a relationship with Krishna. So, hearing and chanting and worship is directed towards Krishna. But then our Acharyas also say, yes, Krishna is Krishna Anusilanam, but that also means the devotees of Krishna. So, thus glorifying, remembering or hearing about the qualities of devotees is also part of Krishna Anusilanam or Bhakti.
And, of course, we have a principle that worship of the Lord is very nice, but the Lord is more pleased if you worship the devotee. And the reason for that is, the devotees are the medium by which Krishna spreads Himself in the material world. Now, because we are Jivas, our efforts are limited. However, all of the different Jivas have some capacity to serve the Lord and to broadcast the glories of the Lord. And this is most pleasing to the Lord.
Kirtan means glorifying the Lord. And it also means glorifying the devotees of the Lord. Throughout the Bhagavatam, of course, there is glorification of the Lord. Simultaneously, there is glorification of the devotees of the Lord. So, we have the story of Narasimhadeva, glorifying Narasimhadeva, but simultaneously we are remembering Prahlada. Or in remembering the pastimes of Krishna, not only we remember Krishna, but we remember Yashoda and Nanda, the cowherd boys and the Gopis. Particularly for the jivas in the material world, the devotee acts as a connection with the Lord by His mercy. So, all devotees are acting in that capacity. And therefore, they gain the mercy of the Lord. And other devotees, therefore, glorify not only the Lord, but His devotees. So, we appreciate the individual contributions of service of every single devotee. We appreciate their efforts to progress in devotional service. And we appreciate that effort which helps to spread the movement of Lord Caitanya and the movement that Srila Prabhupada established.
So, all of that effort of each devotee is always glorious. And we see in the example of Vaikuntha Prasad, he was always eager to serve the devotees. And when he was in good health, then he was constantly serving the devotees by cooking [Laughs]. But even after he became sick, still, if he had the energy, then he would also assist in the cooking. So, in this way, he demonstrated his continual eagerness to practice bhakti, in spite of material obstacles and physical problems. So, this indicates his determination and steadiness in devotional service.
Hare Krishna!
Devotees: Grantharaj Srimad Bhagavatam ki jai!!! HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj ki jai!!! Srila Prabhupada ki jai!!! Nitai Gaura Premanande Hari Haribol!!!