Srimad Bhagavatam 2.6.28 | 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 28.
ŚB 2.6.28
इति सम्भृतसम्भार: पुरुषावयवैरहम् ।
तमेव पुरुषं यज्ञं तेनैवायजमीश्वरम् ॥ २८ ॥
iti sambhṛta-sambhāraḥ
puruṣāvayavair aham
tam eva puruṣaṁ yajñaṁ
tenaivāyajam īśvaram
Synonyms
iti — thus; sambhṛta — executed; sambhāraḥ — equipped myself well; puruṣa — the Personality of Godhead; avayavaiḥ — by the parts and parcels; aham — I; tam eva — unto Him; puruṣam — the Personality of Godhead; yajñam — the enjoyer of all sacrifices; tena eva — by all those; ayajam — worshiped; īśvaram — the supreme controller.
Translation
Thus I created the ingredients and paraphernalia for offering sacrifice out of the parts of the body of the Supreme Lord, the enjoyer of the sacrifice, and I performed the sacrifice to satisfy the Lord.
Purport
People in general are always anxious to have peace of mind or peace in the world, but they do not know how to achieve such a standard of peace in the world. Such peace in the world is obtainable by performances of sacrifice and by practice of austerity. In the Bhagavad-gītā (5.29) the following prescription is recommended:
bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ
sarva-loka-maheśvaram
suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ
jñātvā māṁ śāntim ṛcchati
The karma-yogīs know that the Supreme Lord is the factual enjoyer and maintainer of all sacrifices and of the austere life. They also know that the Lord is the ultimate proprietor of all the planets and is the factual friend of all living entities. Such knowledge gradually converts the karma-yogīs into pure devotees of the Lord through the association of unalloyed devotees, and thus they are able to be liberated from material bondage.
Brahmā, the original living being within the material world, taught us the way of sacrifice. The word “sacrifice” suggests dedication of one’s own interests for satisfaction of a second person. That is the way of all activities. Every man is engaged in sacrificing his interests for others, either in the form of family, society, community, country or the entire human society. But perfection of such sacrifices is attained when they are performed for the sake of the Supreme Person, the Lord. Because the Lord is the proprietor of everything, because the Lord is the friend of all living creatures, and because He is the maintainer of the performer of sacrifice, as well as the supplier of the ingredients of sacrifices, it is He only and no one else who should be satisfied by all sacrifices.
The whole world is engaged in sacrificing energy for advancement of learning, social upliftment, economic development and plans for total improvement of the human condition, but no one is interested in sacrificing for the sake of the Lord, as it is advised in the Bhagavad-gītā. Therefore, there is no peace in the world. If men at all want peace in the world, they must practice sacrifice in the interest of the supreme proprietor and friend of all.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj : This whole series of verses was how Brahma performed the first worship of the Lord as Yajna. And Yajna also is a name of the Lord. So the Lord is worthy of Yajna. He is also the object to be pleased by the Yajna. And he also supplies all the ingredients for the Yajna. And thus, it is natural we should worship the Supreme Lord. So, of course, we translate the word Yajna as sacrifice often. So one meaning of the word in English is, you have a fire and you offer things in the fire, that’s a sacrifice. And it’s a common ritual in many religions in the world. The word sacrifice itself can literally also means when you give up something in the interest of some other person. So we say a person sacrificed his life to protect his family or to protect his country. So we’re offering something to another person. And it usually means that we’re doing it without our own interest in mind. So, of course, because this is the material world, all such sacrifices or offerings are not really pure.
We sacrifice ourselves for the country because we want the country to protect us [Laughs]. So we have sacrifice and, of course, is always praised. And it’s praiseworthy because, to some degree, we’re giving up our self-interest. But it’s, on the other hand, not completely pure. So in terms of having some self-interest, it’s not pure. So this, of course, also is connected to punya. Punya also means to give something for another person. And it has its most power when it is done without any self-interest. But in most cases, it is not done completely without self-interest. So people commonly do punyas in order to counteract their sinful reactions so they don’t suffer [Laughs]. However, to create more purity, the scriptures also tell us that better than doing this is Niskama Karma Yoga. So we do the punyas with no self-interest at all. So this is superior. However, even this is never perfect. Punya belongs to the gunas.
