Safeguard against Namaparadhas

"As we have already heard, the nine ways of devotion are comparatively far more powerful than the rest of the sixty-four ways of practicing devotion. Even, amongst the ninefold ways of devotion 'Nama-Sankirtan' tops the list. It is the cream churned out of all the devotional activities."

Among 64 types of devotion 9 is supreme. And among the 9 sravana, kirtana, arcana, vandana, smarana, dasya, sakhya, atma-nivedana. Out of them Nama-sankirtan is the foremost.

"No other course is so potent as this one."

Nama sankirtan is more superior to all the other matters of worship.

"This course of Nama-Sankirtan, as the verse expresses is to be performed free from all the offences. Nama-Sankirtan of the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna is capable of bringing to us the thrilling experiences of Divine Love. The following verse speaks about the efficacies of one single utterance of the Name of the Lord. All the accumulated heaps of our sins committed in the present, as well as previous births are destroyed by the power of a single utterance of the Name and awakens ardent devotion, the cause of Prem. By the appearance of Prem, he is favoured with all the accompanying experience of incessant flow of tears, shivering, hair standing on end, etc. He is not in the least affected by worldliness and is blessed with the eternal loving service of Sri Krishna."

sri-krsna gopala hare mukunda govinda he nanda-kisora krsna
ha sri-yasoda-tanaya prasida sri-ballavi-jivana radhikesa
(brhad-bhagavatamrta 2.4.7)

krsna krsna, gopinatha gokula-nandana
vrndavana candra, vrajaramani jivana
"krsna krsna" saranama-e dui aksara
eka krsna name haya koti grantha phala
(krsna-prema-tarangini)

If we repeat one Krsna namam it is equal to reading crores of scriptures.

'krsna-nama' kare aparadhera vicara
krsna balile aparadhira na haya vikara
tad asma-saram hrdayam batedam
yad grhyamanair hari-namadheyaih
na vikriyetatha yada vikaro
netre jalam gatra-ruhesu harsah
(s. bha. 2.3.24)

'eka' krsna-name kare sarva-papa nasa
premera karana bhakti karena prakasa
premera udaye haya premera vikara
sveda-kampa-pulakadi gadgadasrudhara
anayase bhava-ksaya, krsnera sevana
eka krsna-namera phale pai eta dhana
hena krsna-nama yadi laya bahu-bara
tabu yadi prema nahe, nahe asrudhara
tabe jani, aparadha tahate pracura
krsna-nama-bija tahe na kare ankura
caitanya-nityanande nahi esaba vicara
nama laite prema dena, vahe asrudhara
svatantra isvara prabhu atyanta udara
tanre na bhajile kabhu na haya nistara

Now he says:

"Even after uttering such a highly potential Name again and again, if one fails to achieve the spiritual experience of unalloyed love for the Lord, it may be only on account of the existence of too many offences in him. The seed of Sri Krishna Nama never sprouts in the heart of one who commits offences against the Name. But Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu and Sri Nityananda Prabhu, Who are quite independent, are very munificent and do not at all take into consideration the aspirant's offences. If one utters Sri Krishna Nama, They immediately and invariably impart to him loving devotion, which causes floods of tears to gush out of his eyes. If one does not adopt Both of Them as his Sole Resort, there is no salvation for him. According to Padma Purana, there are ten offences that an aspirant is likely to commit against the Name."

Every Nama reader and follower of Hari-namam - they should know this. "These offences if not nipped in the bud." When? At an earliest we must stop committing offence. Then if we don't do that we will postpone the realisation of the fruit of Sri-Nama-sankirtan which is Krsna prema. Now, if we are not serious regarding the offences, if we commit offence and never care to stop further committing offences, then he says, the result of Nama-sankirtana which is Krishna-prema he cannot get. He cannot get Krsna-prema.

"Aspirants indulging in such offences will not taste the incomparable Bliss flowing from the Eternal Fount of Sri Krishna Nama. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, in spite of all the liberal sanctions He had made in favour of the Holy Name, insisted on all to take the Name without committing any offence against It."

The first offence

To disparage Sadhus or Absolute-realised souls."

We must not blame them, we must not hurt them.

