Srimad Bhagavatam – 4.28.37 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | Sofia, Bulgaria | Aug 20, 2025
Om Namo Bhagavate Vāsudevāya
Om Namo Bhagavate Vāsudevāya
Om Namo Bhagavate Vāsudevāya
nama om vishnu-padaya krishna-preshthaya bhu-tale
srimate bhaktivedanta-svamin iti namine
namas te sarasvate deve gaura-vani-pracharine
nirvishesha-shunyavadi-pashchatya-desha-tarine
jaya sri-krishna-chaitanya
prabhu nityananda
sri-adwaita gadadhara
shrivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrinda
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
Reading from Canto 4, Chapter 28, Verse 37.
ŚB 4.28.37
śītoṣṇa-vāta-varṣāṇi
kṣut-pipāse priyāpriye
sukha-duḥkhe iti dvandvāny
ajayat sama-darśanaḥ
Translation
Through austerity, King Malayadhvaja in body and mind gradually became equal to the dualities of cold and heat, happiness and distress, wind and rain, hunger and thirst, the pleasant and the unpleasant. In this way he conquered all relativities.
Purport
Liberation means becoming free from the relativities of the world. Unless one is self-realized, he has to undergo the dual struggle of the relative world. In Bhagavad-gītā Lord Kṛṣṇa advises Arjuna to conquer all relativities through tolerance. Lord Kṛṣṇa points out that it is the relativities like winter and summer that give us trouble in the material world. In the winter we do not like taking a bath, but in the summer we wish to take a bath twice, thrice or more a day. Thus Kṛṣṇa advises us not to be disturbed by such relativities and dualities when they come and go.
The common man has to undergo much austerity to become equipoised before dualities. One who becomes agitated by the relativities of life has accepted a relative position and must therefore undergo the austerities prescribed in the śāstras to transcend the material body and put an end to material existence. King Malayadhvaja underwent severe austerities by leaving his home, going to Kulācala, taking his bath in the sacred rivers and eating only vegetables like stems, roots, seeds, flowers and leaves, avoiding any cooked food or grains. These are very, very austere practices. In this age it is very difficult to leave home and go to the forest or the Himālayas to adopt the processes of austerity. Indeed, it is almost impossible. If one is even advised to give up meat-eating, drinking, gambling and illicit sex, one will fail to do so. What, then, would a person do if he went to the Himālayas or Kulācala? Such acts of renunciation are not possible in this age; therefore Lord Kṛṣṇa has advised us to accept the bhakti-yoga process. Bhakti-yoga will automatically liberate a person from the dualities of life. In bhakti-yoga, Kṛṣṇa is the center, and Kṛṣṇa is always transcendental. Thus in order to transcend dualities, one must always engage in the service of the Lord, as confirmed by Bhagavad-gītā (14.26):
māṁ ca yo ’vyabhicāreṇa
bhakti-yogena sevate
sa guṇān samatītyaitān
brahma-bhūyāya kalpate
“One who engages in full devotional service, who does not fall down in any circumstance, at once transcends the modes of material nature and thus comes to the level of Brahman.”
If one is factually engaged in the service of the Lord, bhakti-yoga, he will automatically control his senses, his tongue and so many other things. Once engaged in the bhakti-yoga process with all sincerity, one will have no chance of falling down. Even if one falls down, there is no loss. One’s devotional activities may be stunned or choked for the time being, but as soon as there is another chance, the practitioner begins from the point where he left off.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj:
So, this is the story of King Puranjana. Most of the stories in Srimad Bhagavatam are not symbolic, they are historical events, but this story is symbolic. And in the story Puranjana represents the Jiva or the Atma. And he gets stuck in a material body and he tries to enjoy that body. So, Puranjana means the person in the material body [Laughs]. So, this Puranjana was very attached to sex enjoyment. He was very attached to his wife.
And there is a principle, whatever you think of when you die, you become that. If you got so much material attachment to a certain object or person or animal or whatever, you’re born in that body. So, Bharat got attracted to a baby deer and he thought of a deer when he died, he became a deer. Puranjana thought of his wife, so he became a woman. So, if you think of your horse, you become a horse [Laughs]. If you think of your elephant, you become an elephant [Laughs]. Of course, most people are probably going to think of human beings rather than animals when they die, so they become human beings more or less.
So Puranjana was born as a woman. And then this Malaya-dvaja who was described in this verse was the husband. And fortunately, the husband was quite austere. He was not a sense gratifier, so his wife was also became very renounced. So it was described that kshatriyas, kings, warriors, etc. After they enjoy in the material world, household life and raise their children, they should renounce. But because they were born in the mode of passion, they could not renounce completely. So they are not allowed to take sannyas, which is complete renunciation. They become Vanaprasthas.
