Text 20

naṭa-nartaka-gandharvāḥ
sūta-māgadha-vandinaḥ
gāyanti cottamaśloka-
caritāny adbhutāni ca

Translation

Expert dramatists, artists, dancers, singers, historians, genealogists and learned speakers all gave their respective contributions, being inspired by the superhuman pastimes of the Lord. Thus they proceeded on and on.

Purport

It appears that five thousand years ago the society also needed the services of the dramatists, artists, dancers, singers, historians, genealogists, public speakers, etc. Dancers, singers and dramatic artists mostly hailed from the śūdra community, whereas the learned historians, genealogists and public speakers hailed from the brāhmaṇa community. All of them belonged to a particular caste, and they became so trained in their respective families. Such dramatists, dancers, singers, historians, genealogists and public speakers would dwell on the subject of the Lord’s superhuman activities in different ages and millenniums, and not on ordinary events. Nor were they in chronological order. All the Purāṇas are historical facts described only in relation with the Supreme Lord in different ages and times as well as on different planets also. Therefore, we do not find any chronological order. The modern historians, therefore, cannot catch up the link, and thus they unauthoritatively remark that the Purāṇas are all imaginary stories only.

Even one hundred years ago in India, all dramatic performances were centered around the superhuman activities of the Supreme Lord. The common people would be verily entertained by the performances of dramas, and yātrā parties played wonderfully on the superhuman activities of the Lord, and thus even the illiterate agriculturist would be a participant in the knowledge of Vedic literature, despite a considerable lack of academic qualifications. Therefore, expert players in drama, dancers, singers, speakers, etc., are required for the spiritual enlightenment of the common man. The genealogists would give account completely of the descendants of a particular family. Even at the present moment the guides in the pilgrimage sites of India submit a complete account of genealogical tables before a newcomer. This wonderful act sometimes attracts more customers to receive such important information.

HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj :

So, this is a verse showing how all sorts of people glorify the Lord. As we see here, many of these were professionals as a job. They sing, glorify, etc. So, when someone wants a glorification, they pay somebody and he glorifies them. However, in this case, there is no need to make up some false glorification, because the Lord is worthy of all praise. And in fact, we cannot even praise the Lord enough. There is never enough words to fully glorify the Lord. So, it is said that Sesa  has thousand hoods and heads to glorify the Lord. Still, even he with a thousand heads and mouths could not glorify the Lord fully. Sesa  has a thousand hoods and heads to glorify the Lord. Still, even he with a thousand heads and mouths could not glorify the Lord fully.

The reason for this is that the Lord has infinite number of perfect qualities. So, glorification of course means kirtan. And we can glorify a person in many ways. So, we can glorify the form of the person, the beauty of the person. We can glorify the activities of the person. We can glorify the qualities of a person. And of course, we can be very simple and just recite the names of the Lord – Nama Kirtan.

Of course, within Nama Kirtan , the name itself will sometimes glorify the form of the Lord, qualities of the Lord or activities of the Lord. So, we have the name Shyamasundar, glorify the beautiful form of the Lord. We have the phrase Bhakta Vatsala, very affectionate towards the devotee. This is glorification of the Lord’s qualities. Or we have the name Govardhana Dari, he is lifting up Govardhana hill, glorification of Krishna’s pastime. So, the Lord has infinite qualities, infinite pastimes, etc. So, he also has infinite names. So, this gives a very wide variety of means of glorifying the Lord.

Because these persons were professionals, they were very learned in doing glorification using verses. Because these persons were professionals, they were very learned in doing glorification using verses. That’s why Prabhupada  says that the lot of these people were coming from Brahmana varna. But we know that not all people are so clever, they can glorify in that way.  So, here we also have singers, dancers, dramatic actors etc. Prabhupada  says that they are all from Sudra varga. But they were doing the same thing. They were glorifying the Supreme Lord. And whether it comes from the singers and dancers who are Sudras or the Magadhas, etc., who are Brahminical, it doesn’t matter. It’s all glorification of the Lord.  The Lord is equally pleased.

