The ocean of material existence is very difficult to cross without the mercy of Parameśvara. It is not only difficult, but impossible. Even though the jīvas are superior to matter, they are by nature weak and dependent on Bhagavān as their sole protector, guardian and saviour. The jīva is anu-caitanya, an atomic particle. He is dependent on and the servant of Parama-Caitanya Bhagavān. In other words, Parama-Caitanya Bhagavān is the refuge of all jīvas. This world of matter is created by māyā and, therefore, the position of the jīva is the same as that of an offender who is in prison. The jīva wanders throughout this world as a result of his opposition to Bhagavān. Those jīvas who are opposed to Bhagavān are called baddha-jīvas (conditioned souls) because they are chained by māyā. On the contrary, those jīvas who follow Bhagavān are released from māyā and are called mukta-jīvas (liberated souls). This difference is due to the contrary conditions in which the unlimited jīvas are situated. Hence, there are two divisions, baddhajīvas and mukta-jīvas.
By performing sādhana, the baddha-jīva attains the mercy of Bhagavān thus he becomes capable of breaking the powerful chains of māyā. After lengthy contemplation, our great maharṣis have established three types of sādhana: karma, jñāna and bhakti.
Varṇāśrama dharma, tapasyā, yajña, dāna, vrata and yoga are mentioned in śāstras as limbs of karma and their results are clearly described. By deeply understanding the distinct nature of these results, the primary effects of executing karma are revealed. They are: 1) enjoyment on the earthly planets, 2) enjoyment of the heavenly planets, 3) relief from disease and 4) the knowledge that great fortune will arise by performing good karma3. If we separate the fourth effect—performance of good karma will result in great fortune—from the other three, it seems that the results of enjoying the heavenly planets, enjoying the earthly planets and curing disease, which the jīva acquires by performing karma, are all perishable. They will be destroyed in Śrī Bhagavān’s wheel of time. It is not possible to become free from the bondage of māyā by attaining these results. On the contrary, the desire to execute more karma will increase, and this will lead to further bondage to māyā. The results of good karma are negligible if that karma is not performed in accordance with the rules and regulations of śāstra.
In this regard, Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (1.2.8) states:
notpādayed yadi ratiṃ śrama eva hi kevalam
“The main purpose of varṇāśrama dharma is to simplify the life of a person who is performing his natural occupational duty, so that he has sufficient time to hear hari-kathā. However, if an attraction for hari-kathā is not inspired, then all the religious activities he performs in accordance with varṇāśrama dharma will be so much useless labour.” The ocean of material existence cannot be crossed by karma. I will explain this briefly:
Jñāna is also considered a sādhana by which a high goal is achieved. The result of jñāna is ātma-śuddhi (purification of the soul). Ātmā (soul) is beyond matter, but when a jīva forgets this reality and takes shelter of matter, he becomes lost on the path of karma.
By discussing jñāna, a person can understand that he is not composed of matter but is transcendental. This type of jñāna is generally called naiṣkarmya (self-realization). In the stage of naiṣkarmya, the jīva is only able to relish a limited amount of bliss (ānanda). This stage is also called ātmārāma (in which one finds pleasure in the self, ātmā, alone). But when the jīva begins to realize his eternal nature, and starts to relish his relationship with Kṛṣṇa, the stage of naiṣkarmya, or ātmārāma, becomes completely insignificant. For this reason Devarṣi Nārada states in Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (1.5.12):
na śobhate jñānam alaṃ nirañjanam
“Although knowledge of self-realization is free from all material affinity, it is not befitting if devoid of a conception of Bhagavān.”
kurvanty ahaitukīṃ bhaktim ittham-bhūta-guṇo hariḥ
“Parama-Caitanya Hari possesses one extraordinary quality: He attracts all varieties of persons who are ātmārāma and are thus free from all kinds of material bondage, to engage in sevā to Him.”
Therefore, jñāna and karma can only be called limbs of sādhana when karma, by its effect, provides great fortune to perform increasingly improved karma and then jñāna renounces useless karma. This performance of good karma and the rejection of impersonal jñāna will lead us to bhakti sādhana. In and of themselves, jñāna and karma are not accepted as limbs of sādhana except when they lead us to bhakti. It is then that they have some significance. Therefore, only bhakti is called sādhana. When karma and jñana lead us to bhakti, they are considered a sādhana. Otherwise, bhakti, by its very nature, is the exclusive svarūpa (form) of sādhana.
