Seven Stages of Purification

Posted by Gourab Saha on February 26, 2011 at 1:49pm

“Let there be all victory for the chanting of the Holy Name of Lord Hari, Lord Krishna,
which can cleanse the mirror
of the heart and stop the miseries of the blazing fire of material existence. That chanting
is the waxing moon
which spreads the white lotus of good fortune for all living entities. It is the life and soul
of all education. The
chanting of the Holy Name of Krishna expands the blissful ocean of transcendental life.
It gives a cooling effect to
everyone and enables one to taste full nectar at every step.”
Siksastakam verse 1

As it is been predicted in the various scriptures, Krishna appears in this age of Kali
Yuga in a golden form as Sri
Caitanya Mahaprabhu. In the 11th canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, this verse that the
Lord Himself wrote is
extolled by the saint Karvajana muni, one of the sons of Maharaj Rshabdev. In it he
explains how those who
have intelligence in this age of Kali Yuga, they worship the supreme Lord in the form
that is not black, He
appears chanting His own Holy Names and He is accompanied by His associates. And
He is worshipped through
the congregational chanting of the Holy Names of Krishna.

In the 10th canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, when Garga Muni appeared at the house of
Nanda Maharaj, while
performing the name giving ceremony for Krishna and Balaram, he explained to Nanda
Maharaj that this child of
yours, Krishna, He has appeared in various ages. In Satya Yuga, He appeared in a
white complexion and He
taught the process of meditation. In Treta Yuga, He appeared in a red complexion and
He taught the process of
performance of Sacrifice, yajna. In another age, He appears in a beautiful yellow
complexion and in that age, the
scriptures explain, He teaches the congregational chanting of the Holy Name as the
means of purification and He
says, now your son has appeared in this blackish complexion.

So taking into consideration, these verses and many others, we can understand how
Lord Caitanya is the yuga
avatar. In every Kali Yuga, the Lord appears to propagate the congregational chanting
of the Holy Name. In that
yuga avatar, He is an incarnation of ksirodaksayi Vishnu. However, according to the
sastra, only once in an entire
day of Brahma, which is several billions of years, does the Lord appear in His original
form – Where Krishna who
is longing to experience Srimati Radharani’s love and to see what it is about Himself
that so much attracts Srimati
Radharani and to experience the nature and ecstasy of that love, Krishna and
Radharani appear in one form.
Krishna, searching to experience the ecstasy of His own pleasure potency Radharani,
the Lord appears in this
material world for this purpose and to distribute freely what no other incarnation at any
other time gives, and
that is the love of Sri Radharani in Vrndavan to everyone without discrimination.

So when Krishna, the original source of all avatars, appears in this age of Kali Yuga
once in a day of Brahma as
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, He comes together with the yuga avatar who is scheduled at
that time to propagate
the chanting of the Holy Names. Actually in Lord Caitanya, non-different than Krishna,
all avatars are included in
Him.

Just as when Krishna performed His various pastimes, all the various avatars where
within Him. The original
Krishna of Vrndavan does not kill demons. When the demons would come to Vrndavan,
it was Vasudev, the
expansion of Krishna within Krishna, who would kill those demons.
Krishna is rasa raja. His exclusive transcendental pastime is to enjoy the topmost
pleasurable experiences of
love with His unmotivated devotees. Similarly Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu appeared.
And here, in this particular
verse, Lord Caitanya is talking to His most intimate devotees, Sri Ramananda Raya and
Swarup Damodar
Goswami. These words were spoken at the very end of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s
manifested lila in this
world. At this time, He was practically in seclusion in His room called Gambira, where
He was experiencing the
topmost ecstasies of love for Krishna and distributing to the world through His devotees.
Here He is explaining the glories of the chanting of the Holy Names. How through this
sankirtan we can achieve
all the topmost perfections of the highest realizations of love of God. There is no need
for any other process.
Sankirtan means full chanting of the Holy Name. Sanyat means complete or full. That
means everything is
included. And although Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, He spoke so many sublime
instructions to His devotees and
through His devotees, He personally only wrote with His own hands, these eight verses
called Siksastakam,
which herein He is reciting for the pleasure of His devotees and for the purification of
the whole world.
Srila Prabhupada, Srila Bhakti siddhanta Saraswati, and previous acaryas often
describe Lord Caitanya’s
sankirtan movement as the seven tongues of the flame of the sacrifice of the sankirtan
movement.
What are those seven tongues? They are described in the first verse of the
Siksastakam.
There are seven stages of transcendental purification and elevation that takes place
when we chant the Holy
Names of Krishna. Those who are sincere to make progress in Krishna consciousness
should very carefully
understand this particular verse.

