Initiation into the Holy Name

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Nabadwip Dham, 12 March 2017

If somebody chants the Holy Name, then their mantra will act; otherwise if somebody does not chant, their mantra will not act.

কলিকালে নামরূপ কৃষ্ণ-অবতার ।
নাম হৈতে হয় সর্ব্বজগৎ-নিস্তার ॥

kali-kale nama-rupe krsna-avatara
nama haite haya sarva-jagat-nistara

"In the Kali-yuga, Krishna appears in the form of the Name. The entire world is delivered through that Name."

(Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi-lila, 17.22)

The Holy Name comes down the Guru parampara from Krishna to Lord Brahma, from Lord Brahma to Narada, and so on down to Madhavendra Puri. From Madhavendra Puri the Holy Name came to Ishwar Puri, then to Mahaprabhu. After Mahaprabhu, some disturbance come to this disciplic line, and it was revived later in the time of Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj, after him Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur, Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj, Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur. Lastly, there was our Param Gurudev Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj and our Gurudev Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj.

Srila Gurudev (Srila B.S. Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj) told me to give initiation and I gave initiation in his lifetime. He stood in front of me and said, "Give initiation," but I was shy, so I gave initiation on his behalf.

I started giving initiations from 6 December 2009, two days after Srila Gurudev's appearance day. That day he ordered to me, "I will not give any initiations any more. This is now your duty—you are now successor and you will give now initiation in lieu of me." This is what Gurudev said.

You have come here through some devotees, so I assume that you know the rules and regulations. You have all heard about it. There are four regulative principles: dyuta, pana, striya, suna. (1) Dyuta means gambling. (2) Pana means drinking whisky, taking intoxicants, even drinking tea, eating pan, smoking, taking drugs. These all are strictly prohibited. (3) Striya means illegal sex. If you get married, it is OK, but if you do sex without marriage it is very bad. (4) Suna means jiva-himsa (violence towards jiva souls). Never eat fish, meat, eggs, red dal (lentils, masoori dal), onion, garlic. These are strictly prohibited, you cannot take them. Do you understand? And you must follow Ekadasi.

Do you agree to do this?

Devotee: Yes.

[His Divine Grace chants on Tulasi beads (mala) and hands them over to the devotee explaining how to chant on it:]

Take the mala in your hand, use your thumb and the middle finger, do not touch the mala with your index finger. Say,

শ্রীকৃষ্ণচৈতন্য প্রভু নিত্যানন্দ ।
শ্রীঅদ্বৈত গদাধর শ্রীবাসাদি গৌরভক্তবৃন্দ ॥

sri krishna chaitanya prabhu nityananda
sri advaita gadadhara srivasadi gaura bhakta-vrinda

Chant their name first and say in English, "I am a very fallen soul, I do not have any quality or qualification. Please give some mercy to me, then I can chant the Holy Name." After that start chanting on each bead, starting from the big beads:

হরে কৃষ্ণ হরে কৃষ্ণ কৃষ্ণ কৃষ্ণ হরে হরে ।
হরে রাম হরে রাম রাম রাম হরে হরে ॥

hare krishna hare krishna krishna krishna hare hare
hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare

The mala has big beads and small beads. Start from the big beads, then, when you come to the small beads, turn the mala and chant from the small beads to the big beads. Do not cross the bead on top of the mala. Chant sixteen rounds or more in this way. If any day you are busy with service, you can chant four rounds. Four rounds must be chanted every day. When you are working, doing some job, you can chant without the beads. For example, you are writing something, typing on your computer, and you can chant, "Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare"; or you are working with your hands, doing some hard labour, you can chant, "Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare."

Chant in this way, and Krishna will reveal Himself in your heart, you will be successful in your spiritual life.

Take this book also, the ten offences of the Holy Name are written in it. Many people chant the Holy Name, but they do not get the result because they make offences. Mainly there are ten offences, they are written in this book. Read what they are, memorise them, and you must avoid these ten offences. If you chant without offences, you will get the result quickly.

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