The decision of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (11.14.20) clearly explains this:
na svādhyāyas tapas tyāgo yathā bhaktir mamorjitā
“He Uddhava! Karma yoga, saṅkhyā yoga or varṇāśrama dharma cannot please Me, nor can study of the Vedas, austerity or renunciation. Only the performance of pure bhakti actually pleases Me.”
Performing bhakti is the only way to please Bhagavān. There is no other means. There are nine kinds of sādhana bhakti: śravaṇa (hearing), kīrtana (chanting), smaraṇa (remembering), arcana (worshipping), vandana (praying), pāda-sevanam (offering obeisances), dāsya (service), sakhya (friendship) and ātmā-nivedana (full surrender). Śravaṇa, kīrtana and smaraṇa are the primary limbs of sādhana. Śrī Bhagavān’s name, form, qualities and pastimes should be the object of a person’s śravaṇa, kīrtana etc.
Śrī Nāma is the original seed svarūpa (bīja-svarūpa). Thus, according to śāstra, hari-nāma is the root of all worship.
kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva nāsty eva gatir anyathā
“In Kali-yuga there is no deliverance for the jīva except by the chanting of hari-nāma.”
The word kalau means that there is never a time when harināma is not the way for deliverance. It is especially beneficial to take shelter of this all powerful hari-nāma. All other mantras are weak. In relation to hari-nāma the Padma Purāṇa states:
pūrṇaḥ śuddho nitya-mukto ’bhinnatvān nāma-nāminoḥ
Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī writes in his commentary on the above śloka:
ekameva sac-cid-ānanda–rasādi rūpaṃ tattvaṃ
“Śrī kṛṣṇa-tattva is the non-dual form of eternity, knowledge and bliss (advaya sac-cid-ānanda svarūpa).” He has appeared in two forms: (1) nāmī, the form of Śrī Kṛṣṇa vigraha and (2) nāma, the form of His name.
The essence of tattva is that Kṛṣṇa is sarva-śaktimān, the posessor of all potencies. The splendour of the supreme puruṣa is the splendour of His śakti. Kṛṣṇa’s śakti takes shelter of Him, and without Kṛṣṇa’s śakti no one can understand Him. The effect of śakti manifests darśana of Kṛṣṇa’s form. The blissful effect of kṛṣṇa-nāma advertises itself. Thus kṛṣṇa-nāma is cintāmaṇi-svarūpa, kṛṣṇa-svarūpa and caitanya-rāsa-svarūpa. Just by chanting Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s name, kṛṣṇarasa rises spontaneously in the core of the heart. Nāma is complete in itself. This means that it does not depend on the construction of mantras, such as kṛṣṇāya or nārāyāṇāya, which are formed by a combination of names. Nāma is always transcendental—not lifeless like material syllables. Only nāma is caitanya-rasa. Nāma is ever liberated. It cannot be produced by the material tongue. Only a person who has tasted the mellow of nāma can understand this explanation. One who imagines that nāma is lifeless is not eligible to relish caitanya-rasa, nor is he satisfied with this explanation. A person may say that nāma, which we continuously chant, is dependent on material syllables, so how can it be said that nāma is eternally liberated and not a material object? Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī responds to this adverse opinion as follows:
sevonmukhe hi jihvādau svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ
“The material senses can perceive a material object. Kṛṣṇa-nāma is transcendental, therefore, it can never be perceived by the material senses. The nāma that then manifests on the tongue is only a result of a sphūṛti—a pulsating of the transcendental senses of the soul. When devotees utter kṛṣṇa-nāma with this transcendental (aprākṛta) tongue, the parama-tattva appears on their material (prākṛta) tongues and begins to dance. Laughing as a result of bliss (ānanda), weeping and lamentating with affection (sneha) and dancing out of love (prīti) is how transcendental (aprākṛta) rasa pervades the senses. Similarly, the rasa of śrī kṛṣṇa-nāma pervades the tongue.”
