GLORIES OF HOLY NAMES
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura is quoted in Sri Bhaktisiddhanta Vaibhava:
Srinama-sankirtana is the best sadhana. If other sadhanas help us in Krishna-sankirtana, then
they deserve to be called sadhana; otherwise they are simply imp ediments to sadhana. Sri-
Krishna-nama-sankirtana is the emperor of sadhanas. It is the only infallible sadhana capable of
bringing us to siddhi.
In CC, Lord Caitanya stresses nāma-saṅkīrtana:
"Then the Bhaṭṭācārya asked Caitanya Mahāprabhu, 'Which item is most important
in the execution of devotional service?' The Lord replied that the most important item
was the chanting of the holy name of the Lord [nāma-saṅkīrtana]." (CC Madhya
6.241)
“Of the nine processes of devotional service, the most important is to always chant
the holy name of the Lord [nāma-saṅkīrtana]. If one does so, avoiding the ten kinds
of offenses, one very easily obtains the most valuable love of Godhead.” (CC Antya
4.71)
“ ‘Let there be all victory for the chanting of the holy name of Lord Kṛṣṇa, which can
cleanse the mirror of the heart and stop the miseries of the blazing fire of material
existence. That chanting is the waxing moon that spreads the white lotus of good
fortune for all living entities. It is the life and soul of all education. The chanting of the
holy name of Kṛṣṇa expands the blissful ocean of transcendental life. It gives a
cooling effect to everyone and enables one to taste full nectar at every step.’” (CC
Antya 20.12)
Haridasa Thakura relieves Lord Caitanya from his anxiety about the sinful condition
of the living entities in this Kali-yuga by glorifying the holt of the holy name in Cc.
Antya, Chapter 3:
Text 60: “ ‘If a devotee once utters the holy name of the Lord, or if it penetrates his
mind or enters his ear, which is the channel of aural reception, that holy name will
certainly deliver him from material bondage, whether vibrated properly or improperly,
with correct or incorrect grammar, or properly joined or vibrated in separate parts. O
brāhmaṇa, the potency of the holy name is therefore certainly great. However, if one
uses the vibration of the holy name for the benefit of the material body, for material
wealth and followers, or under the influence of greed or atheism — in other words, if
one utters the name with offenses — such chanting will not produce the desired
result very soon. Therefore one should diligently avoid offenses in chanting the holy
name of the Lord.’ ”
1) Any person who is chanting the holy names of Krishna in course of time feels
transcendental pleasure and very quickly becomes purified of all material contamination.”
2) Simply by properly doing our japa daily, we can be freed from the reactions to all sinful
activities.
3) We cannot become fully Krishna conscious without chanting good quality rounds daily.
Chanting is the most powerful way to become Krishna conscious.
4) Our strength is in following the regulative principles and chanting 16 rounds japa.
5) Everyone begins his devotional life from the neophyte stage, but if one properly finishes
chanting the prescribed number of rounds of hari-nama, he is elevated step by step to the
highest platform, uttama-adhikari. – Nectar of Instruction
6) Of all the regulative principles, the spiritual master’s order to chant at least sixteen
rounds is most essential.
7) Minimum 16 rounds have to be chanted. Constant chanting should be our goal.
8) When Japa is not done with love and attention there is often no observable spiritual or
material result. However this same Japa, done with love and attention, will enable us to
perform all other devotion practices in pure a manner, also with love and attention. –
9) There is no such requirement that japa should be done silently and chanting should be
done differently. Loudly or silently, everything is all right. There is no such restriction. Only
thing is that we should chant very attentively, hearing the vibration very distinctly.
10) Your japa beads are your ticket back to Godhead.
11) The holy name of Krishna is so attractive that anyone who chants it — including all living
entities, moving and nonmoving, and even Lord Krishna Himself — becomes imbued with
love of Krishna. This is the effect of chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra.
Chaitanya Caritamrta, Antya Lila 3.268,
Srila Prabhupada
12) The ultimate goal of Bhakti is to get Krishna and we get it by taking shelter of the holy
name.
13) To chant the holy name and dance in ecstasy is so easy and sublime that one can
achieve all the benefits of spiritual life simply by following this process.
Srimad Bhagavatam 6.2.11,
Srila Prabhupada.
14) Of sacrifices I am the chanting of the holy names [japa].
Bhagavat Gita 10.25
15) In this material world there are only two representatives of the Supreme Personality of
Godhead; the transcendental sound vibration of the Holy Name and his eternally
transcendental deity incarnation.
16) Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama
Rama, Hare Hare. In Kali-yuga, if this Vedic maha-mantra is chanted regularly and heard
regularly by the devotional process of shravanam kirtanam, it will purify all societies, and
thus humanity will be happy both materially and spiritually.
Srimad Bhagavatam 4.18.14,
Srila Prabhupada.
17) Cut the Anarthas with Scissor of Holy names of the Lord.
18) Cleanliness is essential for making advancement in spiritual life. There are two kinds of
cleanliness: external and internal. External cleanliness means taking a bath, but for internal
cleanliness one has to think of Krishna always and chant Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna
Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. This process cleans the
accumulated dust of past karma from the mind.
Bhagavad Gita 13.8-12,
Srila Prabhupada.
19) One need only chant the Hare Krishna mahamantra. Everyone engaged in the practice of
chanting the Hare Krishna mahamantra will be completely cleansed, from the core of his
heart, and be saved from the cycle of birth and death.