"Speaking ill of sadhus, publishing false scandals about them, causing harm or injury to their persons, or adopting other violent methods, like disrespecting them, speaking harsh and impolite words to them, form an offence against the Name. Treating a genuine Sadhu on the same level as that of a non devotee, also comes under the same category of offence. Most people are ignorant of the meaning of the word 'Sadhu'. They take it in a very light and general way; but, really the word 'Sadhu' indicates a Bhakta of Sri Hari, who, like the Lord, is a living embodiment of eternal qualities, viz., existence, knowledge and bliss.

On a careful scrutiny of the religious trends in India, we come across with two different groups of people. From time immemorial, they are pursuing two different courses of approach to realise the Absolute Truth. One group follows an indirect course of ascending process, depending foundations. They give a good deal of lip-loyalty to some of the selected Sastras which they interpret to suit their purpose. According to them, the Absolute is void of any specialities, Name, Form, Quality, Activity, or Entourage. It is designated as the undifferentiated and unqualified Brahman, Who is indescribable in positive terms and hence explained in the Sastras in negative terms. Whereas, the other group, adopt a direct course of descending process and through complete surrender and love to the Supreme Lord, they proceed. They are fully confident of their utter helplessness in realising the Godhead by dint of their researches and efficiency. Forgetting their ego and depending solely upon His Mercy they realise Him as a Transcendental Person abundantly rich with all auspicious qualifications, possessing an Eternal Form - a Miracle of Beauty - with sweet Names. They assert with all emphasis that He by His causeless Mercy manifests Himself in the uncontaminated life of a fortunate individual and makes him fit for positively describing Him in a language that is intelligible to persons who are not envious of His Transcendental Svarup.

A majority of the prominent section of our religious population belongs to the first group. Those few who are following the second group are termed as ‘Bhaktas’. To them Bhagavan, Bhakti, and Bhakta are eternal objects. They do not destroy the eternally distinct positions of these three by merging them into one which is none of the three. To place the followers of these two methods having fundamentally opposite views into one class is a grave offence against the Holy Name. A genuine devotee of the Lord, mentioned in the second category is not an aspirant for wealth, luxuries, or name and fame; no, not even for the realisation of any of the five kinds of liberation. He is exclusively engaged in the constant chant of the Holy Name. The service of the Divine Name is the very essence of his existence. He never expects anything in return from the Lord. ‘Love is Its Own reward’. This offence committed against the Sadhus is of a grave nature because the Glory of the Holy Name comes down to this material world through the medium of these Bhaktas. It is their mercy that helps us to derive the benefit of hearing the Divine Name or even realising Godhead. They are the greatest and real benefactors of humanity who save us from the innumerable sufferings of this world of imperfections. They are the living embodiments of the Mercy of the Supreme Lord; His most favourite associates, dearer than His Own Self. As such, He would not tolerate any wrongs, however insignificant they may be, to these devotees.

"No wonder, that those foolish people who misidentify themselves with their gross body would disparage a Sadhu. All Bhaktas are above malice. They are ever-forbearing of any misdeed committed against them. But, the holy dust of their feet never tolerates such offensive actions of these foolish people. They bring doom upon the offenders. Disparaging great Bhaktas is in the very nature of these sure infidels; because, thereby they dig their own graves.""Guided by a malicious propensity, due to the prevalence of excessive Rajas quality in them, they are lustful, cruelminded like the venomous serpents, irrepressibly arrogant, vainglorious, and awfully disposed to sins; these proud people, the unfortunate victims of the baser elements of humanity, laugh at the devotees of the Lord." "Those wicked people puffed up with the vanities of wealth, lordliness, learning, high lineage, charity, personal complexion, physical ability, the performance of Vedic sacrifices, deprived of any wisdom in them indiscriminately slander the Supreme Lord Sri Hari and His devotees."

sriya vibhutyabhijanena vidyaya
tyagena rupena balena karmana
jata-smayenandha-dhiyah sahesvaran
sato 'vamanyanti hari-priyan khalah