However, because this glorification becomes very complex, if we have to recite genealogies, etc., the simplest possible glorification is Nama Sankirtan. And the name includes everything – form, qualities, activities. But it’s much simpler. And it’s so simple, you don’t even need to know grammar. Normally, when we speak, we put words into sentences. But if we put the wrong word / form, people are going to think, you are fool. If I say, “I goes to the house”, people will think, something wrong with you.

However, Sanskrit is little more complicated. Not only the verbs have different forms, but the nouns also have different forms. And if you put the wrong ending on it, then we have the opposite meaning. So, to write glorifications with complete sentences and paragraphs etc, requires some skill. If we just have the name of the Lord, then the grammar is very simple. We can say it is the simplest possible form of the word. So we say the name Krishna.

And we don’t have to worry about what’s the ending on it. So this is a very simple way of glorifying without having to know all the grammar. And therefore, everybody can do it, even small children who don’t know any Sanskrit can say the name of the Lord. So that’s one aspect of the name. When we say names, it’s the names of the Lord, no particular grammatical endings on it.

However, the name does have a function also. In most grammatical forms, Krishna goes somewhere, he’s the subject. I give something to Krishna, then he becomes the object or whatever like that. When we just say Krishna, we’re merely calling out to Krishna. There’s no verb, nothing. So in Sanskrit, this is called sambodhana, addressing or calling out. So we’re calling out to the Supreme Lord. So of course, usually we don’t just call out. After we call out to a person, then the person says, what? What do you want? Then we have to explain, please go over here, do this or whatever. But when we’re calling out Krishna, what are we calling for? So this actually, we’re not calling for Krishna to do something, but rather, we’re calling out to glorify.

So therefore, it’s called nama kirtana, glorification of Krishna by simply chanting his name. So in calling out Krishna’s name, we’re glorifying him. And of course, within the name, we do have form of Krishna, qualities of Krishna, and activities of Krishna. So when we call out and glorify Krishna with the name Krishna, we’re glorifying Krishna’s form. But we’re also glorifying his qualities and glorifying his pastimes. So in this way, just the name itself is a very simple way of expressing our devotion to the Lord.

And not only is the simplest way, it’s also the most effective. Of course, Krishna is pleased if you can write verses or recite Bhagavatham verses, etc. But for some reason, he seems more attracted, if you don’t do that, and you say his name. So many people will find that very strange. So people who go through great effort to write wonderful verses to praise Krishna in Sanskrit, they go through that effort and Krishna accepts. And then someone just says, “Krishna” and Krishna likes it more ! How is it possible? But we can infer the great attraction Krishna has for the name, by the effect. And of all the different processes of bhakti, chanting the name is the most powerful. So why is it the most powerful? It’s the most pleasing to Krishna.  That’s why it’s the most powerful !

And how does the power manifest? So to illustrate that, we have in the sixth canto of Bhagavatam, the story of Ajamila. And of course, he was very sinful. In spite of being raised with karma and jnana, still he became very, very sinful. And thus the Yamadutas had very good reason for taking him for punishment. And they explained why they were taking Ajamila for punishment. Sinful people have to get punished by Yamaraja, and this is the order of Yama.  But then the Vishnudutas says, no, you’re fools. You think you know about dharma, but you don’t know anything about dharma.  But from the ordinary point of view, yes they did no dharma, definitely Ajamila was sinful and you cannot escape the punishment for the sin, unless you do prayaschitta – atonment.  And Ajamila did no atonement. So it looked very proper, that they could take him for punishment.

But the Vishnu dutas says, no, you didn’t know real dharma. So Ajamila chanted the name of Narayana, even if it was accidental. And that give greater results than all the prayaschittas and all the atonements. And chanting the name can give liberation. So the Vishnudutas accused the Yama dutas that they actually didn’t know what is real atonement, what is real prayaschitta.  Now, of course, the Yama dutas maybe should be put at fault, because the name looks very ordinary. He was simply chanting the name of his son. How can that do anything? But the order of Vishnu is, any chance, even if it is not with devotion, even if it is accidental, Yamaraja cannot touch him. Means all the atonement is gone. Or all the sin is gone, atonement is complete.

