Srimad Bhagavatam – 4.28.41| HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | ISKCON Sofia, Bulgaria| 24 Aug 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-Caitanya
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 41.
ŚB 4.28.41
sākṣād bhagavatoktena
guruṇā hariṇā nṛpa
viśuddha-jñāna-dīpena
sphuratā viśvato-mukham
Translation
In this way King Malayadhvaja attained perfect knowledge because in his pure state he was directly instructed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. By means of such enlightening transcendental knowledge, he could understand everything from all angles of vision.
Purport
In this verse the words sākṣād bhagavatoktena guruṇā hariṇā are very significant. The Supreme Personality of Godhead speaks directly to the individual soul when the devotee has completely purified himself by rendering devotional service to the Lord. Lord Kṛṣṇa confirms this also in Bhagavad-gītā (10.10):
teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ
bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam
dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ
yena mām upayānti te
“To those who are constantly devoted and worship Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.”
The Lord is the Supersoul seated in everyone’s heart, and He acts as the caitya-guru, the spiritual master within. However, He gives direct instructions only to the advanced, pure devotees. In the beginning, when a devotee is serious and sincere, the Lord gives him directions from within to approach a bona fide spiritual master. When one is trained by the spiritual master according to the regulative principles of devotional service and is situated on the platform of spontaneous attachment for the Lord (rāga-bhakti), the Lord also gives instructions from within (teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam/ dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ tam). This distinct advantage is obtained by a liberated soul. Having attained this stage, King Malayadhvaja was directly in touch with the Supreme Lord and was receiving instructions from Him directly.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj:
This verse states that the king got direct instructions from the Supreme Lord. So, here the Lord is acting as guru, as ‘guruṇā hariṇā’, so the Lord was a guru. So we could always say, well, I will accept Krishna as my guru, why do I need any other guru? And in Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says, ‘I give you the intelligence by which you can worship me’. So why do we need any other guru than Krishna? Just read Bhagavad Gita, you get instructions like Arjuna taught himself.
So though this may seem logical, we see that the scriptures themselves always talk about gurus, who are not Krishna, who we should surrender to [Laughs]. So, Bhagavad Gita also says, you approach a guru who knows the truth, whatever, and you surrender to him, you ask questions, and you serve him. So, he also accepts the idea that you should have a guru.
So, it is true, we do have Supreme Lord as the guru. We also have Diksha Guru and Shiksha Guru. And even among Shiksha Gurus, we can have what is called the vartma-pradarsaka-guru, the one who first tells you about Krishna. And when we hear about Krishna, we call him Shravana Guru [Laughs]. And when we get serious, then we get Shiksha Guru. And we want secret mantras, then we go to Diksha Guru. So, there are many types of gurus. And all of them have functions. So, we call Krishna, when he is presented as a guru, we call him the Chaitya Guru. Which means the internal guru. So, the scriptures say that yes, we have the Chaitya Guru, but in most cases, we have the external gurus as well. And as I mentioned in Bhagavatam itself, I was stressing this external guru who gives teachings, the Shiksha Guru. This whole story of Puranjana is a story told by Narada Muni to the king Prachinabarhi, because he was so attached to material sacrifices and things.
So, yes, the Supreme Lord Himself also tries to guide the living entities, but usually the living entities are a little bit tense [Laughs], covered over. We can say they are a little deaf, and though the Lord is saying something, they don’t hear. So, therefore we need some one externally, to tell a person. But, even then, we have external people, we know who is speaking, but people don’t hear also [Laughs]. Nevertheless, it’s usually an external person, who gives knowledge and guidance, etc, that the person can accept. So, that’s why the scriptures often emphasize this type of guru, external guru. And, particularly, one who gives teachings, the Shiksha Guru.
