Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu gave the process of chanting the Lord’s Holy Names to everyone in the Age of Kali. Chanting the Lord’s Name was started by many different religious experts long before Mahaprabhu’s appearance. We can see that chanting the Lord’s Holy Name is given in the Vedas and side by side in all religions. We can firmly say that the practice of chanting the Lord’s Name is the religion of all jiva-souls. All holy books confirm this, though there are different Names of the Lord chanted within different religions. I am very satisfied to see that all the religious leaders and Avatars of the Lord have given this one direction: «Chant the Lord’s Holy Name.»
Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has clearly given the very gist of religious life to everyone through His teaching of the practice of chanting the Lord’s Holy Names. Mahaprabhu has also shown everyone the proper mood necessary to perfect the practice. He has cautioned everyone that without the proper consciousness and mood the power flowing within the wave of the Lord’s Holy Name will not be felt in the heart, and the full form of the Holy Name’s transcendental existence will not be realised.
In His Siksastakam Mahaprabhu Sri Chaitanyadev explained the conception and mood needed to purely chant the Lord’s Holy Name. In His first verse He glorified Hari-nam-sankirtan and explained the effects of its power:
cheto-darpana-marjanam bhava-maha-davagni-nirvapanam
sreyah-kairava-chandrika-vitaranam vidya-vadhu-jivanam
anandambudhi-vardhanam prati-padam purnamrtasvadanam
sarvatma-snapanam param vijayate sri-krsna-sankirtanam
Here Mahaprabhu explains very cleanly and clearly that the first necessity for everyone is cheto-darpana-marjanam: cleaning the mirror of the mind. When we look into a dirty mirror we cannot see our figure, but when it is cleaned we can see ourselves clearly. When the jiva-soul is conditioned by the illusory environment, he forgets himself and his transcendental form as an eternal servitor of Lord Krishna. The dust of illusion covers the mirror of the jiva-soul’s mind and stops him from seeing clearly. Mahaprabhu teaches that the first step in spiritual life is to realise our true nature. When all the dust of illusion is removed through the practice of Hari-nam-sankirtan and the mirror of our mind is clean, we can clearly see our self and our proper existence. That is called atma-saksatkar: self-realisation. When that comes to us we will see that we are eternal jiva-souls and that Krishna is always living with us. We will see that we are members of the transcendental service world. Mahaprabhu says that by chanting the Holy Name we will get relief from the illusory environment, everything will be revealed to us, and we will realise our self’s natural property: full connection with the ocean of nectar that is the Lord’s eternal service.
This is a very clean conception and the gist of religious advice: «Param vijayate Sri Krsna-sankirtanam: Hari-nam-sankirtan is the supreme practice and will be glorious everywhere. If we can practise Hari-nam-sankirtan under the guidance of a real Vaisnava, it will be the best path and opportunity to reach our spiritual destiny. Through Krishna-sankirtan we will get everything, so chant the Lord’s Holy Names and clean your heart.»
In His second verse Mahaprabhu said,
namnam akari bahudha nija-sarva-saktis
tatrarpita niyamitah smarane na kalah
etadrsi tava krpa bhagavan mamapi
durdaivam idrsam ihajani nanuragah
Here Mahaprabhu taught us, «All of the Lord’s power is present in His Divine Name (nija-sarva-saktis tatrarpita). The Lord has manifested Himself for the benefit of the conditioned souls in the form of His Holy Name (Namnam akari) and given the conditioned souls a connection with Himself through His Name. Bahudha: the Lord has so many Names, and all of Them are empowered.»
When Mahaprabhu began His sankirtan movement with His students, He did not use the Hare Krishna mahamantra. He first instructed His students to chant:
‘haraye namah, krsna yadavaya namah
gopala govinda rama sri-madhusudana’65
For primary practitioners He taught that anyone can chant any Name of the Lord if they have honour, respect, and good feelings for that Name. Mahaprabhu Himself used to chant many different mantrams of the Lord’s Names.
krsna krsna krsna krsna krsna krsna krsna he!
rama rama rama rama rama rama rama he!
krsna kesava krsna kesava krsna kesava raksa mam!
rama raghava rama raghava rama raghava pahi mam!
The Hare Krishna mahamantra is the supreme mantram, no doubt. It has the highest and most exclusive position, and is best for the Age of Kali. Mahaprabhu specially distributed the Hare Krishna mahamantra to the world and wanted everyone to chant in that way. But He also taught that the Lord bestows His grace through all of His Names, and that anyone can chant any Name of the Lord and purify themselves.
The Lord has so many different Names:
visnur narayanah krsno vaikuntho vistarasravah
damodaro hrsikesah kesavo madhavah svabhuh
daityarih pundarikakso govindo garudadhvajah
pitambaro ’chyutah sarngi visvakseno janardanah
upendra indravarajas chakrapanis chaturbhujah
padmanabho madhuripur vasudevas trivikramah
devaki-nandanah saurih sri-patih purusottamah
vanamali bali-dhvamsi kamsaratir adhoksajah
Mahaprabhu taught that the Lord has manifested unlimited different Names of Himself in this world and has empowered all of Them with the power to rescue the conditioned souls. He explained that the Lord and His Holy Names are nondifferent, and that if anyone chants Them without offence, they will be liberated. Niyamitah smarane na kalah: Mahaprabhu did not give any restrictions regarding the time and place of chanting the Lord’s Holy Name. His only rule was that we must remember and chant the Holy Name at all times.
Then Mahaprabhu prayed,
etadrsi tava krpa bhagavan mamapi
durdaivam idrsam ihajani nanuragah
«O Lord, You have bestowed Your great mercy by appearing in this material world in the form of Your Holy Names, but I am very unfortunate: I still do not feel eagerness to chant Your Holy Names.»
Mahaprabhu had full attachment and attraction to Krishna and His Holy Name. Mahaprabhu felt the full association of Krishna through His Holy Name. So why does Mahaprabhu express that He does not have any attraction to Krishna? Because He was so deeply connected with Krishna through His Holy Name that He felt ever-increasing hankering for Krishna; He felt He needed more and more attachment to Krishna’s Holy Name. In divine ecstasy Mahaprabhu felt unsatisfied with the Lord’s revelation and His own position. He considered Himself unfortunate because He did not have a deeper connection with Krishna’s Holy Name. We can understand Mahaprabhu’s mood in this way, and we can understand that His expression in this verse is also a very important lesson for us.
With this verse Mahaprabhu also teaches the conditioned souls that the Holy Name is all-powerful — that the Holy Name has full ability to reveal Himself in our hearts — and that we will immediately feel the result of our chanting if we chant the Holy Name purely. Therefore, if we are not experiencing such revelation, if we are not feeling joyful progress in our hearts and minds, if our faith is not becoming firm, if everything is not being fulfilled through our devotional mood, and if we are not getting the association of the Lord through His Divine Name, then we must consider that our durdaiva, our great misfortune.
Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur explained that durdaiva means aparadh, offensive mentality. He explained that Mahaprabhu’s teaching for the conditioned souls in His second verse of the Siksastakam is that the Lord’s all-powerful Holy Name will not reveal Himself in our hearts if we have an offensive mood. Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur gave this explanation of Mahaprabhu’s expression with this verse from Srimad Bhagavatam:
tad asma-saram hrdayam batedam
yad grhyamanair hari-nama-dheyaih
na vikriyetatha yada vikaro
netre jalam gatra-ruhesu harsah
Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur put great emphasis on this verse. His explanation was, «One who hears the glories of the Lord’s Holy Name and chants the Lord’s Holy Name, but does not develop love and affection for the Holy Name, is a great offender with a stone-like heart. There must be something offensive in their heart, otherwise they would automatically feel love for Krishna and chant His Holy Name purely.»
Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur explained the phrase asma-saram, ‘stone-like heart’, by saying that the heart becomes stone-like when someone has a strong materialistic mentality: «I am my mundane body and everything that belongs to me is mine.» When someone has the materialistic mentality of «I, me, mine» their devotional practising life and chanting of the Lord’s Holy Name is mixed with offence. As there are different varieties of stone, some of which are harder than others, so the hearts of people are not equally hard; some persons’ hearts will melt sooner, and some persons’ hearts will melt later, though gradually everyone’s heart will melt, and everyone will feel love for the Lord’s Holy Name.
namaikam yasya vachi smarana-patha-gatam srotra-mulam gatam va
suddham vasuddha-varnam vyavahita-rahitam tarayaty eva satyam
tach ched deha-dravina-janata-lobha-pasanda-madhye
niksiptam syan na phala-janakam sighram evatra vipra66
The scriptures explain: «If anyone once hears, chants, or remembers the Lord’s Divine Name without any offence, they will be delivered from material existence immediately. If someone maintains their material connections and pursues mundane ends while they chant the Lord’s Holy Name, then the result of their chanting does not bear fruit quickly; it gradually comes to them.»
This verse gives us necessary consciousness about our practising life by showing us that our offensive mentality is our only obstacle in our chanting of the Holy Name, and that until we can avoid all offences we will not get the proper result of chanting the Holy Name. No one should be hopeless after hearing this caution. In this verse it is indirectly expressed that even if we chant with offences we will eventually get a good result from our chanting.
namaparadha-yuktanam namany eva haranty agham
«If we are chanting Nam-aparadh, chanting the Holy Name with offence, we should never stop our chanting because the Holy Name Himself will remove our offences by His divine influence.»
It is necessary to eagerly chant the Lord’s Holy Name and always be hopeful. We can always be hopeful because the Lord’s Holy Name is always joyful and merciful like Krishna Himself. In this way we can understand Mahaprabhu’s teaching that if you want to chant the Lord’s Holy Name purely and fully satisfy the Lord through your chanting, then you will have to chant the Lord’s Holy Name constantly without making offences. Krishna will be happy with us when we practise Krishna consciousness and chant His Holy Name without offence. If we have love for Krishna, then we must try to satisfy Krishna by practising and chanting without offence.
In the Padma-purana the ten offences which must be avoided to chant the Lord’s Holy Name purely are explained. We have already published these offences with the original verses and whenever anyone has taken initiation we have given them that book and requested them, «Read these offences, memorise them, and avoid them.» That is necessary for everyone.67
In the third verse of His Siksastakam Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has explained the qualifications needed to avoid the ten offences and attract the Lord’s Divine Name to reveal Himself in our heart with His full power:
trnad api sunichena taror iva sahisnuna
amanina manadena kirtaniyah sada harih
«Constantly chant the Lord’s Divine Name with a mood of humility, tolerance, and giving honour to others, and without desiring honour for yourself. Then you will become qualified to chant the Lord’s Holy Name without offence.»
Here Mahaprabhu expresses His conception that a real practitioner of Krishna consciousness must be humble, be tolerant, give honour to others, and have no desire for honour for themself. These are the essential qualities of a Vaisnava, and anyone who truly has these qualities is qualified to chant the Lord’s Holy Name purely.
Mahaprabhu’s advice is very simple, and by following it sincerely we will easily avoid all offensiveness; no offence will be able to touch us. Mahaprabhu’s formula of humility, tolerance, and giving honour to others is the perfect remedy for our misfortune of offensiveness towards the Lord’s Name, which He explains in His second verse (Namnam akari bahudha nija-sarva-saktis).
