19950128 Glories of the Holyname

Lecture Code: 19950128

Seminar, Glories of Holy Name Lecture By

His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja

In Mathuradesh, Muscat, Oman

vande 'ham sri-guroh sri-yuta-pada-kamalam sri-gurun vaisnavams ca

  sri-rupam sagrajatam saha-gana-raghunathanvitam tam sa-jivam

sadvaitam savadhutam parijana-sahitam Kṛṣṇa-caitanya-devam

sri-radha-Kṛṣṇa-padan saha-gana-lalita-sri-visakhanvitams ca

His Holiness Jayapatākā Svāmī: He said that, ok I’m…certainly I’ll try to fulfil your desire, satisfy you but I have to finish my japa. You see, I have a vow, I cannot just take it lightly so you please wait and hopefully by today I’ll finish. Again, he was just chanting and she was, this time she kind of trying to show that she was very sympathetic to him hoping that it would win him over and she was also chanting

All together:

Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

His Holiness Jayapatākā Svāmī: Well again he chanted the whole name. By the time the next morning came and then she again left. The third night she came back, this time she said, I’m very much eager, I’m burning with love for you, you please satisfy me. He said well, you just let me finish my japa and then maybe by tonight surely I’ll be able to finish it. So again, he was chanting

All together:

Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

His Holiness Jayapatākā Svāmī: His chanting was so pure that gradually by the three nights of hearing and chant, she…she got a change of heart and then she started to realize that she was doing a very wrong thing and she fell down at his feet and offered…(indistinct) her obeisances and revealed everything to him. I was sent by this Ramachandra Khan and he was…wanted me to cause you this type of bad fame and everything but I realize that I’m a sinner and you’re a great, pure devotee. So, I’m begging you please guide me how I can advance in my spiritual life. So, he told her, you give away all your opulent cloth, you live in a simple cloth and you chant Hare Kṛṣṇa here, you worship tulasī and you go on chanting and this way you will get Kṛṣṇa. So he gave her diksha, initiation, so then she was there chanting and Rāmacandra Khān he came to see what happened, he wanted to go there with some witnesses. He was now going to expose Haridāsa Ṭhākura. And so Haridāsa Ṭhākura, he already left. Meanwhile he comes there and finds Heera is only there. Now she has become a Dasi, Kṛṣṇa Dasi or something and there she is chanting her japa with bead and she’s got tilak and she’s all…her simple clothing and everything. He couldn’t believe it, he looked and he completely fainted, unconscious. He was so shocked, what happened. She was a changed person. So, by the power of the holy name even someone might be having so many sinful backgrounds, but it all gets purified by the power of the holy name. You see this power of the holy name is so great that in the Vedas it says that if somebody is chanting the holy names of the Lord, even if they are born in another ashram…another varna, then by the power of the Holy Name they become qualified to do fire sacrifices and to be recognized as a brahmana. Because one gets birth as a brahmana because of good karma. It’s a very pious birth to be born in such a family. Bhagavad-gītā explains that if someone whose done some spiritual activities but didn’t finish, they can be born in a family of yogis or brahmanas. So, it’s a very good birth. So, by good punya one gets such a birth and by paapa you get other birth. So, by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa you get so much sukriti, so much blessing from the Lord, that whatever paapa is the kusamskaara, the contamination of your birth, that can get purified. Therefore, the Vedas say that by chanting the names of the Lord, one can become qualified to perform these fire yajna as a brahmana. So, this type of many evidences are there in the puranas. So, here now she had become a pure devotee simply by the blessings of Haridas Thakur. But you would think that Rāmacandra Khān would learn. But he didn’t learn. He didn’t learn, he was just frustrated. He thought this… he became…harboured his envy against the Vaishnavas, against the devotees of Lord Caitanya. So, one-time Lord Nityananda came to the place of Ramachandra Khan and when Rāmacandra Khān heard that Nityananda Prabhu, the incarnation of Balaram, he had come, he said don’t let him in my house. I don’t want to contaminate my house. He let him sit out in the Durga Mantap, there was one Durga Mantap where they used to do Durga Puja. So, let him sit out there. He treated him, you know, not very respectfully, very disrespectfully in many ways. So, Lord Nityananda, he said this person is going to be finished because of so many offenses he’s committed. So, let’s get out of here, and then Lord Nityananda left. But he had an opportunity to get freed from all of his errors and get the mercy of Lord Nityananada, but he’s such an envious guy, he just didn’t want to learn anything. In fact what he told his workers is that you take some cow dung and put it on the place where Nityananda sat to purify the Durga Mandap because, you know, by the touch of the Vaishnavas it’s become so contaminated. 