First Purification: ceto darpanam marjanam

Lord Caitanya begins by chanting: Ceto darpanam marjanam. That the congregational
chanting of the Holy
Names of the Lord cleanses the mirror of our consciousness. Originally we are all pure
Krishna conscious entities.
Mamai vamsa jiva loke, jiva bhuta sanatana. Jiva soul is part and parcel of the supreme
soul, Krishna. Nithya
siddha krsna prema sadhya kabhu naya. Pure love of Krishna is within the heart of
every living being. Ecstatic
bliss is within the heart of every living being. But somehow the consciousness, which is
compared to the mirror,
has been covered with layers and layers of dust.

Why is Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu comparing the consciousness to the mirror?

Because the function of the mirror
is to reflect the true identity and the nature of our own self. When we look in the mirror,
we do not expect to see
someone else. It is reflecting the real beauty of our self. The soul is unlimitedly beautiful,
because it is
qualitatively one with Krishna, Who is the supreme beauty. Krishna explains one spark
of His beauty is creating
all the intoxication for pleasure within this entire material existence.

Far greater than the perverted reflection of the spark within this material universe is the
soul. Factually the
beauty of one infinitesimal jivatma within any species of life has more qualitative beauty
and enchantment than
all the things within this entire cosmic manifestation, all the way up to the Brahma loka.
What is the beauty of a
soul that we cannot even imagine? It is part and parcel of Krishna, the all beautiful.

When we look into the mirror, we are supposed to see the reflection of our self. The
nature of our consciousness
is to be the mirror of the very nature of our soul. Our soul is meant to love Krishna and
to feel the ecstasy of
loving Krishna. But it is covered by layers and layers of dust that has been accumulated
birth after birth. And so
we cannot see … we cannot see who we are or what we are meant to be. All we see is
that dust.

Lord Caitanya explains what that dust is – it is all of our selfish, egoistic desires to want
to enjoy this material
existence. It is the dust of lust. We have so many ambitions, aspirations of how we will
enjoy. We are intoxicated
by the illusory phantasmagoria of so called beautiful things of this world, which are
compared to mirages. We are
chasing after these mirages birth after birth looking for happiness but finding no real
satisfaction.

When that is unfulfilled, we often become very angry and frustrated. Our selfish desires
are not satisfied, so we
want to put the blame on someone else … or something. And we make so many
offenses. And if somehow or
other we get a little bit pleasure in this material world, we are not satisfied. We want
more and more. So we
become greedy which is another species of dust.

Krishna explains, just like fire … What will satisfy a fire? The more fuel you put in, the
hungrier it becomes. The
more you have, the more you become greedy for more and more. And if somehow or
other someone has
something you want or something more than what you want, then the dust of envy
manifests. You become
hateful of that person. You are wishing and praying that this person will loose everything
and suffer. You become
envious. Why does he have? Why not me? I deserve.

And through all of this – lust, anger, envy we become very proud of whatever little we
have. Even the pauper is
proud of his penny. We think we are very great … and illusion … we become mad by all
this illusion. So this false
ego, this desire to enjoy and all the by products that come along with it and the
reactions are the types of dust
are that cover the mirror of the soul.

