In bad association, the holy name of Krishna never appears. The letters of the name might be uttered but the real name never manifests itself.
Sometimes a semblance of the pure holy name appears. One constantly commits offenses unto the holy name in such a bad association. O brother ! Please understand that all of these are obstacles on the path of devotional service to Krishna.
All glories to the nectar of the holy name of Sri Krishna ! Param vijayate Sri Krishna sankirtanam !!! Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu recites from Padma Purana, Swarga Khanda, Chapter forty-eight and cites the discussion between Narada Muni and Sanat Kumara, to describe the ten offenses to the holy name.
(Mahaprabhu quotes Narada muni)
Sri Narada muni said
‘Ke te paradhha vipendra namno bhagavatah krtah
Vinighnanti nrnang krtyang prakrtang hy-anayanti cha’
–
(Mahaprabhu paraphrases Narada’s words) ‘O Gurudeva Sanat Kumar, please enlighten me about the various offenses that can be committed against the holy name of the Lord.Chanting the holy name of the Lord is certainly the principal duty of the living entity. Please tell me about the offenses that rob the living entity of this chief duty.
Offenses make one take to the chanting of the holy name as a mundane activity and make one waste this auspicious practice for trivial mundane results’.
(Mahaprabhu quotes Sanat Kumar)
Sri Sanat Kumar uvacha
satang ninda namnah param aparadham vitanute
yatah khyating yatang katham u sahate tad-vigarham
sivasya sri-visnor ya iha guna-namadi-sakalang
dhiya bhinnang pasyet sa khalu hari-namahita-karah
–
(Mahaprabhu paraphrases Sanat Kumara’s words) ‘If you understand the ten offenses unto the holy name individually, you shall be able to overcome them.
This verse discusses two such offenses against the holy name. Avoid them and try to chant the holy name in an offenseless way’.
The Following is an excerpt from Srila Jagadananda Pandita’s ‘Sri Prema Vivarta‘
Once Lord Gauranga, sparkling like the moon, came onto the shore of the ocean, bringing along His associates. Sitting amid the assemblage of Vaishnavas, moon-like Gauranga spoke as follows.
Listen O devotees! In this age of Kali the only means of spiritual salvation is the chanting of Krishna’s holy name and glories (Sri-Krishna-Kirtana). No other activity surpasses the effectiveness of this.
The pursuit of fruitive activities, cultivation of knowledge, yoga, meditation are weak practices and not effective in attaining the transcendental wealth of absolute realization.
Prescribed religious duties, religious rites, penances, fire sacrifices are all mundane activities. They do not help one realize the transcendental truth.
The Sruti Scriptures proclaim that chanting, remembering or hearing the holy name of Krishna enables one to achieve spiritual perfection.
Esoteric truths about chanting the holy name are to be found across all scriptures. Simply by uttering the holy name of the Supreme Lord, one immediately enjoys spiritual bliss.
If one has faith, then he/she is qualified to chant the holy name of the Lord. The quarrels of dry speculators concerning one’s caste and creed do not count for anything in this matter. A noble birth in the family of brahmanas does not inevitably make one suitable for practicing devotion. Similarly, a person having faith and born in a lower caste is not expelled from the path of devotional service. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has stressed than one’s caste and class are irrelevant when it comes to practicing devotion.
One who does not worship moonlike Lord Chaitanya is crazy. If you worship Him, you shall relish the greatest joy. He is an embodiment of magnanimity. Who can possibly forget Him ? He bestows boundless mercy upon His servants.
Lord Chaitanya is my Lord and I shall never desert Him. He is the Lord of my life. I get up and embrace anyone who utters His name and calls out ‘Chaitanya’ .That person becomes my dearest friend.
I do not look at the face of anyone who doesn’t say ,’O Chaitanya ! You are the treasure of my life’. Seeing the face of anyone who has forgotten Lord Chaitanya, even if they are Gods or Goddesses , spoils my morning.