The nāma practiced during sādhana is only chaya nāma (a shadow of nāma) or nāmābhāsa (chanting which is covered by clouds of ignorance and anarthas). It is not the real name. Continuous chanting of nāmabāsa will eventually develop into a taste in aprākṛta nāma. Examples of this are evident in the lives of Vālmīki and Ajāmila. The jīva has no taste in nāma because of his offences. When the jīva chants kṛṣṇa-nāma without offence, the caitanya-rasa-vigraha (the fully conscious reservior of all pleasure) transcendental śrī hari-nāma manifests Himself within his heart. At that time his heart becomes joyful, streams of tears flow from his eyes, and symptoms of sāttvika ecstasy appear in his body. Śrīmad Bhāgavatam
(2.3.24) thus states:
yad gṛhyamāṇair hari-nāma-dheyaiḥ
na vikriyetātha yadā vikāro
netre jalaṃ gātra-ruheṣu harṣaḥ
“When a jīva chants hari-nāma, the following symptoms manifest: he experiences a change of heart, tears flow from his eyes and his bodily hairs stand erect. It is to be understood that when, despite chanting kṛṣṇa-nāma, a person does not experience any of these symptoms, his heart has become hard due to offences.”
The primary duty of a sādhaka is to chant hari-nāma without offence. It is, therefore, necessary to know how many types of offences there are, and in this way one can save himself from committing them.
Śāstra refers to ten offences in relation to hari-nāma:
1. To blaspheme devotees and saintly persons. 2. To consider demigods like Lord Śiva to be equal to Bhagavān or independent of Him. 3. To disobey Śrī Guru, who reveals the truth about hari-nāma. 4. To criticise sat-śāstra, which describes the glories of harināma. 5. To consider the glories of hari-nāma to be an exaggeration. 6. To consider the excellences and divine qualities of hari-nāma, as delineated in śāstra, to be imaginary. 7. To commit sinful activities on the strength of chanting harināma.
8. To equate chanting of hari-nāma with materially auspicious activities recommended in the karma-kaṇḍa sections of the Vedas. 9. To instruct faithless persons on the glories of hari-nāma. 10. To not develop love for kṛṣṇa-nāma after knowing His glories because of attachments to the body and things related to the body.
- A person commits an offence to hari-nāma if he disbelieves in the saintly bhaktas and blasphemes the mahājanas, whose characters are spotless. Thus, one who accepts hari-nāma must first reject with his whole heart the tendency to disrespect or disregard any Vaiṣṇava. If a doubt arises about the activity of a Vaiṣṇava, one should try to inquire about the cause of that behaviour and avoid criticising him. Our primary duty is to have faith (śraddhā) in the sādhus.
- To consider demigods like Lord Śiva to be non-different from Bhagavān is nāmāparādha. Bhagavat-tattva is one without a second. Demigods like Lord Śiva are not independent of Śrī Bhagavān’s authority, nor are they separate from Him. If a person honours demigods like Śiva as guṇāvataras or as bhaktas of Bhagavān, he will not form the misconception that they are independent of Him. Those who consider Mahādeva (Śivjī) an independent and separate demigod worshipping him alongside Viṣṇu, do not actually accept the elevated status of Mahādeva who himself is worshipping Viṣṇu. They therefore become offensive to both Viṣṇu and Śiva. Those who chant hari-nāma should reject this kind of misconception.
- To disobey Śrī Gurudeva is nāmāparādha. He who gives the highest teachings of nāma-tattva should be accepted as ācārya, and as that person who is most dear to Bhagavān. One can attain firm faith in hari-nāma by cultivating staunch bhakti for Śrī Guru.
- The bona fide śāstras should never be blasphemed. Revealed śāstras like the Vedas describe bhagavata-dharma and detail the importance of śrī nāma. Therefore, to blaspheme these śāstras is an
offence to the holy name. The glories of hari-nāma are described throughout the Vedas.
ādāvente ca madhya ca hariḥ sarvatra giyate
“How can a person develop love for hari-nāma if he blasphemes bona fide śāstras? Some people consider the śāstras’ descriptions of the importance of hari-nāma to be simply praise. It is nāmāparādha to chant hari-nāma with such an attitude, and those who do so will never achieve any tangible result. They conclude that śāstra falsely praises the glories of hari-nāma, as it falsely praises karmakaṇḍa just so that people will develop a taste in it. Those who think like this are unfortunate. On the other hand, Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (2.1.11) describes the faith of fortunate persons:
yogināṃ nṛpa nirṇītaṃ harer namānukīrtanam
- “A yogī thinks that by obtaining detachment from the world, he can become free from all fear, and concludes that his wholesale duty is to chant hari-nāma. Persons who have such faith can achieve the result of hari-nāma.”