So, the vanaprastha renounces, but he does not renounce his wife. But nevertheless, he has to do austerities. So the word vanaprastha means going to the forest. So in ancient times, going to the forest meant that you did austerities. So nowadays we go to the forest and set up a tent [Laughs]. But this type of going to the forest is a little different. You don’t even cook food. You don’t plant crops. You look for roots and dig them up, or you look for the berries on the trees. And you take the bark of trees and you make cloth out of that for your clothing [Laughs]. So, it’s quite an austere life for the husband and the wife. So they may build a little house out of leaves and branches and then sleep on the floor [Laughs].
So, what is the purpose of all of this austerity? In Sanskrit, this austerity is called Tapas. And actually, the word Tapa means to burn or to suffer. So, this is voluntary suffering. So, the question is, why do you want to voluntarily suffer? We suffer enough/more suffering. So, yes, if people are suffering too much, they wouldn’t want to do it, but a lot of people are also enjoying too much. So, all of this tapas or austerity or suffering is there to counteract all the previous enjoyment in household life. Of course, the question is, why do we have to counteract our enjoyments? And it is true, most people don’t want to do that, they want to increase their enjoyment [Laughs]. However, the system of varnashrama dharma is such that, though they recognize that yes, people.. most people want to enjoy, the enjoyment is limited to some degree. This is the realization not only in ancient India, but in most civilizations around the world. Certainly there is enjoyment, but it gets restricted. So, they have all sorts of rules and regulations for all the people in ancient societies. Of course, in the Vedic system there is more rules. Nevertheless, that enjoyment is also allowed. However, the scriptures also say that ultimately, the goal of life is not enjoyment. Now that is shocking for most people. You tell them you can’t enjoy this life, they will get very disappointed. So, not too many people will appreciate such a statement. Therefore, the Vedas also do not preach renunciation for everyone, just for few people. So, some people become purified up to a level where they appreciate renunciation. They realize that sense control and giving up enjoyment is beneficial for them and they are happy. These are people that reach the level of Sattva. They have arisen above Tamo Guna and Rajo Guna. So when they get to this position the scriptures recommend renunciation, detachment from material world, finally liberation. That means in order to get liberation you have to give up all material enjoyment. So not too many people will be interested in that. Nevertheless, it cannot be forced upon people, so therefore the Vedas recommend this Karma Yoga and Varnashrama system for most people.
So why do we have to renounce, to get liberation? Liberation means no more taking of material bodies. And that means, you have to destroy all your karma. It means you have to destroy all of your desires to enjoy the material world. So, if you reach that stage of liberation, no more birth in it, no more karma, no more suffering. But also, no more happiness [Laughs]. You have to give up dualities here. So both the happiness and the suffering of the material world cause bondage. And you have to give up both. So that’s difficult for most people, but some people will do it.
So, there are particular processes for doing this. So this is one stage where Malayadvaja, the king, takes vanaprastha and he starts renouncing things. There are two Vedic processes to help this. One is called Jnana Yoga and the other is called Ashtanga Yoga. So Jnana Yoga means we cultivate the knowledge of Upanishads, Vedic scriptures. And in those Upanishads it talks about dualities that you have to renounce, plus meditate on Atma, the Self. The other process, Ashtanga Yoga, involves doing asanas and pranayama and meditation. So after this whole Karma Yoga, they may progress to Jnana Yoga or Ashtanga Yoga. Very few people will follow this process and it’s also very difficult. So, therefore a person who gets liberation is going to be very rare.
So as Prabhupada explains in the purport, though there is liberation from the material world, dualities of suffering and happiness are difficult to overcome still, there is an easier process to accomplish this. The difficulty of Jnana Yoga and Ashtanga Yoga is that, you have to stop your material enjoyment by stopping your senses and mind. That is very difficult to do. Mind and senses always want to be active. So, of course when you try to do that, it becomes a difficult process, painful process. But you have to force yourself. And to do that you do austerities like this king. So renounce all enjoyments, restrict his eating etc.