So, that external guru does have a particular function. That means there is direct instruction. That means a person is speaking, and another person listens. So, that direct contact has been traditional. And that is what is spoken of in the Upanishads, where you approach a guru, and you listen to the guru, and you treat him like God. So, the tradition was always carried on in this way. One person speaks, another person listens. And we might think, well, that was so because they didn’t have tape recorders and their videos, they didn’t have all these modern things. So, they had to have only direct people speaking to people [Laughs]. And, of course, even books were very rare. They didn’t have printed books. Some kings may had a library, but nobody else had [Laughs]. So, if he wanted to learn Bhagavatam, you had to go to a person, and he had to memorize the Bhagavatam, because even they didn’t have the books [Laughs]. So, even in Lord Caitanya’s time, it was difficult to find manuscripts. So, then we would say, well, they spoke directly out of necessity. So, that, of course, is taking a modernistic view point that ancient people who were very primitive, and modern people who were very technologically advanced [Laughs].
However, we should understand that ancient people were also very intelligent. So, it was not difficult for them to memorize the whole scripture [Laughs]. So as it is not difficult to memorize, and, if they wanted, they could write it down and give it to their disciples. But, instead of doing that, they simply spoke, and the disciples had to memorize and hear. In other words, there was a value in the direct transmission from one person to another. So, the words may be the same, scriptures are the same, but when it is delivered by a person, it has a certain Shakti. So, our scriptures say that you can have a scripture like Bhagavatam, and if it comes from a devotee, it has nectar.
If it comes from ‘avaishnava’ or one who is not a devotee, it is poison, same words. The same Bhagavatam, the same words you are speaking, but in some way they are different. Of course, part of it is due to the fact that a Vaishnava will explain the Bhagavatam properly and the materialist person will not [Laughs]. Even if you simply recite the Bhagavatam and don’t give much explanation, still, the quality is different. So, the scripture itself is pure, like the name is pure. But nevertheless, when we hear what comes out of the mouth of a materialist, that sound becomes poison. So, how can pure scripture become poison? So, we can simply say that the pure scripture becomes so covered over, that when we hear it, we get the covering, which is poison [Laughs], and we don’t get the essence, which is pure.
Therefore, the speaker of scriptures is very, very important. So, though they could have written everything and simply give it to the student, ‘Hey, read this [Laughs]’, they prefer to speak. So, the scripture is there, and now it’s very available in the modern world. But, we should be very careful to understand that, if that’s all that’s there, we still need a speaker.
So, as I said, yes, we have scripture, we have Acharyas giving commentaries, we have Srila Prabhupada giving purports. So, we can just take the books themselves, and we don’t need gurus at all. That could be our logic. But, we have this system that carried on, that one person teaches another, teaches another, teaches another, in spite of the fact that we do have commentaries and whatever [Laughs]. So, we cannot reject that system. So, though we do have the books, we do have the commentaries, we also need a proper speaker.
So, therefore, we do need a living Shiksha Guru. Of course, we can say, well, Prabhupada is explaining it in such a way that it is understandable by everyone. So, we can just take Prabhupada’s purports. But Prabhupada gave different instructions. He did not say, now I’ve written everything, so that’s it for the future, you don’t need any guru, just read my books for 5000 years, that’s it [Laughs]. He also made an arrangement for gurus. So, therefore, we continue with that system. But as I mentioned last night, yes we are gurus and some set teaching, siksha gurus but we are teaching according to our capacity. So, the person on the highest level would be the best conveyor of the message of Bhagavatam. Why? Because he is a purist. He has no anarthas. Not only he has no anarthas, but he has prema. So, therefore, the message of Bhagavatam will come out with full potency. But, those who are on a lesser level, can also speak Bhagavatam, also deliver the message, some shakti is there, but not exactly the same shakti. Nevertheless, it is sufficient to have people to start the process and raise up to certain level of bhakti. So, therefore, the gurus do have a function, even if they are not on the highest level.
But, I also mentioned that we have another shiksha guru, the siksha guru who is the founder Acharya. He gives the teachings, explanation etc, so we use those also, so he is another type of siksha Guru. So, therefore, we have a direct shiksha guru, and we have the indirect shiksha guru, means one who is not living. So indirect only in the sense that, he is not living, so we cannot ask questions and get answers. Nevertheless, there is enough information that he gives in the books that we can get sufficient guidance.