Sometimes less intelligent people, frustrated in so many ways with dissatisfaction of all
the pursuits in the
material life, they take to a process of religion where they want to be liberated, by
becoming God, which is
another type of dust. Bhukti, mukti. Material enjoyment and the desire to be God are the
dust that cover our
heart and obscure the true blissful nature of the soul. So the first stage of chanting the
Holy Names of the Lord
removes all the dust from the mirror of the mind.

Second Purification: bhava-maha-davagni-nirvapanam

Which means the chanting of the Holy Names extinguishes the forest fire of material
suffering. This world is,
Krishna says, dukhalayam asasvatam. It is a place of suffering. We are trying to be
happy in a place of suffering.
It is just like trying to be dry when you are submerged in the ocean. Is it possible? Can
you get dry when you
are in the ocean? If you want to get dry, you have to get out of the ocean. So if you want
to enjoy, you need to
get out of this material existence. We can have only little pleasure in this material world.
That pleasure is actually
not meant for happiness. That pleasure is meant to keep us suffering. It is maya’s trick.
She gives you enough
pleasure to make you never want to leave and then you never stop suffering.
Because all you want to do is to get out of material existence. Chant the Names of God
and go back to Godhead.
So why are we staying in this material existence? Maya’s great power is … The only
thing that keeps us here is
our desire to stay here. And she gives us these few tokens of happiness … just so that
we can feel oh … I like it
here. It’s worth all these miseries and sufferings … death after death. Just to get some
nice food. Or touch some
soft object or to just watch some television. It is worth it! In this way, she keeps us in this
miserable situation.
But actually this material existence is compared to a burning forest fire. What can
extinguish a burning forest
fire? No fire brigade has any hope. Only by the power of God, when He sends rain
showers it is possible. So the
chanting of the Holy Names of Krishna is like that rain storm. What is impossible for us
to do individually or what
is impossible for the whole collective human society and earth to do, extinguish a forest
fire, can be done by
Krishna’s mercy alone.

Sometimes there are big forest fires. America is a very prominent country. Just a few
years ago there was such a
big forest fire. Thousands of acres just burned and burned. The US Army, the Navy, and
all the politicians in
Washington DC and the whole population of so many hundreds of millions of people in
America – collectively and
individually – there was nothing they could do about the forest fire. It was out of control.

A fire that is millions of times greater is burning within our hearts. And the flames of that
fire implicate us in the 3
fold miseries of material existence: Adhiatmika – miseries of our own body. Which has
so many inconveniences,
and discomforts. Like the trains in Bombay – It is Adhyatmika express. People are not
happy. Rarely do you see
smiling blissful faces. Everyone is hoping to get out. There is disease. One little creature
enters your body and
can cause so much misery. And then there are the miseries of the mind – mental
anxiety and distress … and
lamentation and disappointment. So many tears flow from tour eyes due to these
miseries of adhyatmika.
Then there are the miseries caused by others – maybe our brothers and sisters, our
families. Often times –
husbands and wives. Sometimes politicians and insects, there are so many other living
beings that create
suffering to the conditioned soul.

Then there is adhybhautika – the miseries caused by natural disturbances. Too much
heat, too much cold, too
much rain, too little rain. In this material world, too much or too little of anything and you
suffer. Everything has
to be just right in the middle in order for there to be any relief or happiness. When there
is a drought we pray for
rain; when there is a flood we pray for drought. Let the rain come .. no no … I changed
my mind, let the rain
stop. When it is too hot … we are praying … let there be a nice breeze. And then a frigid
cyclone comes and … no
.. no … I changed my mind, I don’t want this breeze, let it be hot. The dualities of
material existence are always
there. Earthquakes, cyclones, tornados, floods etc. These are all the miseries of
material nature.
No one can control the infliction of the 3 fold miseries upon us. And therefore birth after
birth after birth there is
so much pain, miseries.

