16 Reasons To Regularly Chant 'Nityananda'

August 22, 2002

BY BHAKTIRATNA SADHU SWAMI

16 reasons to regularly chant 'Nityananda' alongwith the chanting of the 'Gauranga' Mantra Maha-mantra.

[Note: Pancha-tattva Mantra has to be chanted before each round of maha-mantra as per the instructions of Shrila Prabhupada].

(1) BECAUSE GREAT ACHARYAS HAVE DONE IT IN THE PAST:

Cc Adi 11.33:

navadvipe purusottama pandita mahasaya, nityananda-name yanra mahonmada haya

Purusottama Pandita, a resident of Navadvipa, was the Krishna's eighth gopala, Stoka-Krsna for Vrindavan. He would become almost mad as soon as he chanted or heard the holy name 'Nityananda'.

Cc Adi 11.34

balarama dasa--krsna-prema-rasasvadi, nityananda-name haya parama unmadi

Balarama dasa always fully tasted the nectar of love of Krsna. Upon chanting or hearing the name of 'Nityananda', he would become extremely maddened.

(2) BECAUSE THE NAME 'NITYANANDA' IMMEDIATELY EVOKES PURE LOVE OF KRISHNA EVEN IN A SINFUL PERSON

Chaitanya-charitamrita Adi-lila 8.23:

'nityananda' balite haya krsna-premodaya;aulaya sakala anga,asru-ganga vaya.

"Simply by chanting the name 'Nityananda' one awakens his love for Krsna.

Thus all his bodily limbs are agitated by ecstasy of love of God, and tears flow from his eyes like the waters of the Ganges."

(3) BECAUSE ANYONE WHO EVEN HEARS 'NITYANANDA' ONCE CERTAINLY ACHIEVES KRISHNA

Chaitanya-bhagavata, Adi-khanda 9.385:

nityananda-hena bhakta sunile sravane; avasya paibe krsnacandra sei jane.

Shripada Madhavendera Puri states:

"If one simply hears the name 'Nityananda', he will most certainly attain the lotus feet of Lord Krishnacandra irrespective of any other consideration."

(4) BECAUSE WITHOUT NITYANANDA ONE CAN NEVER ACHIEVE THE MERCY OF GAURANGA EVEN AFTER WORSHIPING GAURANGA FOR A MINIMUM 100 LIVES

From Shri Navadvipa-dhama-mahatmya, Chp 4:

tumi yabe kara daya sei anayase; sri caitanya- pada paya prema-jale bhase.

Srila Jiva tells Lord Nityananda, "If You are merciful on someone, that person will effortlessly achieve the lotus feet of Lord Gauranga Mahaprabhu and thus drown in the ocean of pure ecstatic love for Lord Krsna.

tomara karuna vina gaura nahi paya, sata janma bhaje yadi gauranga hiyaya.

"But if someone does not get Your mercy, then such a person will never achieve Lord Gaura even if he or she worships Lord Gauranga for a minimum of 100 lifetimes."

Chaitanya-charitamrita Antya 6.131:

tomara krpa vina keha'caitanya' na paya;tumi krpa kaile tanre adhameha paya.

"No one can attain the shelter of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu without Your (Lord Nityananda's) mercy, but if You are merciful, even the lowest of men can attain shelter at His lotus feet."

(5) BECAUSE IF GAURANGA'S PUNISHES, NITYANANDA PROTECTS US BUT IF NITYANANDA PUNISHES THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO HOPE

From Shri Navadvipa-dhama-mahatmya, Chp 4: Jiva Goswami to Lord Nityananda:

gaura danta kara yadi tumi raksa kara, tumi yare danta kara gaura tara para.

"If Lord Gauranga punishes a devotee, You (Nityananda) protect him and somehow engage him in Gauranga's service (like in the example of Kala Krsnadasa), but if You punish a devotee, he eternally becomes estranged from Lord Gauranga."

(6) BECAUSE NITYANANDA'S NAME ARE FORM ARE FULL OF SUPREME ETERNAL BLISS

Chaitanya-bhagavata, Madhya-khanda 12.18:

name nityananda tumi, rupe nityananda; ei tumi nityananda rama murttimanta.

