All glories to the Sri Krsna sankirtana, the singing and chanting of the Names of Krsna, which cleanses the heart of all things impure, and lets the white lotus of good fortune grow and shine in the heart of the participants!
( Sri Siksastakam of Lord Caitanya, verse 1)
Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu preached widely and practically demonstrated to all the power of the process of sankirtana, proving that the Lord Himself Is His holy Names.
If someone somehow says Hare Krsna!, in the mind, or aloud, and even concentrates the mind upon that, then she or he will absorb Love-nectar and soon become drunk with spiritual pleasure! They will start to recognize Krsna in all things around them, and in the end, will return to eternal blissful self-fulfilling Goloka, the para vyoma, or spiritual sky.
The world is astonished to see this! Never before has such perfect mercy been seen, such a perfect avatara of All-Loving Godhead Sri Krsna as our Lords Caitanya and Nityananda
The holy Name of Lord Krsna and His Divine Form are identical. Identical means not different. The Names, the Deities, the original Form, these are all one and the same, with special functions as appropriate to full engagement in love,s pastimes of exchange of services. There is no spiritual difference between Them. The Body or Form of Krsna is Krsna Himself. He is the fountainhead of the living waters of spiritual life, the sun compared to which all else is a reflection or a shadow.
The jiva souls or individual beings, of which we are one, are His sparks, and granted eternally free will, such that love is freely given, not mechanical or forced. Thus, the dance of rasa takes place. Such beauty and perfection is attractive to us, as this is His nature, and thus our own as His part-and-parcels, His sparks of Life.
On the pure spiritual transcendental plane, there is no difference between the body and the being! So also with respect to the Name and the Form denoted by the Names. This is the platform of the pure logos, the uncontaminated uncompromised original source, sarva karana karanam, the originating cause of all purposes, the pure spirit, such as envisioned also by Plato, as he borrowed from the Vedas.
In material existence, we have the souls encapsulated by matter, and a name is given to this state of imprisonment, Jones or Dehaut or Bob etc and so the temporary manifestation the desires and karma manifests in temporary existence in the mundane realms, of which there are an unlimited number. A false or temporary identity arises from gross misapplication of free will as grossfalse ego, then a subtle false ego birth in these realmsoccurrs, , and dies when the body ends its course. But pure spiritual things have no place in mundane time, and so cannot be touched at any time by Maya. The self cannot be permanantly happy while in this state of abused free will away from the Source and purity. We must return to that deathless state like fish drying on the beach hankering again to swim freely in the ocean.
Let us then take the Name in this knowledge. The Name is Krsna, we associate with Him via his Name , which is given to us by a transendentally pure and free being, the bonafide spiritual masters.
Just as an iron poker become red hot and just like fire when left in the blazing furnace, so by constantly invoking shuddha or pure offenseless Harinam , then, for the fortunate and blessed chanter, there can be no effect of spiritual cooling any longer, such as the jivas are subject to, unlike Krsna. Then the natural original pure spiritual identity is soon freed and re-realizes a blissful knowedge-full state of eternity, untouched by matter,s coverings, like unto the Name of Krsna Himself ! This knowledge of our relationship with Godhead is brought to us by the spiritual master, and if we are wise and act upon it, we shall soon know the LOGOS or pure uncontaminated truth in full flower.
All glories to Srila Prabhupad, who brings us this knowledge personally. He is the spiritual manifestation of devotional service and special mercy! By acting upon the truths which he brings to us, we can fully awaken our original uncompromized free self. Thus, the spiritual master is nondifferent from the Lord in purpose and service unto Him. Knowing this, one honors and respects the true guru. Guru manifests in many bodies, guru is one though in many forms.
So, what is required and what is involved in this process of self realization? How do we invoke nicely the pure Names and obtain the desired goal fully ? What is required, what should we avoid, how can we make progress nicely and without error? We shall begin to explore these truths of samdbhanda, abhideya, and prayojana in part two to follow shortly ...