So the second stage of chanting of the Holy Name, is bhava maha davagni nirvapanam.
Krishna’s mercy flows as
a reciprocation to the chanting of the Holy Name, just like a rain storm that completely
extinguishes the blazing
forest fire of material existence and we achieve mukti in the truest sense – in the sense
we are alleviated from
all suffering for ever from material existence.

Third Purification: sreyah kairava candrika vitaranam

We have just eliminated the negative. And now the positive is being introduced. We
have cleansed the mirror
heart of all the dirt and filth of the anarthas of material attachment. We have
extinguished the blazing forest fire
of material existence, which is the cause of all miseries and sufferings and now at this
stage our actual blissful
position of our spiritual nature begins to awaken.

Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu compares the Holy Name to the beautiful full moon. Of all
things within this material
existence, the two most pristine symbols of beauty are the full moon and the lotus
flower. When we talk about
the beauty of the Lord, we talk about His feet like lotuses, we talk about his eyes like
lotuses, his heart like
lotuses. And we also describe Him as so many moons. His moon-like face – Vrndavan
candra. Because the
beautiful full moon creates such natural beauty and when the full moon comes in
contact with this fresh beautiful
lotus flower, that is the exchange of ultimate beauty within this material creation.

The Holy Name of Krishna is non-different than Krishna. The Holy Name is radiating an
oceanic quantity and
quality of benedictions and blessings. And when the rays of the benedictions of the full
moon come in contact
with the lotus, which is compared to our own soul, then that soul begins to blossom.

When the lotus flower is closed, its fragrance and beauty cannot be enjoyed. But when
it comes in contact with
the light of the moon, when that lotus blossoms, all of its fragrance … all of its beauty is
manifested to the world.
So this is the effect of the Holy Name, when it touches our hearts. It awakens the
natural, beautiful loving
qualities of our souls. And we realize and understand our own spiritual existence in our
relationship with
Vrndavan candra, Krishna. As that relationship develops, it manifests in five different
rasas – as in neutrality, as
a servant of the Lord, as a friend of the Lord, as the parent of the Lord or as the lover of
the Lord. These
transcendental qualities are unfolded as we come in contact with the sweet ambrosial
sound of Krishna’s name.

Fourth Purification: Vidya vadhu jivanam

When that lotus of our own soul blossoms, then we can understand what is real
knowledge,who we really are.
What is our real purpose and what is that purpose? To surrender completely to the will
of God. This awakening is
the next stage that comes through chanting Hare Krishna – utter surrender to the will of
God. To the degree we
surrender, to that degree we feel ecstasy. To the degree we are complacent or reluctant
or we refuse to
surrender to the will of Krishna, to the service of Krishna, to that same degree we are
cheating ourselves of the
nectar of transcendental love, which is our very eternal birth right. Complete surrender
is the expression of
knowledge of the true nature of our self, of our soul. Krishna explains in the Gita, Sarva
dharman parityaja….
Abandon all other occupational ideas and all other religious conceptions and just
surrender to Me. I shall protect
you from all sinful reactions, do not fear.

In the material sense surrender means to give up against our will and it is a miserable
idea. Just when you are
fighting a war you want the other side to surrender. And nobody likes to surrender. It
means you loose
everything. In the spiritual sense it is just the opposite.

In the spiritual sense you are surrendering at all times. It is just the question of who you
are surrendering to.
Because everyone is in a subordinate position in this material world. Krishna has 3
energies – His internal
spiritual energy, external material energy, and His marginal energy. The Jiva soul is the
marginal energy. We
have the independent free will to either surrender to Krishna’s spiritual energy or to
surrender to Krishna’s
material energy. But surrender you do in any case.

