Srimad Bhagavat Mahapuran, if read with full faith, transforms the reader very quickly, and the reader receives its maximum benefit — which is developing pure love for the Supreme Lord Madhava. This is the conclusion of most of our revered scriptures.
The Brahma Purāṇa consists of ten thousand verses, the Padma Purāṇa of fifty-five thousand, Śrī Viṣṇu Purāṇa of twenty-three thousand, the Śiva Purāṇa of twenty-four thousand and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam of eighteen thousand. The Nārada Purāṇa has twenty-five thousand verses, the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa nine thousand, the Agni Purāṇa fifteen thousand four hundred, the Bhaviṣya Purāṇa fourteen thousand five hundred, the Brahma-vaivarta Purāṇa eighteen thousand and the Liṅga Purāṇa eleven thousand. The Varāha Purāṇa contains twenty-four thousand verses, the Skanda Purāṇa eighty-one thousand one hundred, the Vāmana Purāṇa ten thousand, the Kūrma Purāṇa seventeen thousand, the Matsya Purāṇa fourteen thousand, the Garuḍa Purāṇa nineteen thousand and the Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa twelve thousand. Thus the total number of verses in all the Purāṇas is four hundred thousand. Eighteen thousand of these, once again, belong to the beautiful Bhāgavatam.
When a child is sick, sometimes parents need to give bitter syrup so that the child can be cured of the disease. But the child will often refuse the syrup because of its bitterness. The mother, who knows the heart of the child, will take that bitter syrup and nicely turn it into a sweet juice or smoothie. The child who earlier refused the syrup will now happily drink it, because it has become a drink of his own choice. The bitter medicine, actually so beneficial to the child, now enters the body easily as the sweet juice he desires. Similarly, the series of stories in Srimad Bhagavatam are like that sweet juice — very attractive and entertaining to the ear and mind of the reader — while the medicine-like instructions containing the Vedic principles are intertwined in the narrative of the story. As they enter the heart of the listener through the ear, they cleanse and purify the heart of the listener.
We sincerely wish that all of us read the Bhagavatam with the same great faith, love and dedication that our beloved Pandit Dr. Shri Kashinath Mishra has repeatedly asked of us, and let these stories cleanse our hearts and increase our love for our dear Lord.
Just by reading Srimad Bhagavat Mahapuran, a special place for the Lord is created in the reader's heart, because the Lord — in the form of Srimad Bhagavat Mahapuran — enters the heart and sweeps it clean of all contamination. We all know that the very same Lord, who is rarely understood even by great sages, who is the Lord of all movable and immovable entities, comes to sit in the heart of the sincere reader or listener of Srimad Bhagavat Mahapuran! All the sages and saintly people listen to it in rapt attention. Lord Shiva speaks Srimad Bhagavat Mahapuran to his wife Parvati. Sheshnag sings Srimad Bhagavat Mahapuran with his unlimited hoods. The four Kumaras — Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatana and Sanat Kumara — also speak Srimad Bhagavat Mahapuran to glorify Lord Krishna, because every other spiritual and religious process fades before it.
The Lord Himself leaves His spiritual abode and comes down to the place where Srimad Bhagavat Mahapuran is being read (spoken), and sits down to carefully listen. As He Himself stated to Narada Muni:
nāhaṁ vasāmi vaikuṇṭhe yogināṁ hṛdaye na ca mad-bhaktā yatra gāyanti tatra tiṣṭhāmi nārada
"O Narada, I do not live in My spiritual abode, nor do I live in the hearts of great meditating yogis — but I live at the place where My devotees speak about My divine līlās."
The Vedas are compared to the desire tree, because they contain all things knowable by man — dealing with mundane necessities as well as spiritual realization. In Sanskrit, the parrot is also known as śuka. When a ripened fruit is cut by the beak of a parrot, its sweet flavour is enhanced. The Vedic fruit — already mature and ripe in knowledge — becomes even more relishable when spoken through the lips of Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī, who is compared to that very parrot.