So then what happened, that time the Moghal minister had come and he found that Rāmacandra Khān was cheating in taxes he was supposed to pay the Emperor. So he came there and he made on the spot check and found that he had been robbing the treasury of the emperor, only giving…because he’s the landlord so he’s supposed to send taxes to the king and he was not sending the right amount. So, then they came there and they looted everything from him and they forcibly converted him to, you know the way they used to do in those days. They completely burned down the village and the whole place was looted and big mess. So Caitanya Acharya said because the offense of Vaishnava had fallen on there, not only the person but everyone connected to it. So they all have to suffer, they all have to suffer. If you offend a Vaishnava or a pure person, the offense goes to everyone.

There was a time when one brahmana, Gopāla Cakravartī, he was offending Haridāsa Ṭhākura. There was a debate going on…or just actually, Haridāsa Ṭhākura was a guest of one other landlord, Hiraṇya and Govardhana Majumadāra, who were the father and uncle of Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī. And they invited him to come and speak. Every evening they would have a religious summit, they were…they were devotees and they liked to hear Bhagavath and hear the pundits speak. They were patrons of brahmanas and pandits. They were a different kind, they were’nt envious. They were very pious and good people. So since Haridāsa Ṭhākura visited their place, they wanted to hear from him something. They asked if…they gave him a nice raised seat and they welcomed him and they asked him if you could tell us about the glories of the Holy name, we’d like to know about chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. Since you are famous for chanting the hari-nāma. So then Haridāsa Ṭhākura, before he could speak some brahmana said, yes we’d like to hear about hari-nāma. We’ve heard that by chanting hari-nāma, you can get all kinds of punya. So then another one said, yes we’d like to hear about hari-nāma because we heard that by chanting hari-nāma one can get moksha. So, then Haridāsa Ṭhākura, he began to speak and he quoted a verse from the Puranas. So, by chanting 

All together:

Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

His Holiness Jayapatākā Svāmī: So one can get delivered, one can get Love for Kṛṣṇa, the real gift is you get love for Kṛṣṇa and even by accidentally chanting the Holyname, by nāmābhāsa, by kind of an accidental chanting one can get moksha. So then, this one brahmana stood up, Gopāla Cakravartī, he’s very young and handsome. He was like a tax collector for the landlord, gomastha or something, they call, I forget. And he was a very brilliant, charismatic person but he couldn’t tolerate it. He said, what is this, you’re all just sitting and listening. He’s saying that by accidentally chanting Hari or Haribol or Hare Kṛṣṇa you get moksha, how is it possible. Rshis and munis and yogis, for thousands of births 

bahūnāṁ janmanām ante
jñānavān māṁ prapadyate
vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti
sa mahātmā su-durlabhaḥ

they are doing the meditation and finally they can get moksha. And he is saying that when you chant Hare Kṛṣṇa by accident, you can get liberation. How is this possible, how are you listening to this, without protesting? So Haridāsa Ṭhākura said, I’m not giving my opinion, these are what the Vedas has said. Vedas are saying that by chanting the names of Hari, by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa you can get love for Kṛṣṇa, it’s a real asset. And by accidentally chanting or just unconsciously if someone chants, you can get liberation. Liberation is side benefit. Obviously, you don’t know the real significance of the names of Lord Hari. You see this is because most people don’t understand that why we are here in the material world. It’s because we turned our face away from Kṛṣṇa.