Second Offence

To regard Sri Vishnu as absolutely different from His auspicious Names, Form, Qualities, etc., or to treat Him on a par with the other lesser gods,

sri visnu sakasat siva namadeh svatantry amananam

constitutes an offence. Sri Krishna is the Supreme Godhead, the Transcendental Autocrat. He is the Prime Cause of all other causes, the God of all gods, and the Origin of all objects and entities. All other gods are powerful owing to the inspiration they receive from Him. They are all delegated with certain powers by Him. Just as even a costly and highly powerful electric bulb is of no use without current from the power-house, even so, deprived of Sri Krishna's energy, all these gods are powerless entities. Sri Krishna is the Transcendental Power-house from Whom all these gods receive inspiration. Some of the Upanishads have impressively illustrated this fact by a certain incident. No doubt, these minor gods are more powerful than the most powerful man in this world; but they too are subject to the influence of time. They do take birth and though they live for more number of years than we all, they are also to leave this world one day. Sri Hari is free from these transitory influences. He is ever existing above the influence of the time factor, birth, growth, or death. To treat Him as on a par with the other gods who are not independent and who receive strength from Him is an offence against the Holy Name. "O King! God Siva is always united with his Sakti (Durga or Maya). He is associated with the three Gunas. The quality of Tamas is his predominant attribute. Being associated with the three Gunas, viz., Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas, he is called ‘Trilinga’." "On the other hand, Bhagavan Sri Hari is the Supreme Godhead, beyond Prakriti and fully free from the material qualities. He is the Omniscient Lord, the Supreme Witness of all hearts. Those who worship Him get freed from the Gunas and attain His sublime state being void of material attributes.

Third Offence

Disregarding the spiritual preceptor.218 He who performs the chant of Sri Hari-Nama at all times is the real preceptor. Such a spiritual master has no other function, even for a fraction of a moment, than the chanting of the Name of 'Sri Hari'. He is the greatest exponent of the Holy Name. The Guru, though he appears before us, talks to us in our language, dresses like us, takes food like others, and behaves with us like a human being, is not an ordinary mortal, but he is purely a transcendental personage. An aspirant to the chanting of Nama, and desirous of achieving success in his efforts, should treat the Guru as a merciful converter of all our evil propensities, erroneous notions, and whimsical behaviours. Unhesitatingly and whole-heartedly, we should obey the commands of our Guru. The advice of the Guru should be obeyed unconditionally without any discrimination. Therein lies the duty of the disciple, his real status. Discarding the Guru and his words of advice, no disciple can realise the Absolute Truth. Deprived of the mercy of the divine Guru, a disciple's endeavours do not fructify. The Name of the Lord never manifests on the tongue of one who disregards his Sad-Guru. "O King! The qualities of Rajas and Tamas are to be conquered by means of the quality of Sattva, which again is to be subdued by indifference to mundane affinities. But, by the grace of the spiritual master, one can easily conquer all these undesirable qualities. He who treats his divine master - a visible manifestation of the Supreme Lord on the mundane plane, and who imparts spiritual knowledge, as an ordinary human being, is doomed for ever. All that he has heard from his Guru or all that he has studied from the Sastras become utterly futile like an elephant's bath."

Fourth Offence

Speaking too lightly or contemptuously of the sacred and infallible Sastras. The Sastras are not the creations of any mortal. They originate directly from the Supreme Lord Himself; accordingly, they are understood by the wise as self-revealed truths. Sri Vyasadev, one of the Manifestations of the Lord expounded and expanded the same for the enlightenment of the ignorant world. "People who are under the influence of Maya, have no recollection of Sri Krishna or the knowledge about Him. Hence, for the benefit of those forgotten souls, Sri Krishna has manifested out of His Mercy, the Vedas and Puranas." Ignorant souls are always under the influence of numerous erroneous notions. They are utterly ignorant of their eternal welfare and the effective methods to retrieve it. They are mostly indifferent too. Guided by everchanging views, sometimes they whole-heartedly support complete renunciation while at other times, they run mad after material objects and their enjoyments. For saving these fallen souls from such a pitiable condition and to show them proper light as to their duties, responsibilities, real nature, and their relationship, the Merciful Lord has manifested by His sweet Will, the great Sastras. They do not contain any record of the defective and deceptive arguments and conclusions of human brains.

