Donate Now
According to ISKCON teachings, the twelve Mahājanas are the foremost authorities on devotional service and Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Their lives and instructions reveal the confidential principles of bhāgavata-dharma and show the path to attaining love of Godhead.
svayambhūr nāradaḥ śambhuḥ
kumāraḥ kapilo manuḥ
prahlādo janako bhīṣmo
balir vaiyāsakir vayam
dvādaśaite vijānīmo
dharmaṁ bhāgavataṁ bhaṭāḥ
guhyaṁ viśuddhaṁ durbodhaṁ
yaṁ jñātvāmṛtam aśnute
According to the Srimad-Bhagavatam (6.3.20-21), the twelve Mahajanas are:
- Lord Brahmā [creator of this universe]
- Bhagavān Nārada [the great sage]
- Lord Śiva [annihilates the universe]
- Four Kumāras [Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanātana, and Sanat-kumāra]
- Lord Kapila [the son of Devahūti]
- Svāyambhuva Manu [the progenitor of mankind]
- Prahlāda Mahārāja [the maha bhagavat]
- Janaka Mahārāja [the self-realized king]
- Grandfather Bhīṣma
- Bali Mahārāja [pious king]
- Śukadeva Gosvāmī [the narrator of the Srimad-Bhagavatam]
- Yamaraj [the lord of death]
One must follow the footsteps of the Mahājanas and receive knowledge through the disciplic succession (paramparā). Prabhupada often says “evaṁ paramparā-prāptam” — we should not deviate from the disciplic succession if we truly want to reach the absolute truth.