So, the process that is easier and accomplishes more is bhakti yoga. This process involves use of the senses and the mind. Now, in Jnana and Yoga they stop the senses and mind because they cause more enjoyment and more bondage, more karma etc. So, how is it possible to use the senses and get rid of your karma and get rid of your attachments ?. So, one point is that if you do the activities of your senses and mind concentrating on Supreme Lord, you get opposite result. In other words, we concentrate on Supreme Lord, Krishna, He gives mercy, so He destroys all the karma and all the bad effects [Laughs]. And the process of destroying your karma is much quicker than through Jnana or Yoga. Of course, when we concentrate on Krishna, we do have to have some sort of proper mentality. So, when we concentrate on our senses and mind on Krishna and do the activities, we have to try to do it with unconditional love. If we serve the Lord at the same time we are trying to get more enjoyment, we defeat the process [Laughs]. So, we are allowed to use the senses and mind, we direct them to the Supreme Lord, we serve the Lord with those senses and we are also trying to express this unconditional love. So, of course, love means we have a positive affection for the Lord. And unconditional means we do not desire any results of enjoyment for ourselves. So, in this process, we are allowed to do activities. We are allowed to engage our senses and mind.
Furthermore, in doing so, we get some pleasure. Why? Because the Supreme Lord is full of pleasure. The Supreme Lord is most beautiful. He has most beautiful activities. He makes beautiful music [Laughs] and beautiful dance [Laughs], lots of fun [Laughs]. So, therefore, to concentrate on the Supreme Lord is not an austere process, but a attractive process. And as a result of that concentration and service to the Lord without any desire for ourselves, the Lord becomes very merciful. That means, he destroys all of our attachments, destroys all of our karma, destroys all of the suffering.
So, the process of getting out of the material world becomes much easier. And we get a better result. Not only to get out of the world, but we get to the spiritual world. And so there we get extraordinary bliss in relationship with the Lord. So, though the Vedic literature describes all different types of processes, the final process and the recommended process is Bhakti Yoga.
Q & A
1) When Krishna destroys our karma, where is the starting point? He starts from the Kutam, bhijam, Aparabdha, Prarabdha, or starts from Prarabdha Karma, and then goes?
So, in Nectar of Devotion, Rupa Goswami describes this progression. And in that progression of course, we do an activity, due to our desire and we get a result, which may not appear in next life, may appear in future future future lifetime. So, that karma to give us effect is like a sprouting plant. In one lifetime, it sprouts a little bit. You don’t know what’s there. Next lifetime, it gets a little bigger. Maybe a little effect. Next lifetime, it starts getting bigger. Next lifetime, you start feeling the effects. So, that’s the stage [Laughs]. Kuta, bhijam, Aprarabdha, Prarabdha. These are the stages.
So, there, Rupa Goswami says that when we do Bhakti, then it starts with the Prarabdha, it goes backwards. If it were to be the opposite and start with the aprarabdha, for many lifetimes, you wouldn’t feel any effect of Bhakti at all [Laughs]. Because all the invisible ones take you many years to get rid of those many lifetimes. And finally, in one lifetime, you’re rid of your Prarabdhas [Laughs].
So, the example of Prarabdha karma, the karma experienced now, is the example of chanting the holy name once purely, and then suddenly the dog-eater, who was, that’s his Prarabdha karma, to be a dog-eater. Suddenly he’s no longer a dog-eater. He’s better than a Brahmana. Of course, the Jnanis will say, you cannot destroy your Prarabdhas. It is like, by Jnana or yoga. Your Prarabdhas must stay. So, you cannot destroy your birth. If you’re born as a Sudra, you’re a Sudra this lifetime. You can’t get rid of at all [Laughs]. You have to wear out your karma this lifetime, then that’s finished.
Devotee: And the Vaishnavas say, no, you can become a Brahmana, even if you are dog-eater right now.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yeah, That’s the whole controversy. And that’s, of course, the position of the Smarta brahman also. That’s what I’m saying. You cannot change your birth. So, your varna is fixed by your birth. And you cannot change that. But we say, no, you become a Vaishnava, you’re superior to anybody. Superior to a brahman.
Devotee: Yeah. So, we hear that, someone who chants the whole name immediately he becomes even higher than a Brahmana. On the other side, Krishna is saying to Arjuna that one cannot just simply like that change his nature, a certain nature. So, it looks really like a contradiction.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Well, it’s the idea that you cannot change your nature, that’s for non-devotees [Laughs]. So, that’s why they have the Varnashrama system. Very difficult to change your nature. Over many, many lifetimes you can change. So, if you’re born a Sudra or in Tamo Guna, you follow the rules for a Sudra in the Varnashrama system. You do your occupation nicely. Gradually you become purified over many, many, many, many births, and then you become a Vaishya. And then you do follow Vaishya regulations for many, many births, then you become a Kshatriya. Then you follow those rules of Kshatriya for many, many births, then you become a Brahmana. So, very gradual change. So, change is always possible, but it’s, of course, difficult. To make it a little easier, then they have a whole system called the Varnashrama system to gradually, certain rules are there, so you get purified.