"From the very breath of the Supreme Person, Isvar, have originated the four Vedas, the great epics, all the Puranas, Upanishads, Sloka, Sutras, Anuvyakhya, etc." "This knowledge of the Brahman, the basis of all other types of learning, was originally taught by Brahma, the primal god, creator, and protector of this world to Atharvan, his first-born son." "When these Transcendental Words giving all the detailed knowledge about My proper Self, were totally lost in course of time during the great deluge, once again at the beginning of the creation I explained the very same Truth to Brahma."

kalena nasta pralaye vaniyam veda-samjnita
mayadau brahmane prokta dharmo yasyam mad-atmakah
(srimad-bhagavata 11.14.3)

"Srimad Bhagavata dealing with the Pastimes of the Lord must be specially honoured; but on no account other Sastras should be treated with contempt."

sraddham bhagavate sastre 'nindam anyatra capi hi
mano-vak-karma-dandam ca satyam sama-damav api
(srimad-bhagavata 11.3.26)

"Thou art the Supreme Origin, the very Life behind all the senses like eyes, ears, etc. Thou art the Selfevident Knowledge. Thou art Its Exponent Sri Krishna Dvaipayan Vedavyas. Thou art the Source of all the Sastras and hence, the wise address Thee as the Sastra-Yoni. Thou art the Propounder of scriptures, the veritable Nigama that speaks of both Pravritti (path of attachment to worldliness) and Nivritti (path of renunciation from worldly pleasures). We offer our prostrations to Thee again and again."

namah pramana-mulaya kavaye sastra-yonaye
pravrttaya nivrttaya nigamaya namo namah
(srimad-bhagavata 10.16.44)

Fifth Offence

To be under the impression that the whole Glory of the Divine Name explained in the Sastras is merely an exaggeration far from the real facts.

hari nāma mahimni artha vādamātra me taditi mananam

"Knowers of the truth of this mundane world, such as Manu. etc., are not Mahajans or saints in the spiritual spheres. Their intellect is badly

bewildered by the influence of Maha Maya. The honeyed flowery words of the three Vedas have benumbed their mentality to such a pitch that it is greatly entangled in the shackles of fruitive actions. They are of opinion that the praises on the efficacy of the Holy Name are simply hyperbolic."

prayena veda tad idam na mahajano 'yam
devya vimohita-matir bata mayayalam
trayyam jadi-krta-matir madhu-puspitayam
vaitanike mahati karmani yujyamanah
(srimad-bhagavata 6.3.25)

"Greatly confused and distracted by the flowery words of the Vedas without understanding their hidden meaning, the proud and the greedy do not find any relish in My Topics." "O King! Just as a pot polluted by the bad smell of wine is not purified even by the efforts of all the rivers put together, even so, the various expiations mentioned in the Sastras relating to fruitive works, however great or powerful they may be, cannot purify a fallen soul averse to Sri Narayana." "O Supreme Being! The Lord of my soul! Practice of complete silence, observance of vows, hearing of the scriptures, asceticism, study of the Vedas, practice of daily duties, exposition of the Vedic aphorisms, solitary life, muttering of Mantras and deep absorption in meditation - all these practices of attaining liberation are very often employed as the means of livelihood by those, who are the slaves of their senses, but for arrogant persons it is extremely doubtful whether these will be of any use or not."

Sixth Offence

Taking all the efficacious and incomparable Names of the Lord as imaginary. Most people are given to a belief that Godhead has no Name. They are of opinion that any object with a name or form is the production of Maya. They are perfectly right in their view as far as objects of the mundane world are concerned. But, their opinion on Transcendental Object is totally mistaken. They make a gross confusion in treating both Transcendental and material on the same level.

Seventh Offence

Committing sins repeatedly and intentionally on the strength of the Name. After listening to the marvellous Glories of the Divine Name, none should continue with their loath-some activities and sinful tendencies, knowingly or unknowingly. A firm conviction on the efficacy of the Name is highly praise-worthy and most needed by all. The Divine Name, by chanting which Divine Love is achieved, should never be used for destroying one's sins. Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu, while at Navadvip, converted two rowdies - Jagai and Madhai, overnight into great saints, an incident that revolutionised both men and gods. According to the records of the court of justice, there were no sins that these two did not commit before their conversion. By some accident, these two had to face Sriman Mahaprabhu. In a couple of minutes, both became His slaves, i.e., were transformed into ideal devotees. They surrendered unconditionally to Him; by His causeless Mercy they were filled with remorse and were ultimately reformed. He promised to them that He would see that they will not even have to bear the consequences of the sins of their crores of births, on condition that they should not commit sins again. He got an assurance from them to that effect. He said, "You must not commit any more sins." They replied, "We would not do it again."

