20220113 Hearing the Glories of Chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa from His Guru Īśvara Purī Mahārāja, Nimāi Paṇḍita Practices and is Amazed by the Effect, Part 2

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim 
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam 
paramānandaṁ mādhavaṁ śrī caitanya iśvaram

hariḥ oṁ tat sat

Introduction: So toady in Lord Caitanya book compilation:

Hearing the Glories of Chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa from His Guru Īśvara Purī Mahārāja, Nimāi Paṇḍita Practices and is Amazed by the Effect, Part 2

Under the section: How All the Residents of Vārāṇasī Became Vaiṣṇavas

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 7.75

harer-nāma ślokaḥ

eta bali’ eka śloka śikhāila more 
kaṇṭhe kari’ ei śloka kariha vicāre

Translation: “After describing the potency of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, My spiritual master taught Me another verse, advising Me to always keep it within My throat.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, this is a very important verse that Lord Caitanya taught everyone.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 7.76

Bṛhan-nāradīya-vacana (38.126)

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

Translation: “For spiritual progress in this Age of Kali, there is no alternative, there is no alternative, there is no alternative to the holy name, the holy name, the holy name of the Lord.’

Purport by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda: For progress in spiritual life, the śāstras recommend meditation in Satya-yuga, sacrifice for the satisfaction of Lord Viṣṇu in Tretā-yuga and gorgeous worship of the Lord in the temple in Dvāpara-yuga, but in the Age of Kali one can achieve spiritual progress only by chanting the holy name of the Lord. This is confirmed in various scriptures. In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam there are many references to this fact.

In the Twelfth Canto (3.51) it is said:

kaler doṣa-nidhe rājann asti hy eko mahān guṇaḥ 
kīrtanād eva kṛṣṇasya/ mukta-saṅgaḥ paraṁ vrajet

In the Age of Kali there are many faults, for people are subjected to many miserable conditions, yet in this age there is one great benediction — simply by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra one can be freed from all material contamination and thus be elevated to the spiritual world.

The Nārada-pañcarātra also praises the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra as follows:

trayo vedāḥ ṣaḍ-aṅgāni chandāṁsi vividhāḥ surāḥ 
sarvam aṣṭākṣarāntaḥ-sthaṁ yac cānyad api vāṅ-mayam 
sarva-vedānta-sārārthaḥ saṁsārārṇava-tāraṇaḥ

“The essence of all Vedic knowledge — comprehending the three kinds of Vedic activity [karma-kāṇḍa, jñāna-kāṇḍa and upāsanā-kāṇḍa], the chandas, or Vedic hymns, and the processes for satisfying the demigods — is included in the eight syllables Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa. This is the reality of all Vedānta. The chanting of the holy name is the only means to cross the ocean of nescience.”

Similarly, the Kali-santaraṇa Upaniṣad states,

Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa
Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare 
Hare Rāma Hare Rāma
Rāma Rāma Hare Hare 

these sixteen names composed of thirty-two syllables are the only means to counteract the evil effects of Kali-yuga. In all the Vedas it is seen that to cross the ocean of nescience there is no alternative to the chanting of the holy name.”

Similarly, Śrī Madhvācārya, while commenting upon the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad, has quoted the following verse from the Nārāyaṇa-saṁhitā:

dvāparīyair janair viṣṇuḥ/ pañcarātrais tu kevalaiḥ 
kalau tu nāma-mātreṇa/ pūjyate bhagavān hariḥ

“In Dvāpara-yuga one could satisfy Kṛṣṇa or Viṣṇu only by worshiping Him gorgeously according to the pāñcarātrikī system, but in the Age of Kali one can satisfy and worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead Hari simply by chanting the holy name.”

In his Bhakti-sandarbha (text 284), Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī strongly emphasizes the chanting of the holy name of the Lord as follows:

nanu bhagavan-nāmātmakā eva 
mantrāḥ, tatra viśeṣeṇa namaḥ/

Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī states that the substance of all the Vedic mantras is the chanting of the holy name of the Lord. Every mantra begins with the prefix nama oṁ and eventually addresses by name the Supreme Personality of Godhead. By the supreme will of the Lord there is a specific potency in each and every mantra chanted by great sages like Nārada Muni and other ṛṣis. Chanting the holy name of the Lord immediately renovates the transcendental relationship of the living being with the Supreme Lord.

To chant the holy name of the Lord, one need not depend upon other paraphernalia, for one can immediately get all the desired results of linking with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It may therefore be questioned why there is a necessity for initiation or further spiritual activities in devotional service for one who engages in the chanting of the holy name of the Lord. The answer is that although it is correct that one who fully engages in chanting the holy name need not depend upon the process of initiation, generally a devotee is addicted to many abominable material habits due to material contamination from his previous life. In order to get quick relief from all these contaminations, it is required that one engage in the worship of the Lord in the temple. The worship of the Deity in the temple is essential to reduce one’s restlessness due to the contaminations of conditioned life. Thus Nārada, in his pāñcarātrikī-vidhi, and other great sages have sometimes stressed that since every conditioned soul has a bodily concept of life aimed at sense enjoyment, to restrict this sense enjoyment the rules and regulations for worshiping the Deity in the temple are essential. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has described that the holy name of the Lord can be chanted by liberated souls, but almost all the souls we have to initiate are conditioned. It is advised that one chant the holy name of the Lord without offenses and according to the regulative principles, yet due to their past bad habits they violate these rules and regulations. Thus, the regulative principles for worship of the Deity are also simultaneously essential.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, we see how everything has been sublimely combined, that in the temple where we worship the Lord, we also sing Hare Kṛṣṇa and dance. So, chanting is essential and with that, simultaneously we also worship the deities using the Pañcarātrika system. So, Hare Kṛṣṇa chanting is the Bhāgavata system and worshipping the deities is Pañcarātrika system, so we utilize both. I remember once, a lady told Śrīla Prabhupāda, I want just simply to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. Srila Prabhupada said it is alright you can do it, we will give you prasāda but you should chant like 15 to 20 hours a day non-stop. See, you can’t do it, you will fall asleep. Therefore He said chant two hours a day, sixteen rounds and then engage in devotional service. Hare Kṛṣṇa