Lord Gauranga tells Lord Nityananda:

"Your name is Nityananda (eternally full of eternal bliss). Your form is also Nityananda (eternally full of eternal bliss). Your are Nityananda (unlimited bliss) in personified form because You are Lord Balarama Himself."

(7) BECAUSE WITHOUT NITYANANDA ONE CAN NEVER ACHIEVE RADHA-KRSNA AND VRINDAVNA-DHAMA

Chaitanya-charitamrita Adi 5.204:

jaya jaya nityananda-caranaravinda, yanha haite painu sri-radha-govinda

"All glory, all glory to the lotus feet of Lord Nityananda, by whose mercy I have attained Sri Radha-Govinda!"

Shrila Narottama das Thakura sings:

heno nitai vine bhai, radha-krishna paite nai

"Unless one worships Nityananda, one can never achieve Radha-Krsna."

nitae karuna habe vraje radha-krsna pabe

"If Nityananda is merciful,only then one will achieve the direct service of Radha-Krsna in Vraja."

(8) BECAUSE NO ONE IN THIS CREATION BUT ONLY NITYANANDA CAN BESTOW MERCY ON THE MOST FALLEN SOULS LIKE US

Chaitanya-charitamrita Adi 5.207:

emana nirghrna more keba krpa kare, eka nityananda vinu jagat bhitare

"Who in this creation but Lord Nityananda could show His mercy to such an abominable, comtemptible and the lowest person as me?

(9) BECAUSE LORD NITYANANDA BESTOWS MERCY WITHOUT EVEN CONSIDERING OUR QUALIFICATION

Chaitanya-charitamrita Adi 5.208-9:

preme matta nityananda krpa-avatara, uttama, adhama, kichu na kare vicara

"Because He is always fully intoxicated by ecstatic love for Lord Gauranga, He is an incarnation of causeless mercy. Thus He does not distinguish between the good and the bad people because He Himself is always intoxicated in pure love.

ye age padaye, tare karaye nistara, ataeva nistarila mo-hena duracara

"He indiscriminately delivers all those who simply fall down before Him.

Therefore He has delivered such a sinful and fallen person as me."

(10) BECAUSE LORD NITYANANDA IMMEDIATELY BESTOWS HIS TOPMOST MERCY PLEASED AT A SLIGHTEST SERVICE RENDERED BY US

Cc Adi 5.181:

bhaike bhartsinu muni, lana ei guna, sei ratre prabhu more dila darasana

"That night Lord Nityananda personally appeared to me in a dream in His most enchanting form and placed His lotus feet on my head and gave me eternal residence in Shri Vrindavana-dhama simply because I defended His glories and that of His intimate associate Minaketana Ramadasa while quarelling with my brother who had faith in Lord Gauranga but only a shadow of faith in Lord Nityananda." (WHAT A MERCIFUL LORD!)

(11) BECAUSE THE NAME 'NITYANANDA' IN A MANTRA ALSO

According to Jaiva Dharma all the names of Gauranga are actually mantras, and the Lord should be worshiped through these namatmaka- mantras. Thus the name 'Nityananda' is also actually a mantra and He should be worshiped by chanting this namatmaka-mantra.

(12) BECAUSE ANYONE WHO HAS NO RELATION WITH NITYANANDA BY THE REGULAR CHANTING OF HIS NAME HAS WASTED HIS LIFE AND IS JUST LIKE AN ANIMAL

se sambandha nahi ja'r, brtha janma gelo ta'r

sei pasu boro duracar

nitai na bolilo mukhe, majilo samsara-sukhe

vidya-kule ki koribe tar (Narottama das Thakura)

"Anyone who has not established his relationship with Nityananda Prabhu by chanting His name 'Nityananda' is understood to have spoiled his valuable human birth. Such a human being is actually an uncontrollable animal.

Because he never uttered the holy name 'Nityananda', he has become merged into so- called material happiness. What can his useless education and family tradition do to save him from the cycle of birth and death?"

