Harinama Cintamani (English)

Çré Harinäma-cintämaëi
The Transcendental Touchstone of the Holy Name

by Çréla Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura
Chapter One
Introduction to the Glories of the Holy Name
All glories to Çré Gadädhara Paëòita and Lord Çré Gauraìga; all glories to
Lord Nityänanda, the life of Çrématé Jahnava-devi; all glories to Çré Advaita
Äcärya and Mother Sétä; all glories to Çréla Çréväsa Paëòita and all the
devotees of Lord Caitanya.
At Niläcala, within His sacred temple near the ocean shore, the Supreme
Personality of Godhead resides in His form of wood known as Daru-brahman.
The Supreme Lord Hari descended to the material world in this form of
Jagannätha to deliver the living entities from their eternal bondage. He
grants material benedictions to those who require them and final release from
all material attachments to those who are more spiritually advanced.
In this same sacred abode, the same Supreme Lord took the role of a
renounced sannyäsé to give His supreme blessing to humanity. Residing in
Käçi Miçra’s home, He propagated the only dharma needed by the fallen souls
of this age, and so established the real meaning of religion in Kali-yuga.
There, like a desire tree yielding unlimited treasures, surrounded by His many
devotees, Lord Caitanya distributed love of Godhead (Kåñëa-prema) freely to
all people. Ensuring that His teachings would be correctly disseminated, He
had certain associates speak on specific subjects while He Himself gave His
blissful audience. Thus He relished Çré Rämänanda Räya’s revelation of the
confidential sweetness of the conjugal love of Çré-Çré Rädhä-Kåñëa; Çré
Sarvabhauma Bhaööäcärya’s explanation of actual liberation; Çré Rüpa
Gosvämé’s intricate analysis of the various levels of loving exchange with the
Lord; and Çréla Haridäsa Öhäkura’s glorification of the supreme efficacy and
excellence of the Holy Name.
One day, after bathing in the ocean, Lord Caitanya met Çréla Haridäsa
Öhäkura under the Siddha-Bäkula tree. Greatly pleased at seeing Çréla
Çré Harinäma-cintämaëi—The Transcendental Touchstone of the Holy Name
Haridäsa, the Lord inquired from him the means by which the conditioned
souls can most easily be delivered from sin.
Çréla Haridäsa fell at the Lord’s lotus feet and clasped them tightly. His entire
body went into rapture, and he offered humble prayers punctuated by
shivering and tears. In a choked voice Çréla Haridäsa said, “My Lord, Your
wonderful pastimes are unfathomable, and I am but unfortunate and
illiterate. Your lotus feet are my only resort. What is the use of asking such
questions of a worthless person like me?”
Çréla Haridäsa continued: “You are Kåñëa, the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, who has appeared in Navadvépa to save all living entities. O my
Lord Gauraìga, kindly shelter me in the shade of Your lotus feet, for only this
will gladden my heart. Your Holy Name is unlimited, You are the
embodiment of endless excellences, and Your exquisite beauty draws me into
a shoreless ocean of joy. Your pastimes are ever-expanding; You have
manifested Your name, form, qualities and activities in this material world so
even a fallen wretch like myself can relish them. It is impossible for one with
mundane vision to perceive Your transcendental features with his limited
senses, but now You are mercifully revealing Yourself for the highest benefit
of humanity; this is indeed the direct display of the internal spiritual potency
of the Lord.
“You are the spiritual sun and I am an insignificant spark of Your effulgence.
You are my Lord and master and I am Your servitor eternally. The ambrosia
emanating from Your lotus feet intoxicates all my senses. My only hope lies in
the limitless nectar of Your Holy Name. I am fallen what can I say of my own
volition? I am here just to execute Your orders. I shall be greatly satisfied to
speak the words You put into my mouth and I will not consider whether they
are right or wrong.”
Lord Kåñëa and His energies

