Freedom from material existence

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Hare Krishna,

 

 

 

PAMHO, AGTSP

 

 

 

Adi 7.73

 

TEXT

 

krsna-mantra haite habe samsara-mocana

 

krsna-nama haite pabe krsnera carana

 

TRANSLATION

 

"Simply by chanting the holy name of Krsna one can obtain freedom from

material existence. Indeed, simply by chanting the Hare Krsna mantra one

will be able to see the lotus feet of the Lord.

 

PURPORT

 

In his Anubhasya, Sri Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami says that the actual

effect that will be visible as soon as one achieves transcendental knowledge

is that he will immediately become free from the clutches of maya and fully

engage in the service of the Lord. Unless one serves the Supreme Personality

of Godhead Mukunda, one cannot become free from fruitive activities under

the external energy. However, when one chants the holy name of the Lord

offenselessly, one can realize a transcendental position that is completely

aloof from the material conception of life. Rendering service to the Lord, a

devotee relates to the Supreme Personality of Godhead in one of five

relationships-namely, santa, dasya, sakhya, vatsalya or madhurya-and thus he

relishes transcendental bliss in that relationship. Such a relationship

certainly transcends the body and mind. When one realizes that the holy name

of the Lord is identical with the Supreme Person, he becomes completely

eligible to chant the holy name of the Lord. Such an ecstatic chanter and

dancer must be considered to have a direct relationship with the Lord.

According to the Vedic principles, there are three stages of spiritual

advancement, namely, sambandha-jnana, abhidheya and prayojana.

Sambandha-jnana refers to establishing one's original relationship with the

Supreme Personality of Godhead, abhidheya refers to acting according to that

constitutional relationship, and prayojana is the ultimate goal of life,

which is to develop love of Godhead (prema pum-artho mahan). If one adheres

to the regulative principles under the order of the spiritual master, he

very easily achieves the ultimate goal of his life. A person who is addicted

to the chanting of the Hare Krsna mantra very easily gets the opportunity to

serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead directly. There is no need for such

a person to understand the grammatical jugglery in which Mayavadi sannyasis

generally indulge. Sri Sankaracarya also stressed this point: na hi na hi

raksati dukrn karane. "Simply by juggling grammatical suffixes and prefixes

one cannot save himself from the clutches of death." The grammatical word

jugglers cannot bewilder a devotee who engages in chanting the Hare Krsna

maha-mantra. Simply addressing the energy of the Supreme Lord as Hare and

the Lord Himself as Krsna very soon situates the Lord within the heart of

the devotee. By thus addressing Radha and Krsna, one directly engages in His

Lordship's service. The essence of all revealed scriptures and all knowledge

is present when one addresses the Lord and His energy by the Hare Krsna

mantra, for this transcendental vibration can completely liberate a

conditioned soul and directly engage him in the service of the Lord.

 

 

 

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu presented Himself as a grand fool, yet He maintained

that all the words that He had heard from His spiritual master strictly

followed the principles stated by Vyasadeva in Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.7.6).

 

anarthopasamam saksad bhakti-yogam adhoksaje

 

lokasyajanato vidvams cakre satvata-samhitam

 

"The material miseries of a living entity, which are superfluous to him, can

be directly mitigated by the linking process of devotional service. But the

mass of people do not know this, and therefore the learned Vyasadeva

compiled this Vedic literature [srimad-Bhagavatam], which is in relation to

the Supreme Truth." One can overcome all misconceptions and entanglement in

the material world by practicing bhakti-yoga, and therefore Vyasadeva,

acting on the instruction of Sri Narada, has very kindly introduced

Srimad-Bhagavatam to relieve the conditioned souls from the clutches of

maya. Lord Caitanya's spiritual master instructed Him, therefore, that one

must read Srimad-Bhagavatam regularly and with scrutiny to gradually become

attached to the chanting of the Hare Krsna maha-mantra.

 

The holy name and the Lord are identical. One who is completely free from

the clutches of maya can understand this fact. This knowledge, which is

achieved by the mercy of the spiritual master, places one on the supreme

transcendental platform. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu presented Himself as a fool

because prior to accepting the shelter of a spiritual master He could not

understand that simply by chanting one can be relieved from all material

conditions. But as soon as He became a faithful servant of His spiritual

master and followed his instructions, He very easily saw the path of

liberation. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's chanting of the Hare Krsna mantra must

be understood to be devoid of all offenses. The ten offenses against the

holy name are as follows: (1) to blaspheme a devotee of the Lord, (2) to

consider the Lord and the demigods to be on the same level or to think that

there are many gods, (3) to neglect the orders of the spiritual master, (4)

to minimize the authority of scriptures (Vedas), (5) to interpret the holy

name of God, (6) to commit sins on the strength of chanting, (7) to instruct

the glories of the Lord's name to the unfaithful, (8) to compare the

chanting of the holy name with material piety, (9) to be inattentive while

chanting the holy name, and (10) to be attached to material things in spite

of chanting the holy name.