So, he functions as a guru, but then we still have questions. We may need philosophical clarification. In that case, we have to go to a person who know something, a living person to get some explanation. And as for the particular implementation of bhakti, how to do it, again, we may need practical instructions. Therefore, the living guru also has a practical function.
So, along with these gurus, then we do have the chaitya guru, who is the supreme Lord. So, Prabhupada mentions here in the Purport that this internal guru is the one who guides you to first accept devotional service and accept the guru. Lord Caitanya says, by the mercy of guru and Krishna, you get the Bhakti-latha bija [Laughs]. So, Krishna is also involved in the process of your accepting Bhakti and starting the process of Bhakti, but we are not too much aware of it. But Prabhupada explains in the Purport, as you advance in devotional service, at a certain stage, when you have been purified, then you can get direct instructions from the Supreme Lord. So, then, the Supreme Lord is acting as guru. [Laughs]. So, from that first guidance that the Lord is giving, so we accept Bhakti and start the process, to when we get direct instructions from the highest level, then we have various levels where we get inspiration from the Lord also.
So, if the devotee is, we can say.. what do you call that, very sensitive and introspective, then he can actually sense the guidance of the Supreme Lord. So, in this way we get internal guidance, as well as external guidance. Of course, that internal guidance may not always be reliable, because we are subject to illusions [Laughs]. So, therefore, that internal guidance, we really have to be careful, that it’s genuine.
So, we have many means by which we can advance in devotional service. We have many gurus. So, we have the internal guru. We have external gurus. That means the different types of shiksha gurus. We have diksha guru. And then we have Srila Prabhupada as a shiksha guru. So, we have many means by which we can get guidance in our devotional service. So, with all these different types of guidance, then we can be assured that, we can progress in our devotional service.
Now, of course, people will say, I’m taking the guru, he’s not at the highest level, so how am I going to get prema? So, whatever guru you accept, the guru can raise the person up to that level. But, if we get to that level, what do we do next? So, Krishna will make some arrangement [Laughs]. He may give internal guidance.
There is a little information given by Visvanatha Chakravarti in Raghavarthama Chandrika. This is call Raganuga Bakthi. So, the question is, how do we get our Svarupa? Of course, it’s not our realization of a svarupa, it’s a practice. So, we practice on serving with a different form, in a particular rasa, Krishna. So, he says it could be given by your guru, a siksha Guru or a Diksha Guru. He could tell you, OK, this is what you meditate on, I’m a cowherd boy, or I’m a gopi, or a manjari, or whatever. And you serve in that way. You can get guidance from another Vaishnava who is not your Siksha Guru or your Diksha Guru or you could have internal revelation, guidance from Krishna [Laughs]. So, in other words, if there is no person available, then you can get the guidance from the Supreme Lord internally. So, Krishna says, ‘name bhakta pranasyati’ (BG 9.31), my devotee never perishes. So, of course, you may think, well, that means he always protects the devotee when he is in danger, but actually it means, the devotee of the Lord always is ready to nourish the bhakti. And if you are not getting sufficient guidance from others, then the Lord will give it internally.
Of course, usually the Lord acts through the devotees. In Madhurya Kadambini, in the first chapter there, Vishwanath Chakravarti is explaining that the Lord likes to use the devotees as his instruments. So, instead of personally doing everything, he empowers the madhyama devotees. So, he says, okay, do have a little bit of bhakti shakti. I empower you, entitle you to, distribute that as you please. And you don’t even have to ask me. You can decide where you want to distribute the mercy, who you want to give mercy to. You no need to ask me. So, he gives out the freedom to the devotees to distribute whatever they want, in whatever way they want [Laughs]. And he doesn’t interfere. In other words, he empowers the devotees and lets them do everything. But if there is a position where there is no devotees, then the Lord also can help probably. So in this way, the Lord helps the devotees through the devotees or he may personally also help.
Okay, any questions?