Lord Kåñëa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is beyond anyone’s
jurisdiction, for He alone is the master (sarveçvära) of all that exists. He
completely independent, being self-willed and self-fulfilled. His unrestricted
desires are effortlessly satisfied by His inconceivable internal potency that
constantly associates with Him. This potency is a feature of His inherent
nature and is therefore never independent of Him.1
1
He is known as the non-dual Supreme Consciousness by dint of His free will and
inconceivable potency. Empirical philosophers (jïänés) attempt to rob this non-dual Divinity
of His personal will and potency by postulating Him to be the impersonal Brahman. But in
2
Kåñëa exists within all His energies and is thus not different from them. The
Vedas declare Lord Kåñëa to be the infinite, absolute Vibhu; His energies are
His attributes (vaibhava). His vaibhava energies are the root of all existing
phenomena: yet even in the midst of unlimited phenomena ever-expanding
throughout all time, Kåñëa remains aloof and indivisible in His original form.
The three kinds of vaibhava

Vibhu is perceivable only by the grace of His vaibhava energies, of which
there are three kinds. They are, as revealed in the scriptures, the spiritual
energy (cid-vaibhava), the material energy (mäyä or acid-vaibhava), and the
marginal energy (jéva-vaibhava).2
The cit-çakti is known as viñëupäda

The cit-çakti is never affected by the inferior acit-çakti. Even when it
descends to this material world, cit-çakti remains untouched by the inebrieties
of matter. Forever spiritual, embodying the absolute nature of the Supreme
Godhead, the spiritual potency is glorified in the Vedic hymns as being equal
to the Lord Himself; thus it is known as Viñëupäda (intimately connected
fact the impersonal Brahman (Kåñëa’s consciousness minus will and potency) is only the
effulgence of the Supreme non-dual Brahman.
Through the eightfold yoga system, yogis can perceive the non-dual Supreme Being within
their hearts as the localized Supersoul or Paramätmä who pervades and witnesses all
existence. But Paramätmä is also just a partial appearance of Krsna. Lord Krsna alone is the
Absolute Consciousness, for only He displays absolute potency, will and control.
2
Krsna’s cid-vaibhava is a direct transformation of His cit-çakti, His personal internal
potency. The display of cid-vaibhava includes His abode, known as the Vaikuëöha-loka; His
innumerable names like Govinda, Hari, etc.; His transcendental forms like the threefold
bending form with two hands playing the flute; His divine qualities, so sublimely pleasurable
to His devotees; His superexcellent pastimes like the rasa dance in Vrëòävana and its
corresponding appearance in Navadvépa as the congregational chanting of the Holy Names.
These spiritual opulences are countless.
Another feature of the cit-çakti is the sandhiné potency by which all things exist and are held
together as an interrelated whole, including the relationships of the jévas to the Lord.
Similarly, the cit-çakti manifests the samvit potency, which reveals knowledge of Krsna, His
energies, and one’s own identity.
The cit-çakti also generates the hlädiné potency, which gives rise to the ecstatic bliss of
spiritual relationships, spiritual emotions and their combination in the sweet exchanges of
rasa, or the mellows of divine love. All of these transformations of the cit-çakti or Yoga-mäyä
(i.e. cid-vaibhava and the sandhiné, samvit and hlädiné çaktis) are beyond material place, time
and qualities, being eternally pure and full of bliss.
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with Viñëu). There is no tinge of material influence in Lord Kåñëa’s energies:

they are transcendental and exist in pure goodness (çuddha-sattva).3
Viñëu-tattva
All the plenary expansions of the Lord such as Govinda, Vaikuëöhanatha,
Mahä-Viñëu, Garbodakaçäyé Viñëu and Kñérodakaçäyé Viñëu are in the
category of absolute goodness, supreme and divine, and are known as Viñëu-
tattva.
The Viñëu-tattva forms may reside in any place, either the spiritual abodes of
Goloka, Vaikuëöha, the Causal ocean, or in this material universe, yet They
are always the master of mäyä and the supreme controller of every other
living entity great or small. Their remaining unaffected by the influence of
the illusory potency is evidence of their inconceivable spiritual position.
Brahmä, Çiva and the other demigods are miñra-sattva, being influenced by
mäyä. The Viñëu-tattva forms, Their abodes, Their pastimes, and all else in
the spiritual sky exist in pure goodness.
Mäyä-tattva
A river called Virajä separates the material universe from the spiritual abode.
Everything in the fourteen material planetary systems is acit-vaibhava or the
temporary manifestation of matter. This place has been described in the
scriptures as Devi-dhäma (the abode of Durgä-devi), who is the presiding
deity of mäyä.
3
Sattva, or goodness, is of two kinds: çuddha sattva and miñra-sattva (mixed goodness).
Everything in the category of cid-vaibhava is çuddha-sattva, or pure goodness. All sattva in the
material nature is mixed, or miñra-sattva.
Çuddha-sattva is devoid of passion and ignorance. Birth indicates the mode of passion in
action. The eternally existent spiritual essence, çuddha-sattva, has never been touched by
birth, which is a manifestation of passion, nor by annihilation, which occurs in the mode of
ignorance.
As the Supreme Lord’s separated parts and parcels, the jévas (the living entities, who are
individual spirit souls) are originally çuddha-sattva, but due to their contact with nescience
they have come under the sway of the material modes of passion and ignorance, and hence
are now in the mixed or miñra-sattva category. Even demigods like Siva, though far superior
in many ways to the ordinary jévas, are nevertheless captivated by the material glare due to
false identification, and so fall in this category of miñra-sattva.
The Supreme Lord is always in pure goodness. He descends to this material world by His
inconceivable spiritual potency and is always the controller of the material nature, mäyä,
who is ever ready to act as His maidservant.
4
The material universe, including the physical bodies of the living entities, is
made up of the five gross elements of earth, water, fire, air and either. Mind,
intelligence and false ego are subtle material elements that comprise the
psychic bodies of the living entities. The psychic bodies arise from desire. Yet
the soul is always purely spiritual and distinct from his subtle body; he is by
nature çuddha-sattva, as are his original mind, intelligence and ego.
The seven higher planetary systems Bhür, Bhuvar, Svarga, Mahar, Jana, Tapa,
and Satya or Brahmä and the seven lower planetary systems such as Atala,
Sutala and so on are all manifestations of mäyä (the illusory potency). Cid-
vaibhava is the complete whole, and mäyä is its shadow.
Jéva-vaibhava consists of both liberated and conditioned souls

The jévas are originally completely spiritual, infinitesimal and endowed with a
limited degree of independence. The jévas are countless in number and are in
urgent need of spiritual bliss for the attainment of their perfection. In seeking
that bliss, those who surrender their lives to Lord Kåñëa are liberated from
birth and death and reside eternally in the Lord’s company as His
confidential associates. On the other hand, the jéva-souls who desire self-
importance and selfish pleasure become attracted by mäyä, who awaits them
on the other side of the River Virajä. She entices them away from Lord
Kåñëa’s service and lures them into the trap of the Devi-dhäma, where they
are chained to bodies manufactured by material nature. Bound by the
reactions of their misdeeds, they wander from birth to birth in gross and
subtle forms. Sometimes they are elevated to the heavenly planets and
afterwards go to hell. In this way they travel through all the eight million four
hundred thousand species of life, suffering the pains of material existence.
Lord Kåñëa is always merciful to the jévas

The Lord is the Supreme Personality, and the jéva is His tiny part and parcel.
Kåñëa is always concerned for the well-being of His jéva expansions. In
whatever situation the jéva may find himself, Lord Kåñëa is always prepared to
grant the jéva his heart’s desire, like a well-wisher who never forsakes his
friend.
Kåñëa’s relationship with the jéva is eternal: He uses the jéva as an instrument
through whom and to whom He manifests His energies and opulences. The
Lord is the controller, the jéva the controlled; the Lord is independent, the
jéva dependent; the Lord is master, the jéva the beneficiary of the results of his
service to the master.
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Pious acts are material and fruitive

