Welcome to the Purely Prabhupada channel. This video series is called “Reality distinguished from illusion for the welfare of all.” My name is Kamra devi dasi, and I am a disciple of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada.
This is video number fifteen of the series. It is called “Shelter of the Holy Names.”
The world is in an upheaved condition. Division, political intrigues, information anomalies, societal disputes, violence, lies, more lies, cover-ups, things seem to shift by the minute. Even the most stoic of minds are becoming confused, doubtful, and irritated. What is solid? What is real? It feels that we are being tossed helplessly by a churning ocean of uncertainty. What can be held onto that is trustworthy? What can offer real shelter?
God, you might say. But of course…
We have prayed for heaven on earth, we have asked God for “the good old days,” we’ve asked God for peace, but it is feeling that everything is changing, there is no going back to what was, we cannot aspire for the recreation of it. It is gone. We try to hold onto what we knew, our childhood memories, what felt safe and nurturing, we want prosperity, we want ease, and now there seems to be no clarity of where things are going, only a dread of the possibilities. There is so much confusion. For things to change, we also must change our consciousness, reestablish our God Consciousness, and take accountability that we may have also had had something to do with the current situation because of the reactions to our own sinful activities. The Lord is pushing us by His inconceivable arrangements.
How many of us have prayed for something beyond material comfort? Like, “My Lord, Your will is being done, please let me see the perfection of it?” Or, “Dear Lord, use me as You desire?” Not many of us, I can assume. Unknown territory for most people, maybe too frightening for others. But yet, these are higher prayers than asking for material facilities. These are prayers of aligning our free will with the will of God. But even better than prayer is chanting the Holy Names of the Lord. It is easy to do, and gives great pleasure to both God and the chanter.
This chanting is also the topmost prayer, a prayer that addresses service to the Lord, our deep relationship with God, and invites God to dance on our tongues, as His Name is non-different from Himself. What greater shelter can there be? What could be more stable or stabilizing in these insane times?
I have briefly mentioned the following scriptural excerpts before, and here is some more detail.
Caitanya-Caritamrta is a multi-volume literature that describes the teachings and activities of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His associates when He appeared in India just over 500 years ago. Lord Caitanya is the Lord Himself, appearing in this world as a devotee of God to show the ideal example of how to serve God in utmost devotional purity.
In the middle section of this literature, Madhya-lila, chapter 6, text 241, a great devotee named Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya inquires from the Lord, “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.
Srila Prabhupada explains in his purport, or commentary, to this verse,
There are nine items to be executed in devotional service. These are enumerated in the following verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (7.5.23):
śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam
arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyaṁ sakhyam ātma-nivedanam
Hearing the glories of the Lord, chanting, remembering, serving the lotus feet of the Lord, offering worship in the temple, offering prayers, becoming a servant of the Lord, becoming the Lord’s friend, and sarvātma-nivedana, offering oneself fully at the lotus feet of the Lord — these are the nine devotional processes. In The Nectar of Devotion, these are expanded into sixty-four items. When Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya asked the Lord which item was most important, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu immediately answered that the most important item is the chanting of the holy names of the Lord — Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. He then quoted the following verse from the Bṛhan-nāradīya Purāṇa (thirty-eighth chapter, verse 126) to confirm His statement.
CC Madhya 6.242
harer nāma harer nāma
harer nāmaiva kevalam
kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva
nāsty eva gatir anyathā
“In this age of quarrel and hypocrisy, the only means of deliverance is the chanting of the holy names of the Lord. There is no other way. There is no other way. There is no other way.’ ”
Purport
Because the people of this age are so fallen, they can simply chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. In this way they can rid themselves of the bodily conception of life and become eligible to engage in the Lord’s devotional service. One cannot engage in the devotional service of the Lord without being purified of all contamination. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā (7.28):
“Persons who have acted piously in previous lives and in this life and whose sinful actions are completely eradicated are freed from the dualities of delusion, and they engage themselves in My service with determination.” Sometimes people are surprised to see young men and women take so seriously to the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. By giving up sinful activity — illicit sex, meat-eating, intoxication and gambling — and strictly following the injunctions given by the spiritual master, they have become purified of all contamination. They can therefore fully engage in the devotional service of the Lord.
In this Age of Kali, hari-kīrtana is very, very important. The importance of chanting the holy name of the Lord is stated in the following verses from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (12.3.51-52):
“The most important factor in this Age of Kali, which is an ocean of faults, is that one can be free from all contamination and become eligible to enter the kingdom of God simply by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. The self-realization that was achieved in the Satya millennium by meditation, in the Tretā millennium by the performance of different sacrifices, and in the Dvāpara millennium by worship of Lord Kṛṣṇa can be achieved in the Age of Kali simply by chanting the holy names, Hare Kṛṣṇa.”
In the Bible, Matthew 6:9, it is said, “Hallowed be Thy Name.” But nowhere does this Holy Name appear. We invite people of all cultures and backgrounds to please try the chanting of the Hare Krsna mahamantra. Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare.
There is more information at PurifyMyLife.com about chanting the Holy Names of the Lord. Please chant, and be happy with this process.