Ultimately, the best punya is Sattvic punya, but even that is guna. And the punya ultimately is limited to giving material results. So you can do the Niskama punya and ultimately you can go to Brahma Loka. If you want to go further than that, then you have to do Jnana Yoga. Of course, we can say Niskama Karma Yoga is a preparation for Jnana Yoga and then you get liberation. But the problem is, even Jnana Yoga is part of Sattva Guna. So if you want to go beyond the material world, then ultimately you have to worship the Lord. Ultimately, the Lord is the giver of liberation. And He is also the giver of all the results of punya.
So if you do all your punyas but you don’t worship the Lord again, you don’t get any results. So all these different processes for getting different results are ultimately related to the Supreme Lord. So a more intelligent process is to directly worship the Supreme Lord.
And that’s superior. So even if it is mixed with other desires, desires to go to Svarga Loka or Brahma Loka or desire for liberation, even if it is mixed, it’s superior to Karma Yoga and Jnana Yoga. You can attain the results of Karma Yoga or Jnana Yoga much quicker because you’re directly worshipping the Lord. However, the final result the Lord can give is beyond the material world and liberation. The Lord Himself is situated beyond the material world and beyond Brahman. So therefore we give Him a location in the spiritual world, Vaikuntha or Goloka.
So the intelligent person will therefore strive for Goloka. And there he has the result of his direct worship of the Lord. And that worship also has to be Niskama, without desires. So without desire for material benefits, without desire for liberation. Hmm. So this is our very definition of pure bhakti. That is anyabhilashita sunyam. So of course in the material world when we’re doing sadhana bhakti, it is impossible to actually be pure because we’re doing a sadhana and we’re in the lower part of the material world doing our sadhana. So in one sense, yes, it’s impossible for us to do pure bhakti. In other words, pure bhakti is Prema. So you cannot practice Prema to get Prema because Prema is already the goal. So the practice of Sadhana Bhakti is there to attain the Prema. So this means that the Sadhana is not pure ultimately. Yet we have pure bhakti in Sadhana. So it looks like a contradiction of terms.
Hmm. So when we have pure bhakti in Sadhana, then it is different from pure bhakti in Prema. So in Sadhana, our practice has a motive of pure bhakti. But the person performing the Sadhaka ultimately is not pure. But his goal is purity. So in that sense, we call it pure bhakti. So this type of devotee who’s doing Sadhana is distinct from other types of devotees who are doing Sadhana, but they’re doing impure bhakti. So they can also worship the Supreme Lord, same Krishna. And they can offer the same items. They can offer flowers and garlands and whatever. They can even use similar mantras. So their process may look similar, but their intention is completely different. They may not have any particular goal at all. So they go to the temple, they offer to the Lord because it is custom, that’s all. So we do this because Hindus do this [Laughs]. So we do it simply to distinguish ourselves from Muslims or Christians, that’s all [Laughs]. Or we may do that because we want to get some benefits from the Lord. So we pray, Balaji, please give me some money. Or please remove all my suffering. With no real understanding of the position of the Supreme Lord and anything about pure bhakti. So they do it without any understanding of who is that Supreme Lord and what is the process of pure bhakti. And nothing beyond, the only goal is to fulfill their material desires. So because of that, the result is very, very different.
But the whole purpose of scripture is to indicate to us the highest goal of all. That by which the jiva can be completely blissful. And the only thing that can do that is prema. So this is called the nitya dharma of the jiva. Jaiva dharma. So of course, only the intelligent people will choose that goal. But they choose that goal, then they have to start with this process of sadhana, doing pure bhakti. So with that goal of prema, the highest pure bhakti, then they do the sadhana, that’s what they attain. And if you perform the bhakti with some other intention, you don’t get the prema. So therefore, from the very beginning, we have to have a clear understanding of the definition of pure bhakti. And a definition of our ultimate goal. And then our practice becomes perfect.
