The greatness of Naama Sankeerthanam: Part 1

[Guest guest]

SARVATHRA GOVINDHA NAAMA SANKEERTHANAM,

GOVINDHAA , GOVINDHAA !

 

ISAVARA SAMVATHSARAM THIRU AADIPPURAM DINAM

 

 

Dear Bhakthi group members : With a prayerful appeal

to GodhA Piratti , I start the series on Naama Sankeerthana

Mahimai .

 

As we go on a paada yathrai across the length and breadth

of Bharatha Desam , we hear the dhvani of the Lord's names

echoing from corner to corner . Our AzhwArs , AchAryAs , following

the tattvams revealed by the sacred VedAs , Upanishads and

PurANAs have sung the glory of Sriman NArAyaNA and

benefitted from the specific potencies of the transcendental

names of the names of the Lord saluted by Sri VishNu

Sahasra Naamam .

 

The bhakthAs of our Lord underwent the nine stages of Bhakthi

revealed in Srimadh Bhagavatham by the baala bhagavadhA ,

PrahlAdhA and reached tanmayathvam :

 

sravaNam keerthanam VishNO : smaraNam paadha sevanam I

archanam vandanam daasyam sakhyam aathma nivedanam II

 

Sri chaitanya MahAprabhu instructed one of his chief disciples

( Saanatana Goswaami ) that naama sankeerthanam is the most

important one to release the jivA from the bonds of SamsArA . His

view is based on Sukha Brahmam's own explanation to king Parikshith

that the recitation of the KrishNa mahA mantram is the sure

deliverer of a samsAri from his bonds in this peculiar age of Kali :

 

kalEr dosha-nidhE Raajan asthi hyEkhO mahAn gunA : I

keerthanAdhEva KrishNasya mukthasanga: param vrajEth II

 

( Meaning ) : My Dear King Parikshith ! Although the Kali Yuga

is loaded with all types of blemishes , yet , there is one good

quality about it . It is that the simple chanting of the NahA manthram

of Sri KrishNA can make one free from the bonds of SamsArA

and elevate them to the transcendental kingdom of Sri Vaikuntam .

 

Bruhan-nAradheeya PurANam picks up this thought further ,

when it declares with great perspicacity that there is no

alternative for spiritual advancement in Kali Yugam than

the recitation of the holy name of the Lord :

 

HarErnAma HarErnAma HarErnamAiva kevalam I

kalaou nAsthyEva nAsthyEva nAsthyEva gathiranyathA II

 

Thrice it is stated , " There is no alternative way " . Purusha

Sooktham stated only once , Naanya: PanthA ---"

 

The Kali-SantharaNa Upanishad reveals to us the way

to cross the dangerous ocean of SamsAra , which has

been attested by the ancient VedAs :

 

HarE krishNa HarE KrishNa , KrishNa KrishNa HarE HarE

Hare Raama HarE Raama , Raama Raama HarE HarE I

ithi shiodasakam naamAm kali-kalmasha nAsana,

naata : paratarEpyeya : Sarva VedEshu drisyathE II

 

( Meaning ) The sixteen holy names of the Lord in

unison ( HarE KrishNa ---Hare Raama HarE HarE )

are particularly potent to counteract the contaminations

(dhoshams ) of Kali Yugam . All the vEdAs consistently

declare that the chanting of the sacred names of the Lord is

the only path to cross the ocean of nescience . There is

no other alternative to reach parama padham .

 

KulasEkhara AzhwAr started therefore his Mukhunda Maalai

slOkam with the counsel to his tongue , " JihvE keerthaya

Kesavam " . A fellow bhakthA from ParasurAma KshEthram ,

Sri LeelA Sukhar asked his speech to be purified by the utterances

of the Lord's name :

 

maadhuryENa vijrumbhanthAm VAACHO NASTHAVA VAIBHAVAM I

chApalyEna vivardhanthAm chinthA nasthava saisavE II

 

(Meaning ) : May our speech elevate itself and grow in sanctity

by speaking about your auspicious glories ! May our minds

purify themselves by the affectionate remeniscence of

your baala leelAs at Gokhulam and BrindhAvanam .

