Visnu Sahasranama

[Guest guest]

Dear Pancaratnaji et al, PAMHO AGTSP

 

On Oct 9, 2004, at 3:16 PM, Panchratna (das) GKG (BBT Manager, Mumbai -

IN) wrote:

 

> Another example to understand where from Tejiyas Prabhu was coming is

> about

> chanting "Vishnu Sahasranama" which is definitely glorious but as

> followers

> of Prabhupada we stick to Hare Krishna.

 

Please note that all the great Acharyas have commented on Visnu

Sahasranama including Baladeva Vidyabhusana the author of Govinda

Bhasya. It is a very important part of Mahabharata and is commented on

by all Acharyas just as the rest of the Prastana Trayi (Vedanta Sutra,

10 main Upanisads and Bhagavad Gita) is commented on. It is not only

the names of the Lord which can and is used in puja but can also be

chanted prayanam style. Each name also has a philosophical meaning

which is explained in the commentaries. As such it is an important

sastra even to Gaudiya Vaisnavas. The fact that Lord Caitanya went into

the ecstasy of Lord Nrsimhadeva upon hearing it gives credence to it's

greatness and this story found in Caitanya Caritamrta proves that the

prayer was well known and recited by Vaisnavas in those days. No one

will deny that Gauidya Vaisnavas nowadays do not place as much emphasis

on it as others do however let's not be small minded. There is no

reason why one cannot chant Hare Krsna and also chant Visnu

Sahasranama. If devotees have some sort of aversion to Visnu then they

should not chant his names when applying tilaka, saying acamana, etc.

Just chant Hare Krsna instead, the fact is that in CC it is described

that Srivasa was listening to Visnu Sahasra Nama as part of his family

sraddha ceremony at the time Lord Caitanya heard it, but of course

those in ISKCON today might consider all these things to be sidetracks.

If they are, then why did Srivasa and Lord Caitanya engage in them? If

one argues that, why chant Visnu's name when Krsna's name is better

then that's fine, Krsna Sahasranama is also available. However from

what I can see chanting Hare Krsna and chanting Visnu Sahasranama are

not mutually exclusive, why should they be? And it seems that they also

serve different purposes.

 

> We are not against Vishnu

> Sahasranama but we keep our priorities straight.

 

The ultimate priority is to always remember Lord Visnu and never forget

him all other rules and regulations are subordinate to these two. This

is quoted from Bhakti Rasamrta Sindhu by Rupa Goswami. Visnu Saharanama

fulfills these spiritual requirements.

 

> That is spend time in

> chanting Hare Krishna, and spend time preaching Hare Krishna.

 

Is there anyone who can say that he spends 24 hours a day chanting and

preaching Hare Krsna? If so, fine. Otherwise it seems one might have

some time to chant other things as well, like Visnu Saharanama. It is

also the names of God. And chanting the names of God not just Hare

Krsna is the yuga dharma. I am personally sick and tired of this

sectarian Gaudiya rhetoric against the names of Visnu in preference to

the names of Krsna ( which are actually the same) like there is some

big difference. If one is a raganuga bhakta and cannot hear anything

but names of Krsna (cannot hear Rama or Nrsimha or Narayana) then let

him be so exclusive, however for the rest of us what's the problem?

 

> If we have

> extra time we chant extra malas of Hare Krishna.

 

That's nice, however the problem for neophytes is that they try to

chant Hare Krsna and sometimes fall asleep because they do not have a

taste for the chanting. However with Visnu Sahasranama no one falls

asleep because the names are all different and one can meditate on the

different meanings while chanting, one must concentrate otherwise one

will not be able to recite the slokas correctly. This is one advantage

that Visnu Sahasranama has over any repetitive mantra including the

Hare Krsna mantra for neophytes. Of course if one is extremely neophyte

one may not be able to recite Visnu Sahasranama and one may need a

simpler mantra like Hare Krsna or even just Rama Rama like Valmiki. Of

course for advanced devotees there is no difference because they fully

concentrate on whatever they are chanting.

 

You should also note that chanting japa is not the yuga dharma,

chanting sankirtana is. Therefore I would suggest that loud

congregational chanting of Hare Krsna or Visnu Sahasranama would be the

yuga dharma more than simply chanting a few more malas of Hare Krsna

japa.

 

> Once in a while according

> to situation when mixing with other parampara groups we may happily

> chant

> Vishnu Sahasranama but our priority and identity and individuality is

> Hare

> Krishna Mahamantra.

 

Yes, this is a more mature attitude. As I said above the VSN is not

emphasized in Gaudiya sampradaya as much as some other Vaisnava

sampradyas. It is only natural that Gaudiyas put less emphasis on it,

however that is simply a sectarian preference, like Hanuman's

preference for the name and form of Lord Rama. We see that even in the

time of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu devotees like Murari Gupta and Anupama

also had this preference for the name and form of Lord Rama over that

of Lord Krsna. Neither Lord Caitanya nor Rupa and Sanatana Goswamis

condemned these two devotees for honoring Rama over Krsna. In fact they

praised their devotion to Lord Rama. This should also be our attitude

towards other Vaisnavas who do not have the same sectarian devotion to

Lord Krsna as we do.

 

> This identity as prabhupadanugas we must never lose.