(13) BECAUSE BY CHANTING NITYANANDA'S NAME SINFUL REACTIONS OF UNLIMITED NO. OF LIVES ARE IMMEDIATELY DESTROYED

Sri Navadvipa-dhama-mahatmya, Chp 1, states:

gauranga-nitai yei bale eka bara; ananta karama- dosa anta haya tara.

"The most fortunate person who chants the names Nityananda and Gauranga just once immediately destroys the unlimited sinful reactions accumulated for unlimited number of lives in the past."

(14) BECAUSE BY CHANTING NITYANANDA'S NAME, KRISHNA-PREM COMES SEARCHING AFTER THAT PERSON. ONE ACHIEVES KRISHNA- PREM EVEN WITH OFFENSES IN HIS HEART AND THEN OFFENSES FLEE. WHAT A SUBLIME AND EASY WAY TO GET KRISHNA-PREM.

nitai-caitanya bali yei jiva dake; suvimala krsna- prema anvesaye thake.

"If one feelingly and loudly calls out the names of Nityananda and Gauranga, the purest Krsna- prema (pure love of Krsna) comes searching after such a person."

aparadha badha tara kichu nahi kare; nirmala krsna-preme tara ankhi jhare.

"The offenses (which may be present) don't create any obstacles in path of achieving this love and tears start flowing from his eyes in pure ecstatic love."

svalpa kale aparadha apani palaya; hrdaya sodhita haya prema bade taya.

"In a very short, the offenses themselves flee and the heart becomes completely purified and thus the love furthur increases.

(15) BECAUSE IN THE NAME OF NITYANANDA THERE ARE NO OFFENSES

Cc Adi 8.31

caitanya-nityanande nahi esaba vicara, nama laite prema dena, vahe asrudhara

"But if one only chants, with some slight faith, the holy names of Lord Gauranga and Nityananda, very quickly he is cleansed of all offenses. Since in the chanting of the names of Nityananda- Gauranga there is no consideration of offenses, one will very quickly come to the stage of love of God, simply by chanting Their names and tears of pure love for Krishna will flow from the eyes."

PURPORT BY SRILA PRABHUPADA:

[...] There are offenses to be considered in chanting the Hare Krsna maha-mantra, but there are no such considerations in chanting the names of Gaura-Nityananda. Therefore, if one chants the Hare Krsna maha-mantra but his life is still full of sinful activities, it will be very difficult for him to achieve the platform of loving service to the Lord. But if in spite of being an offender one chants the holy names of Gaura-Nityananda, he is very quickly freed from the reactions to his offenses. Therefore, one should first approach Lord Caitanya and Nityananda, or worship Guru- Gauranga, and then come to the stage of worshiping Radha-Krsna. [...] One should first take shelter of Gaura-Nityananda in order to reach, ultimately, Radha-Krsna."

[...]"For an ordinary man, worship of Sri Caitanya and Nityananda Prabhu or the Panca-tattva is easier than worship of Radha and Krsna. Unless one is very fortunate, he should not be induced to worship Radha-Krsna directly. A neophyte student who is not sufficiently educated or enlightened should not indulge in the worship of Sri Radha and Krsna or the chanting of the Hare Krsna mantra. Even if he does so, he cannot get the desired result. One should therefore chant the names of Nitai-Gaura and worship Them without false prestige."

PURPORT BY SHRILA BHAKTISIDDHANTA SARASVATI THAKURA PRABHUPADA:

[...] "The Hare Krsna maha-mantra considers the offenses whereas the names of Gaura-Nityananda don't consider offenses. An offensive chanter will never achieve the fruit of chanting (pure love for Krsna) by chanting the Hare Krsna maha-mantra. Therefore till the time he is commiting offenses, he should chant the names of Gaura-Nityananda. Due the repeated chanting of the names of Gaura-Nityananda, the offenses will destroyed and he will achieve the fruit of chanting."