So I mentioned previously that ultimately, the whole purpose of Bhagavatam is to present krishnas tu bhagavan svayam. Here, we are not talking about Krishna at all. We are talking about the purusha avatar [Laughs]. And of course, the purusha avatar is connected to creation and maintenance of the material world. And this yajna that Brahma is doing is also karmakanda. So it is related to material world, but ultimately, it is related to Supreme Lord. Of course, it is related to the Supreme Lord as the purusha. And then the purusha becomes Mahavishnu. Mahavishnu is an amsa of Krishna.
So of course, here, the origin of the yajna is ultimately, the goal of the yajna is Vishnu. But even this Vishnu is an expansion from Vaikuntha Vishnu. So in that way, the whole process is rather indirect. But then, Vaikuntha Vishnu is an expansion from Krishna. So therefore, this whole process is quite indirect in relation to Swayambhagavan Krishna [Laughs]. And therefore, it is considered to be the lowest process in the Vedic literature. Nevertheless, it is there because majority of the people will go for this practice rather than the higher practices in the beginning. Although supplied for preliminary purification. So though Bhagavatam is presenting this, it is also ultimately rejecting it. And thus, the whole karma kanda and even jnana kanda gets rejected by Bhagavatam. And Krishna does the same in Bhagavad Gita. And this is done in order to clearly show that ultimately, we should take to the process of bhakti. And that even if we do not do the other processes, we succeed in getting prema through bhakti. So therefore, we should understand the real intention of Bhagavatam.
Hare Krishna !
Q & A:
1.) Hare Krishna Maharaj. You are explaining here in this sadhana, all the bhakti is not pure. But when motive is pure, we also call it bhakti is pure. But we see sometimes, all the motive is pure. But the activities of bhakti are sometimes mixed with jnana and karma. In that sense, can you still say that motive is pure and bhakti is pure?
So the actual definition of pure bhakti is no other desires. It does not talk about other methods. But in the second line, it says jnana karmati anavrtam. It mentions jnana, karma, etc. And it should not be obstructed by them. If we perform karma yoga and varnashrama, karma kanda, etc. with material desires to attain through that, then that becomes anyabhilas.
If we are to do angas of parts of karma kanda, karma yoga, accept varnashrama, without any material desire or desire for liberation, fine, then it’s still pure bhakti. No desire, no other desire. So then the question would be, why do them at all? Waste of time. So the common answer is, you can do it, not to disturb other people, and to teach other people that if they are not doing bhakti, at least do karma yoga. So if a person cannot do bhakti yoga, at least let him do karma yoga. So only for that purpose, they would continue their karma yoga.
Of course, there is also one other purpose. And that is, while we are living in the world, and we are doing our bhakti, we have to maintain our material body. So to do that, you need to work. So then, you have to have a profession, and that means varna. So to maintain your material body, then you act according to a particular varna, profession, etc. But only so far as to maintain the body.
2.) Sometimes you see, although the devotees make the goal Krishna, make the Krishna as a goal. But sometimes what happens, you know, due to the material circumstances, devotees are carried away by karma, jnana, and varnashrama. And then, they are not able to concentrate fully on bhakti. All the goal is Krishna, or Krishna prema. The goal is Krishna prema. But sometimes, due to these material circumstances, they are carried away by karma, jnana, and varna ashrama duties, and other things.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj : They keep doing it, for what purpose though?
Devotee : The goal is Krishna. But, as we are living in the material world, but sometimes we are carried away by this karma, jnana, and varna ashrama dharma.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj : Influenced. Yeah, influenced. In what sense?
Devotee : Because we are living in the material world, we have an association of karma, karmi, jnana, materialistic people. Sometimes we are carried away by them.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj : Okay. With their desires?
Devotee : Desire is Krishna maharaj. Desire is Krishna prema. But the problem is, although the goal is Krishna prema, but here as we are living here, because our associations are not always devotees, sometimes non-devotees, sometimes we are carried away by their association.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj : So then, so what do you do in karma yoga?
