Always Chant the Holy Name

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh
3 January 2019, part 9

Question: Does Krishna's family lineage still exist on this planet?

Krishna exists everywhere. If you have good eyes, not maya chaksu (illusory mundane eyes), but proper eyes, then you can see that Krishna is everywhere, but generally it is not possible for everybody to see Him. Here in South India you are near Nrisinghadev, then you have heard this: when Hiranyakasipu asked, "Where is your Hari? Where is your Krishna? Is He in this pillar?" Prahlad Maharaj replied, "Yes, father, He exists in this pillar." Then, Hiranyakasipu broke the pillar and saw that yes, Lord Krishna was within it.

Question: I constantly pray to the Lord, but my mind always goes somewhere else. How can I concentrate my mind purely on the Lord?

Mind is always naughty, it always wants something. Prabhupad Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur told: when your mind is disturbing you, loudly chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, then your mind will concentrate on the Lord. So, at such time chant loudly, "Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare / Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare." Chant this Holy Name again and again and your mind will concentrate. But it is necessary not only think about the Lord and pray—you should just chant the Holy Name.

Question: Are there any limitations or restrictions concerning time and place?

There are no limitations, no restrictions. You can even chant the Holy Name in the bathroom, it is actually good because you know that sometimes people even die in the bathroom—they can have a heart attack or a stroke and die. Then, you can chant anywhere.

কি শয়নে, কি ভোজনে, কিবা জাগরণে ।
অহর্নিশ চিন্ত কৃষ্ণ, বলহ বদনে ॥

ki sayane, ki bhojane, kiba jagarane
aharnisa chinta krsna, balaha vadane

Whether you are sleeping, eating, or resting, always chant the Name of Krishna.

(Sri Chaitanya-bhagavat, Madhya-khanda, 28.28)

Mahaprabhu, Lord Krishna Himself, says, "You can chant My Name anywhere." There are no restrictions or rules about wearing clean clothes, dirty clothes, etc. Anyone can chant the Holy Name.

One time, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was going to the toilet in Puri. His tongue always chants Harinam maha-mantra, so He was going to the bathroom biting His tongue to prevent it from chanting. Mahaprabhu had a servitor named Gopal. Gopal saw Mahaprabhu going like this and asked Him,

"Prabhu, is there any problem? Why are You biting Your tongue?"

Mahaprabhu said, "This tongue has become very naughty! I am going to the toilet, it is a dirty place, but even then the tongue wants to chant the Holy Name!"

"Prabhu, but You said that we could chant the Holy Name anywhere, at any time, that there were no rules, no restrictions, then why cannot You chant in the bathroom?"

"Yes!" Mahaprabhu exclaimed, "Yes, one can chant the Holy Name in the bathroom also. Gopal, I have forgotten about it and you have reminded Me about it today! You have become My Guru and from today your name will be Gopal Guru!"

Actually, now people have less faith (sraddha). I see that sometimes they take initiation, but they feel shy to wear the Tulasi neck beads. I heard an analogy from one sadhu. Why do we wear the Tulasi beads? You can see there are many street dogs everywhere—these street dogs have no collar, this is how you can recognise that they have no master. And when a dog is walking with a collar and a leash, then you can understand that it has a master. So, when you wear Tulasi beads, then you and others can recognise, "Oh, this person has surrendered to the Lord," and you yourself will think then, "I do not control myself. Krishna is my master and controller." Also, Krishna actually likes Tulasi beads—Tulasi is the dearmost of Krishna.

You must remember that you can die at any time. Always chant the Holy Name. You can remember Ajamil's story—he always thought about his son named Narayan, he was very attached to him, and when he died and Yamaduts came to take him, he was very afraid—at that time he remembered his son and started calling out to him, "O Narayan! Please help me! They have come to take me!" As soon as he chanted the Name of Narayan, Vishnuduts came and rescued him.

— : • : —

{ 2001  |   2002  |   2003  |   2005  |   2009  |   2010  |   2011  |   2012 }
{ 2013  |   2014  |   2015  |   2016  |   2017  |   2018  |   2019  |   2020  |   2021 }

• Download (1.4 Mb)