kṛṣṇa bhuli’ sei jīva anādi-bahirmukha
ataeva māyā tāre deya saṁsāra-duḥkha

 We’re here in this material world because we turned our face away from Kṛṣṇa and we’re just trying to enjoy separately from God. If we turn our face back to Kṛṣṇa, immediately he’s going to release us. Say somebody is a political prisoner, they go rebel against the government. So, the government arrests them and puts them into prison. Now if the political prisoner surrenders to them, ok, the guy said ok, I give up my enmity against the government. Now I want to cooperate with you. I’ll be a good citizen, I’ll enter this, like we have in India Kashmir, we’ve got Assam, we’ve got so many problem areas. If some of them say ok, like in Punjab, they did…we are willing to give up our fight. So the government says we’ll give you money, we’ll give you land, we’ll give you a job, we’ll give you this, so all the facility is there, you see. Even though they were doing so many things…killing, blowing up bombs and buses and all kinds of innocent people were being killed, they say, ok, if you are willing to surrender we’ll give all the facility. So it’s like we’re here because we don’t want to serve Kṛṣṇa, that’s the real reason. All the other reasons are kind of secondary. The basic reason we’re here is because we turned our back away from God. We want to be independent. Once we say to Kṛṣṇa, ok, I simply want to serve you, I surrender. I want to be your devotee, I realize there’s no happiness outside of you, then there is no more reason to be here. And Hare Kṛṣṇa, the names…chanting the name of Kṛṣṇa has got that power to simply purify us and make us accepted by Kṛṣṇa. Now I accept you Kṛṣṇa, I’m chanting your name. You’ll see the secret about why you are here, you might be doing yoga and everything, its very difficult because you’re going in a very indirect way and if you chant the name of the Lord that’s a very direct means. Different names have got different potencies. In Śiva Purāṇa, Lord Śhiva explains how the name of Rāma is paraṁ brahma, the name of Kṛṣṇa is paraṁ brahma, it’s the absolute. And if you chant 1000 times the name of Vishnu, Sahasranama Tattulyam Rama Nama Varanane, is equal to one name of Rāma and if we chant the name of Kṛṣṇa thats equal to 3000 names of Vishnu or 3 times the Sahasranama of Vishnu, so powerful.

Lord Caitanya, one time he was travelling in South India. He went to this one place where there was a brahmana who invited him for lunch and the brahmana was a complete Rāma bhakta, all the time he was chanting Rāma, Rāma, Rāma, Rāma

raghupati rāghav rājārām,

patit pāvan sītārām

sītārām jai sītārām,

sītārām jai sītārām

This is everything, Sri Ram, Jaya Ram, Jaya Jaya Ram this was going on Rāma. So then Lord Caitanya asked why don’t you chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. He said, No, I can’t, I can’t chant anything but Rāma. To me Rāma is the greatest. I mean I know that chanting Kṛṣṇa’s name is better that Rāma’s name from Vedas. But even I tried, I can’t…for me Rāma is just in my heart. I have to chant Rāma’s name. So then Krsna Caitanya went to some other places, and he met Lord Shiva in one mountain and he was, he just had a wonderful pastime and he came back after a month or so. And this time he went to the same brahmanas house and this time he was chanting

All together (singing):

Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

His Holiness Jayapatākā Svāmī: So Lord Caitanya asked, how is it you are chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa (giggling) you were only chanting names of Rāma. How are you chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa? So he fell at Lord Caitanya’s feet, he said, well, I studied all the Vedas, and I know that Kṛṣṇa naam is most powerful but still, inspite of my trying I could never chant Kṛṣṇa’s name. So somehow my ishta devata from birth was Rāma. But after coming in contact with you, I’ve been changed. Somehow after seeing you, in my heart Kṛṣṇa’s name started to come and now I’m chanting