The soul greedy for material sense pleasure finds even this easily available by
the kindness of the master. The means to attain such gratification is the
performance of auspicious activities (çubha-karma) recommended in the
Vedas. These are: following the duties of the varnäçrama system; performing
sacrifices such as the fire sacrifice (agnistoma); executing the eight-fold yoga
process; offering hävana or oblations; keeping vows on full-moon days; giving
in charity on auspicious days and other occasions conducive to material
benefit.
Although çubha-karma is performed with Lord Viñëu as the presiding Deity,
the performer lacks spiritual intentions. He unfortunately takes complete
shelter of material considerations of object, time and place and cannot even
intuit his dearth of Kåñëa consciousness because such ritualistic
considerations thwart the mood of spiritual self-examination and inquiry.
The results of çubha-karma are material, for they merely inflame lust for more
enjoyment in higher planets. Such sacrifices and their results can never
satisfy the soul, the real self, because their cause is illusion. These so-called
auspicious activities only avail the jéva temporary heavenly pleasures
diametrically opposed to transcendental bliss.
The means of deliverance from material piety

If a person is fortunate enough to get the association of a saintly devotee and
learns that he, the jéva, is an eternal servant of Lord Kåñëa, then he easily
surmounts the great obstacle of material nature. This is very rare, being the
result of a vast accumulation of piety that can never be acquired by the
performance of çubha-karma, which gives only insignificant results.
Empirical philosophy (jïäna-käëòa) elevates one to the

brahmajyoti
The dry empirical philosophers are more advanced than the karmés, for they
understand the material existence to be a condition of suffering and so strive
for liberation. The Lord is kind to them also: He has given them the jïäna-
käëòa section of the Vedas so they can pursue impersonal knowledge of the
Absolute. Their final goal is absorption into the brahmajyoti. The brahmajyoti
is Kåñëa’s blinding spiritual effulgence and is situated on the bank of the
Virajä. All the demons the Supreme Lord kills also merge into Brahman, just
beyond the periphery of mäyä. Both the empiricists and fruitive workers are
non-devotees, disinclined to serve Lord Kåñëa. They can never relish the
sweetness of Lord Kåñëa’s service.
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Piety leading to devotional service

Sukåti, or pious activity, is of three varieties: karmonmukhi or piety derived
from çubha-karma, jïänonmukhi or piety derived from the cultivation of
knowledge, and bhakty-unmukhi or piety derived from devotional activities.
The first two lead, respectively, to enjoyment of the fruits of action and to
liberation. The last leads to an appreciation for saintly association. Bhakty-
unmukhi is achieved by performing devotional service to the Lord
unknowingly, without spiritual knowledge.
Bhakty-unmukhi is the most important kind of sukåti, for it impels the jéva to
meet a pure, saintly devotee. By associating with a devotee of Kåñëa, the jéva’s
faith becomes firm. Gradually he develops a taste for chanting the Holy
Name, becomes compassionate towards all beings, and is then firmly fixed in
Kåñëa consciousness.
The Lord compassionately guides the karmé and jïäné to the

unknowing performance of devotional service
The Lord is an ocean of magnanimity, and the supreme controller of
everyone. He is always keen to serve the conditioned souls, including the
karmés and jïänés. Thinking of their welfare, He provides them the
opportunity for indirect devotional service.
The karmé who follows Varnäçrama-dharma associates with saintly persons
and executes his duties for the satisfaction of the Supreme Lord Hari. Such
activities cleanse his heart and gradually destroy the desire for more fruitive
work. In its place the seed of çraddhä, or pure faith, is sown within his heart.
The jïäné who sincerely seeks transcendental wisdom humbly enters the
company of pure devotees and invokes their inherent compassion towards
him. By their grace, he easily develops firm faith in the direct process of pure
devotional service. In this way, by the jïäné’s indirect devotion to knowledge,
he gets the shelter of the pure devotees.
The Lord says, ‘My servant, the jéva, may succumb to the treachery of My
illusory potency, but I keep his best interests in My heart. By degrees I inspire
him to develop an aversion to sense enjoyment and liberation, and then grant
him attraction to devotional service unto Me. I lead the jéva in his pursuit to
fulfill his material desires by engaging him in the indirect devotional
processes of karma and jïäna, and in this way I strengthen his faith and love
for Me.’
Lord Kåñëa is most compassionate. The indirect devotional paths are but a
hint of His causeless mercy. Without His loving intervention, how could the
jéva ever become purified?
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The indirect processes have deteriorated badly in Kali-yuga