Q & A
1.) Maharaj, this is a very nice explanation about the guidance of Krishna in the heart. But we see sometimes also devotees or, like I said, there was a guru in Switzerland who said, I am connected with God, and then at one point he was like, okay, everybody should take poison [Laughs], 500 people, and they all die, because if we die in this particular time, we will go to heaven, whatever. So, I say, how can we actually realize, because we see also devotees, sometimes they go off the truck, Krishna is trying in my heart to do this project, and then they fail. Because, I don’t know, how to understand really that Krishna gives you instruction in your heart, or is it your mind, or your desire, your anartha, how to distinguish these two? Because sometimes Krishna gives this instruction in your heart, and sometimes you don’t understand whether it is Krishna, your false ego or your mind, or your anartha, your desire.
So, that is why it is said that, we have to be careful that these instructions that Krishna is giving are not illusory instructions [Laughs]. And as Prabhupada mentions, yes, Krishna gives internal guidance, so you come to devotional service, etc. But actually the real guidance is given when you are very advanced [Laughs].
So in between the first guidance or direct guidance, of course there is various degrees of guidance, but it may not be very specific like, go here, do this and that etc [Laughs]. The reason is not clear, because we are covered with anarthas. So, even if the instruction is given, when we start covering it with the anarthas and disturb the instructions, it becomes something else. So therefore, we have to be careful. And ofcourse one can safeguard himself through the association of devotees and their advice and see if that is some genuine type of advice or there is some corruption [Laughs]. And ofcourse according to the person like if one has lot of anarthas, it is highly doubtful that he is going to get instructions from the Lord. So, a person may loudly proclaim is getting instructions from God, but we should look at his life and see if he’s got anarthas, if he has anarthas, then we have to be very careful [Laughs].
Now, in the modern world we have all sorts of people who get all sorts of instructions from all sorts of beings [Laughs]. People are channeling spirits. Some new age people are channeling Sanat Kumara or Maitreya or someone [Laughs]. So, we have to be a little bit careful of that. Certainly they could be channeling some thing, but we don’t know who that person would be. A spirit can claim they are anybody, but they may not be that person.
2) I want to ask two things. The first is, it’s very amazing that Krishna has so much faith in His devotees that He is empowering them to do whatever they like and basically He is not intervening there. So, we don’t think like this. Krishna is the Supreme Lord, He is thinking, but we, who are the devotees of Krishna, it looks like we don’t have so much faith in empowering devotees to such a big extent like He is doing.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: So ?
Devotee: [Laughs] It’s very astonishing that Krishna is doing this. It’s mind-blowing.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Well, we see that, as I said, there are various levels of devotees. So, obviously, those at a higher level have more Shakti or more empowerment to deliver. Those who are at a lower level, some. But, anyway, Krishna gives something to everybody, so everybody can preach, everybody can do a little bit of enlightenment. So, He is very merciful.
So, Krishna empowers His devotees on these different levels, provided they have sincerity. The lack of sincerity will arise when they start committing aparadhs. And then the mercy goes away [Laughs]. He withdraws His mercy.
3.) Then the second thing, i want to ask is that, i have some weak memory, In Madhurya Kadambini in one place, it was written that, in the beginning you have one Guru and he will bring you to a certain level, and then you will get another Guru who will give more confidential knowledge like how you can enter into pastimes etc.
So, it all depends on the advancement of the Guru. So, if you reach a certain level of the same Guru, then obviously He could not guide you at that point to go further, if He is at a lower level. So, therefore, you would need another Guru. So, this is a logical conclusion. But that’s all, we can say, arrangement of the Supreme Lord Himself, Krishna. So, whatever you need in devotional service, then Krishna makes some arrangement so it’s supplied. So, as here Krishna says, I give you the intelligence by which you can come to Me. So he is merciful by supplying that intelligence, through another Guru [Laughs].
4.) Sometimes personalities who maybe have some ulterior motivations, they say that Srila Prabhupada didn’t give everything that we need. So, what should be our attitude? He didn’t give you the highest truth.