Comments
"...in the spiritul sphere or vaikuntha, there is no illusion or screen intervening between the object and its name, form , attributes, and action. In Vaikuntha the Word is Brahman or God Himslef. The word Vaikuntha means that from which maya or ilusion is expelled"
"...His holy Name which is Krsna,s incarnation as Logos. "
"to sum up, the knowledge of the relationship between Krishna and the jiva constitutes the first stage in spiritual endeavor. Sri Krishna is the Supreme Lord, ever-existent, spiritual, and full of the transcendental bliss. All jivas are His eternal servants. They are alos, in their real nature, beings that are ever-existent, spiritual, and full of the transcendental bliss"
" By the empiric knowledgeof the Vedanta the significance of repeating Krishna Mantra is not realized. Those who happen to be bewitched by empiric knowledge re alkso inextricably bound to the phenomenal world. "
"The rationalist thinker is thus barred from all acces to it....for this reason during the prevalence of the rationalistic methods find themselves thwarted by rationalism. ...Absolute Reality ... lies beyond the scope of rationalization."
" The name, form quality, existence and function of materil objects are the subjects of rationalistic thought, but the unlimited Reality is not so. The Name Form Quality and Characteristic traits of Servitors an Activities of the absolute Name are sphered in the region of absolute, indivisible knowledge."
" It is for this reason that their acarya has sought to rescue them from empiricism by such basic assertions as -the spirit alone existed in the begginning."
above by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura, excerpts from the article The Holy Name, Sri Gaudiya Math, Chennai
Question 4: Who are the tarka-panthī (adherents to the path of speculative reason and argument)?
Answer: As long as one follows the path of argumentative speculation and reason, or tarka-panthā, one remains unable to receive the audience of śrī guru. A truth separate from the words of Śrīla Gurudeva can never exist. The path of tarka is that path in which one pursues the doubts and conflicting thoughts that arise in order to test the authenticity of that single truth. It is nothing more. The adherent of this path disobeys śrī gurudeva. Only śrī gurudeva is capable of clearing all of our doubts and refuting all opposing opinions. An argument based in reason alone cannot be permanently established. The truths that manifest when knowledge is transferred via hearing scriptural revelation – which is the purest path – are unalterable. One who bestows such unchangeable truth is known as śrī gurudeva. The reasoning present in the argumentative consciousness of one who is rebellious toward śrī guru represents disobedience to śrī guru and scripture.
When we invoke the methodology of argumentative reason in our interactions with śrī guru, when we try to measure śrī guru through the filters of knowledge we have acquired with our material senses, when we do not follow in his footsteps but imitate him instead, then we inevitably meet with inauspiciousness or even spiritual annihilation. Only when we completely discard such depravity upon surrendering to the lotus feet of śrī gurudeva, shall we achieve spiritual welfare.
Wealth, knowledge, skill, intelligence and bravado are not the goal of life for a devotee of the Lord, for, by these, we end up committing the offence of disobeying śrī guru and the Vaiṣṇavas, and then, as a result, we are deprived of service to śrī guru and Śrī Kṛṣṇa.
SBSS Thakura
SB 12.12.47
patitaḥ skhalitaś cārtaḥ kṣuttvā vā vivaśo gṛṇan
haraye nama ity uccair mucyate sarva-pātakāt
If when falling, slipping, feeling pain or sneezing one involuntarily cries out in a loud voice, “Obeisances to Lord Hari!” one will be automatically freed from all his sinful reactions.
SB 12.12.48
saṅkīrtyamāno bhagavān anantaḥ
śrutānubhāvo vyasanaṁ hi puṁsām
praviśya cittaṁ vidhunoty aśeṣaṁ
yathā tamo ’rko ’bhram ivāti-vātaḥ
When people properly glorify the Supreme Personality of Godhead or simply hear about His power, the Lord personally enters their hearts and cleanses away every trace of misfortune, just as the sun removes the darkness or as a powerful wind drives away the clouds.
So, now go read parts two, three, and four please.