Mahaprabhu gave us this perfect formula because everyone has some ego, and all our offences to the Lord’s Name come from ego. Mahaprabhu’s teaching is that it is first of all necessary to oust the ego from our mind (cheto-darpana-marjanam). We must try to completely remove all mundane egotism from ourselves, but Mahaprabhu also explains that we must keep our spiritual ego. «Jivera svarupa haya Krsnera nitya-dasa: we will always consider ourselves to be Krishna’s eternal servants and maintain our transcendental connection with Him.»
Through this process of self-realisation, Mahaprabhu taught us that we all need to go back to our home in the transcendental world where we can serve Krishna and feel the happiness, joy, ecstatic mood, and blessings of His service. In addition He showed us that through chanting the Lord’s Holy Name without offence our transcendental form, which we cannot see when we are bound by the illusory environment, will gradually be revealed in our heart. So Mahaprabhu has given us the perfect process for smashing our mundane ego and discovering our real ego, our eternal form as a servitor of Krishna.
Srimad Bhagavatam explained the four directives for isolating ourselves from the influence of Kali.
Dyutam panam striyah suna yatradharmas chatur-vidhah
«Gambling, intoxication, illicit sex, and meat-eating are sinful activities and must be avoided.»
Srimad Bhagavatam gave this advice. It is necessary for our practising life, but it is not a service; it is a regulation. Mahaprabhu’s directive to be humble, be tolerant, and give honour to others is our service; it explains how we should practise our spiritual life. Without humility, tolerance, and giving honour to others no one will be successful in chanting the Lord’s Holy Name, even if they follow the scriptural rules and regulations. Only following Mahaprabhu’s directives for our practising life — to be humble, be tolerant, and give honour to others — will ensure that we are successful.
I have tested this thousands of times, and it is completely sure. Almost every day I advise my friends and everyone I meet to follow this directive of Mahaprabhu. What I say may sound like a memorised set of English words, but it is not only that. With my heart I am saying it every day, and I am feeling it also. I want to see that everyone’s practising life — their sravan, kirtan, and so on — continues happily in good association.
If there is anything I want to distribute to the Western world it is this, which is my first and best advice: «Avoid the ten offences to the Holy Name and Vaisnava-aparadh by practising Mahaprabhu’s formula of being humble, being tolerant, and giving honour to others.» This is my preaching and my practising life. I have received this consciousness from Srila Guru Maharaj and Srila Swami Maharaj, and I can see that it is completely necessary for everyone everywhere. Without humility, tolerance, and giving honour to others no one can maintain their devotional mood, and with these qualities everyone can proceed very easily to their spiritual destiny.
In the first verse of His Siksastakam, Mahaprabhu explained the relationship between Krishna, His Holy Name, and the jiva-soul. In His second verse He explained how powerful Krishna and His Holy Name are, and also how much of an offender we are. In His third verse He gave us the remedy for our offensive condition, which can reveal to us the Holy Name’s power and our relationship with Krishna. Then in His fourth verse Mahaprabhu prayed,
na dhanam na janam na sundarim
kavitam va jagad-isa kamaye
mama janmani janmanisvare
bhavatad bhaktir ahaituki tvayi
[«O Lord, I do not desire wealth, followers, beautiful women, or liberation. I pray only for unconditional devotion to You birth after birth.»]
Once someone enters into practising life by following Mahaprabhu’s formula of chanting the Lord’s Holy Name with a mood of humility, tolerance, and giving honour to others, then the only target and desire of their life becomes ahaituki-bhakti, eternal devotion free from material motivations.68 A practitioner does not want any of his energy to be taken by offensive activity, and he desires that his full energy be engaged in service that pleases the Lord.
When a practitioner has entered into exclusive devotional life in this way, he can understand Krishna’s position and see that his own position in the mundane world is an ugly, impious platform from which to serve the Lord. To express this mood of a practitioner, Mahaprabhu prays in the next verse of His Siksastakam,
ayi nanda-tanuja kinkaram
patitam mam visame bhavambudhau
krpaya tava pada-pankaja-
sthita-dhuli-sadrsam vichintaya
«O Lord, I am Your eternal servant, but because of my misfortune I have fallen into this terrible ocean of birth and death. I pray that by Your causeless mercy You will accept me as Your own and I will be connected with You like a particle of dust on Your lotus feet.»
