What is Condemned in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam

The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is described as the "spotless Purāṇa" because it rejects all materially motivated religious activities. Its purpose is to guide the living entity to the highest perfection of unalloyed love for God. To achieve this, the text must clearly identify and condemn the obstacles on the path. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that the Bhāgavatam does not hesitate to criticize karma-kāṇḍa (fruitive rituals), jñāna-kāṇḍa (speculative knowledge), demigod worship, and hypocritical behavior, labeling them as impediments to self-realization.

Cheating Religion and Rituals

The very beginning of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam kicks out kaitava-dharma, or cheating religion. Religion that aims at material benefit, economic development, or even liberation is considered insufficient. Specifically, the text condemns the performance of Vedic rituals and sacrifices if the goal is merely sense gratification or celestial elevation, describing such endeavors as useless labor.

• Almost everything going on in this world as religion is devoid of any idea of devotional service and is therefore condemned by the verdict of Srimad-Bhagavatam. Without devotional service, so-called religious principles are only cheating.
• Worshiping the multidemigods for material gain is practically a perversity of religion. This sort of religious activity has been condemned in the very beginning of the Bhagavatam as kaitava-dharma.
• To derive personal material benefits for sense gratification is the reason persons like Daksa and his followers perform sacrifices. Such sacrifices are condemned here as a labor of love without actual profit. This is confirmed in Srimad-Bhagavatam.

Two-Legged Animal

The Bhāgavatam uses strong language to describe human beings who are devoid of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Regardless of their academic or social standing, if they identify with the body and have no interest in the Supreme Lord, they are condemned as nara-paśu (animals) or worshipers of dust (bhauma ijya-dhīḥ).

• A human being who is not interested in Krsna consciousness is condemned herewith as a nara-pasu - a two-legged animal.
• Srimad-Bhagavatam has condemned those who think the body to be the self as bhauma ijya-dhih. Bhauma means earth, and ijya-dhih means worshiper.

Karma and Jñāna without Bhakti

While knowledge and pious work are generally respected, Śrīla Prabhupāda notes that the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam condemns them if they are divorced from devotional service. Even advanced knowledge is considered useless if it does not lead to surrender. The text consistently prioritizes bhakti over the paths of karma and jñāna.

• Even knowledge, which is superior to fruitive activity, is not successful if it is devoid of devotional service. Therefore in Srimad-Bhagavatam - in the beginning, middle and end - karma-kanda and jnana-kanda are condemned.
• The philosophies of voidness and of the impersonal situation of the spiritual world are condemned here (SB 3.15.23) because they bewilder one's intelligence.

Imitation and Hypocrisy

The Bhāgavatam also warns against pseudo-devotion. Those who imitate the ecstasy of advanced devotees while maintaining material attachments are sharply criticized. Such persons, who may cry artificially during kīrtana but remain absorbed in sense gratification, are described as "stone-hearted."

• Imitation devotees, who wish to advertise themselves as elevated Vaisnavas and who therefore imitate the previous acaryas but do not follow them in principle, are condemned in the words of Srimad-Bhagavatam (SB 2.3.24) as stone-hearted.

Conclusion

The condemnations found in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam are not born of malice but of compassion. Śrīla Prabhupāda emphasizes that by exposing the futility of material endeavors, imitation devotion, and dry speculation, the text steers the conditioned soul away from the wrong path and directs them toward the ultimate goal of life: pure, unalloyed devotional service to Lord Kṛṣṇa.

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