And the Supreme Lord does not give that instruction for other types of bhakti, but it does that for chanting the name. So this means, the Lord is greatly pleased by this. So, we can never underestimate the power of the name and how it pleases Krishna. And one who thinks that the powers that are listed in scripture are exaggeration, that person becomes an offender !  

So, Haridas was glorifying the name. And then he glorified the name saying that even if you don’t chant purely, if it is Namabhas, or inattentive, or whatever, and you chant, you can get liberation. That, of course, is illustrated by the story of Ajamila. All of his karmas were destroyed. But one brahmana said, that’s not possible, because to get liberation, you have to practice jnana and yoga for many, many years. So, it’s impossible that even accidental chanting of the name gives liberation. That’s nonsense. So, apparently, this brahmana did not know the scriptures that glorify the name and give its powers. And later on, because of an offense, he got leprosy and his nose fell off.

So, the scriptures give us very direct evidence of the power of the name. And, therefore, we should accept that. So, there are many ways of serving the Lord and glorifying the Lord, but the simplest and most powerful is Nama Sankirtan.

And, why is it so pleasing to the Lord? Of course, it’s not really explained directly, but we can say that simply chanting the name is the most concentrated way in which we can express our devotion. And, this is most pleasing to the Lord. Hare Krishna.

Q & A

1) We hear that one chanting pure name can give Prema. Similarly, we hear that, , one chanting of the holy name which is avoid of offenses, Namabhas, is enough to eradicate all the karmas of living entities. So, whatever suffering we are having in this world is because of our past karmas. So, we see in our life as a sadhaka, we are suffering every day, mentally, psychologically, physically, which means indirectly that we have not even chanted Namabhas even once? 

So, the explanation of Ajamila, who did Namabhas , accidental chanting, no devotion, but he got instantaneous destruction of all karmas, was because he had committed no apparadhas.

So, if we commit some apparadhas previously in this life or in previous lifetimes, that will slow the process of destroying the karmas, but they will get destroyed but slower. However, even if the karmas are all destroyed, as in the case of Ajamila , it may not be visible. So, people can argue, if Ajamila  had all of his karmas destroyed, then why was he acting like this sinful person up to the end of his life? Why did he have a material body? If he has no karmas, shouldn’t he have a material body? But Bhagavatham says, all of his karmas were destroyed. So, what’s the explanation? How is he still there? He’s still got a body, he’s still doing some sinful activity. How is it possible? The answer is, even if all the karmas were destroyed, the Lord keeps an appearance of karma and maintains the material body.

So, Ajamila  had all of his karmas destroyed the first time he named his son Narayana, all of his karmas were gone. But, he went on for some years after that, and he was still doing sinful activities, and still whatever and he still had a material body up until the point of death, that’s because an appearance of karmas was there, arrangement of the Lord.

However even though he maintained the body and even though he committed more sinful activities after that, there was no effect of the sinful activities also and Yamaraja couldn’t touch him. And Ajamila also didn’t know all of his karmas were gone, he was not aware of anything. So, therefore, the external appearances may be deceptive.

2) Actually while preaching to the people, can we say by chanting that karma will be destroyed, and by namabhasa, you will get aishwaryam and liberation, then will it be like  karmakanda like that.

Yes, for the devotees practicing pure bhakti, our goal is not to destroy karmas. Those who are approaching bhakti may have some interest in getting rid of their karmas.

And for that reason, they will start to chant. So, Krishna explains in Bhagavad Gita, four types of people come to him. Some are those in distress, some want money, etc. And they approach the Lord, so these people come, not pure bhakti, that’s their initial approach. However, by getting proper knowledge from the devotees in scriptures like Bhagavatham and Bhagavad Gita, then they can begin to practice pure bhakti.