I will beat anyone with a stick who neglects Chaitanya and honors other renunciates. I will throw fire into the mouth of anyone who leaves aside the discussion of Chaitanya and talks about frivolous or meaningless subjects.
If I need to endure pain to please Lord Chaitanya, then let me suffer such anguish eternally. But if He gives up His pleasures and joys and accepts the life of a renunciant, I feel overwhelmed with grief.
(Sri Jagadananda Pandita says) I write whatever pastimes of Lord Gauranga come to my mind, even if they are not in proper chronological sequence.
One day mother Saci, very affectionately, handed me over the plate containing Lord Gauranga’s food remains.
I was delighted to taste Lord Gauranga’s prasad and it appeared just like nectar.
Will I ever be able to relish such delicious food again? Mother Saci cooked foodstuffs with wild spinach (abona Acyuta Sak), banana flowers (mocha ghanta), edible roots (Kachu Sak) with balls of fried pulses, manchaki, nimba patal, and patties of fried pulses in yoghurt (dadhi-bari).
Having happily enjoyed my feast, I moved like a swan in the company of Nityananda, Gauranga, and their associates. Traversing along the bank of the Ganges, and chanting the holy names of Lord Hari, we finally reached the village of Gadigacha.
Sri Govinda Ghosh played Mridanga while Sri Vasudeva Ghosh chanted Harinama. Sri Gadadhara Pandita and Vakresvar danced to the tunes. Hearing the sound of ‘Haribol’, there was cheering in all directions. Everyone was intoxicated in divine love with Gauranga.
I do not know how to sing or dance. Yet I dance with my arms upraised. This is occurring because Lord Gauranga has entered my body and is driving me to do so.
I have no sense of tune or rhythm. Yet I continue to dance and sing. I do not know how my moon-like Gauranga reasons.
Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, had mercifully appeared at Yogpeeth (in Mayapur) about 500 years ago (in the year 1486 AD). The appearance of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is celebrated as ‘Gaura Purnima’ by the Gaudiya Vaishnava devotees worldwide. The word ‘Yoga’ means ‘connection’ and the term ‘Yogpeeth’ denotes the place where the Supreme Lord connects with or descends into this material world.
The identity of Lord Chaitanya as the Supreme Personality of Godhead can be verified in several Vedic scriptures like Srimad Bhagavatam, Mahabharata, Garuda Purana, Nrsimha Purana, Padma Purana, Bhavishya Purana, Narada Purana, etc. We are quoting just two of such references below, for the pleasure of the devotees.
aham purno bhavisyami yuga sandhyau visesatah
mayapure navadvipe bhavisyami saci sutah
(Garuda Purana)Translation – In the future, in first part of Kali yuga, I shall appear in my complete spiritual form at Mayapura, Navadvipa and become the son of Saci.
The mission of the Lord, along with a description of His golden complexion and how He descends with His confidential associates in this age of Kali, to initiate the Sankirtana Yajna is revealed in Srimad Bhagavatam (Bhagavata Purana) –
Krishna varnam tvishakrishnam sangopangastra-parsadam
yajnaih sankirtana prayair yajanti hi sumedhasah
(Srimad Bhagavatam 11.5.32)
Before Lord Chaitanya had appeared in Navadvipa, its residents were largely preoccupied with material pursuits. People were egoistic about their material possessions and lacking in God consciousness. Those who engaged in discussing Bhagavad Gita or Srimad Bhagavatam, did not touch upon its essence of devotional service. The holy names of Krishna were nowhere to be heard in the entire town of Navadvipa. Being absorbed in the illusory potency of the Lord, people remained in forgetfulness of their eternal master. They misused their wealth in extravagant wedding ceremonies of their children.