But Krishna gives us the easy process. So, a person who is even lower than a Sudra can very quickly go beyond the Brahmana. And the reason is that bhakti is a spiritual process, where the other processes are not spiritual. Bhakti is the internal energy of Krishna, Svarupa shakti of Krishna. So, it is Nirguna, beyond the goodness. So, its effect is very, very strong.
2) Because we heard that bhakti is always the highest process, and it’s universal. So, this would mean that somehow this process should include other processes. Can you explain how bhakti yoga includes all other processes ?
So, whatever results you can get from Karma, Jnana, or Yoga, you can easily get from bhakti. Just like if you get a Ph.D. in engineering, then you have all of the other previous qualifications [Laughs].
So, if you want, Krishna can give you Svargaloka or Brahmaloka. And he can give you liberation. He can give you siddhis and yoga. But usually, devotees don’t want these things [Laughs]. So, instead, they certainly want Prema. So, he gives them Prema. But sometimes, he may give them other things, like Dhruva gets Dhruvaloka, etc.
3) If we are following the path of bhakti yoga, how we become free from dualities? Is it gradually feel that we are getting free? or is it something that at some point it feels like, okay, we are free suddenly.
So, it depends on the individual case. Sometimes, it may be very sudden. Particularly, if one has done no offenses or Aparadhas in previous life or this life. If we have done Aparadhas, then the process takes longer, slower. So, it’s described, we go through, you know, a Bhajana Kriya, Anartha Nivrtti, Nishta, Ruchi, asakti, gradually. So, in that process, gradually, our dualities, our anarthas, etc., are getting destroyed. And when we get the realization of Krishna in Bhava, then all those dualities are gone. We are automatically liberated.
4) Maharaj, I have a small doubt. We say that someone who is Vaishnava, who is hating Krishna and chants the name, immediately from a very low position, he goes to a very high position. And we see this, because devotees, they completely change their life. But we see that sometimes, after whatever, some practice of bhakti yoga, they may come back to some bad habits of a person that is not very high. So, how to understand this?
So, bhakti is like a seed that gets planted in and it gradually grows bigger and bigger and bigger. So, in the beginning stages, it is a little bit sensitive [Laughs] and it may wither or whatever. You don’t water it for a few days, then it withers. If it gets bigger, then you may forget to water it for a few days, but it still looks there. So, in devotional service, we start in a process where we have a little devotion and we are watering it with hearing and chanting and all of a sudden, it starts to grow. But because it is weak, then there are so many possibilities of disturbance. And that’s because, along with this little bhakti creeper, we do have all of our previous desires, Anarthas and so many impressions, karmas [Laughs] etc, they are also causing an effect on us. But by the process of bhakti itself, gradually these things get destroyed.
So, there is a certain stage called Nishta or steadiness. So, this is the stage where the bhakti is strong enough and the Anarthas, desires are less, so that one can continue the bhakti steadily. But till we reach that stage, then it’s always unsteady and one could starve or stop or whatever. So, the bhakti is not strong enough and the Anarthas, karmas and desires are stronger [Laughs].
5) Maharaj, Bhakti Vinoda Thakura said that the greatest enemy of the conditioned soul is this attachment to dualities. So, I was wondering exactly what the problem there is. Is it because we think the good, because the dualities are good and bad. So, the problem is that we think that the good is actually good. So, this is our problem.
Well, attachment to the good means, actually certain things will give us comfort and enjoyment. Which means that this gives enjoyment to our body [Laughs]. And then we do activities to get that. And that gives us karma [Laughs]. Now, we’re not attached to the suffering. But we may be very attached to trying to avoid the suffering [Laughs]. So, with lots of effort just to avoid those things that we don’t want. Yeah, whatever. Yeah, so many things. You can avoid different types of people. You fight with people because you’re defending your ego, because you’re getting hurt or something like that. So, many different mental and physical things. A lot of effort into counteracting obstructions to your enjoyment which gives you pain [Laughs].
But that pain also is just due to our bodily identification. So, those dualities, both of them are basically increase our attachment to those dualities and working to avoid the pain and get the happiness. They increase our material identity. This is our Raga and Dvesha [Laughs]. And behind that is Asmita or material identity. Behind that is Ajnana, ignorance. And after Raga Devesha, the bottom is Abhinivesh. We get completely absorbed in our body.
Devotee: So Maharaj, rather than not to fight this, but just to try to get used to them and not get affected.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: So, in Bhagavad Gita chapter 2, this is where Krishna says, yeah? Happiness and distress, hot and cold, you become indifferent to it all [Laughs]. Because we understand, it all has to do with the body. And that’s what the king is doing here, by doing all these austerities [Laughs]. Toleration..