[...]"The name of Krsna and Gaura-Both are non- different than the named Lord. Those who think that Krsna is any way inferior or limited than Gaura are in gross ignorance. But in practical considerations with respect to benefit awarded to the conditioned souls, the chanting of Sri Gaura- Nityananda's Name is more useful and helpful for everyone. Krsna's mercy is generally only upon liberated or perfected souls who are surrendered to Him. But the magnanimity of Lord Gaura- Nityananda is especially for the souls who are offenders and full of anarthas and desires for material sense-gratification. The chanting of Lord Gaura-Nityananda's name and Their worship quickly delivers the soul from all the offenses and thus the soul achieves shelter at the lotus feet of Lord Gaura-Krsna."

(16) BECAUSE ONE CAN NEVER EVEN VISIT VRINDAVANA WITHOUT ACHIEVING THE MERCY OF NITYANANDA AND GAURANGA

Cc Adi 8.3 purport:

"In the beginning one should very regularly chant Sri Gaurasundara's holy name and then chant the holy name of Lord Nityananda. Thus one's heart will be cleansed of impure desires for material enjoyment. Then one can approach Vrndavana- dhama to worship Lord Krsna. Unless one is favored by Lord Caitanya and Nityananda, there is no need to go to Vrndavana, for unless one's mind is purified, he cannot see Vrndavana, even if he goes there."

The glories of Lord Nityananda as the incarnation of Lord Balarama, the origin of both the spiritual and material world, are given in the revealed scriptures as follows:

Vayu Purana

(1) balaramo mamaivamsah, so 'pi mat-prstham esyati;

nityananda iti khyato nyasi-cudamanih ksitau

In the Vayu Purana, the Lord tells Brahma: "Lord Balarama, who is My first expansion and non- different from Me will also appear by My side as Lord Sri Nityananda. He will become the crest jewel of all renunciants on the earth."

(2) krtvavadhuta-vesam sa, dharman bhagavatan bahun;

grahayitva janan ittham grhinam asramam tatah.

"Assuming the dress of an avadhuta, He will freely distribute bhagavata dharma i.e. love of God. He will distribute this pure love through various means and deliver all the living entities. He will do so first as a brahmacari and later as a householder."

(3) jahnavy-adibhir atmanam, darsayisyati manavan.

"Accompanied by His eternal consort Shrimati Jahnavi-devi and many other intimate associates, He (Nityananda) will reveal His transcendental pastimes to the people."

Ananta-Samhita

nityanando maha-kayo, bhutva mat-kirtane ratah;

vimudhan bhakti-rahitan, mama bhaktan karisyasi.

In the Ananta-Samhita, the Lord states to Anantadeva: "When I appear in Navadvipa in Kali-yuga, You will become Nityananda. You will have a very tall, beautiful and large body, and You will be constantly absorbed in chanting My name and glories. In this way, by Your causeless mercy You will convert many bewildered fools who are devoid of devotion into My pure unalloyed devotees."

Shri Chaitanya-Charitamrita, Adi 1.8-9

sankarsanah karana-toya-sayi

garbhoda-sayi ca payobdhi-sayi

sesas ca yasyamsa-kalah sa nitya-

nandakhya-ramah saranam mamastu

May Sri Nityananda Rama be the object of my constant remembrance.

Sankarsana, Sesa Naga and the Visnus who lie on the Karana Ocean, Garbha Ocean and ocean of milk are His plenary portions and the portions of His plenary portions.

mayatite vyapi-vaikuntha-loke

purnaisvarye sri-catur-vyuha-madhye

rupam yasyodbhati sankarsanakhyam

tam sri-nityananda-ramam prapadye

I surrender unto the lotus feet of Sri Nityananda Rama, who is known as Sankarsana in the midst of the catur-vyuha [consisting of Vasudeva, Sankarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha]. He possesses full opulences and resides in Vaikunthaloka, far beyond the material creation.

CONCLUSION:

One can worship Lord Nityananda in the topmost manner by chanting His name (atleast 1008 times or 10 rounds) daily and by daily reading (1 chapter of) Chaitanya-Bhagavata daily which is the topmost scripture on the glories of Lord Nityananda composed by His most confidential associate Shrila Vrindavana das Thakura. And also by daily worshiping the Deities of Lord Nitai- Gauranga! Nitai-Gaura Premanande!

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