Every time when you have a desire to see something, taste something, hear something,
you are surrendering to
the modes of material nature. Sattva guna – the mode of goodness, raja guna – the
mode passion; tamas – the
mode of ignorance. Guna also means rope. You are bound by these ropes and you are
constantly pulled one way
or the other. And which ever way it is, you are surrendering. But yet, we think, it is our
free choice. That is the
illusion. In this way when we surrender to maya, the illusory energy, bhava maha
dvagani – we are not released
from the burning fire, we are plunged deeper and deeper into the burning fire. Every
time you surrender to any
of your desires the fire is getting hotter and hotter and you are getting into it deeper and
deeper.
The only means of being free from the power of maya is to surrender to Krishna who is
the all good, the all
beautiful, the reservoir of all pleasure. Why should we be reluctant to surrender to
Krishna? Because we are
habituated to surrendering to maya. It is such a simple thing. Krishna says, ‘Just
surrender to Me’. Actually it is
the easiest, simplest, natural thing to surrender to Krishna. But we have become so
much unnatural in our
thinking, feeling, willing, that it appears to be very difficult. But through the power of the
Holy Name, as the dust
of our heart becomes cleansed … as the burning forest fire of material existence and
the suffering of our actions
and reactions of sinful activities, are extinguished, as the true knowledge in the lotus of
our hearts become
opened, then it becomes our very nature to surrender to Krishna. What does surrender
mean – to love Krishna,
to serve Krishna. The expression of love is to serve.

Fifth Purification: anandam buddhi vardhanam

When we surrender to Krishna and agree to live in harmony with Krishna, be the
servant of the servant of His
servants, then by the grace of Krishna, He places us in an unlimited ocean of
transcendental ecstasy. The
happiness of this world is like a drop of water in the desert. But the happiness that is
achieved through the
chanting of the Holy Names is like being submerged in an ocean of nectar, an ocean of
ecstasy.

The soul being naturally servant of Krishna is longing for unlimited ecstatic joy of re-
uniting with Krishna. Krishna
is All-beautiful. Then Krishna reveals to us in reciprocation to our desire and sincerity,
what pleasure there is in
Krishna; the beautiful form of His three-fold bending swarup. It is so intoxicating. Srila
Rupa Goswami warns us, if
you are attached to your home, if you are attached to the material aspects of your
family, wealth and society or
anything of this world then I warn you – do not go to the banks of Yamuna – kesi ghat,
where Govindaji, Krishna
is standing in His beautiful 3-fold bending form. Once you see that beauty of Krishna
then you are aware that the
things of this world that are charming your heart are insignificant. Jamunacarya, the
spiritual master of
Ramanujacharya and many other great souls, prayed in this way. He was remembering
back to the days when
he was young and he was a king, and he had so much pleasure and facility for
enjoyment. He said, now I am
tasting the sweetness and pleasure of service to Krishna … when I think of all the
enjoyments of this world –
and even the king of all enjoyments – sex pleasure, he says, my lips curl in distaste and
I spit at that thought.
There is no pleasure and no charm. When we realize that we are not this body, what is
so great about material
pleasure? It has nothing to do with the soul and nothing to do with the reality.

We see a beautiful thing and it is just some light entering into our eye, and it is making
us mad. If it is dark, you
cannot even see it. Or some frequency entering our ear and we get mad. Something
scraping our tongue … what
is tongue … just a lump of flesh wiggling around. But when something touches its
surface we go mad. That is
what material enjoyment is, and we take it so seriously.

If we do not taste the pleasures of the soul, all that we have left is to try to enjoy through
the senses. Through
the tongue, through the eyes and all these things… What an humiliating experience for
a blissful spiritual soul,
that is a part of Krishna that belongs in the spiritual world, to be trying to enjoy like this?
It is very sad. It breaks
our hearts.