Mahaprabhu’s prayer to Krishna means, «If You give me Your merciful glance, I and everything I possess will become purified and useful for Your service. Sthita-dhuli-sadrsam vichintaya: my existence will enter the transcendental service world, and I will be able to serve You purely there for Your satisfaction.»
If the Lord will give even a little bit of His attention to a devotee then the devotee will be completely purified. As the sparking light of a match can remove one hundred years of darkness from a closed room, so everything can be cleaned and cleared from anyone’s heart by the Lord’s divine influence.
In the sixth verse of His Siksastakam Mahaprabhu prays,
nayanam galad-asru-dharaya
vadanam gadgada-ruddhaya gira
pulakair nichitam vapuh kada
tava nama-grahane bhavisyati
[«O Lord, when will tears stream from my eyes, my voice falter, and the hair of my body stand on end as I call Your Name?»]
These are the symptoms of a servant who purely serves the Lord and chants His Holy Name without offence. Mahaprabhu prays in this way to express His hankering to chant the Lord’s Holy Name without offence.
If we can purely chant the Lord’s Holy Name we will get His direct service and feel ecstatic joy in our life. Srimad Bhagavatam concluded,
nama-sankirtanam yasya sarva-papa-pranasanam
pranamo duhkha-samanas tam namami harim param69
«Nam-sankirtan is supreme.»
But Mahaprabhu commented,
tara madhye sarva-srestha nama-sankirtana
niraparadhe nama laile paya prema-dhana
«Nam-sankirtan is the supreme form of bhakti-yoga, but only if we chant the Lord’s Holy Name without offence will Krishna-prema appear in our hearts.»
Mahaprabhu wants everyone to chant the Holy Name purely, without offence. Offences are very difficult to avoid and dangerous, but we must avoid them because they are our obstacle in chanting the Lord’s Holy Name. Mahaprabhu shows us His mood of prayer to the Holy Name to help us attract the Holy Name’s grace, which is what will truly free us from offences. With the proper mood of prayer and regular chanting, we can be hopeful that we can receive the Holy Name’s grace.
namaparadha-yuktanam namany eva haranty agham
avisranti-prayuktani tany evartha-karani cha
«When the Holy Name sees our heartfelt desire to try to chant Him purely, then He will be merciful to us; we will get the qualifications we need to chant properly, and all of our difficulties will go away by His grace.»
This is Srila Jiva Goswami Prabhu’s realisation from the scriptures: «We cannot avoid making offences, but the Holy Name Himself will give us good nourishment and relieve us from our offences if we have love, affection, and a little connection with Him.» This is the main thing. If our desire is heartfelt, then we must always continuously try to chant the Lord’s Name. Continuous, attentive chanting will attract the grace of the Holy Name to mercifully clean our hearts, remove all our obstacles, and excuse our offences. Through His Siksastakam we can see that Mahaprabhu’s first expression and teaching, cheto-darpana-marjanam, cleaning the mirror of the mind, comes by the grace of the Holy Name to the practitioner in the last stage.
Mahaprabhu’s next prayer in His Siksastakam is:
yugayitam nimesena chaksusa pravrsayitam
sunyayitam jagat sarvam govinda-virahena me
[«O Govinda! In separation from You a moment seems like forever, tears pour from my eyes, and the whole world feels empty.»]
When one chants the Holy Name purely then one’s consciousness is purified (cheto-darpana-marjanam), and all the effects of the Holy Name Mahaprabhu described in His glorification of Hari-nam-sankirtan — bhava-maha-davagni-nirvapanam, and so on — appear in one’s heart.70 Then, in pure Krishna consciousness, one feels viraha, separation from the Lord, and thinks, «I am chanting the Lord’s Name but still I am not chanting in the proper way.» One then desires to chant the Holy Name more and more purely.