There are unlimited benefits to reading Srimad Bhagavat Mahapuran katha. The prime result is that if a person reads attentively and applies the wisdom in their own life, they can attain pure love for Mahaprabhu. Because Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is completely free of contamination by the modes of nature, it is endowed with extraordinary spiritual beauty and is therefore dear to the pure devotees of the Lord. The word pāramahaṁsyam indicates that even completely liberated souls are eager to hear and narrate Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Those who are trying to be liberated should faithfully serve this literature by hearing and reciting it with faith and devotion.
Chaitanya Mahāprabhu describes Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam as the spotless Purāṇa, because it contains transcendental narrations of the pastimes of the Supreme Lord. The history of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is also very glorious. Brahmā spoke it to the sage Nārada, who narrated it to Kṛṣṇa-dvaipāyana Vyāsa. Śrīla Vyāsa revealed this Bhāgavatam to the greatest of sages, Śukadeva Gosvāmī, and Śukadeva mercifully spoke it to Mahārāja Parīkṣit.
It was compiled by Vyāsadeva, who drew from his mature experience under the instruction of his spiritual master, Śrī Nārada Muni. Vyāsadeva compiled all the Vedic literatures — the four Vedas, the Vedānta-sūtra (Brahma-sūtras), the Purāṇas and the Mahābhārata — yet he was not satisfied until he wrote Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. His dissatisfaction was observed by his spiritual master, and Nārada advised him to write on the transcendental activities of the Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Śrī Kṛṣṇa's activities are specifically described in the Tenth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the Canto considered to contain the substance of the whole work.
Just as the eternal nature of fire is to provide heat and light, the eternal dharma of a jīva (soul) is sevā to the Supreme Lord — and serving Srimad Bhagavatam, which is the literary incarnation of the Supreme Lord, by studying it attentively, is one such very important sevā.
This is why the Bhagavata Mahatmya depicts Bhakti Devi asking Nārada Muni for the welfare of her sons, Gyāna and Vairāgya, and Nārada Muni ultimately concludes that reciting the Bhāgavatam is the best remedy — for, as stated, only the Bhāgavatam can bring jñāna and vairāgya to the level necessary for the practice of pure bhakti.
Therefore, at the very heart of the Bhagavata Mahatmya's exaltation is Krishna's quintessential assertion: "Whatever appears to be of any value — up to and including jñāna and vairāgya — if it has no relation to Me, has no reality."
Mahārāja Parīkṣit was given seven days — he was cursed by a brāhmaṇa boy that he would die within seven days, bitten by a snake. Immediately, being emperor, he understood, "I shall have to die." So he prepared himself. For seven days he tried to understand his relationship with Kṛṣṇa, with God. That is imitated today as Bhāgavata-saptāha. But actually, the Bhāgavatam is not meant to be studied only by imitating Mahārāja Parīkṣit for seven days — no. In seven days we cannot understand even one verse of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, what to speak of its eighteen thousand verses. That is not possible. The Bhāgavatam says, nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā. The Panchasakha say, "Param shastra Bhagavata... abhyāsa karuthibu nitya…" — it is not for seven days; it is for all of life.
That is why Pandit Dr. Shri Kashinath Mishra has mercifully advised all of us to read at least one chapter from Srimad Bhagwat Mahapuran every day — and more so, to transcend the coming turbulent times, it is all the more important!
Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 1 Chapter 11: Sri Krishna sounds the Panchajanya and returns to Dwaraka, where citizens, kinsmen and mothers welcome Him with rapturous joy.
Beneath a white umbrella, showered with flowers, Sri Krishna moves through the rejoicing streets of Dwaraka as its people drink in the sight of their returning Lord.
Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya.
Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya.
Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya.
