FROM NAMA TO LILA - The blossoming of the bud of the Holy Name

[Guest guest]

What follows is an attempt to scratch the surface of the deep ocean of the

great science of the unfolding of the mercy of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra

in our hearts.

 

Krsna Candra Prabhu wrote:

 

> In madhurya kadambini Vishvanath Cakravati list in his 5th wave japa as

> smaranam. It is a meditation. How can it be done while walking? Without

> full concentration?

 

This is a very elaborate subject matter. In the fifth VC is talking about a

devotee on the platform of 'ruci'.

 

The point is that by continuously chanting the Name more & more one

gradually gets the qualification to think about Krsna's form, qualities &

pastimes while chanting. And all of these merge with the Holy Name. The

chanter will merge in an ocean of bliss. The Hare Krsna maha-mantra is like

a lotus bud which opens gradually revealing all the secrets one by one. All

these realizations are only possible by increasing your chanting

quantitatively and qualitatively. At this point one gets qualified for

smarana.

 

>From Vaisnava Ke by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta sarasvati Thakura

 

r… dayitad€sa, k…rtanate €a,

kara uccaiƒ svare harin€ma-rava

k…rtana-prabh€ve, smaraŠa svabh€ve

se k€le bhajana-nirjana sambhava

 

....My dear mind, now let us loudly chant the holy names of so we can

continuously remain in the ocean of transcendental nectar. The

congregational chanting of the holy names awakens the transcendental quality

of natural spontaneous loving remembrance of Lord (including the Lord's

form, qualities and pastimes)...

 

Till the time the form of Krsna appears while chanting the Name, one should

not artificially try to think about the form, qualities or lila. One should

loudly chant and simply try to hear the sound vibration. Everything will be

revealed in the course of time.

 

It is not a question of sitting or walking while chanting. It is a question

of whether your chanting is offenseless or not. While walking & chanting an

advanced devotee may also be absorbed in nama, rupa, guna & lila smarana

depending on his advancement. Here we note that lila smarana includes nama,

rupa & guna smarana, guna smarana includes nama & rupa smarana and so on.

 

Even a small realization in nama or rupa smarana may make the devotee very

very ecstatic and he may appear very advanced to other devotees.

 

n€ma smarile r™pa aie sange sange

r™pa n€ma bhinna naya n€ce n€n€ range

 

"When one remembers the Name, the form of the Lord appears along with the

Name. And when one realizes that the Name and form are non-different then

the Name dances on tongue enabling the chanter to taste a variety of

ecstatic mellows." (From Hari-nama-cintamani)

 

There is a beautiful & rare extract from the Krama Sandarbha 7.5.18 by Srila

Jiva Goswami which describes this process in detail:

 

tac-ca n€ma-r™pa-guŠa-l…l€maya-abd€n€ˆ rotasparaƒ.

 

"Hearing of the name, form, qualities, and pastimes of the Lord and His

devotees is called ravaŠa."

 

prathamaˆ n€mnaƒ ravaŠam-antaƒ-karaŠa-uddhyartham-pek€m.

 

"The practice of s€dhana-bhakti depends on hearing the holy name. It begins

with ravaŠa, which purifies the heart of the devotee. This hearing process

purifies the heart and gives liberation from the filthiness of sense

gratification."

 

uddhe c€ntaƒ-karaŠe r™pa-ravena tad-udaya-yogyat€ bhavati.

 

"In this way, by hearing transcendental sound about the form of KŠa,

gradually the complete form of the Lord awakens within the heart."

 

samyudite ca r™pe guŠ€n€ˆ sphuraŠaˆ sampadyeta, sampanne ca

 

"Then gradually the qualities of the Lord arise within the heart."

 

guŠ€n€ˆ sphuraŠe parikara-vaiithyena tad-vaiithyaˆ

 

"As His qualities fully manifest themselves, the different specific aspects

of His service and pastimes gradually awaken."

 

sampadyate tatas-teu n€ma-r™pa-guŠa-parikareu samyak sphuriteu

l…l€n€ˆ sphuraŠaˆ su˜hu bhavati.

 

In this way, the holy name gradually reveals the Lord's form, qualities, and

pastimes in all their splendor and beauty and in all their different

branches.

 

Also Srila Bhaktisiddhanta explains in his Upadeshavali:

 

24. As mundane thoughts arise while taking Harinama, one should not become

discouraged. A secondary consequence of taking Harinama is that these

useless mundane thoughts will gradually dissipate; therefore one should not

worry about this. By dedicating one's mind, body, and words to serving Sri

Nama and continuing to chant with great persistence, Sri Nama Prabhu will

grant one darsana of His supremely auspicious transcendental form. And by

continuing to chant until one's anarthas are fully eradicated, by the power

of Sri Nama realization of His form, qualities and pastimes will

automatically arise.

 

Also it is explained by Prabhupada in NOI text 8 purp:

 

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura has commented as follows upon this

verse: ".In the neophyte stage one should always engage in hearing

krsna-katha. This is called sravana-dasa, the stage of hearing. By

constantly hearing the transcendental holy name of Krsna and hearing of His

transcendental form, qualities and pastimes, one can attain to the stage of

acceptance called varana-dasa. When one attains this stage, he becomes

attached to the hearing of krsna-katha. When one is able to chant in

ecstasy, he attains the stage of smaranavastha, the stage of remembering.