According to Sri Gaura Gannodesha Deepika, Kolavecha Sridhara is none other than the incarnation of Kusumasavah, one of the twelve famous cowherd boys (Dvadasha Gopala) of Vrindavana. Sridhara was his name and he was nicknamed ‘Kolavecha’, as he traded banana and banana products for a living (‘kola’ translates to banana’ in Bengali). In Mahaprabhu’s nectarean pastimes, Kolavecha was a very poor man, who wore shredded clothes and lived in a broken hut with leaks in the roof. Kolavecha was so impoverished that he slept on the floor and drank from a broken water pot. Lord Chaitanya was very fond of Kolavecha and devised new means of teasing him daily. In this way, Nimai engaged in mischievous pastimes with His beloved servant.
One day, before going to bathe, Lord Chaitanya revealed His desire to worship mother Ganges. Hence He asked for a nice flower garland and some sandalwood paste from His mother. Saci devi requested Nimai to wait for some time as she would have to go and bring the requisite puja paraphernalia. As soon as Nimai discovered that it would take some time to procure the garland, He grew enraged.
Janani kahen – ‘Baap shuno mon diya,
Khaneka apeksha kara , mala ani giya’
‘Ani giya’ yei matra shunila vachana
Krodhe rudra hailen Saci-ra nandana
–
Mother Saci replied -’My dear, please hear attentively. Please wait for sometime as I go and bring the flower garlands’. As soon as Nimai heard the words ‘Let me go and bring’, He became enraged. He appeared as angry as Rudra (Lord Shiva).
(Chiatanya Bhagavat, Adi, 8.129-130)
‘The Gaudiya Treasures of Bengal’ proudly presents to you the Mischievous pastimes enacted by Nimai of Nadia. In the second article of this series, we shall endeavor to recite the naughty playful pastimes of Lord Viswambhara where He taunts and teases His friends, His family and the other residents of Navadvipa.
Sri Chaitanya Mangala recites an enchanting pastime concerning Sri Saci devi’s desire to perform Sashti Puja along with the neighborhood ladies. Accordingly, she gathered the required paraphernalia and the foodstuffs for the worship. It is worthwhile mentioning at this point that Sashti is a demigoddess who protects the children and hence it is a common practice in Bengal that mothers pray to her for their child’s safety. Covering the puja paraphernalia with the end of her saree, Saci Mata proceeded towards the banyan tree where these were to be subsequently offered. Just then, Nimai, who was playing nearby, came over to see what His mother was carrying. Nimai opened His arms and obstructed Saci devi’s way. Little Nimai was impatient to know what His mother was carrying. Saci devi then explained to Him that she was taking foodstuffs to be offered unto mother Sashti and directed Nimai to play over there until she returned. She also assured Nimai of sweets (Sandesh) and bananas upon her return. She added that she would plead for the boon that Nimai gets relieved from all afflictions and inauspiciousness.
‘The Gaudiya Treasures of Bengal’ proudly presents to you the Mischievous pastimes enacted by Nimai of Nadia. In the second article of this series, we shall endeavor to recite the naughty playful pastimes of Lord Viswambhara where He taunts and teases His friends, His family and the other residents of Navadvipa.
Sri Chaitanya Mangala recites an enchanting pastime concerning Sri Saci devi’s desire to perform Sashti Puja along with the neighborhood ladies. Accordingly, she gathered the required paraphernalia and the foodstuffs for the worship. It is worthwhile mentioning at this point that Sashti is a demigoddess who protects the children and hence it is a common practice in Bengal that mothers pray to her for their child’s safety. Covering the puja paraphernalia with the end of her saree, Saci Mata proceeded towards the banyan tree where these were to be subsequently offered. Just then, Nimai, who was playing nearby, came over to see what His mother was carrying. Nimai opened His arms and obstructed Saci devi’s way. Little Nimai was impatient to know what His mother was carrying. Saci devi then explained to Him that she was taking foodstuffs to be offered unto mother Sashti and directed Nimai to play over there until she returned. She also assured Nimai of sweets (Sandesh) and bananas upon her return. She added that she would plead for the boon that Nimai gets relieved from all afflictions and inauspiciousness.