Welcome to Srimad Bhagavatam Wisdom, a devotional journey through the sacred histories and teachings of the Srimad Bhagavat Mahapurana. The grief of Kurukshetra is behind us. Having consoled the Pandavas and set right the affairs of Hastinapura, Śrī Kṛṣṇa now turns homeward. The eleventh chapter of the First Canto is a chapter of joy — the joy of a whole city that has waited long for its beloved, and pours into the streets when at last His conch is heard. Here we see the tender human face of the Lord’s descent: parents weeping over a returned son, mothers whose breasts flow with milk for love, and a homecoming so radiant that heaven itself seems to grow envious. And through all this delight the sages quietly remind us of the deeper truth — that the One who sports among us so intimately is forever untouched, the changeless Self within all.
Chapter Information
Scripture: Śrīmad Bhāgavata Mahāpurāṇa
Canto: 1 (Book One)
Chapter: 11 (Discourse 11)
Chapter title: Lord Krishna’s Entrance into Dwaraka
Principal speaker: the blessed Sūta, Ugraśravā (narrator)
Principal listener: the sages of Naimisaranya, headed by Śaunaka
Main setting: the kingdom of Ānarta and the city of Dwārakā
Central subject: Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s return to Dwārakā, the rapturous welcome of its citizens and kinsmen, His reunion with His mothers and consorts, and His nature as the ever-unattached Lord
Principal verse range: Canto 1, Chapter 11, verses 1–39
In the tenth discourse, Śrī Kṛṣṇa took leave of the Pāṇḍavas at Hastināpura after the great war. The women of the city climbed to their rooftops to gaze upon Him and sang His praises as He passed, greeting them with smiling looks. King Yudhiṣṭhira, apprehending danger, sent an army to escort Him; but the Lord gently sent the Pāṇḍavas back and set out for His own city with His companions. Passing through many kingdoms — Kuru-Jāṅgala, Pāñcāla, Śūrasena, Brahmāvarta, Kurukṣetra, Matsya and more — and pausing at dusk for His Sandhyā prayers, He drew near at last to Ānarta, His own prosperous land. It is here, at the threshold of home, that the eleventh chapter begins.
The Sounding of the Panchajanya
Reaching His highly prosperous territory of Ānarta, Śrī Kṛṣṇa blew His great conch, the Pāñcajanya, as if to soothe the grief of His people, who had borne the sorrow of His long absence. Blown by the Lord, the conch — its white body flushed red where it touched His rosy lips — shone in His lotus palms like a loudly singing swan resting upon a pair of red lotuses.
Reaching the borders of His own land, Sri Krishna blows His great conch, the Panchajanya, to soothe the grief of His people (verses 1-2).
Reaching the borders of His own land, Sri Krishna blows His great conch, the Panchajanya, to soothe the grief of His people (verses 1–2).
सूत उवाच
आनर्तान् स उपव्रज्य स्वृद्धाञ्जनपदान्स्वकान् ।
दध्मौ दरवरं तेषां विषादं शमयन्निव ॥ १ ॥
Meaning: Sūta said: Reaching His own highly prosperous territories of Ānarta, Śrī Kṛṣṇa sounded His excellent conch, as if to soothe the grief of His people. (Canto 1, Chapter 11, verse 1)
Hearing that familiar blast, which drives away the terror of the world, the entire population of Dwārakā rushed forth to meet Him, longing to behold their lord.
The People Come Forth to Greet Their Lord
They brought their gifts to the Lord — who rejoices in His own Self and is ever complete in His own bliss — even as one might offer lamps to the sun, the very source of all light. Their faces beaming, their voices choked with delight, they spoke to Him as children speak to their father. They bowed before His lotus-feet, adored even by Brahmā, Śiva and Indra, the supreme refuge of those who seek the highest bliss, beyond the reach of Time. “You are our mother,” they said, “our disinterested friend, our lord and father, our true preceptor and supreme Deity; by serving You we have become blessed.”
The people of Dwaraka pour out to meet their Lord, bringing gifts and greeting Him with voices choked with joy, as children greeting their father (verse 9).
The people of Dwaraka pour out to meet their Lord, bringing gifts and greeting Him with voices choked with joy, as children greeting their father (verse 9).
Then they gave voice to the ache of every separation they had endured, in words that any devotee will recognize.