- Some people do not understand the difference between nāmābhāsa and nāma. They believe that nāma is only a combination of syllables that will definitely grant results whether one has faith or not. They use the life and character of Ajāmila as an example, as well as Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (6.2.14):
vaikuṇṭha-nāma-grahaṇam aśeṣāgha-haraṃ viduḥ
“One who chants hari-nāma is immediately freed from the reactions to unlimited sins, even if he chants indirectly (to indicate something else), jokingly, for musical entertainment, or neglectfully. This is concluded by all the learned scholars of the śāstras.”
- Previously hari-nāma has been described as caitanya-rasavigraha, which cannot be perceived by the material senses. This proves that it is not possible to achieve the results of chanting when one commits nāmāparādha. He who chants without faith does not achieve the result of chanting; rather, within a few days he attains some faith in nāma. Faithless persons who believe that nāma is a limb of karma kāṇḍa propagate that nāma is only a material syllable and, therefore, equal to other names. They are actually conditioned souls and nāmāparādhīs. Vaiṣṇavas diligently endeavour to avoid this offence.
- Some people believe that by taking shelter of hari-nāma, they have attained a cheap remedy for the results of all their sins. With this idea they think that they can steal, perform acts of fraud, act illicitly, and then chant hari-nāma to eradicate all their misdeeds. A person who believes this is certainly a nāmāparādhī (offender to nāma). One who has once tasted the transcendental mellows of hari-nāma will never again become attached to temporary material activities.
- Some believe in pious activities (karma), such as performing yajña, giving in charity, behaving according to dharma, and visiting holy places. They also include the chanting of nāma as a pious activity, therefore, they are nāmāparādhīs. Nāma is always transcendental, whereas all pious activities are material. Anyone who considers nāma to be equivalent to pious activities becomes indifferent to nāma and cannot relish its mellows (nāma-rasa). There is a difference between diamonds and glass. Similarly, there is a vast difference between hari-nāma and pious activity.
- One who instructs faithless persons about hari-nāma or gives them the mantra is also a nāmapāradhi. It is useless to give a string of pearls to a hog. The hog will simply regard it as an insult or completely disregard them. Similarly, it is extremely improper to give instruction on nāma to a faithless person. It is wise to first make an effort to develop his faith, and then instruct him on hari-nāma. Those who act as guru and give instructions on hari-nāma to faithless persons will definitely fall down—because they are committing nāmāparādha.
- If a person does not have complete faith in hari-nāma, even after hearing its extensive glories, and if he is still attached to or dependent on sādhanas such as karma, jñāna or yoga, then he is a nāmapāradhī. In this way, hari-nāma will not arise unless we avoid nāmapāradha. Upon seeing the miseries of the jīva, the deliverer of Kali-yuga, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, instructs us with a compassionate heart:
amāninā māna-dena kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ
“By thinking oneself to be even lower than the straw in the street, being more tolerant than a tree, not accepting honour but giving honour to everyone, a jīva becomes eligible to chant hari-nāma.”
The primary meaning of this śloka is that one is to chant hari-nāma with a pure attitude. One who considers himself insignificant never criticises sādhus nor disregards demigods like Lord Śiva. He differentiates, but with respect. He never disregards guru, blasphemes the bona fide śāstras, or doubts the glories of hari-nāma. He never combines false speculation with dry arguments to make the word ‘Hari’ equal with nirguṇa brahma, nor does he make offences on the strength of nāma. He does not accept pious activities to be on an equal level with hari-nāma. He never gives hari-nāma to faithless persons, and he doesn’t have a scent of disbelief in nāma. He constantly endeavours to be aloof from the ten types of nāmaparādha. He never follows those who either ridicule or are inimical to nāma. Even though he works for the entire world, he does not possess any false ego of being the enjoyer or the doer. Thinking himself to be a servant of the world, he serves the whole world. The transcendental light of the spiritual world is situated in the core of his heart. When a qualified person chants hari-nāma, this light radiates, thus keeping the darkness of māyā far away from the jīva. Therefore, O mahātmās, constantly perform hari-nāma kīrtana without offence. There is no shelter for the jīvas other than hari-nāma.
Trying to save oneself from drowning in this ocean of material existence by taking shelter of jñāna and karma is as useless as taking shelter of a piece of straw to cross a great ocean. Therefore, accepting the shelter of the great ship of the mahā-mantra, cross this ocean of material existence.