The Satya-yuga sages who took up the process of meditation were personally
purified by Kåñëa and given the treasure of devotional service. In the Treta-
yuga, the same spiritual success crowned those who flawlessly performed
opulent sacrifices to satisfy the Lord. In the Dväpara-yuga, He granted
devotion to those who adhered to the path of perfect Deity worship. With the
advent of Kali-yuga, Lord Kåñëa saw the dreadful condition of the jévas and
relinquished all hope in the processes of karma, jïäna and yoga.
People in the Kali-yuga are short-lived, always harassed by disease, and are
born with a weak body and mind. The observance of Varnäçrama-dharma and
the cultivation of säkhya philosophy, yoga, and empiricism will not yield the
strength humanity needs to redeem itself. 4
The prime process: chanting the Holy Name

The Lord, considering the jévas’ welfare, descended in Kali-yuga along with
His Holy Name to propagate the yuga-dharma (the religion of the age). By
taking up the yuga-dharma the jéva attains love of Kåñëa: he has only to
remember the Supreme Lord’s name (näma-smärana or japa) and chant the
Lord’s name congregationally (näma-saìkértana).
The Holy Name is both the means and the end

The only method or means (sädhana) in this age is the Holy Name of the
Lord. The only goal (sädhya) to be attained in this age is Kåñëa-prema. Even
in the stage of perfection, the name is not given up but is chanted all the
more, for it is intrinsic to the activities of prema. Indeed, the name is not
different from the Lord: it is the very embodiment of prema. If the means is
the end, then the end and the means never contradict one another. If process
is identical to the objective, then it is easy for the jévas to attain the desired
4
In Kali-yuga, the indirect devotional paths of jïäna and karma are extremely narrow and
hazardous. They are intended to lead one to the shrine of devotional service through either
the association of saintly persons during philosophical discussions, or by the ritualistic
offering to the Supreme Lord of the results of work performed without desire. In Kali-yuga
both paths have become contaminated. Genuine saintly persons, now rarely seen, have been
displaced by crass, commercial pseudo-spiritualists. Religious duties are no longer performed
for purifying the consciousness but for enjoyment of the material results of the rituals.
Therefore these secondary paths are no longer beneficial. Even the process of Deity worship
that gave the highest spiritual success in Dväpara-yuga has become impure and degraded.
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goal of life, Kåñëa-prema. By the mercy of His Holy Name, Kåñëa easily
delivers the jévas in the age of Kali.5
Çréla Haridäsa, the incarnation of Lord Brahmä, fell at the Lord’s lotus feet
with tears cascading from his eyes. His body heaving with sighs, Haridäsa
declared, “I am extremely fallen and am much engrossed in material life.
Being the rascal I am, I never chanted Your Holy Name.”

Only those persons who appreciate Lord Hari, His devotees, and devotional
service can take this Harinäma-cintämaëi to heart.
5
In karma and jïäna, the sädhana and sädhya are in conflict. The only real goal or sädhya of
the Vedas is to attain the mercy of the Lord. As one approaches the goal via the paths of
karma and jïäna, they vanish, being impermanent. But näma-sädhya already exists in näma-
sädhana, for the Lord is forever identical to His Holy Name. This truth is known only by
great good fortune.
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Chapter Two
The Acceptance of the Holy Name
devotees of Lord Caitanya. Çréla Haridäsa continued to weep in ecstatic love.
Lord Gauracandra encircled him with His arms in a loving embrace and said,
“O Haridäsa, a devotee of your caliber is rarely found. You are well-versed in
all spiritual conclusions and you are always unaffected by mäyä.
Elevation by pure devotion

