Two Peerless Mantras

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!! Sri Rama Jayam !!

 

 

From the Sri Sanatkumara-samhita

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In the Sri Sanatkumara-samhita, from the ancient Skanda Purana, we

find a conversation between the great sage Sri Narada and Lord Siva.

Starting at text number 26 to text 30, Narada Muni asks Lord

Sadashiva, " O master please tell what method the people of Kali-yuga

may adopt to easily attain the transcendental abode of Lord Hari

[Krishna]. O Lord, what mantra will carry the people from this world

of birth and death? So everyone may benefit, please tell it to me. O

Lord, of all mantras what mantra needs no purashcharana, no nyasa,

no yoga, no samskara, and no other thing? A single utterance of the

Lord's holy name gives the highest result. O compassionate one, if I

am competent to hear it, please kindly tell me the Lord's holy

name. "

 

In texts 31-35 , Lord Sadashiva answers the following way: " O

fortunate one, your question is excellent. O you who wish for the

welfare of all, I will tell you the secret chintamani [wish-

fulfilling] jewel of all mantras. I will tell you the secret of

secrets, the most confidential of all confidential things. I will

tell you what I have not told either the goddess or your elder

brothers. I will tell you two peerless Krishna mantras that are the

crest-jewels of all mantras. One mantra is:

 

" 'Gopijana-vallabha-charanau sharanam prapadye.' (I take shelter of

the feet of He who is the gopi's beloved) This mantra has three

compound words, five individual words and sixteen syllables.

 

" The second mantra is: 'Namo gopijana-vallabhabhyam.' (Obeisances to

the divine couple, who are dear to the gopis) This mantra has two

words and ten syllables.

 

In texts 36-41, Lord Sadashiva continues: " One who either with faith

or without faith once chants this five-word mantra resides among

Lord Krishna's gopi-beloveds. Of this there is no doubt. In chanting

these mantras there is no need of purshcharana, nyasa, ari-shuddhi,

mitra-shuddhi, or other kinds of purification. In chanting these

mantras there is no restriction of time or place. All, from the

lowest outcaste to the greatest sage, are eligible to chant this

mantra. Women, shudras, and all others are eligible. The paralyzed,

mute, blind, and lame are eligible. The Andhras, Hunas, Kiratas,

Pulindas, Pukkashas, Abhiras, Yavanas, Kankas, Khashas, and all

others born from sinful wombs are also eligible. They who are

overcome with pride and ego, who are intent on committing sins, who

are killers of cows and brahmanas, and who are the greatest of

sinners, are also eligible. They who have neither knowledge nor

renunciation, they who have never studied the shruti-shastra and

other scriptures, and all others, whoever they may be, are also

eligible to chant these mantras. "

 

Then in texts 42-48 Lord Sadashiva explains who is not eligible and

who should not be told these sacred mantras or the purpose of

them: " Anyone who has devotion to Lord Krishna, the master of all

masters, is eligible to chant these mantras, but they who have no

devotion, even they may be the greatest of sages, are not eligible.

They who have performed many yajnas, given charity, visited all holy

places, been devoted to speaking the truth, accepted the renounced

order, traveled to the farther shore of the Vedas and Vedangas,

devotedly served the brahmanas, taken birth in good families, and

performed austerities and vows, but are not devoted to Lord Krishna,

are not eligible to chant these mantras. Therefore these mantras

should not be spoken to one who is not devoted to Lord Hari, nor to

one who is ungrateful, proud, or faithless, nor to an atheist or a

blasphemer. One should not speak these mantras to one who does not

wish to hear them, nor to one who has not stayed for one year in the

speaker's ashrama. One should carefully give these mantras to one

who is free from hypocrisy, greed, lust, anger, and other vices, and

who is sincerely devoted to Lord Krishna. The sage of this mantra is

Lord Sadashiva. The meter is Gayatri. The Deity is Lord Krishna, the

beloved of the gopis. The purpose is to attain service to dear Lord

Hari. "

 

In text 53 Lord Sadashiva says: " By once chanting this mantra one

attains success. Of this there is no doubt. Still, for the purpose

of chanting japa one should chant this mantra ten times daily. "

 

In texts 54-77 of the Sri Sanatkumara-samhita, Lord Sadashiva

describes the most nectarean meditation of the mantras, after which

he continues with many additional topics in regard to the pastimes

of Radha and Krishna and the importance of the land of Vrindavana:

 

" O best of brahmanas, now I will tell you the meditation of this

mantra. I meditate on two-armed Lord Krishna, who is dark like a

monsoon cloud, dressed in yellow garments, garlanded with forest

flowers... crowned with a peacock feather, and garlanded with lotus

whorls, whose face is splendid like ten million moons, whose eyes

move restlessly... whose forehead is marked with tilaka of sandal

paste and musk... who is splendid with earrings like two rising

suns, whose perspiration-anointed cheeks are like two glistening

mirrors... who with raised eyebrows playfully glances at His

beloved's face, the tip of whose graceful raised nose is decorated

with a glistening pearl... whose bimba-fruit lips are splendid in

the moonlight of His teeth, whose hands are splendid with bracelets,

armlets, and jewel rings... who holds a flute in His left lotus

hand, whose waist is splendid with a graceful belt, whose feet are

splendid with graceful anklets... whose eyes are restless with the

nectar of amorous pastimes, who jokes with His beloved, making Her

laugh again and again... and who stays with Her on a jewel throne

under a kalpa-vriksha tree in Vrindavana forest. In this way one

should meditate on Lord Krishna and His beloved. "

 

" On the Lord's left side one should meditate on Sri Radha, who is

dressed in blue garments, who is splendid like molten gold... who

with the edge of Her garment covers Her graceful lotus smile, whose

restless chakori-bird eyes dance on Her beloved's face... who with

Her forefinger and thumb places betel nuts and crushed betel leaves

in Her beloved's lotus mouth... whose full, raised breasts are

decorated with a glistening pearl-necklace, whose waist is slender,

whose broad hips are decorated with tinkling ornaments... who is

decorated with jewel earrings, finger rings, toe rings, bracelets,

armlets, and tinkling golden anklets... whose limbs are graceful

with the best of beauty, who is always in the prime of youth, and

who is always plunged in the nectar of bliss. O king of brahmanas,

Her friends, whose age and qualities are like Hers, devotedly serve

Her with chamaras, fans, and other articles. "

 

" Please hear, O Narada, and I will tell you the meaning of these

mantras. The material world is manifested by the Lord's maya potency

and other external potencies. The spiritual world is manifested by

the Lord's chit potency and other internal and everlasting spiritual

potencies. The protector of these potencies is said to be the gopi

Sri Radha, who is Lord Krishna's beloved. The transcendental goddess

Sri Radha is the direct counterpart of Lord Sri Krishna. She is the

central figure for all the goddesses of fortune. She is the pleasure

potency of Lord Krishna. The wise say that She is the pleasure

potency of Lord Krishna. Durga and the other goddesses in the world

of the three modes are a million-millionth part of one of Her

expansions. She is directly Goddess Maha-Lakshmi and Lord Krishna is

Lord Narayana. O best of sages, there is not the slightest

difference between Them. O best of sages, what more can I say?

Nothing can exist without them. This universe made of spirit and

matter together is Their potency. She is Durga and Lord Hari is

Shiva. Lord Krishna is Indra and She is Shachi. She is Savitri and

Lord Hari is Brahma. She is Dhumorna and Lord Hari is Yama. O

Narada, please know that everything is Their potency. Even if I had

many hundreds of years, I could not describe all Their glories. "

 

 

Hare Krishna

Hare Rama