Panchangas

[Guest guest]

Dear Kesava Bharati Prabhu,

 

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

 

It was nice to hear from you. Thank you for the nice pramana about chanting.

 

Perhaps you have misunderstood something I wrote. I didn't mean to minimize

the importance of any of the processes of bhakti which we commonly practice

in ISKCON. They are all supported by guru sadhu and sastra. The primary

point I was making was that, technically speaking, the holy name is not

given to us at the time of initiation as one of the five samskaras. What is

given is a specific combination of the holy names, called a mantra, and

receiving that mantra is one of the five samskaras. At first initiation it

is the Hare Krishna Mahamantra, and we hear that mantra chanted by the guru

and also receive beads on which he has chanted that mantra.

 

So the only statement you make that I have any comment on is:

 

> The holy name is enough by Himself only for liberated souls.

 

I understand your point, but consider the example of Ajamila: He was

certainly not liberated and the holy name was sufficient to liberate him!

And he only chanted namabhasa, what to speak of the pure name! Is it not so?

The holy name is effective even without initiation, without beads, without

giving up sinful life. If one takes shelter of the holy name even without a

guru then the holy name will supply whatever one needs for spiritual

development, including a guru, beads, and the impetus to give up sinful

life! To take your statement at face value would mean that the holy name is

less powerful than one's conditioning.

 

I hope this is OK.

 

Your servant, Bhaktarupa Das