Mahaprabhu ends His Siksastakam with this prayer:
aslisya va pada-ratam pinastu mam
adarsanan marma-hatam karotu va
yatha tatha va vidadhatu lampato
mat-prana-nathas tu sa eva naparah
«Krishna may embrace me or break my heart by denying me His darsan. Krishna the Gopa-vadhu-lampat [enjoyer of the cowherd men’s wives] may do whatever He likes; He will always be the Lord of my heart.»
When a servitor will enter into his service life with this type of mood he will have the mood of full dedication to the Lord. Different kinds of examinations, sometimes painful examinations, will come to him in his spiritual life, but he will not be able to leave the Lord’s lotus feet. He will not see anything except the Lord’s service and will not be able to leave the Lord’s connection in any way; his only target will be Krishna and His service.
The mood of Mahaprabhu’s final expression is, «Krishna can do anything and everything with Me. He has full right over me. I will always be His servitor’s servitor’s servitor. I have no other ego or ideal.» This verse also has a deep, a deeper, and a deepest meaning, and all of them will automatically be revealed in our hearts through our service mood. We will naturally be able to see, feel, and embrace those ideals when they are revealed to us.
Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu did not write many verses or give many instructions. He simply gave the gist of all instructions in His Siksastakam. There is no way to proceed in our spiritual life or in our chanting of the Lord’s Holy Names without following the directives of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu given in His Siksastakam. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s Siksastakam is our life and soul. We will try until death to proceed according to its instructions and we must be benefitted to the utmost by that.
65 «O Hari! O Krishna! O Yadava!O Gopal! O Govinda! O Rama! O Madhusudan! I offer myobeisance to You again and again.»
66 «It is certainly true that the Holy Name delivers anyone who once offencelessly calls, remembers, or hears Him, regardless of whether they pronounce the Name correctly or incorrectly, in separated parts, or as a single word. If, however, the Name is used for the body, wealth, prestige, greed, or evil, He does not produce any (spiritual) result quickly (though He does eventually).»
67 Srila Govinda Maharaj composed a poem Bengali, entitled Dasa-vidha Namaparadha, which summarises and explains the verses listing the offences to the Holy Name in the Padma-purana.
hari-nama mahamantra sarva-mantra-sara
yadera karuna-bale jagate prachara
sei nama-parayana sadhu, mahajana
tahadera ninda na kariha kadachana [1]
The Hari-nam mahamantra is the best of all mantras and is distributed throughout the world by the mercy of the sadhus devoted to the Name. Never criticise such great souls.
vrajendra-nandana krsna sarvesvaresvara
mahesvara adi tara sevana-tatpara
nama chintamani krsna-chaitanya-svarupa
bheda-jnana na karibe lila-guna-rupa [2]
Vrajendra Nandan Krishna is the Lord of all Lords. Siva and all other gods are dedicated to His service. The Name is a wish-fulfilling jewel and a spiritual form of Krishna Himself. Do not consider Krishna’s Name to be distinct from His Form, Qualities, or Pastimes.
«guru krsna-rupa hana sastrera pramane
guru-rupe krsna krpa kare bhagyavane»
se gurute martya-buddhi avajnadi tyaji
ista-labha kara, nirantara nama bhaji [3]
«The scriptures confirm that Guru is a form of Krishna (SB: 11.17.27). In the form of Guru, Krishna bestows His mercy upon the fortunate.» Give up the conception that Guru is a mortal, and all other types of disrespect, and attain your cherished goal: serving the Name eternally.
