HH Giriraj Swami Lecture on Chanting Pt 2 of 2

Second in a two part series by HH Giriraj Swami. This is a Lecture from the Chaitanya Charitamrita, Madhya Lila, Chapter 16, Text 70-72. === CC Madhya 16.69: As in the previous year, one of the inhabitants of Kulina-grama submitted a petition to the Lord, saying, "My Lord, kindly tell me what my duty is and how I should execute it." CC Madhya 16.70: The Lord replied, "You should engage yourself in the service of the servants of Krsna and always chant the holy name of Krsna. If you do these two things, you will very soon attain shelter at Krsna's lotus feet." CC Madhya 16.71: The inhabitant of Kulīna-grama said, "Please let me know who is actually a Vaisnava and what his symptoms are." Understanding his mind, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu smiled and gave the following reply. CC Madhya 16.72: "A person who is always chanting the holy name of the Lord is to be considered a first-class Vaisnava, and your duty is to serve his lotus feet." PURPORT Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvatī Thakura says that any Vaisnava who is constantly chanting the holy name of the Lord should be considered to have attained the second platform of Vaisnavism. Such a devotee is superior to a neophyte Vaisnava who has just learned to chant the holy name of the Lord. A neophyte devotee simply tries to chant the holy name, whereas the advanced devotee is accustomed to chanting and takes pleasure in it. Such an advanced devotee is called a madhyama-bhagavata, which indicates that he has attained the intermediate stage between the neophyte and the perfect devotee. Generally a devotee in the intermediate stage becomes a preacher. A neophyte devotee or an ordinary person should worship the madhyama-bhagavata, who is a via medium. In his Upadesamrta (5) Srila Rupa Gosvami says, pranatibhis ca bhajantam Isam. This means that madhyama-adhikari devotees should exchange obeisances between themselves. The word nirantara, meaning "without cessation, continuously, constantly," is very important in this verse. The word antara means "interval." If one has desires other than a desire to perform devotional service — in other words, if one sometimes engages in devotional service and sometimes strives for sense gratification — his service will be interrupted. A pure devotee, therefore, should have no desire other than to serve Krsna. He should be above fruitive activity and speculative knowledge. In his Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu [Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 1.1.11], Srila Rupa Gosvami says: [removed] [Madhya 19.167] This is the platform of pure devotional service. One should not be motivated by fruitive activity or mental speculation but should simply serve Krsna favorably. That is first-class devotion. Another meaning of antara is "this body." The body is an impediment to self-realization because it is always engaged in sense gratification. Similarly, antara means "money." If money is not used in Krsna's service, it is also an impediment. Antara also means janata, "people in general." The association of ordinary persons may destroy the principles of devotional service. Similarly, antara may mean "greed" — greed to acquire more money or enjoy more sense gratification. Finally, the word antara may also mean "atheistic ideas," by which one considers the temple Deity to be made of stone, wood or gold. All of these are impediments. The Deity in the temple is not material — He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. Similarly, considering the spiritual master an ordinary human being (gurusu nara-matiḥ) is also an impediment. Nor should one consider a Vaisnava a member of a particular caste or nation. Nor should a Vaisnava be considered material. Caranamrta should not be considered ordinary drinking water, and the holy name of the Lord should not be considered an ordinary sound vibration. Nor should one look on Lord Krsna as an ordinary human being, for He is the origin of all visnu-tattvas; nor should one regard the Supreme Lord as a demigod. Intermingling the spiritual with the material causes one to look on transcendence as material and the mundane as spiritual. This is all due to a poor fund of knowledge. One should not consider Lord Visnu and things related to Him as being different. All this is offensive. In the Bhakti-sandarbha (265), Srila Jiva Gosvami writes: [removed] "In the verse beginning namaikam yasya, we find the word pasanda ['godlessness']. The word literally indicates misuse of one's body or property, but in that verse it implies the ten offenses against the Lord's holy name, since each of these leads to such godless behavior." The Mayavadis look on Visnu and Vaisnavas imperfectly due to their poor fund of knowledge, and this is condemned. [removed due to length limitations] === Dallas, TX 2007-08-23