The Two Doorkeepers of Vaikuṇṭha, Jaya and Vijaya, Cursed by the Sages

The Lord honors the sages and assures His fallen doorkeepers that they will soon return.

Themes of SB 3.16Rakṣā5 Kṛpā3 Dharma3 Abhaya3 from its story phase

Connected storiesSudāmāHiraṇyakaśipuKaṁsa

Who is speakingSūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King ParīkṣitMaitreya Ṛṣi → ViduraLord Brahmā → the demigodsEvery voice in this chapter ›

What this chapter speaks about · the ten subjects

In this chapter

Who · Sanaka, Sanātana, Sanandana, Sanat-kumāra, Jaya, Vijaya, the Supreme Lord

The story · The four Kumāras reached Vaikuṇṭha and experienced unprecedented happiness, but two doorkeepers prevented them from entering. Eager to see their beloved Lord, the sages became angry and cursed the attendants. The repentant doorkeepers accepted the punishment and begged not to forget the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Lord sought forgiveness for His servants’ offense and asked that their exile be brief. He explained that they would take birth in a demoniac family, remain intensely absorbed in Him, and soon return to His presence.

What it teaches · The Lord’s conduct shows how dearly He values the brāhmaṇas and how seriously He regards disrespect toward them. Even while facing punishment, the doorkeepers sought the shelter of remembering Him.

SB 3.15.36 SB 3.16.4 SB 3.16.26 Read chapter 15 ›

Beyond this chapter

Connected stories across the Bhāgavatam

Stories told in other chapters that this chapter's verses or Śrīla Prabhupāda's purports bring in, the other Bhāgavatam verses the purports quote, and stories in other cantos with the same themes. Each link shows the sentence it comes from.

Sudāmā

SB 10.80–81 · Sudāmā’s handful of rice

What it teaches · Kṛṣṇa values even a small offering made with love. Sudāmā’s deepest treasure is devotion, not the wealth bestowed upon him.

Lord Kṛṣṇa was never reduced in His position by becoming a cowherd boy or by offering respect to Sudāmā Brāhmaṇa or His other devotees like Nanda Mahārāja, Vasudeva, Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira and the Pāṇḍavas’ mother, Kuntī.
Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport · SB 3.16.24 (Text 24)

Read the story in SB 10.80–81

Hiraṇyakaśipu

SB 7.2 · Hiraṇyakaśipu’s anger and words of consolation SB 7.3–4 · Austerity followed by oppression

What it teaches · The soul does not die when the body dies. Material association brings meeting and separation, but the living entity is distinct from the changing body.

In this connection it is to be remembered that the mind of Kaśyapa Muni was not in order when he conceived the two sons, Hiraṇyākṣa and Hiraṇyakaśipu.
Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport · SB 3.16.35 (Text 35)

Although Hiraṇyakaśipu and Hiraṇyākṣa, formerly Jaya and Vijaya, became asuras, the demigods of this material world could not control them, and therefore Lord Brahmā said that neither he nor all the demigods could counteract the disturbance they created.
Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport · SB 3.16.36 (Text 36)

Read the story in SB 7.2

Kaṁsa

SB 10.1–4 · Kṛṣṇa’s appearance SB 10.41–44 · Mathurā and the fall of Kaṁsa

What it teaches · Kṛṣṇa appears by His own spiritual energy, not as an ordinary conditioned soul. His name, form, and attributes are understood through devotional service.

Similarly, Kaṁsa was attached to bhakti-yoga by dint of fear of his death.
Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport · SB 3.16.31 (Text 31)

Read the story in SB 10.1–4

Other Bhāgavatam verses Śrīla Prabhupāda quotes here

SB 10.29.15Kṛṣṇa and the Gopīs Meet for the Rāsa DanceQuoted in the purport to SB 3.16.31

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