"ara nare bapa"

From then onwards, they started chanting Sri Krishna-Nama and became great devotees of Sriman Mahaprabhu.

Eighth Offence

Regarding the Holy Name in the same category as that of all other religious practices, such as moral duties, religious vows, renunciation, sacrifice, etc. Chanting of Sri Hari-Nama is His direct service. Sankirtan should not be compared with other practices. “One utterance of the Name "Krishna" is more beneficial than the performance of even crores of horse-sacrifices. Yama - the god of death will punish that infidel, who compares a single utterance of Sri Krishna-Nama with even crores of horse-sacrifices.” Altruistic or utilitarian activities that are often advertised as the sole purpose of human life, are useful so far as the attainment of material happiness, which is transitory. Not even an iota of spiritual sincerity can be felt in any of those acts, what to speak of pleasing the Lord? Inattentiveness while chanting the Name must be avoided at all costs. Diligence in uttering Sri Krishna-Nama will assuredly hasten the achievement of Sri Krishna Prem.

Ninth Offence

Imparting the Holy Name to persons who Have no faith in and are averse to chanting the Holy Name and who are irreligious from their very

birth, constitutes an offence. The Holy Name should not be immotives, such as receiving money, earning a name and fame, etc., as that would amount to a misuse of the Holy Name. A person who is ignorant of the true nature of the Divine Name, and is not only of a receptive disposition but also very anxious to hear and practise it, may be enlightened on the Glories of the Holy Name, according to his capacity and all efforts should be made to inspire him with faith in the Name and the necessity for chanting It with faith.

Tenth Offence

Want of taste for the chanting or hearing of the Name owing to extreme addiction to worldliness even after listening the Excellences of the Name repeatedly is one of the extremely grave offences that we are prone to commit. This attachment to the physical body and the pursuit of worldly pleasures detracts the mind from its true function of devotion to the Name and provokes us to commit offences very often. The commission of the Namaparadhas must under all circumstances, be eschewed by the aspirant. There should be no bargaining with the Holy Name for worldly gains. The Name must be uttered for Its Own Sake. The aspirant should chant the Name in a spirit of self-surrender, invoking at every step the blessings of his spiritual master, and make strenuous efforts depending upon the Mercy of the Divine Name to free himself from the aforesaid offences. At every moment he must be conscious of his insignificant position and from the bottom of his heart, wail aloud for help from the Divine Lord. An ardent longing and a sincere prayer from the depth of his heart can never result in nothing. Bhagavan is an Embodiment of Mercy. He is always moved by the sincere entreaties of a helpless person. He is the Lord of the destitute and forsaken. If the entreaties are from an anguished heart, drenched with genuine tears the Lord will never remain adamant. He saves him from all the offences."

We must very carefully realise this. Namaparadha, offences, 10 offences. We must be very careful so that we may not commit offences. Any one of them. And of course, it is natural that we are insignificant souls. We are not pure. We are not steady, but we are sinners, we are offenders, maybe. But we must be regular in repeating Namam and repeating Namam will clear these offences.

We cannot clear the offences and repeat namam. Impossible. In this life we cannot. We may be committing these offences, but our aim should be:

"O Lord, please bless me so that I may not repeat the offence again and again."

That should be the aim of the devotee. If a beginner, those who repeat Namam, start repeating namam, they may commit offences. All these offences, 10 offences and 1000 offences will be cleared by the mercy of the Lord and the Name, because there is no difference between the name and the Lord. If we repeat Namam Lord is hearing and

"Lord will bless me, and he will correct me, my position, all my offences he will clear and then I will be happy."

So, we must... Of course there are offences. We have to know this. And in order to destroy these offences we ourselves have no power, so we always depend upon the Lord. The Lord and the Name are the same. And if we depend upon the Lord, Lord will bless me, so that easily I can destroy my offences.

vancha-kalpa tarubhyas ca krpa-sindhubhya eva ca
patitanam pavanebhyo vaisnavebhyo namo namah

We must do bhajan at the lotus feet of the Lord. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna.