English
26th June 2019
ADDICTED TO THE HOLY NAME
Hare Krishna!
Some of you are unstoppable you don’t want to stop chanting, you are going on and on. Sorry for the interruption! Hari Hari! We wish you become addicted to the chanting and that you would not like to stop chanting. Like drug addicts or the drunkard, they cannot stop. Some devotee said ‘My mother she has given up lot of things but she is unable to give up tea.’ So when we have developed similar kind of attraction, addiction, affection, attachment, sambandha, relationship with the holy name we would not like to stop it or interrupt it.
One time someone asked Srila Prabhupada how to become addicted to the holy names of the Lord. They were talking of the addiction, so how to become addicted?
Pratiksana svadhana lolupasya!
Have to become lolupasya or addicted to chanting the holy name. So Srila Prabhupada asked a kind of counter question, how does one become addicted? He doesn’t become addicted or develop addiction overnight! He drinks a little bit sometime in the beginning, then he drinks it again and then he likes it and he drink more and he drinks more often, and he drinks more frequently and he also drinks in the company of others or he gets in touch with those who are drunkards and as soon as he joins them the drinking begins.
So, in this way one becomes a drunkard or whether that’s tea or wine or whatever kind of addiction or smoking, so many bad habits or addictions. So Srila Prabhupada was making this point by drinking and drinking from time to time more often. By smoking and smoking one eventually becomes addicted so similarly by chanting and chanting and chanting and chanting everyday day after day, day after day, you are expected to become addicted to chanting the holy names of the Lord. How to become addicted to chanting is to keep chanting everyday, whenever or everywhere.
Same rule, same law the way you become addicted, well not you! others, those who have become addicted to drinking, or smoking or whatever. So in the same way, one can become addicted to the chanting of the holy name of the Lord, doing more frequently then you’ll become addicted.
We just opened a museum in Noida and one of the scenes or diorama is Hanuman opening his chest and when you look inside, you see Sita Ram inside the heart of Hanuman. So what happened? Why did he break open his chest and show someone Sita Ram in his heart is an interesting episode?
One time there was one jeweller, like we have Keshav Prabhu who is a jeweller who deals with not only gold and some silver but diamonds also. One beautiful diamond pearl necklace which was offered to Sri Ram by the jeweller which was offered to Hanuman by Sri Ram. When Hanuman had this necklace, he did not get ready for selfie photograph but what he started doing was biting each diamond pearl on the necklace and he was kind of chew one and the next one spoiling that beautiful necklace. So, the jeweller who had donated this was not very happy. He asked why did I give this necklace? I made a mistake by giving this necklace.
He started asking hanuman the question, why are you doing this? Spoiling, breaking this pearl necklace? I am making sure whether Sri Ram is in these pearls, in this necklace. If He is there then I have interest in these pearls otherwise I don’t care for the pearls so I am just testing these diamonds or pearls.
So the jeweller he asked, “Hanuman now you are trying to check each pearl each diamond whether Sri Ram is there then only you will wear this otherwise you will reject this or throw it away or crush this into pieces? If this is your philosophy you have this giant size body, Is Ram in your body, inside your body? Prove it?”
So when Hanuman was challenged like that of course by this time he had thrown away and rejected this pearl garland and then he opened his chest. When the jeweller looked inside, Hey! Sita Ram Laxman ki jai! When the jeweller, looked inside he began offering obeisances to Sita Ram and Laxman in the heart of Hanuman. He was convinced and realized yes! yes! there is Lord in the heart of Hanuman.
Hanuman realised the Lord is with me, within my heart and that he is in the heart of Lord Ram. The Lord is in everybody’s heart but we hear that is jnana, knowledge part. But everyone does not have the realisation that the Lord is in our heart. That is the speciality of Hanuman. He realised that Ram was with him and that he was with Ram.
Hari Hari!
So, I was thinking that we are also given the garland of tulsi beads. But don’t call it garland call it mala, japa mala, mala for, garland for chanting and you should also be checking out extra chanting that we are doing.
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare
It’s Krishna in here, the mantra that I was chanting is Krishna Radha. Lots of things also, other things also. In this name that I’m chanting is a form of Krishna included. His form, His qualities of the Lord in this holy name and the pastimes. My chanting leading me to the pastimes of the Lord and I’m also going to see and realise the greatness of the devotees of the Lord and this chanting, within this maha mantra is the abode of the Lord or will this name bring me to the Lord from Nama se Dhama -from the name to the abode of the Lord. So, while chanting, like Hanuman, you’re checking out whether my Ram is here. Is my Sita Ram inside this? So likewise, we should be, while chanting Hare Krishna we should be steady trying to understand and realise is my Krishna here? Is my Radha Krishna here?
So that pearls, diamonds, Ram wasn’t in there. Mundane object made up of matter. Hanuman was not finding Ram in that pearl necklace but certainly the necklace we’re given, the mala we’re given at the time of initiation, we’re given mala for chanting and we’re chanting on each bead. We should be taking out and for sure this name,
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare
Not that Krishna is inside this mantra but, this mantra is Krishna. The mantra is the form, the mantra is the pastime, the mantra is the qualities, the mantra is equal to the abode of Krishna. This is Svarup of the Lord.
We’ve to realise this.
“nama cintamani krsna caitanya rasa vigraha purna shudo nityamukta abhindnata naamina”( Padmapurana)
So that’s the glories of the holy name. That is the identity of the holy name. That is- nama cintamani. Cintamani, it’s not ordinary. This is nama cintamani caitanya, this is full of caitanya. The pearls were mundane, the garland hanuman had was mundane but the holy name is full of juice, full of nectar. It is purna. It is complete, it is nitya, it is eternal, it is shudda- meaning it is pure and mukta is all liberated. The holy name is like that. The holy name is purna, nitya, shudda and mukta. The final part of the statement is abhindanat namino. Nama and nami, name and Krishna, person and abinha is not different. The nama is Nami, Nami is Nam! The Hare Krishna nama is Krishna. So we’ve to accept the Lord and Lord’s name by rejecting whatever is jada or mundane we reject as Hanuman was rejecting and we accept what is Chetana, full of chetana full of consciousness that we accept.
Jada we reject, chetana we accept.
In other words, maya we reject and Krishna we embrace. That is Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said.
na dhanam na janam sundarim kavitam va jagad isa kamaye mama janmani janmanisvre bhavatad bhaktir ahaituki tvayi (siksastakam sholka 4)
He is rejecting mundane wealth or wealth for My own sense gratification. I will not earn the wealth which will be used for gratification that My mind, or the senses of My body. This kind of dhanam I do not want. Na janam, the followers, associates, colleagues, na dhanam na janam na sundarim or the beautiful women! I’m not interested to enjoy or exploit women and kavitam, name, fame and glory same old story!
So Chaitanya Mahaprabhu says I’m not interested in all of these things. I reject this. This way one develops vairagya detachment from worldly things.
mama janmani janmani isvare,
name fame glory same old story
O I’m not interested in mukti that is what Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is talking about this in this Siksastakam. na dhanam na janam na sundarim, this is mukti mundane gratification and neither am I interested in mukti-; mama janmani janmani. I do not mind taking birth after birth You don’t have to give me liberation either, what I’m interested in is bhaktir ahaituki tvayin
no bhukti no mukti I want bhakti i want devotional service of Your Lotus feet O’ Lord.
So that is what we ask for as we chant the holy name of the Lord, we are begging for bhakti, begging for devotional service. Of course, we are begging for the Lord, we want the Lord! And that Lord is attained by bhakt, the chanter, by chanting. That the bhakti, the devotional service that’s how we attain the Lord Bhagavan.
So, we should have faith in holy name. Not having faith in the holy name of the Lord is one of the offenses. So, we should have faith that by chanting the holy name of the Lord one will attain Krishna. Or in this chanting this is full of Krishna, this name is Krishna mai or Radha Krishna mai is full of Radha and Krishna mai. That faith we must have. With that kind of faith, we should chant the holy name and with attention and a bit of detachment or attention will have potential in the spirit of detachment.
So keep chanting in fact first comes asakti in the holy name and the result of that is the when you have asakti in the Lord’s holy name then you can develop asakti in whatever is worldly it’s not that you become detached first and then you become attached to Krishna, it is the other way around. Only when you’re attached to Krishna or when we’re performing bhakti, I should say vairagya and attachment is developed.
So this is homework for you all. We are getting ready for Dindi festival in Maharashtra which is famous in Pandharpur. 5000 pilgrims will be here and they’ll be leaving for Pandharpur and the Dindi is reaching Pune today and they’ll proceed towards Pandharpur tomorrow morning. We’re doing the inauguration of the Dindi. We’re participating in this big grand harinam procession. This is the biggest grand walk of dancing and chanting in procession. We’re preparing for the inauguration function tomorrow and we’ll be talking about the Dindi padayatra , that Hare Krishna devotees also take part and go to Pandharpur for the big festival. You’re welcome to join the procession.
Hare Krishna!