Meaning: O lotus-eyed Lord, whenever You departed for the land of the Kurus or of the Madhus to see Your friends and kinsmen, every passing moment felt to us as long as a myriad years — as an eye feels without the sun, O Acyuta, the infallible one. (Canto 1, Chapter 11, verse 9)
Hearing these loving words, the Lord, who is so fond of His devotees, entered the city, extending His grace to all through His gracious looks.
The City of Dwaraka Adorned
Even as Bhogavatī, the capital of the subterranean regions, is guarded by the serpent Nāgas, so was Dwārakā protected by the mighty branches of the Yādava race — the Madhus, the Bhojas, the Daśārhas, the Arhas, the Kukuras, the Andhakas and the Vṛṣṇis — who were equalled in strength by none. The city was adorned with lotus-lakes surrounded by orchards and gardens rich in the fruits and flowers of every season.
The city of Dwaraka, decked with festoons, flags and banners, its streets sprinkled and strewn with flowers, awaits the entrance of its Lord.
The city of Dwaraka, decked with festoons, flags and banners, its streets sprinkled and strewn with flowers, awaits the entrance of its Lord.
Its gateways, palaces and thoroughfares were hung with festoons in token of festivity, and decorated with flags and banners of every shape, whose fluttering ends broke the sunlight here and there. The highways and market-squares had been swept clean, sprinkled with scented water, and strewn with fruits, flowers, unbroken grains of rice and fresh sprouts. At the door of every house stood the auspicious welcome — curds, whole rice, fruits and sugar-cane, pitchers brimming with water, offerings, incense and lamps.
The Kinsmen and the Citizens Welcome Him
The news of His return lifted His dearest kinsmen from their very beds and seats and meals — the noble Vasudeva, His father; Akrūra; King Ugrasena; the mighty Balarāma, His elder brother; Pradyumna and Cārudeṣṇa; and Sāmba, the son of Jāmbavatī. Overflowing with joy and reverence, they placed a stately elephant at the head of their procession as an auspicious sign, gathered Brāhmaṇas chanting benedictory hymns, took up the emblems of good fortune, mounted their chariots and went forth to meet the Lord amid the blast of conchs and trumpets and the chanting of Vedic hymns.
Vasudeva, Ugrasena, Balarama and the joyful kinsmen go forth in procession, led by a stately elephant and Brahmanas chanting sacred hymns, to welcome Sri Krishna home (verses 16-20).
Vasudeva, Ugrasena, Balarama and the joyful kinsmen go forth in procession, led by a stately elephant and Brahmanas chanting sacred hymns, to welcome Sri Krishna home (verses 16–20).
The foremost among the courtesans came out in their hundreds, borne in palanquins, eager for a glimpse of Him; and actors, dancers, singers and bards glorified the wonderful deeds of the Lord of matchless renown. On that occasion the Lord met His kinsmen, His attendants and the citizens each in the fitting manner. He gratified them all, down to the humblest, by bowing His head, greeting them with respectful words, embracing them, pressing their hands, and gladdening them with smiles and affectionate looks and the granting of their heart’s desires. Himself blessed in turn by His elders, by the Brāhmaṇas and their wives and the aged folk, the almighty Lord entered the city.
The Lord Shines Upon the Road
As Śrī Kṛṣṇa passed along the main road, the women of the respectable families of Dwārakā climbed to the tops of their mansions to feast their eyes upon Him. For His bosom is the abode of Śrī, the goddess of fortune; His face, a cup of nectar for the eyes to drink; His arms, the dwelling of the guardians of the worlds; His lotus-feet, the home of His bee-like devotees. Each of His limbs is elegance itself — and so the eyes of the people of Dwārakā knew no satiety, though they beheld Him every day.