But the beauty of Krishna is how He is Hari – one little glimpse of beauty and charm of
Krishna will completely
take our minds … steal our minds forever from this material existence. The sound of
Krishna’s flute; the river
Yamuna would become paralyzed. It couldn’t even flow. The little calves couldn’t even
suck the milk from their
mothers. The Gopis would leave all their household duties and run to see where
Krishna is. The supreme power
of Krishna is not in creating this material world, but in His all attractive beauty to attract
and charm the hearts of
all his living entities for all of eternity. Because that love can conquer everything. One
drop of love for Krishna can
conquer the entire 14 worlds in a second.

Srila Rupa Goswami explains all that power, all that beauty, all the love and all the
opulences are within His
name … But we have to chant in the mood of sankirtan. That is chanting in such a way
that Krishna completely
manifests Himself in the sound of His Name. In one sense, the word Sankirtan means –
when Krishna completely
manifests Himself within the sound of His name. Rupa Goswami says, when I chant that
name with my little
tongue, the name dances on my tongue. Krishna is dancing on my tongue. What is this
one tongue to taste the
sweetness? That sweetness is so great, so unlimited, it is so intoxicatingly ecstatic,
what is this little tongue I
have? I want millions and millions of tongues to taste the Holy Name. And when that
Name enters into my ears –
why has the creator cheated me, by giving me these two tiny little holes for these ears?
I want millions and
millions of ears to drink the nectar of this spiritually blissful sound of Krishna’s Name
and when that Name enters
into our heart, then all aspirations, desires, for anything but the service of that Name
cease to exist.

This is how Rupa Goswami chants the Holy Name of the Lord. This is his experience
when he is chanting the Holy
Name of the Lord. Anandam buddhi vardhanam. We are merged into the ocean of
transcendental love – Bhakti
rasamrta sindhu. In fact Srila Rupa Goswami explains that the aspiration of the jnanis,
the Salvationists is to
receive mukti. They want to enter into Brahman. He said compared to the unlimited
ocean of happiness that is
derived from serving Krishna with pure love, the pleasure of mukti is like a particle of
one tiny little drop.

Sixth Purification: Sarvatma snapanam, param vijayate

The next aspect of this great sankirtan movement is this – sarvatma snapanam. This
pleasure is very different
than the pleasures of the material world. The pleasures of the material world pollute us.
The more pleasure we
get, the more our hearts are polluted with the misconception that we are the enjoyer.
But the pleasure of this
anandam buddhi vardhanam, the pleasure of Krishna Consciousness purifies us. The
more we are happy, in
Krishna consciousness, the more we become purified.

Sometimes devotees ask this question, we are not supposed to enjoy, we are supposed
to be enjoyed by
Krishna, but when I am in kirtan, I am enjoying so much … Sometimes, when I am in
kirtan, it is more enjoyable
than sense gratification. So is this bad to be attached? Because I am enjoying … it is
good to enjoy in this way.
This type of enjoying from the chanting and hearing the Names and Glories of the Lord
completely purifies our
heart and through this type of enjoyment, we become sarvatma – completely purified.
No trace is left. Not even
any seeds in your heart of the weeds of material enjoyment. Sometimes when we cut
down the weeds, it
appears that everything is safe. But the seeds are still in the ground and it is just a
matter of time before they
grow again. But the Holy Name has the power to completely purify us to the extent that
even the seeds of
material desires cease to exist as we are drowning in the ocean of Krishna Bhakti and
Krishna prema.
Seventh Purification: Param vijayate Sri Krishna sankirtanam

Go on with this chanting. Lord Caitanya says … Go on with this Sri Krishna Sankirtan.
Let it be victorious in all
directions. This is His benediction. That the Holy Name alone of the Lord when it is
chanted by sincere devotees,
it not only performs these previous 6 wonderful benedictions, but it spreads out and
expands to create victory
over illusion and maya and it creates victory throughout the world. Wherever the Holy
Name is chanted by the
Lord’s sincere devotees these seven effects will take place. Param vijayate. Supreme
victory. The supreme
ultimate victory is accomplished through the chanting of Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.