So, sometimes the scriptures will glorify destruction of karmas, etc., giving all benedictions, etc. , that’s to attract people in the material world. But persons practicing pure bhakti understand these are all secondary results, not the primary result of chanting the name.

But persons practicing pure bhakti understand these are all secondary results, not the primary result of chanting the name.

3) So, Mayavadis also chant Hare Krishna, the holy names of the Lord. So, what is the result of it?  

Mayavadis worship Krishna, etc. but then, of course, they also worship Durga and Shiva and chant their names as well. They also worship other Devatas, whatever. So, they may do many activities, but ultimately, these are simply stepping stones to reject them and enter into Brahman. According to them, Vishnu is a sattva guna form. We worship Vishnu, we can get fixed in sattva guna. But to get to liberation, we have to reject sattva guna and Vishnu.

So, for them, the process of bhakti would be a means of purification, but not the ultimate process.

4) Ajamila’s son indirectly became a cause of his eventual liberation. So, does the son with the name Narayana also get liberated? So, is it beneficial to name children with the primary names of the Lord?

So, by whatever means, persons can chant the name of the Lord is beneficial for them. Maybe the name of the son, maybe the name of their city, or whatever, Krishna Nagar, Vishnupur, whatever, it’s all beneficial for everybody.

But of course, if we want to get to the higher level, we have to chant purely, and we have to have knowledge. But as far as destroying karmas, yes, all of these are effective to destroy karma.

5) How can one overcome material desires during the process of chanting the holy names?

Well, the process of chanting itself will not only destroy the karmas, but also destroy the desires.

6) How can we develop the taste to chant the holy name purely?

Well, the taste will gradually develop. We begin bhakti, there must be a little taste there, otherwise we won’t do it.

When we get to the stage of ruci, that taste is very prominent. So from the very beginning, all the way to ruci, then it’s a gradual increase of taste. So in other words, the taste will develop by more chanting.

So the example is given of the person with jaundice. The cure for jaundice is sugar. When you have jaundice, the sugar tastes bad, so you don’t want to take it.But if you’re intelligent, you follow doctor’s advice, and you don’t like it, but still you take it. So when you start taking the sugar, then gradually you get cured and gradually, taste increases.

So as the taste increases, it is not so difficult to take the sugar anymore. And then finally, you get cured, and it no longer tastes bitter. So chanting the name also, like the sugar in the beginning, will taste bitter, because we are affected by material anarthas.But by regularly chanting, we start to get cured, and gradually the taste develops.

7) We see that we are not able to chant properly when our mind is thinking about material problems. At the same time, we also hear that everything is a plan of Krishna. So in this context, how do we understand our situation of not able to chant properly?

So everything is broadly the plan of Krishna. But within that broad plan, Krishna also gives us some choices. And if we choose the process of bhakti, then Krishna is very happy, and He encourages us to do that. But Krishna is also interested to see how much endeavor we put into the process.And the more we put the endeavor, the more Krishna is pleased. So this will make our advancement much easier.

So yes, everything is the plan of Krishna.But Krishna likes the plan where you choose Him, and then He begins to encourage you in that direction. So we cannot use this excuse because it is Krishna’s plan that I can stay in Maya forever. Certainly it is true, if you so desire, Krishna lets you do that. But when you choose the opposite, Krishna also agrees with that.

8) How do we overcome negative thoughts while chanting the holy names?

So this is all the struggle with material world. So in the beginning of devotional service, the attraction to Maya will be more, and the attraction to Krishna is less. However, by the process of bhakti, gradually the anarthas and attraction for material things gets destroyed. And though Maya is still there, it cannot disturb our practice of bhakti so much. And if we endeavor very strongly, we get more advancement, but then the obstacle from material attraction will be less and less.

Devotees: Grantharaj Srimad Bhagavatam Ki.. Jai ! Srila Prabhupad Ki.. Jai !! HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj Ki.. Jai !!