“Taking birth in a low family and caste, you have proven to the world that
Kåñëa is not obtained merely by amassing wealth, reputation, lineage or
refinement. Whoever develops unflinching faith in unalloyed devotional
service to the Supreme Lord as you have done is factually superior to the
demigods.
“You are learned in all the truths of the Holy Name of the Lord; your spiritual
conduct is exemplary; and you are an expert preacher. Therefore, O Haridäsa,
kindly reveal to Me something of the unlimited glories of the Holy Name.
Please allow Me to savor your words.
Three stages of acceptance of the name

“One who chants the Holy Name even once is considered a Vaiñëava
devotee, and the householders should be very attentive to respect such a
person. But the devotee who constantly chants Kåñëa’s name is even a better
Vaiñëava, for he is endowed with all good qualities. The most advanced
Vaiñëava of all is he who inspires others who see him to immediately chant
the Lord’s name. When he chants the name even once, attraction to
rendering eternal devotional service to the Supreme Lord is irrevocably
established. Kindly tell Me how the non-devotees can be made to accept the
chanting of the Holy Name of Kåñëa.”
The spiritual identity of the Holy Name

Çréla Haridäsa clasped his hands together. Eyes brimming with tears and voice
choked in spiritual love, he began his reply in soft, gentle tones.
“Lord Kåñëa’s name is cintämaëi, formed of eternal and transcendental
touchstone. Just as a touchstone yields all desirable objects, so the touchstone
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of Kåñëa’s Holy Name gives religiosity, wealth, sense pleasure and liberation
to a materialistic person. To a surrendered devotee, it offers pure love of
Kåñëa. Lord Kåñëa and His Holy Name are not different; They are the one
and same Absolute Truth who is the all-pervading yet supremely independent
form of dynamic spirituality (caitanya-vigraha), fully cognizant and full of
bliss, without beginning or end. Eternally free of material imperfection
(nitya-mukta), always situated in pure goodness (çuddha-sattva), the Holy
Name, identical (abhinna) with He who is denoted by the name (the nämé, or
Kåñëa), descends to this world as the complete incarnation of the highest
sweetness (rasa).
Kåñëa’s name, form, qualities and pastimes are full of potency

Any object is known by four characteristic features: name, form, qualities and
activities. Lord Kåñëa, the Supreme Object, is knowable in terms of His
unlimited and eternal name, form, qualities and pastimes. The absence of
these four features in anything denies its status as object. For example,
Brahman is impersonal and formless; hence it is not an object unto itself, but
simply a distinctive trait of the Supreme Lord. Lord Kåñëa is the non-dual
Absolute Object who perfectly manifests Himself through the four features of
name, form, qualities and pastimes. Each one of these features is fully potent
and able to express Him in totality. They exist and are sustained by the Lord’s
sandhiné potency, and they are eternal and transcendental. As Lord Kåñëa
attracts all living entities, similarly the Holy Name, which is not different
from Him, also attracts everyone. Kåñëa’s sublime form is as identical to Him
as His Holy Name. Remembering and chanting Kåñëa’s name immediately
invokes His beautiful form in the mind, and both dance there harmoniously
like inseparable partners.
Kåñëa’s sixty-four qualities are unlimited and transcendental. Brahmä and
Çiva are expansions of His qualities, but they only partially display the
transcendental nature of the Supreme Lord, which is infinite, eternal,
unending and absolutely spiritual. Kåñëa alone has the full sixty-four qualities
of the Supreme Person; even His full expansions like Lord Näräyaëa and
avatäras like Lord Rämacandra are ornamented with only sixty of them.
Demigods up to the level of Çiva possess fifty-five of these qualities, but only
in limited measure. Ordinary jévas have just fifty, visible in mere fractional
degrees, like small drops. Only Kåñëa, even amongst all His Viñëu expansions,
is the master of four exceptional qualities visible in Him alone.
If the Lord’s qualities are compared to waves, then His pastimes appear in
these waves and continuously form, crest and reshape themselves again and
again. Wherever they may be enacted, either in Goloka, Vaikuëöha, or Vraja,
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they are always transcendental. Hence, the Lord’s name, form, qualities and
pastimes are of the same spiritual substance.
Conditioned consciousness is opposite to Kåñëa