Meaning: With a white umbrella held above Him and chowries waving on either side, showered with rains of flowers upon the road, clad in yellow robes and wearing His garland of sylvan flowers, the Lord shone like a cloud attended by the sun, a pair of moons, the stars, a rainbow and flashes of lightning. (Canto 1, Chapter 11, verse 27)
Reunion with His Mothers and Consorts
First of all the Lord entered the palace of His parents. There He gladly bowed His head to His seven mothers, Devakī and the others, who clasped Him to their bosoms in return. As they took their son upon their laps, milk flowed of itself from their breasts, and, overwhelmed with joy, they bathed Him in their tears.
Sri Krishna bows to His seven mothers, who take Him upon their laps; milk flows from their breasts for love and they bathe Him in tears of joy (verse 29).
Sri Krishna bows to His seven mothers, who take Him upon their laps; milk flows from their breasts for love and they bathe Him in tears of joy (verse 29).
ता: पुत्रमङ्कमारोप्य स्नेहस्नुतपयोधरा: ।
हर्षविह्वलितात्मान: सिषिचुर्नेत्रजैर्जलै: ॥ २९ ॥
Meaning: Taking their son upon their laps, milk flowing from their breasts out of pure affection, and their hearts overwhelmed with joy, His mothers bathed Him with the tears that streamed from their eyes. (Canto 1, Chapter 11, verse 29)
Then He entered His own palace, unrivalled by any other, complete with every desirable thing, which held a separate mansion for each of His consorts, sixteen thousand and more in number. Beholding from afar their lord returned after so long an absence, the ladies were filled with joy; and with bashful faces they rose quickly from their seats, forgetting even the vows of austerity they had kept in His absence. Full of boundless love, they embraced their Lord — first in the mind, then with their eyes, and at last through their children — and the tears they had held back out of modesty now flowed in spite of themselves. Though He was ever at their side, His feet seemed to them fresher in charm at every moment; for what woman could ever forsake those feet, which even the restless goddess of fortune will not abandon?
The Sport of the Unattached Lord
Here the narration turns from the sweetness of the homecoming to its hidden meaning. Just as the wind, rubbing one bamboo against another, kindles a fire that burns the whole thicket, so had Śrī Kṛṣṇa set the burdensome kings of the earth against one another and brought about their mutual destruction in the great war — Himself never taking up a weapon — and, His purpose accomplished, He grew silent. It was this same Lord who, having appeared in the mortal world in His own playful way, sported in the midst of thousands of the most charming women like an ordinary man of the world. Stung by their guileless smiles and bashful glances, even Cupid, the conqueror of all, would faint and let fall his bow; yet these jewels among women could never disturb the serenity of His mind.
Serene amid the joys of His household, the Lord remains forever untouched by the modes of Nature, even as He dwells within them (verse 38).
Serene amid the joys of His household, the Lord remains forever untouched by the modes of Nature, even as He dwells within them (verse 38).
Seeing Him engaged in worldly affairs as they are, ignorant people mistake the utterly unattached Lord for a man full of attachment. But herein lies His true divinity:
Meaning: This is the divine mastery of the Lord: though He abides within Nature, He is never bound by its modes — just as the discriminating intellect that has taken refuge in Him remains untainted by the modes of Nature in which it dwells. (Canto 1, Chapter 11, verse 38)
Even His own consorts, little knowing His greatness, would sometimes think Him a husband devoted to their service in their private chambers — even as the sense of “I” imagines the Supreme to share its own limited nature.
Important Verses
The pivotal verse of the chapter reveals how the Lord fulfilled the very purpose of His descent — accomplishing the removal of the earth’s burden without Himself wielding a single weapon:
Meaning: Just as the wind sets bamboos ablaze by rubbing them together, so the Lord, taking up no weapon Himself, kindled enmity among the kings who were a burden upon the earth and were girt with mighty armies, and, having brought about their mutual destruction, He became still. (Canto 1, Chapter 11, verse 34)
Principal Teachings
1. The Lord answers the longing of His devotees. Krishna sounds the Pāñcajanya “to soothe the grief” of His people (verse 1), and they rush forth as one. When the heart truly yearns for Him, the very sound of His approach dispels its sorrow.
2. Separation deepens love. The citizens confess that a moment without Him felt like ten million years, like an eye without the sun (verse 9). The pain of separation, borne in devotion, is not the opposite of love but its intensifying fire.