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 7.77

nāma-grahaṇera phala –

ei ājñā pāñā nāma la-i anukṣaṇa 
nāma laite laite mora bhrānta haila mana

Translation: “Since I received this order from My spiritual master, I always chant the holy name, but I thought that by chanting and chanting the holy name I had been bewildered.

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Caitanya was expressing that He was feeling great ecstasy and He will describe this in the later verses.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 7.78

dhairya dharite nāri, hailāma unmatta
hāsi, kāndi, nāci, gāi, yaiche madamatta

Translation: “While chanting the holy name of the Lord in pure ecstasy, I lose Myself, and thus I laugh, cry, dance and sing just like a madman.

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Caitanya is expressing how He experiences ecstasy while chanting.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 7.79

tabe dhairya dhari’ mane kariluṅ vicāra 
kṛṣṇa-nāme jñānācchanna ha-ila āmāra

Translation: “Collecting My patience, therefore, I began to consider that chanting the holy name of Kṛṣṇa had covered all My spiritual knowledge.

Purport: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu hints in this verse that to chant the holy name of Kṛṣṇa one does not need to speculate on the philosophical aspects of the science of God, for one automatically becomes ecstatic and without consideration immediately chants, dances, laughs, cries and sings just like a madman.

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Caitanya had achieved a much higher status than speculating on the Vedānta sutra. He was able to have the ecstasy of chanting the holy name.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 7.80

nāmagrahaṇera phale nijāvasthā-darśane vismaya

pāgala ha-ilāṅ āmi, dhairya nāhi mane 
eta cinti’ nivediluṅ gurura caraṇe

Translation: “I saw that I had become mad by chanting the holy name, and I immediately submitted this at the lotus feet of my spiritual master.

Purport: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, as an ideal teacher, shows us how a disciple should deal with his spiritual master. Whenever there is doubt regarding any point, he should refer the matter to his spiritual master for clarification. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said that while chanting and dancing He had developed the kind of mad ecstasy that is possible only for a liberated soul. Yet even in His liberated position, He referred everything to His spiritual master whenever there were doubts. Thus in any condition, even when liberated, we should never think ourselves independent of the spiritual master, but must refer to him as soon as there is some doubt regarding our progressive spiritual life.

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Caitanya, He was wondering if what He was doing was alright. This was His doubt, so He approached His spiritual master to find out. It is the duty of the spiritual master to respond to questions of the disciples.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 7.81

kibā mantra dilā, gosāñi, kibā tāra bala 
japite japite mantra karila pāgala

Translation: “My dear lord, what kind of mantra have you given Me? I have become mad simply by chanting this mahā-mantra!

Purport: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu prays in His Śikṣāṣṭaka:

yugāyitaṁ nimeṣeṇa/ cakṣuṣā prāvṛṣāyitam 
śūnyāyitaṁ jagat sarvaṁ/ govinda-viraheṇa me

“O Govinda! Feeling Your separation, I am considering a moment to be like twelve years or more. Tears are flowing from my eyes like torrents of rain, and I am feeling all vacant in the world in Your absence.” It is the aspiration of a devotee that while he chants the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra his eyes will fill with tears, his voice falter and his heart throb. These are good signs in chanting the holy name of the Lord. In ecstasy, one should feel the entire world to be vacant without the presence of Govinda. This is a sign of separation from Govinda. In material life we are all separated from Govinda and are absorbed in material sense gratification. Therefore, when one comes to his senses on the spiritual platform he becomes so eager to meet Govinda that without Govinda the entire world becomes a vacant place.

Jayapatākā Swami: How people in material world, they are actively trying to enjoy sense gratification, but they are separate from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Govinda. So, when one actually develops love for God, he will feel like this, the ecstasy of separation that Lord Caitanya expressed.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 7.82

hāsāya, nācāya, more karāya krandana 
eta śuni’ guru hāsi balilā vacana

Translation: “Chanting the holy name in ecstasy causes Me to dance, laugh and cry.’ When My spiritual master heard all this, he smiled and then began to speak.

Purport: When a disciple very perfectly makes progress in spiritual life, this gladdens the spiritual master, who then also smiles in ecstasy, thinking, “How successful my disciple has become!” He feels so glad that he smiles as he enjoys the progress of the disciple, just as a smiling parent enjoys the activities of a child who is trying to stand up or crawl perfectly.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Caitanya’s spiritual master smiled on seeing the advancement of Lord Caitanya. So we should all try to advance in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, by chanting the holy name and performing the pañcarātrika-pūjā. So, in this way we can also achieve the perfection of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Thus Ends the Chapter Entitled, Hearing the Glories of Chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa from His Guru Īśvara Purī Mahārāja, Nimāi Paṇḍita Practices and is Amazed by the Effect, Part 2

Under the section: How All the Residents of Vārāṇasī Became Vaiṣṇavas

So, these Māyāvādī sannyāsīs in Benares, they had probably never heard of these Vaiṣṇava teachings. So, Lord Caitanya took this opportunity to instruct them, and this is the process Śrīla AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda preached all over the world.

Hari Bol!