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Chapter 5

The Glories of Śrī Harināma

THE GLORIES OF ŚRĪ HARI-NĀMA

One can find an abundance of glorification of Śrī Bhagavān’s name in śāstra. A portion of those glories will be mentioned here.

NĀMA SVARŪPA
nāma cintāmaniḥ kṛṣṇaś caitanya-rasa-vigrahaḥ
pūrnaḥ śuddho nitya-mukto ‘bhinnatvān nāma-nāminoḥ
(Bhakti-Rasāmṛta-Sindhu Eastern Division, 2nd Wave 108)

“There is no difference between nāma (Kṛṣṇa’s name) and nāmī (Kṛṣṇa) because kṛṣṇa-nāma is cintāmaṇi svarūpa (giving all transcendental good fortune), and Svayaṃ Kṛṣṇa is caitanya rasa vigraha (the form of transcendental rasa), complete, beyond māyā and eternally liberated.”

NĀMA BESTOWS ALL PERFECTION IN KALI-YUGA
kaler doṣa-nidhe rājann asti hy eko mahān guṇaḥ
kīrtanād eva kṛṣṇasya mukta-saṅgaḥ paraṃ vrajet
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 12.3.51)

“My dear King, although Kali-yuga is an ocean of faults, there is still one good quality in this age. Simply by chanting the hare kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, one can become free from material bondage and attain Bhagavān.”

kṛte yad dhyāyato viṣṇuṃ tretāyāṃ yajato makhaiḥ
dvāpare paricaryāyāṃ kalau tad dhari-kīrtanāt
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 12.3.52)

“The result which is attained in Satya-yuga by meditating on Śrī Bhagavān (dhyāna), in Tretā-yuga by performing opulent yajñas, and in Dvāpara-yuga by performing arcana, is easily available in Kali-yuga by performing hari-nāma kīrtana.”

kali-kāle nāma-rūpe kṛṣṇa-avatāra
nāma haite haya sarva-jagat-nistāra
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta Ādi 17.22)

“In Kali-yuga, the avatāra of Śrī Kṛṣṇa comes in the form of His name. Simply by chanting this name, the entire world can be delivered.”

nāma vinā kali-kāle nāhi āra dharma
sarva-mantra-sāra nāma ei śāstra-marma
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta Ādi 7.74)

“In Kali-yuga there is no other sādhana but to chant hari-nāma. It is the essence of all Vedic mantras, and the purport of all śāstra.”

THE GLORIES OF NĀMA AS DESCRIBED BY THE ANCIENT ĀCĀRYAS
aṃhaḥ saṅ harate khilaṃ sakṛdudayādeva-sakal-lokasya
taraṇi riva timir-jalandhi jayati jaganmangalaṃ harernāma
(Padyavalī 16 sankhāy dhṛta Śrīdhara Svāmī śloka)

“All glories to hari-nāma, which is auspicious for the entire world! Just as the rising sun dissipates all darkness, if hari-nāma rises just once, it can destroy all of a person’s sins.”

ākṛṣṭih kṛtacetasaṃ sumanasāmucchāṭanaṃ cāṃhasā
macaṇḍalamamukalo kasulabho vaśyaśca mukti śriyaḥ
no dīkṣām na ca satkriyaṃ na ca puraścaryām manāgīkṣate
mantro yaṃ rāsanāspṛgeva phalati ṣrī kṛṣṇa nāmātmakaḥ
(Padyavalī 18)

“The minds of those who are guṇatīta (beyond the three modes) are attracted to nāma. That Śrī Kṛṣṇa nāma svarūpa (Kṛṣṇa in the form of the mahā-mantra) is easily accessible to those who are lower than cānḍālas and also captivates the opulence of mukti. It awards results even by its initial contact with the tongue. It does not consider whether or not a person has taken dīkṣā, performed pious activity, or taken vows of austerity.”

THE GLORIES OF CHANTING NĀMA EXCEED THE GLORIES OF DIRECT BRAHMA REALIZATION

yad-brahma-sākṣāt-kṛti-niṣṭhayāpi vināśam āyāti vinā na bhogaiḥ apaiti nāma! sphuraṇena tat te prārabdha-karmeti viranti vedaḥ

(Śrī Kṛṣṇa Nāmāṣṭakam 4, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī)

”O nāma! The Vedas loudly declare that a bhakta’s fructified sinful reaction (prārabdha karma), which cannot be eliminated even by resolute meditation on impersonal brahma, is at once mitigated by Your appearance on the tongue even without his undergoing any suffering.”