All together (singing):

Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

His Holiness Jayapatākā Svāmī: So, then he tells Damodara about this feet of Lord Caitanya so, and he tells that therefore you must be Kṛṣṇa, how else could somebody completely change devotee’s devotion, unless you are Kṛṣṇa avatara. Kṛṣṇa must be somehow in you. Otherwise nobody could change me like that. Then Lord Caitanya revealed to him, his form as Kṛṣṇa and the devotee became blessed. Now, so, like this there are so many examples. But generally, people are only attracted to chanting one of the Holy name or another. Any Holy name is all transcendental…none of these are materially different, its just that the mercy may be different. The mercy given, the power of mercy, like your medicine, has the potency to cure disease. All have antibiotic and antibodies, but some has got one power, but some are more powerful and some are even more powerful. So that mercy, Kṛṣṇa’s mercy potency is more in the name of Kṛṣṇa than in the name of Rāma and much more in the name of Rāma that in the name of Vishnu. But all of them are transcendental. 

So all this science that brahmana, Gopāla Cakravartī, he didn’t really know that science. So somehow, he had offended Haridāsa Ṭhākura like this and he had offended the Holyname and he was so angry that Haridāsa Ṭhākura was quoting all the shlokas and that he said, I don’t care what you say.is all foolish being a brahmana he had to address the shlokas and the pramana. But instead he was this, out of emotion and out of attachment, some people are so attached to what they feel that inspite of not really having the answer they just become angry and they become obstinate. That’s another kind of Maya opposed to jñāna, losing the brain by Maya, or you can say, even asuric. Somehow they get forced or whatever. You can apply whichever. So what he did was that he cursed Haridāsa Ṭhākura that if what you are saying is not true, then you will lose your nose in 3 days. apolavega, I curse you….the brahmana said, So Haridāsa Ṭhākura said that “If what I’m saying is not true, I’ll cut my own nose off.  Why, you don’t have to curse me. This is what the Vedas are saying, its all true.” But then the landlord said, “No no no, what are you doing?” He told his tax collector, the young brahmana, “You can get out from here, you’re fired. What have you done? He is our honored guest, he’s a great Acharya and you are just yelling at him and cursing him. You get out from here, I don’t want to see you again.” And he fell down and grabbed the feet of Haridāsa Ṭhākura, “Please forgive us. Please forgive all of us present here for this offense. You are our honored guest, you are a great devotee, We don’t want to offend you in any way. We’ll completely distance ourselves from this person.” He was very, very smart because once you offend a devotee anyone who’s present, who hears it, whose even there and doesn’t protest it, they all get the reaction. Kṛṣṇa becomes so angry.

Not only was Hiranyakasipu killed, when Prahlada was offended, everyone of his soldiers and all those followers who had attacked Nrsimhadeva, they all were finished. Afterwards that Gopāla Cakravartī, after 3 days, he got leprosy and his nose fell off. When Haridāsa Ṭhākura heard, he was very unhappy, he was very sad. A Vaishnava doesn’t wish bad on anyone, he said, “I am very sorry.” He told that and left the place. 