Srimad Bhagavatam 7.6.1,
Srila Prabhupada.
20) You just accept the holy name, then Nityananda Prabhu will be responsible for taking
you across this material world.
21) One who chants the holy name of the Lord is immediately freed from the reactions of
unlimited sins, even if he chants indirectly [to indicate something else], jokingly, for musical
entertainment, or even neglectfully. This is accepted by all the learned scholars of the
scriptures.
Srimad Bhagavatam 6.2.14,
Srila Prabhupada
22) It is said, kali-kale nama-rupe krishna-avatara: Krishna descends in this Kali-yuga in the
form of His holy name — Hare Krishna, Hare Rama.
Srimad Bhagavatam 9.10.53,
Srila Prabhupada
23) The sound vibration of the Hare Krishna mantra, although presented in the ordinary
alphabet, should not be taken as mundane or material.
Srimad bhagavatam 4.9.4,
Srila Prabhupada.
24) The best means of spiritual realization is chanting the holy name of the Lord.
Bhagavad Gita 6.11-12,
Srila Prabhupada
26) Any person who is chanting the holy names of Krishna (Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna,
Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare) in course of
chanting without offenses feels some transcendental pleasure and very quickly becomes
purified of all material contamination.
Bhagavat Gita 9.2,
Srila Prabhupada.
27) Caitanya Mahaprabhu has recommended that everyone chant the Hare Krishna
mantra just to cleanse the dust from the heart. If the dust of the heart is cleansed away,
then one can actually understand the importance of the holy name.
Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 12,
Srila Prabhupada
28) Living beings who are entangled in the complicated meshes of birth and death can be
freed immediately by even unconsciously chanting the holy name of Krishna, which is feared
by fear personified. — Srimad Bhagavatam, 01.01.15.
29) Terrorist guns can kill the material body, but the Holy Name of the Lord can kill the
enemies within the mind of the person.
30) Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has recommended that everyone should chant the Hare Krishna
mantra just to cleanse the dust from the heart. If the dust of the heart is cleansed away,
then one can actually understand the importance of the holy name.
31) A Vaishnava bestows the priceless gift of the mahamantra, Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare/ Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. Simply by
chainting this mantra one can remain in a liberated state.
Krishna Consciousness,
The Matchless gift, Chapter-7,
Srila Prabhupada.
32) The holy name of Krishna has extraordinary spiritual potency because the name of God
is nondifferent from God Himself.
Sri Namamrita – The Nectar of the Holy Name,
Srila Prabhupada.
33) A Vaishnava bestows the priceless gift of the mahamantra, Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare/ Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. Simply by
chainting this mantra one can remain in a liberated state.
Krishna Consciousness,
The Matchless gift, Chapter-7,
Srila Prabhupada.
34) If we hear properly, the holy name will enter through our ears into the region of our
heart and shower down nectar. When we are lost in the ocean of nectar, we will see
Krishna.
35) The holy name of Krishna has extraordinary spiritual potency because the name of God
is nondifferent from God Himself.
Sri Namamrita – The Nectar of the Holy Name,
Srila Prabhupada.
Text 61: Nāmācārya Haridāsa Ṭhākura continued, “If one offenselessly utters the
holy name even imperfectly, one can be freed from all the results of sinful life.
Text 62: “ ‘O reservoir of all good qualities, just worship Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the purifier of all
purifiers, the most exalted of the personalities worshiped by choice poetry. Worship
Him with a faithful, unflinching mind, without duplicity and in a highly elevated
manner. Thus worship the Lord, whose name is like the sun, for just as a slight
appearance of the sun dissipates the darkness of night, so a slight appearance of
the holy name of Kṛṣṇa can drive away all the darkness of ignorance that arises in
the heart due to greatly sinful activities performed in previous lives.’
Text 63: “Even a faint light from the holy name of the Lord can eradicate all the
reactions of sinful life.
Text 64: “ ‘While dying, Ajāmila chanted the holy name of the Lord, intending to call
his son Nārāyaṇa. Nevertheless, he attained the spiritual world. What then to speak
of those who chant the holy name with faith and reverence?’
Text 65: “Because of even the faintest rays of the effulgence of the Lord’s holy
name, one can attain liberation. We can see this in all the revealed scriptures. The
evidence appears in the story of Ajāmila in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.”
Text 66: As Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu heard this from Haridāsa Ṭhākura, the
happiness within His heart increased, but as a matter of course, He still inquired
further.
Text 67: “On this earth there are many living entities,” the Lord said, “some moving
and some not moving. What will happen to the trees, plants, insects and other living
entities? How will they be delivered from material bondage?”
Text 68: Haridāsa Ṭhākura replied, “My dear Lord, the deliverance of all moving and
nonmoving living entities takes place only by Your mercy. You have already granted
this mercy and delivered them.
Text 69: “You have loudly chanted the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, and everyone, moving or
not moving, has benefited by hearing it.
Text 70: “My Lord, the moving entities who have heard Your loud saṅkīrtana have
already been delivered from bondage to the material world, and after the nonmoving
living entities like trees hear it, there is an echo.
Text 71: “Actually, however, it is not an echo: it is the kīrtana of the nonmoving living
entities. All this, although inconceivable, is possible by Your mercy.
Text 72: “When loud chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra is performed all over the
world by those who follow in Your footsteps, all living entities, moving and
nonmoving, dance in ecstatic devotional love.
