Thousand Names

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One day the Lord ordered Srivasa Thäkura to read the Brhat-sahasra-näma [the

thousand names of Lord Visnu], for He wanted to hear them at that time. (adi

17.90)

 

As he read the thousand names of the Lord, in due course the holy name of

Lord Narasimha appeared. When Caitanya Mahäprabhu heard the holy name of

Lord Narasimha, He became fully absorbed in thought.-- Adi 17.91

PURPORT

The Caitanya-maìgala, Madhya-khanda, describes this incident as follows:

Srivasa Pandita was performing the sraddha ceremony for his father, and as

is customary, he was hearing the thousand names of Lord Viñëu. At that time

Gaurahari (Lord Caitanya) appeared on the scene, and He also began to hear

the thousand names of Viñëu with full satisfaction. When He thus heard the

holy name of Lord Narasimha, Lord Caitanya became absorbed in thought, and

He became angry like Nåsiàha Prabhu in His angry mood. His eyes became red,

His bodily hairs stood on end, all the parts of His body trembled, and He

made a thundering sound. All of a sudden He took up a club, and people

became greatly afraid, thinking, "We do not know what kind of offense we

have now committed!" But then Sri Caitanya Mahäprabhu adjusted His thoughts

and sat down on His seat.

 

"[Lord Siva addressed his wife, Durga] 'O Varänanä, 'I chant the holy name

of Räma, Räma, Räma and thus enjoy this beautiful sound. This holy name of

Rämacandra is equal to one thousand holy names of Lord Viñëu.'----Madhya

9.32

PURPORT

This is a verse from the Båhad-viñëu-sahasranäma-stotra in the Uttara-khaëòa

of the Padma Puräëa (72.335).

 

"'The pious results derived from chanting the thousand holy names of Viñëu

three times can be attained by only one utterance of the holy name of

Kåñëa.'--Madhya

9.33

PURPORT

This verse from the Brahmäëòa Puräëa is found in the Laghu-bhägavatämåta

(1.5.354), by Rüpa Gosvämé. Simply by chanting the name of Kåñëa once, one

can attain the same results achieved by chanting the holy name of Räma three

times.

 

The scriptures advise us to chant only the name of the Supreme Personality

of Godhead, Kåñëa. There are thousands of names of Viñëu, and in once sense

Kåñëa and Viñëu are the same, yet the scriptures explain that chanting a

thousand names of Viñëu gives the result of chanting the name Räma just

once, and chanting Räma three times gives the result of chanting Kåñëa once.

In other words, one automatically gets all good results just by chanting the

holy name of Kåñëa.----Srila Prabhupada in Second Chance

 

As explained above, all the names of the Lord are as powerful as the Lord

Himself, but one can experience different transcendental mellows by chanting

His different transcendental names. For example, the çästra (scripture)

states that there are one thousand principal names of Lord Viñëu, the

Personality of Godhead. But if a person utters the name Räma only once, he

gets the result of chanting one thousand names of Viñëu. And if somebody

once chants the name Kåñëa, he achieves the results obtained by chanting the

name Räma three times. In other words, uttering the name Kåñëa once is equal

to uttering three thousand other names of Viñëu.

Therefore King Kulaçekhara, knowing how pleased the Lord is to be addressed

by a name indicating His transcendental relationships with His intimate

devotees, and knowing also the potency of the name Kåñëa, has chosen to

glorify the Lord by addressing Him as Devaké-nandana and Kåñëa. The king

also addresses Him as Våñëi-vaàça-pradépa ("the brilliant light in the Våñëi

dynasty") because millions of generations of the Våñëi dynasty became

sanctified by the Lord's appearance within it.-----------Mukunda Mala Stotra

 

But that's not a fact. Here it is said clearly, vyäharaëaà näma viñëoù:

"Only the Supreme Personality of Godhead Viñëu's name," viñëu-sahasra-näma.

There are list of one thousand names of Viñëu. So Kåñëa and Viñëu, the same,

and it is stated in the çästras that by chanting one thousand holy names of

Viñëu you can get the result of chanting..., once chanting the name of Räma.

If you, say, only chant Räma, by this chanting, you immediately get the

result of chanting thousand times Viñëu's name. And by chanting three times

Lord Räma's name you get the result of chanting once Kåñëa's name. Therefore

by chanting Kåñëa's name you get all the good results.---- Srimad Bhagavatam

lecture by Srila Prabhupada