Devotee : Yeah, that’s why I’m saying,
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj : By that association.
Devotee : Although the goal is Krishna, sometimes we divert from Krishna.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj : So, then the goal is not Krishna [Laughs]. So, then it is impure. Then your bhakti becomes mixed in that sense [Laughs]. Why I’m saying, because sometimes devotees give excuse that we have many duties to do it. After doing everything, then we will do bhakti. I’m not saying after doing everything, I’m not saying full time, I’m not saying grhastha. I’m saying that after doing all that, because we have to maintain everything, because as we are living in a society. They have to look after everything. After doing everything, then we have to… Krishna also goal, but they have to maintain everything simultaneously. It’s quite difficult for them sometimes.
Devotee : But are they doing that according to what? Karma yoga or not karma yoga? Mixed. Sometimes karma, sometimes jnana, sometimes varnashram, everything, they mixed up everything. And bhakti also there.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj : Well, if it’s jnana, there’s detachment from family [Laughs].
Devotee : Little bit desire for everything [Laughs].
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj : So, anyway, the whole idea is that if you have… by doing other processes, you develop other desires, then it becomes impure bhakti. So, if only there to maintain yourself, your body, and your family without other desires, then that’s not a problem. So, we see, the associates of Lord Caitanya were all doing their duties in Varanashram, but they were not attached to those things. They were doing it simply because to maintain themselves, that’s all.
3.) Sometimes we hear from the devotees, you know, although their goal is Krishna, and they are also concerned about their job and other things. Oh, if my job goes, how will I survive? How will I maintain my family? They have this concern. Although the goal is Krishna, but here they have a fear of the, you know, job and other things.
So, in the material world, one, we have some obstruction in the form of a material body. And then we have to maintain the material body. And if you are very detached, then of course that is also minimized. If your nature is not detachment, then you get married and you have to maintain yourself plus a family. But, whether you are renounced or you have a family, you are still entitled to do pure bhakti. So, maintaining yourself, maintaining your family and doing the bhakti does not create any problem in itself. However, if you have great goals in the maintenance of your family and yourself, then of course it may become an obstacle to bhakti because that produces anarthas.
4.) Suppose, now there is a devotee who is living in the temple for 24 hours and although he is living in the temple and his all activities are devotional service, you can say, Navavidha Bhakti he is doing and there is other devotees who is living in the home and he is working outside and he is not attached with job and other things. Whatever he is getting, he is satisfied with that. So now, the problem is that the devotee who is living in the temple, although his action is bhakti, whereas the devotee who is living outside, working outside, and no, but his action is not bhakti. It is karma. So, is there any difference of advancement between these two? Because one is action itself is bhakti and he is producing bhakti. Whereas karma, action is karma and karma doesn’t produce bhakti. Then how will be their advancement?
So, in either case, because both are performing bhakti, there is no karma. They don’t produce karma by their actions because bhakti destroys all karmas. Ajamila got all those karmas destroyed by just saying Narayan [Laughs]. So, one difference of course is that the person living outside has to dedicate a certain amount of time, maybe 8-10 hours a day to working in the material world. So, the person in the temple can do more direct service to Krishna. So, in that sense, he has more opportunities for bhakti. But then he may waste that time also. So then [Laughs], Sleep more [Laughs]. So, then he may not be so advantageous.
And the other difference of course is that the person who is outside obviously has more material desires and therefore he is working, therefore he has a house, therefore he has family, etc. However, in both cases, through the process of bhakti, detachment will take place. And we’ll see in Bhagavatam that most of the cases of advanced devotees were grhasthas [Laughs]. So, ultimately, it’s not a matter of ashram or anything. It’s a matter of the way in which you do your bhakti that counts.
5.) Hare Krishna Maharaj. Thank you for the wonderful class. Maharaj, Krishna has qualities of supreme enjoyership and perfect renunciant. So, how to understand this? Materially, if one enjoys, he cannot be a good renunciant. But Krishna has the quality of supreme enjoyer as well as perfect renunciation.