Devotee: Seems so in the second chapter of Bhagavad Gita, so it’s very high.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yeah. Of course, that part is Jnana also. So, actually from that he goes back to Karma Yoga and says, Arjuna, you should do Karma Yoga [Laughs].
To illustrate the fact that by doing Bhakti, you transcend even Sattva, generally, even the Vaishnavas, though they accept it theoretically, they never practiced it in terms of changing their varnas. Though, theoretically, the Vaishnavas accept that, you know, you do Bhakti, you transcend the gunas and varnas, etc. In terms of, you know, practicality, nobody actually dared change their varnas by saying, I’m a devotee, therefore I’m not going to be a Sudra anymore [Laughs], I am a Brahmana. That’d be a problem. They never dared to do that.
But then, Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswathi says, a lot of people talked for it. They said, okay, Bhagavatam says that the dog-eater who casts a holy name once purely, better than the Brahmana. So, therefore, he said, anyone who has Vaishnava Diksha, is superior to a Brahmana. So, he gave the Brahma Gayatri and gave the thread to them. Which was shocking for the Smartha people. But I think it’s a mistake to think that our goal is to become a Brahmana. Our goal is to be a Vaishnava, which is superior to a Brahmana. So, therefore, getting the thread and getting the Brahma Gayatri mantra is only to affirm that we’re superior to the Brahmana, not that we become Brahmanas or it could mean that when we say Brahmana, becoming a Brahmana means to be a Vaishnava. Because that’s the real Brahmana. One who knows Brahman and Brahman is Krishna [Laughs]. So, therefore, the real Brahmana is the one who knows Krishna, who is a Vaishnava. So, therefore, it’s just another symbol of being a Vaishnava. So, if you’re a Vaishnava, you’re doing devotional service, it includes everything else. So, he was asking about this – ‘being a devotee it includes everything else ?’ Yes, it includes being a Brahamana, even better than a Branamana also [Laughs].
Devotee: Does that mean that, if someone, a devotee, he is engaged as a Shudra, when he offers his Sudra duties to Krishna, is it transcendetal ? he’s a Vaishnava, but he’s a Shudra ?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Shudra.. what?
Devotee: He’s repairing something.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Oh, that’s just his occupation. That’s not his real nature. It’s just his occupation. So, it doesn’t really matter. If he’s a Vaishnava, he’s superior to even the Brahmana. No matter what occupation he did. As long as it’s not sinful [Laughs].
Devotee: Maharaj, my mind is really struggling to understand these two things at the same time. So, he’s Vaishnava because he’s chanting the holy name and he’s doing devotional service.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yeah, he’s beyond the gunas.
Devotee: Yes, but at the same time, let’s say, according to his nature, he’s whatever, he’s digging outside in the street or doing something low.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yeah, but usually he’s just doing that to support his body.
Get some money so he can eat and support his family.
Devotee: My material logic says that, if he becomes higher than a Brahmana, immediately he should be engaged only in activities higher than those of a Brahmana and should not be engaged in activities lower than those of a Brahmana. That’s my material logic.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Well, the other logic would be, if you’re beyond the Gunas, any occupation doesn’t really matter. Whether [Laughs], because you’re beyond the Gunas, so you do a low occupation, you’re no longer in the Gunas. Even if you’re in a Sudra occupation, it’s not in the Gunas anymore [Laughs].
Devotee: As long as he was engaged..
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yeah, a scarecrow. He was like a scarecrow. But he was not in the Gunas, so therefore the occupation. From a material point of view, of course, yeah, you’re in the Gunas, but from a spiritual point of view, no, you’re beyond the Gunas.
6) Maharaj, i have a question. What is the process in bhakti to help other people – like those in tamo guna etc ?
So the easiest process of getting out of the Gunas is to do Bhakti Yoga. So, we preach Bhakti Yoga and chant Hare Krishna everybody [Laughs]. If we try to put them into Varnas, like Sudra Varna, or if you’ve got a Sudra occupation, follow those rules, it’s going to take a long time. And you have to have a whole system there, where gradually, life after life, they can progress through the different systems.
Devotee: But what about atheists or another religion etc ?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yeah. So we cannot preach directly to them, because we say it is an offense to the Holy name to preach to the faithless. Though we cannot preach to them, we can expose them to Bhakti, through the name, through Prasadam, etc. By the contact, which is like accidental or unconscious, the Jiva, the Atma, gradually develops a little bit of inclination to bhakti.
Okay, Hare Krishna!!
Devotees: Hare Krishna !! HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj Ki.. Jai !!