THE SUPERIORITY OF NĀMA KĪRTANA
adhicchat-smaraṇaṃ visṇorvahrāyāsena sādhyate
oṣṭhaspandanamatreṇa kirttanstu tato varam
(Hari-bhakti-vilāsa, 11/236 Vaiṣṇava Cintāmaṇi Vākya)

“Although Viṣṇu is the deliverer of all sins, remembrance of Him is only attained after a person has endeavoured with great difficulty over a prolonged period of time. But those who spontaneously perform viṣṇu-kīrtana are superior to them because, by nāmakīrtana, or rather by nāmābhāsa (a shadow of nāma), one can be liberated from bondage to this material world.”

THE SUPERIORITY OF NĀMA-KĪRTANA COMPARED TO DHYĀNA & PŪJĀ
jayati jayati nāmānanda-rūpaṃ murāre
viramita-nija-dharma-dhyāna-pūjādiyatnam
katham api sakṛdāttaṃ muktidaṃ prāṇināṃ yat

paramamṛtam ekaṃ jīvanaṃ bhūṣaṅaṃ me

(Śrī Bṛhad-Bhāgavatamṛtam 1.1.9, Sanātana Gosvāmī)

“All glories, all glories to Śrī Kṛṣṇa Murāri’s name, the embodiment of divine bliss! It halts the cycle of birth and death and relieves one of all painful endeavours in practicing religion, meditation, charity, deity worship and austerity. It awards liberation to one who utters it even once. Kṛṣṇa-nāma stands alone as the supreme nectar and sole treasure of my life.”

yena janmaśtaiḥ pūrvāṃ vāsudevaḥ samarcitaḥ
tanmukhe harināmāni sadā tiṣṭhanti bhārata
(Hari-bhakti-vilāsa 11. 237 śāstra vākya)

“O great descendant of Bharata! The name of Śrī Hari will remain eternally on the lips of those who have performed arcana of Vāsudeva in their previous hundred births.”

NĀMA IS NOT GOVERNED BY RULES REGARDING TIME, PLACE OR CIRCUMSTANCE
na deśaniyamo rājan na kālaniyamastathā
vidhyate nātra sandeho viṣṇonārmānukīrttane
kālo ‘sti dāne yajñe ca snāne kālo ‘sti sajjape
viṣṇuh sankīrttane kālo nastyatra pṛthivītale
(Hari-bhakti-vilāsa 11th vibhagha. 206 sankhyā dhṛta)

“O King! It is stated unequivocally that time and place are not considered in the performance of kīrtana of Śrī Viṣṇu’s names. Such rules apply to giving in charity, performing yajña, and chanting other types of japa. On this earth planet, however, such consideration does not apply to the performance of sankīrtana of Śrī Viṣṇu’s names.”

na deśaniyamastastin na kālani yamastathā
nocchiṣṭadau niṣedho ‘sti śrī harernāmni nalubdhaka
(Hari-bhakti-vilāsa 11th vibhāga. 202 Viṣṇo dharmottara-vākya)

“O Hunter! Time and place are not considered in the performance of kīrtana of Śrī Hari’s name. Although a persons mouth may be full of foodstuffs or he may be in an unclean state‚ he is not prohibited from performing nāma-kīrtana.”

madhura madaram etan maṅgalām maṅgalānāṃ
sakala-nigama-vallī sat-phalaṃ cit-svarūpam
sakṛd api parigītaṃ śraddhayā helayā vā
bhṛguvara! nara-mātraṃ tārayet kṛṣṇa nāma
(Hari-bhakti-vilāsa 11. 234 sankyādhṛta Skanda Purāṇa vakya)

“Kṛṣṇa-nāma is the sweetest of the sweet and the most auspicious of all that is auspicious. It is the flourishing creeper, the eternal, fully ripened fruit of the Bhāgavata, and the embodiment of knowledge, cit-śakti. O best of the Bhṛgu dynasty! Even if someone chants the holy name only once, with faith or indifference (helā), he is immediately delivered from this ocean of birth and death!”

NĀMA SAṄKĪRTANA IS THE SĀDHANA AND THE SĀDHYA FOR EVERYONE
etan nirvidyamānānām icchatām akuto-bhayam
yogināṃ nṛpa nirṇītaṃ harer nāmānukīrtanam
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.1.11)

“O King! Previous ācāryas have announced this siddhānta: chanting and remembering the name of Śrī Hari again and again is the primary sādhana and sādhya for those persons who desire to attain the heavenly planets, liberation, freedom from material desires, as well as for the self-satisfied yogīs.”