And this was Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s great desire. Srila Prabhupada, our beloved
Guru Maharaj, as Lord
Caitanya desired, as the humble servant of servant of the servant of Sri Caitanya
Mahaprabhu, wanted to
expand this great victory throughout the world through the chanting of Krishna’s Holy
Name. Param vijayate Sri
Krishna sankirtanam. Sri means radharani. The pleasure potency of the Lord. Sri
Krishna Sankirtanam means the
full congregational chanting of Radha and Krishna. So there is no greater opportunity in
all of this human
existence that is being given to us by the Lord than the chanting of the names of
Krishna – hare nama hare
nama hare nama eva kevalam. In this age of Kali Yuga, there is no other way no other
way no other possible
way of deliverance or save, except for the chanting of the Holy Names of Lord Hari.

                                                                   kaler dosa-nidhe rajann

                                                                   asti hy eko mahan gunah
                                                                   kirtanad eva krsnasya
                                                                   mukta-sangah param vrajet

This age of Kali Yuga is an ocean of faults. But there is one benediction. That simply by
chanting the Holy Name of
Krishna we can achieve the perfection of liberation. What could be attained in Satya
Yuga through thousands of
years of celibacy, tapasya, and strict meditation in Treta Yuga by elaborate yajnas, in
Dvapara Yuga in
worshipping the Lord through various rituals and forms of devotion is easily attained in
this age of Kali Yuga
simply by chanting the Holy Names.

Therefore, the Bhagavat explains that the great sages worship this Kali Yuga as the
best of all ages. It is an age
of quarrel and hypocrisy. It is an age where friction and conflict can come about
between anybody and any time
unless we keep Krishna in the center. Kali kale nama rupe krsna avatar. Krishna has
descended in His name in
such a way that we can always keep Him in the center. The only protection from the
evils of this age of Kali is the
sincere chanting of the Holy Names of the Lord.

But this chanting must be done sincerely. That means we must have the association of
the Lord. Without keeping
the company of the devotees of the Lord, we cannot properly have the consciousness to
chant the Holy Name
that is required. And we must have a spiritual master to guide us and train us in such a
way that we are
approaching the Holy Name in the proper way. To achieve the full benefits of the Holy
Name, we have to
approach in the mood of being a servant, not in the mood of being an exploiter. Krishna
in His name will reveal
Himself as you approach Him. So service is essential. Association of devotees is
essential. Guidance from a
proper guru is essential for us to approach the Holy Name in a proper way that the
Name will reciprocate.
Sometimes impersonalists chant the Holy Name of Krishna. Sometimes people who are
too much aspiring for
material enjoyment approach the Holy Name. But Krishna doesn’t properly reveal
himself to people who don’t
have the proper devotion. So we must be very sincere. It is so simple. Lord Nityananda
Prabhu and Lord Sri
Caitanya Mahaprabhu have induced us in this way … Chant the Holy Name of Krishna
… Worship Krishna … Hear
about Krishna and give this message to others. Krishna is your mother, Krishna is your
father. Krishna is your
true wealth and your very life and soul.

We are all looking for wealth and working so hard in our occupations to find wealth. But
we don’t know that
there is an unlimited treasure of wealth right within the heart of your own soul and the
chanting of the Holy
Names of the Lord is the key that opens your own heart and reveals the supreme
treasure of transcendental
bliss. Therefore chanting this Name in the association of other devotees is the ultimate
benediction for all
humanity.