Recollection, absorption, meditation, constant remembrance and trance are

the five items of progressive krsna-smarana. At first, remembrance of Krsna

may be interrupted at intervals, but later remembrance proceeds

uninterrupted. When remembrance is uninterrupted, it becomes concentrated

and is called meditation. When meditation expands and becomes constant, it

is called anusmrti. By uninterrupted and unceasing anusmrti one enters the

stage of samadhi, or spiritual trance. After smarana-dasa or samadhi has

fully developed, the soul comes to understand his original constitutional

position. At that time he can perfectly and clearly understand his eternal

relationship with Krsna. That is called sampatti-dasa, the perfection of

life."

 

Furthur elaboration on the sravana-dasa, varana-dasa, smaranavastha,

sampatti-dasa is done by Thakura Bhaktivinoda in the Hari-nama-cintamani

which is also a very detailed analysis.

 

So I would personally suggest that if one wants to very quickly realize the

above truths about the Holy Name, he should chant one lakh Names (64 rounds)

everyday. This is not my suggestion. It is the instruction of Lord Caitanya

Mahaprabhu in Caitanya Bhagavata:

 

prabhu bole-harin€ma ei mah€mantra

ih€ japa giy€ sabe kariy€ nirbandha

ih€ haite sarva-siddhi haibe sab€ra

sarvakaŠa bala ithe vidhi n€hi €ra

 

[LC here instructs everyone to chant a minimum of one nirbandha which is

explained by Thakura Bhaktivinoda to be equal to 64 rounds. Chanting in a

'nirbandha' will give us sarva-siddhi according to Lord Caitanya.]

 

>From Hari-nama-cintamani:

 

c€rib€ra m€l€ phirile eka grantha haya.

eka grantha niyama kariya kramaah vddhi

karite karite 16 granthe eka laka n€ma nirbandha haibe.

Samasta purvamah€janagaŠa prabhura ei €dea p€lana kariya sarvasiddhi l€bha

kariy€chilena.

 

[bVT explains that four rounds=1 granthi, 16 granthis=1 nirbandha. He says

that all the previous acaryas have emphasized that following this order of

Mahaprabhu to chant mininmum one nirbandha will give us sarva-siddhi.]

 

Krsna Candra Prabhu asked:

 

> laziness to put our mind into this intensity is certainly the main cause

> of material desires again entering our sadhana.

 

The laziness or apathy or j€dya in Krsna consciousness can also be

eradicated by chanting a minimum of one nirbandha according to BVT in HNC:

 

mane habe-€ja lakan€ma ye kariba

krame krame tina laka n€ma ye smariba

mah€graha habe citta n€mera saˆkhy€ya

acire y€be j€ya s€dhura kp€ya

 

"When one's mind desires to chant one lakh Names daily and furthur desires

to slowly increase it to three lakhs and when my mind becomes very attached

to the number of rounds (sankhya) and pushes me to complete the sankhya

everday then it is understood that very soon the laziness or apathy in

chanting the Name will vanish by the mercy of the sadhus."

 

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati also mentions this in his Upadeshavali:

 

22. Bhagavan will not accept anything which is offered by a person who

doesn't chant Harinama one-hundred thousand times daily and such a person is

considered a 'patita'.

 

23. By sincerely endeavoring to chant Harinama without offences and

remaining fixed in chanting constantly, one's offences will fade and pure

Harinama will arise on the tongue.

 

Srila Prabhupada made a concession for specifically his Western disciples

who could not chant for a long time on their beads. Ofcourse the whole world

is becoming Westernized atpresent but sometimes he did prescribe 64 rounds

as a remedy to all problems and he never discouraged devotees who wanted to

chant 64 rounds.

 

"I am very glad to learn you are chanting 48 rounds. Actually it is all

right that one should chant 64 rounds, even 16 rounds, so if one is able

to chant more than 16 rounds up to 64, it is very good.

You fix up your rounds. Try to increase it but never decrease it."

 

Letter to: Indira (Iris Mendoza), Ekayani (Esther Mendoza), San Francisco

17 December, 1967

 

"I shall advise you again to chant always, increasing the counting, namely,

16 rounds is generally prescribed, but for the time being you can stop all

other activities and increase the chanting to 64 rounds. Follow the rules

and regulations strictly. If you want sex life, you are at liberty to get

yourself married. But don't have illicit sex with some Maya's

representative."

 

Letter to: Bhaktijana, Los Angeles, 12 February, 1968

 

"Also, Bhaktijana is there in N.Y., he may be nicely treated as he has come

back, so he will understand the philosophy nicely. I have asked him to chant

64 rounds instead of 16."

 

Letter to: Brahmananda, Los Angeles, 15 February, 1968

 

"Yes, it is very good if you can chant 64 rounds; this is very nice if you

can do it."

 

Letter to: Hamsaduta, Hawaii, 23 March, 1969

 

Your servant,

Nayana-rañjana d€sa

 

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