 

One should note that being a prabhupadanuga does not exclude one from

being a devotee of Lord Rama, Visnu, Narayana, Narasimha, etc. No where

in Srila Prabhupada's teachings does he forbid devotion to these

avataras of the Lord. In fact Srila Prabhupada had deities of Rama

installed in several ISKCON temples and ordered the devotees in

Hyderbad to install Lord Venkatesvara (Visnu) on the Hyderbad farm. The

ISKCON temple in Bangalore when it was finally built fulfilled this

desire of Srila Prabhupada's by also having separate shrines to Lord

Nrsimha and Lord Venkatesvara (Visnu). These are things that you will

never see in the Gaudiya Math only in ISKCON so we have to conclude

that Srila Prabhupada was not averse to these things as he is the one

who desired them. Srila Prabhupada also visited Tirupati and had

personal darshan of Lord Venkatesvara when he was in South India as all

the great Acharyas like Ramanuja, Madhva, and Lord Caitanya have. So

what is your sentence above supposed to mean??? It's just a meaningless

platitude meant to distract us from the fact that Srila Prabhupada also

had another side to him, one that was non-sectarian in outlook and very

accepting of other Visnu Tattva deities.

 

> This point from Tejiyas Prabhu was very useful to me as I was trying

> to

> preach to a "Vishnu Sahasranama group" here and going and chanting

> with them "Vishnu Sahasranama"

 

What were you preaching to them? They are already Vaisnavas therefore

there is no need to preach to them. Where is the benefit from simply

making Vaisnavas change sampradayas or give up a spiritual practice

like Visnu Sahasra nama? You would be better off preaching to the

atheists and others who are in need of spiritual knowledge. The usual

system according to Rupa Goswami's Upadesamrta is to honor and

associate with those who chant the holy name of the Lord especially if

they are initiated Vaisnavas.

 

> and I realised from that position I will face a very

> conflicting situation to preach Hare Krishna as told by Tejiyas Prabhu.

 

Why should there be any conflict? Only Tejiyas and you seems to have a

conflict. That is simply due to sectarianism. According to Srila

Prabhupada (and all the Gaudiya Acharyas) there are four bonafide

Vaisnava sampradayas. Why should we be in conflict with them? On the

basics we all agree. Of course there are some differences in the

details and people have their preferences, but there is no reason to

try to convert a Vaisnava from one bonafide sampradaya to another. If

that is what you were trying to do. If you were trying to do something

else then what was it?

 

> So what I did is I employed one new bhakta who was just chanting 1

> mala to go

> to this group and keep in touch and he was updating me how he would

> make

> them chant 1 mala Hare Krishna etc,.

 

It seems to me to be hypocritical to say on one hand that Vaisnavas

following any of the four sampradayas are bonafide and on the other

hand to try to convert those Vaisnavas to one's own sampradaya with the

idea that there is something missing in their sampradaya. Why do you

have to be so sectarian? The fact of the matter is that you obviously

do not actually accept that their sampradaya is bonafide. Please admit

it. If you do not admit it, then please explain your actions.

 

> So once in a while when I occasionally

> went I did not sit with them to chant Vishnu Sahasranama but I would

> go

> late just enough time for my class and then hammer only Hare Krishna.

 

What a fanatic sectarian you are. You cannot even chant the holy name

of the Lord because you think that it is some sort of deviation. I feel

disgusted to know that you are a member of ISKCON and a preacher at

that.

 

> There was no conflict at all.

 

Of course there was no conflict because the people you were so-called

preaching to are more advanced than you. They are able to appreciate

your preaching about the holy name of Krsna but it is a pity that you

are not able to appreciate their devotion to Lord Visnu, who is the

same as your Lord Krsna. Wake up to yourself and don't be such a

neophyte and sectarian fanatic.

 

> It was a very safe position, whether I made them

> Hare Krishnas or not I at least did not lose my identity as a Hare

> Krishna,

> over a period of time.

 

This is the mentality of a complete neophyte. He thinks that by

chanting VSN with worshipers of Lord Visnu (Vaisnavas) that he might

become contaminated with their Vaisnavism. If your faith is so meagre

that you cannot chant the name of Visnu without remembering that Visnu

and Krsna are non different, then I pity you. Grow up and learn our

philosophy. In my opinion you should be the one that needs to be

preached to, not these other Vaisnavas.

 

> In this case Tejiyas Prabhu's comments are really useful for all

> devotees

> to keep our focus and priority straight.

 

Yes, your comments and Tejiyas's are both very insightful into the

sectarian nature of your opinions. You obviously have a very narrow and

neophyte understanding of Vaisnavism. I do hope that other devotees

read this and learn from it "how not to preach" from your mistakes so

that they can appreciate others in this world who are chanting the holy

name of the Lord and not deride them and think that they have to save

those who are already engaged in the yuga dharma.

 

> That said, I do love "Vishnu Sanasranama" but I love "Hare Krishna"

> more.

 

I already had a previous run in with you Bhadra Govindaji when you

tried to insist that uninitiated people should be allowed to perform

deity worship in ISKCON temples contrary to Srila Prabhupada's

standard. My opinion of you has sunk to an all time low. Please get

help Prabhu you need it. You need to study Srila Prabhupada's teachings

and have more appreciation for other Vaisnavas. It is these Vaisnava

aparadhas that will keep you from advancing. After saying all this you

have the nerve to say that you love VSN. Unfortunately you do not love

the Vaisnavas who chant it.

 

sincerely,

 

Gaura Keshava das