Well, what is the highest truth? Krishna, Krishna Prema. Madhurya Rasa. So, it’s actually all in the Bhagavatam. Of course, it’s all there in the Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta also. If you look at that, it’s mostly Madhurya Rasa [Laughs]. So, in that sense, yes, it’s all given. Now, the Goswamis, they expanded that. So, we get the eightfold pastimes of Radha Krishna explained by our Acharyas [Laughs]. So that thing gives you additional details. But even if you don’t have that, but you read Bhagavatam very carefully by the mercy of Krishna and your guru then, if you realize Krishna, you realize everything. Of course, the works of the Goswamis and the Acharyas are there to help in that process of getting that realization. And when you’re at a certain level, you can consult those books, if you need it.
But as far as most devotees are progressing, they probably won’t get to that level in this lifetime [Laughs]. The other point of course is, you can get everything, but if you’re not qualified, you won’t understand it anyway [Laughs].
5.) So, you explained that those who are qualified at some point, they may start reading these books and getting some guidance from them. But then, it may have another devotees who are not qualified, but they are reading the books and speaking. So, what is the qualification, so that you can approach such kind of books?
Well, part of it is introspection. In other words, we don’t just read because it’s a fashion, because other people are doing it [Laughs]. Some people just take things up because it’s like a fab, it’s a fashionable thing to do [Laughs]. But, if by reading those things you do get valuable inspiration, fine. But that is something that takes place internally, it’s not something you publicize externally.
Devotee: So can we say that valuable inspiration means it should produce more external engagement in devotional service ?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yeah. Of course, external, sometimes in the upper stages of bhakti, may be internal service. So, a person who is in prema may do less external and more internal service, meditating on serving Krishna all the time. But probably the external symptom may that you are detached from everything in the material world [Laughs]. And of course the internal center will be, you get more bliss, more satisfaction internally. You find it easier and easier to always think of Krishna.
Devotee: Maharaj, this internal service, is it similar to manasa puja?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: The manasa puja is like that, but that is particularly for the steps in worshipping Krishna in the deity room, like we offer food, water, and then we dress the deities, and then we put ornaments on, so you do that through a meditation. So the internal worship may be like that, but more extended. So you are not just going through all processes like 10 minutes or whatever, rather you may be bathing Krishna for one hour [Laughs] like you offer different things or you want to offer Him ornaments etc or cooking for Krishna for an hour or two, so it will be very extended in detail.
And, of course, they have the pastimes at eight parts of the day for Krishna, so you can meditate on different pastimes at different parts of the day. But, of course, the ones that are given are all Madhurya Rasa ones. But, you can also have similar ones for Sakhya Rasa throughout the day [Laughs] Or Vatsalya Rasa.
6.) Maharaj in this modern world, or in the age of technology and information, many devotees are consulting many books, many things from many sampardays etc. Can you explain to us, why Prabhupad warned us, to not to go to different matts, different sampardayas and we become confused. In the family of ISKCON, it is important so that we don’t become deviated or mislead, or thinking that Prabhupada did not give us everything, and there is something more to discover and some other matt ?
Of course, Prabhupada, if you read Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta and a few other works, then he’ll say, if you want to know about this, then you read this Sandarbha [Laughs]. If you want to know about this, then you read this book, which he didn’t translate. So, it’s not that he said, don’t read anything, but, you know, then he also said, well, I haven’t finished my work, I would like to translate this, this, this, this. Jaiva dharma, Harinama chintamani, and, of course, he didn’t do it, but, obviously, he’s recommending it, it’s valuable to read the books.
Now, he also gave instructions, don’t go to this matt, don’t do this, or whatever. The reason for that is that, though they may have knowledge, different books, or whatever, some of them criticize. And, of course, Srila Prabhupada did have experience, some of the devotees wandered off and got re-initiated by some of the Gaudia matt Guru. So, therefore, he said, better not go there for that reason.
Okay, Hare Krishna !
Devotees: Hare Krsna ! His Holiness Bhanu Swami Maharaj ki Jai !! Ananta Koti Vaishnava Vrnda Ki… Jai !!