Well, when we say that Krishna is the enjoyer, that is his position because he owns everything. But like the devotee in the spiritual world we say, he also gets bliss, etc. And in either case, it’s like material enjoyment. In fact, it’s the opposite. Not like material world. Therefore, he’s called Atma-rama, completely detached. So, if he’s completely detached, why is he having Rasalila? Because it has got nothing to do with material enjoyment. So, spiritual enjoyment and Ananda is equated with Atma Rama also because it is non-material.
6.) Hare Krishna Maharaj. What is the difference between the spiritual world attained through liberation in terms of Salokya, Sarsti, Samipya? So, those four kinds of liberation where we get a permanent residence in the spiritual world and the body of the Prema Bhakta. He’s also getting a Sat–cit–ananda body.
Well, of course, one difference is if you get Saryuja, you don’t get Salokya and everything else. And those who have Prema automatically go to the spiritual world and get a spiritual body. So, Sayujya is no body, no place [Laughs]. And if you have Prema, you get that. But then we have an intermediate position where you can get the planet and the body without the Prema. So, you can be a devotee in the spiritual world but your relationship with the Lord is very distant. So, therefore, not Prema. So, of course, the devotees practicing pure bhakti do not strive for that and therefore Bhagavatam says that the devotee, even if he is offered Salokya, Sarsti, Sarupya, he will reject it if he doesn’t serve the Lord. So, those who are practicing mixed bhakti, they can get greater than liberation but they get less than Prema. So, they end up in that position, Salokya, Sarupya, etc.
7.) Maharaj, two, three days before we had a discussion regarding this. Prema gives the body, spiritual body. So, if these devotees, those who are getting Mukti, don’t have Prema, then what about this Sarupya? How this Sarupya body comes? For liberation, one of the liberation is Sarupya. But this form, how it is getting? It is not getting due to the Prema because he doesn’t have Prema. How will he get his body then?
So, a person who does mixed bhakti is also doing bhakti, he is also worshipping the Lord with the form. And it’s also more purifying than Jnana. So, therefore, he gets rid of all those desires. And because one is mainly worshipping the Lord, then one will attain the spiritual place and get a spiritual body also. So, there is relationship with the form that is not so complete. Because one is mainly worshipping the Lord, one will attain the spiritual place and get a spiritual body and get a relationship with the Lord. But that relationship is not complete.
8.) There are bogus Gurus who claim themselves as God. But unfortunately, people are attracted to them and they worship them. They think their worship is giving material benefits. Those material benefits is due to their karma or something else?
They worship material persons and they get material results. So, where does it come from? So, do they get material results or not? That’s one question. They may think they are getting some results, maybe they are not [Laughs]. So, they may only have a belief in that and not get an actual result. And if some result is given, it may not be due to the fact that it’s because of worshipping that person, maybe their karma or whatever.
Devotee : Can you say that what they are getting right now is due to the prarabdha that they are getting? Prarabdha, they are getting right now.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj : Yeah.
Devotee : But they may think that I am getting due to the worship of some bogus Guru. They may think like this, their belief.
9.) You mentioned that the definition of sacrifice is doing something to please others. But even in pure bhakti, one does all the sacrifices to please Krishna. But there is an expectation of his affectionate relationship. So, there is an expectation in pure bhakti also. So, is it not impure?
OK. So, expectation of pure love means without any other desire than to please Krishna. So, a desire for pure bhakti. So, on the anyabhilasitha sunyam, desire for Krishna is permitted because we have to have Prema. Prema is also a desire to please Krishna. But other desires are rejected.
Devotee : Can you also say that Maharaj, in the anyabhilasitha sunyam verse that is not that that person should be devoid of desire.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj : Yeah, Other desires.
Devotee : He can have desire of Krishna.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj : Of course. But we have a desire to please Krishna to get bliss for ourselves. That’s another desire. That’s other desire.
Devotees: Grantharaj Srimad Bhagavatam ki jai!!! HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj ki jai!!! Srila Prabhupada ki jai!!! Nitai Gaura Premanande Hari Haribol!!!