Veda Vyasa is Krishna Himself. He descended and wrote the Vedas. It was Veda
Vyasa, with the help of
Ganapathi, who wrote the entire Mahabharat which includes the Bhagavad Gita, at
Badrik ashram. It was him
who wrote the 4 vedas – rg, yathur, atharva and the sama. He worte the Upanishads,
puranasa, itihasas and
the various histories. The Vedic literatures that are meant to elevate the consciousness
of humanity to its
ultimate perfection. And after this most extensive and exhaustive expression of His
mercy to humanity by writing
all these scriptures, he was not satisfied. In his ashram in Badrinath, sitting at the banks
of Saraswati, Narada
Muni approached him and told him you have not exclusively presented a scripture which
speaks nothing but pure
unalloyed devotion to the supreme lord Krishna. That is the ultimate culmination of all
transcendental knowledge.
So the last written statement of Veda Vyasa was the Srimad Bhagavatam. The most
perfect, spotless Purana.
The culmination of all knowledge. His own commentary on the Vedanta Sutra, the
essence of the Vedas. And
after describing the pure devotion of so many great devotees, mahajans, and then
describing the personal lila of
Krishna in Vrndavan, in Mathura, in Dwaraka … Krishna’s instructions to Uddhava …
The last verse of Veda Vyasa
is:

                                                                   nama-sankirtanam yasya
                                                                   sarva-papa pranasanam
                                                                   pranamo duhkha-samanas
                                                                   tam namami harim param

In this age of Kali Yuga, the chanting, the congregational chanting of the Holy Names of
Krishna will relieve you
from all sinful reactions and award you the perfection of life. Srimad Bhagavatam ends,
concludes, culminates
with this glorification of the Sankirtan movement and in the Gaudiya Vaisnava
sampradaya. We understand how
Caitanya Caritamrta begins where Srimad Bhagavatam ends.

Bhagavad Gita ends with surrender to Krishna. It begins with you should not be in
illusion. Understand the
difference between body and spirit and ultimately you should surrender to Krishna by
always remembering Him.
So where Bhagavad Gita ends, Srimad Bhagavatam begins. It is the graduate study of
the Gita. It begins by
describing the pure devotee’s lives and how they are surrendering to Krishna. What is
Prahlad’s surrender. What
is Ambarisa Maharaj’s surrender. What is the pandavas’ surrender. What is sukadeva
Goswami and Pariksit
Mahraj’s surrender. Srimad Bhagavatam is a collection of the pure devotees
reciprocating their love with Krishna.
And then it reaches its heights when it reaches the 10th canto, where it describes
Krishna personally descending
in His original form and having beautiful rasa with the Gopis in Vrndavan, the most
intensified relationship with
His devotees and the Bhagavatam concludes nama sankirtanam yasya – this will all be
realized through the
congregational chanting of the Holy Name.

Where Bhagavatam ends, Lord Caitanya begins. The first thing that He teaches chant
the Holy Names of Krishna.
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare / Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama
Rama Hare Hare.
Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu is considered to be non-different from the personification of
the teachings of Srimad
Bhagavatam. It can all be realized in perfection through the sincere chanting of
Krishna’s Holy Names. And here
in the beautiful verse, Siksastakam, Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu is personally glorifying
the unlimited virtues of
this sankirtan movement. The ultimate benedictions that come through the chanting of
the Holy Names. I hope
this shed some glimmers of light on the unlimited ocean of light that is emanating from
the first verse of Lord
Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s siksastakam.

If we offer the oblations of our faith and devotion into the seven flames of this fire of
Harinam sankirtan, we will
attract the unlimited mercy of Krishna. To share this message with others is the greatest
of all service to
humanity. So please let us chant Hare Krishna very loudly and be very happy.

'Let there be all victory for the chanting of the Holy Name of Lord Hari, Lord Krishna,
which can cleanse the mirror
of the heart and stop the miseries of the blazing fire of material existence. That chanting
is the waxing moon
which spreads the white lotus of good fortune for all living entities. It is the life and soul
of all education. The
chanting of the Holy Name of Krishna expands the blissful ocean of transcendental life.
It gives a cooling effect to
everyone and enables one to taste full nectar at every step.’
Sri Harinam Sankirtan Ki Jaya.

                                           Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare

Hare
                                                 Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare
Hare.

 
By H.H. Radhanath Swami