 

Sri LeelA Sukhar went on to state in a chamaka paarAyaNam

sense the fruits of such a dhruva smrithi ( unceasing

rememberance of the Lord ) attained thru naama sankeerthanam

this way :

 

prEmadham cha mE kaamadham cha mE

vEdanam cha mE vaibhavam cha mE I

jeevanam cha mE jeevitham cha mE

dheyvatham cha mE Deva naaparam II

 

(Meaning ) : O Deva Deva ! You are the One , who

blesses me with affection (love ) ; You are the One ,

who fulfills my ishta kaamams ( wish -fulfiller ) ;

You are the One , who gives me the true knowledge ;

You alone are my entire wealth ; You are my prANa naadi ,

( the life force ); You are my living days ;except You , there

are no supreme beings for me ( MaRRor daivam aRiyEn ) .

 

The great NammAzhwAr declared in this context many centuries

before the author of KrishNa karNAmrutham :

 

" There is naught else ! We tell it in brief , to all the beings

of this world : sorrow not (maa suchi ) ; the thought of

the GeethAchAryan is enough . Ah ! even if you do not attain Him ,

evil ( amangaLam) will not cross your path ; learn the faultless

glory of the names of the Lord born as a cowherd in north MathurA

and know it as best to live in its thought " -- ThiruvAimozhi 9.1.7

 

PeriyAzhwAr confessed about his helpless state this way

and then comforted himself with the thought of his sambhandham

to the Lord in his Periya Thirumozhi verse ( 5.1.1) :

 

" O Lord MaadhavA ! I am devoid of purity of speech , I am unfit

to praise You ; still my tongue knows none but You ; I am therefore

afraid ; it is also not under my control ; even if you get irritated that

I am prattling like a fool , I can not manage my restless tongue ;

O You Lord with Garuda Dhwaja ! You will see(cause ) eloquence

even from a crow's mouth , O You primeval cause ! "

 

NammAzhwAr expresses a similar thought about his own

inadequacies in his Thiruvaimozhi ( 5.7.1) :

 

" I have no record of austerities : I do not possess any

subtle knowledge : still , I can not be quiet even for a moment

without (the thought of ) You , O Lord resting on Your serpent bed !

O Father ! I will not be too much burden to You ! "

 

Thondaradipadi AzhwAr , the RanganAtha pathivrathA , thundered

about his special status as a result of learning about the sanctifying

naamam of the Lord in one of his ThirumAlai verses :

 

" Keeping the senses in safe custody and jumping over evil ,

we are roaming about roaring victoriously over the heads of Death

and his emissaries , all in the boldness of having learnt Your NAME ,

O Lord residing at Srirangam , O primeval purushA , who periodically

devours and spits out all these three worlds ! "

 

Thirumangai , who had the revelation of the glory of the Lord's name

from the Lord Himself sang in two verses about the glory of Naama

SiddhAntham in His Periya Thirumozhi :

 

" I languished , I sorrowed in my heart , I identified myself

with my body , the home of the great misery , in which I was born ;

thus I ran after young women , intent on the pleasures of the senses

that they gave ; running thus , by the grace of You , the saviour ,

I came by the great state of knowledge and began seeking ;

seeking I discovered the name nArAyaNA . " ( Periya Thirumozhi 1.1.1 )

 

" The name nArAyaNA will bless one with high birth and

unmatched affluence ; it will raze to the ground all sufferings that its

devotees (reciters ) have to pass through ; it will bless one with heaven

and the great state of the Lord's service ; it will give success and

all other auspicious things ; it will do for one beneficial things

even more than one's own mother ; THAT word (naamam ) I have

found , the name nArAyaNA ." ( Priya Thirumozhi -- 1.1.9 )

 

Sriman NaarAyaNan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam

Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan

[Guest guest]

At 10:37 PM 8/6/97 EDT, V. Sadagopan wrote:

>SARVATHRA GOVINDHA NAAMA SANKEERTHANAM,

>GOVINDHAA , GOVINDHAA !

>

>ISAVARA SAMVATHSARAM THIRU AADIPPURAM DINAM

>

>Sriman NaarAyaNan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam

>Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan

>

>

>

>

Sri Sadagopan,

 

 

You have done a very good job in this posting!

 

Krishna