Sruti, sruti-mata-saha satvata purana
sri-nama-charana-padma kare nirajana
sei sruti-sastra yeba karaye nindana
se aparadhira sanga karibe varjana [4]
The Vedas, their mother, Gayatri, and Srimad Bhagavatam worship the Holy Name’s lotus feet. Reject the association of any offender who criticises these scriptures.
namera mahima sarva-sastrete vakhane
atistuti, hena kabhu na bhaviha mane
agastya, ananta, brahma, sivadi satata
ye nama-mahima-gatha sankirtana-rata
se nama-mahima-sindhu ke paibe para?
atistuti bale yei — sei durachara [5]
The Name’s glories are proclaimed in all the scriptures. Never consider such glorification to be exaggerated praise. Agastya, Ananta, Brahma, Siva, and so on are always devoted to chanting the Name’s glories. Who can cross the ocean of those glories? Anyone who considers them exaggerated praise is wicked.
krsna-namavali nitya golokera dhana
kalpita, prakrta, bhave — aparadhi-jana [6]
Krishna’s Names are the eternal wealth of Goloka. Anyone who considers Them imaginary or mundane is an offender.
name sarva-papa-ksaya sarva-sastre kaya
sara-dina papa kari sei bharasaya —
emata durbuddhi yara sei aparadhi
maya-pravanchita, duhkha bhunje niravadhi [7]
All the scriptures declare that the Name destroys all sin. The wicked who sin all day long in expectation of this are offenders. They are deluded by maya and suffer perpetually.
atulya sri-krsna-nama purna-rasa-nidhi
tara sama na bhaviha subha-karma adi [8]
Sri Krishna’s incomparable Name is a brimming reservoir of rasa. Chanting the Name should never be considered equal to pious worldly action (such as adhering to vows, practising renunciation, performing austerities, making sacrificial offerings, and so on).
name sraddha-hina-jana — vidhata vanchita
tare nama dane aparadha sunischita [9]
Those who have no faith in the Name have been deceived by Providence. To give the Name to them is certainly an offence.
Suniyao krsna-nama-mahatmya apara
ye priti-rahita, sei naradhama chhara
ahamta mamata yara antare bahire
suddha krsna-nama tara kabhu nahi sphure [10]
Those who remain devoid of love for Krishna’s Name even after hearing His boundless glories are deplorable, fallen souls. The pure Name of Krishna never reveals Himself to those who are internally and externally ridden with egotism and possessiveness.
ei dasa aparadha kariya varjjana
ye sujana kare harinama sankirtana
apurva sri-krsna-prema labhya tare haya
nama-prabhu tara hrde nitya vilasaya [11]
Great souls who avoid these ten offences and engage in Hari-nam-sankirtan attain unprecedented Sri Krishna-prema. The Name Himself plays within their hearts eternally.
mad-guna-sruti-matrena mayi sarva-guhasaye
mano-gatir avichchhinna yatha gangambhaso ’mbudhau
laksanam bhakti-yogasya nirgunasya hy udahrtam
ahaituky avyavahita ya bhaktih purusottame
«The primary characteristic of supramundane devotion is that simply by hearing of My glory one’s thoughts uninterruptedly flow towards Me, the Lord who resides within the hearts of all, just as the waters of the Ganges naturally flow towards the ocean. Such pure devotion to Me, the Supreme Lord, is unconditional and unobstructed (self-manifest and unalloyed).»
69 «I offer my obeisance unto the Supreme Lord, Hari. Chanting His Name absolves all sin, and offering obeisance to Him dispels all sorrow.»
cheto-darpana-marjanam bhava-maha-davagni-nirvapanam
sreyah-kairava-chandrika-vitaranam vidya-vadhu-jivanam
anandambudhi-vardhanam prati-padam purnamrtasvadanam
sarvatma-snapanam param vijayate sri-krsna-sankirtanam
«Sri Krishna-sankirtan cleanses the mirror of consciousness, extinguishes the raging forest fire of material existence, shines moonlight on the evening lotus of good fortune, is the life of the wife of divine knowledge, expands the ocean of ecstasy, is the taste of full nectar at every moment, and soothes the entire self. May Sri Krishna-sankirtan be supremely victorious!»