So like that even for Rāmacandra Khān, the whole village, everything got destroyed because of all the offenses on Haridāsa Ṭhākura and Nityananda Prabhu. So some people, he had every opportunity, so many great souls were coming to him. But he was just like asura, that Rāmacandra Khān that he didn’t want to accept anything. And he was just offending. So although Kṛṣṇa’s giving us this opportunity, he’s telling us the plain truth, if you want to get out of the material world, you’ll never do it on your own. mama māyā duratyayā why, its my baby, its my energy. You’re already programmed in such a way this body is and everything is programmed, you can’t get out. Even if you want to, you try the best you can even then you won’t get out. Very difficult to get out. Even if someone get out, they couldn’t get into Vaikuntha, you’ve got Jaya-Vijaya over there guarding the gate. They don’t let anybody in without a pass. Even by mistake they didn’t let the 4 kumaras in, what to speak of some miscreants if they come. They won’t get in. So, but Kṛṣṇa is saying why don’t you surrender to me, I’ll get you out of here, no problem. Then why don’t we do it. Pious people worship Kṛṣṇa, those who are in distress, those who are in economic need, those who are curious, and those who are very wise people. They all do service to Kṛṣṇa. So, the intelligent people, the wise people, the pious people, for them it’s not difficult, it’s not a difficulty to worship Kṛṣṇa. But Lord Caitanya, he’s so merciful that he’s even trying to save the people who are normally the hopeless cases. He even makes plan to try to deliver the naradhamas, the asuras like he delivered Jagai-Madhai. Nityananda Prabhu delivered them, Lord Caitanya delivered them. So Lord Kṛṣṇa, Caitanya Mahaprabhu, just wants to give out his mercy to everyone. When I was in Srirangam, last about 2 years ago, we saw the Jeeyar from the Sri Ranganath temple, the Acharya and we explained him what we were doing, how we are following Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. In fact, the head priest there, he mentions that Lord Caitanya visited there for four months and they kept the temple and the family is descendants from that same priest. And the Jeeyar, he said that actually in the Alvars works everyone is worshiping Lord Kṛṣṇa especially the, [Asks the audience: what was the Alvar you mentioned, you know?...this is a lady Alvar…there’s one particular Alvar]…Aandal. She was an avatar, the representatives of Aandal. She was giving everyone a chance, she told everyone I don’t want my own mukti, I want everyone, you all chant the names of Kṛṣṇa. Let everyone get liberation, let everyone get the mercy of the lord. So what you people are doing all over the world is that you are all empowered by Aandal, you’re here representing her. He was appreciating very much, this chanting, said this is within our disciplic succession. All disciplic successions, they all accept the holynames but they don’t use, practice it as much today. That’s why Lord Caitanya came to get everyone actively into chanting

All together (singing):

Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

His Holiness Jayapatākā Svāmī: And in this way, take and manage Kṛṣṇa’s names. He’s giving the mercy. Before it was difficult to surrender to Kṛṣṇa. Now it’s very easy by chanting the holy names. So we are very grateful here Naimisharanya…that you’re all chanting, reading Bhagavat, having so many nice festivals and programs, sankirtanas, Bhagavat Gita class, akhanda naamas, Caitanya Caritamrita, maha sankirtan, Gita reciting, so many nice programs, jointly and in a unified way with other devotees here. We hope that everyone will make their homes as mini temples, make your heart as little temples where Kṛṣṇa resides in the heart.

harer nāma harer nāma
harer nāmaiva kevalam
kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva
nāsty eva gatir anyathā

In the age of Kali, chanting this holy name, chanting the holy names, chanting the holy names is the only recommended way. There is no other way, no other way, no other way which is guaranteed to give results in this age of Kali. 

We need the wow of chanting. When Lord Caitanya met the Shankaracharya in Benaras, He was visiting there. Then he was able to give instant how this chanting is the recommended process and they all began to chant.

All together (singing):

Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

His Holiness Jayapatākā Svāmī: So we thank all of you for this enlivening program that you are doing. 

Hare Kṛṣṇa!

So I was asked to speak a few minutes in Bengali [His Holiness Jayapatākā Svāmī Maharaj speaks in Bengali]

daivī hy eṣā guṇa-mayī
mama māyā duratyayā
mām eva ye prapadyante
māyām etāṁ taranti te

Transcribed By: Indu Latha mataji

Transcribed On: 4-Oct-2020

Proof Reading By: Amrita Padma Devi Dasi

On 10/10/2020