3. Reverence is shown in preparation. Dwārakā is swept, sprinkled, garlanded and lit before the Lord arrives (verses 13–15). Devotion expresses itself outwardly — in the loving readiness with which we prepare a place for the sacred.
4. Greatness stoops to the lowly. The almighty Lord gratifies everyone “down to the humblest” with a bowed head, an embrace and a kind word (verses 22–23). True eminence is known not by pride but by the gentleness it shows to the least.
5. Love returns to its source. Milk flows from the breasts of His aged mothers, and His consorts embrace Him first in mind and then through their children (verses 29, 32). The chapter shows affection at its purest — a whole city’s love converging upon the Lord who is its origin.
6. The Lord is ever unattached. Though He sports like a worldly man, no charm can disturb His serenity; abiding within Nature, He is never bound by its modes (verses 36–38). His intimacy with us never compromises His transcendence — and this is the secret of who He is.
A Devotional Reflection
It is easy to love the Lord who saves us from danger, as He saved the Pāṇḍavas in the chapters just past. This chapter asks something gentler of us: to love the Lord who simply comes home. There are no demons here, no weapons, no miracles of rescue — only a conch on the wind, a swept street, a mother’s tears, a city that cannot bear to look away. And yet the sages, even in the midst of all this sweetness, will not let us forget the deeper truth. The One being embraced on every side, mistaken by His own family for an ordinary man, is the changeless Self of all, untouched by the very affection He so freely receives. There is a lesson here for our own devotion. We may draw as near to Him as Dwārakā did — bring Him our gifts, weep for His absence, prepare our hearts as a city prepares its streets — and still we will never exhaust or diminish Him. He gives Himself wholly to the intimacy of love, and remains wholly free. To love such a Lord is to be, little by little, set free ourselves.
A Daily Devotional Practice
Today, prepare a small welcome for the Lord as Dwārakā prepared its streets. Before your morning prayer, tidy the place where you sit, light a lamp or a stick of incense, and place there something simple and pure — a flower, a fruit, a few grains of rice. Then, as you settle, recall the citizens’ words and make them your own: “Every moment without You feels like an age.” Let that one longing shape a few quiet minutes of remembrance. The outward act is small; it is the readiness of the heart the Lord receives.
Conclusion
So ends the eleventh discourse of the Śrīmad Bhāgavata, which the God-realized call the Paramahaṁsa-Saṁhitā. In this chapter, Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 1 Chapter 11, we have heard the Pāñcajanya sound across the borders of Ānarta and watched all of Dwārakā pour into its streets, bearing gifts and weeping for joy. We have seen the city adorned to welcome its Lord, His kinsmen sally forth in glad procession, and the almighty One gladden every heart down to the humblest as He entered His home. We have shared the tenderness of His reunion — the milk that flowed from His mothers’ breasts, the love of His consorts that returned to Him through their very children. And we have been reminded, at the height of all this sweetness, that He who is embraced on every side is forever the unattached Self, abiding within Nature yet untouched by its modes. Devotion here wears the face of homecoming, and it teaches us how to welcome the Lord into the streets of our own hearts. May we prepare that welcome with love, and never forget, even in our nearness, the boundless One who has drawn so near.
May the divine wisdom of Srimad Bhagavatam awaken pure devotion within our hearts.
Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya.
Jay Shree Madhav.
References and Attribution
Primary edition: Gita Press, Śrīmad Bhāgavata Mahāpurāṇa (English), Book One (Skandha 1), Discourse 11, book pages 41–44.
Srimad Bhagavatam Wisdom · Biswa Sanatan Dharma Seva Trust.Presented following the spiritual guidance and recommendation of Pandit Dr. Shri Kashinath Mishra.
This article is an original, faithful devotional retelling (Copyright MODE B). No publisher translation or purport is reproduced; verse “Meaning” lines are original faithful paraphrase. This article does not imply that any publisher, library, or organization sponsors or endorses it.