consciousness
The jéva conditioned by the illusory material nature experiences a state of
consciousness that is a complete reversal of Kåñëa consciousness. Because he
falsely identifies with his body, the jéva’s name, form, qualities and activities
are full of contradiction. Once he is purified of his material contaminations,
these four features become harmonious and identical with the soul. But until
he is liberated by the Lord’s grace, the jéva will continue to suffer the pains of
his false identification eternally. Kåñëa, being beyond material existence,
eternally enjoys His name, form, qualities and activities as one Truth
inseparable from Him.
The Holy Name is the primary feature

Of the four characteristic features, the Lord’s Holy Name is the primary one
because it awards cognition of the other three. Therefore chanting the Holy
Name is the foremost religious activity (dharma) of a Vaiñëava. From the
Holy Name gradually blossoms the Lord’s form, qualities and pastimes. The
entire panorama of Lord Kåñëa’s pastimes is present in the Holy Name. Lord
Caitanya has personally declared Kåñëa’s name to be the highest Absolute
Truth. There are only two realities in this world, the Holy Name and the jéva.
In the entire material existence there is nothing comparable to the Holy
Name. The Holy Name is the most precious jewel in the Lord’s treasure
house. In this whole universe there are only two meaningful truths: the jéva
and the Holy Name; everything else is deceptive. By the will of the Lord, the
jéva entered this realm of inert matter and was bewildered by it, as when in
the beginning Brahmä thought himself to be all alone. But when Kåñëa
descended into the world as His Holy Name, the spiritual reality of which
Brahmä and the other jévas are a part was revealed.
The name is of two kinds: principal and secondary

The Holy Name can be categorized in two types: principal and secondary. By
taking shelter of Kåñëa’s principal names, the jéva obtains the real boon of
spiritual life. The Holy Names of the Lord that describe His transcendental
pastimes and which contain all of the Lord’s spiritual excellences are defined
as principal names. They are, for example: Govinda, Gopäla, Räma, Çré
Nandanandana, Rädhänätha, Hari, Yaçomaté Präëadhana, Madana-Mohana,
Çyämasundara, Mädhava, Gopinätha, Vraja-gopäla, Rakñala, Yädava, and so
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on. Anyone who chants the names of the Lord that depict His eternal
pastimes can attain the Lord’s supreme abode.
The secondary names and their symptoms

The Vedas address the Lord with names that describe His affiliation with His
material energy. These are His secondary names, e.g. Creator, Supersoul,
Brahman, maintainer and annihilator of the world, Yajïeçwar, Hara, etc.
Such names of the Lord are invoked by those pursuing fruitive activities and
empirical knowledge. In keeping with the Vedic directions, the chanting of
such names of the Lord will result in piety and salvation. However, Kåñëa-
prema, the most perfect result of chanting the Holy Name of the Lord, is
attained only by saintly souls who invoke Kåñëa’s principal names.
The pure name and nämäbhäsa; different results

If the Holy Name is chanted just once, though impurely so, or if the sound is
simply heard, then the living entity, regardless of his high or low caste, is
immediately liberated. This is the declaration of scripture. However, when
the Holy Name is chanted in the clearing stage (nämäbhäsa, the stage when
impurities are swept from the heart of the chanter), then the highest goal is
attained after some delay.
All other auspicious pious results including liberation can be quite easily
achieved in nämäbhäsa, but the attainment of love of Godhead is suspended
for a while until the jéva reaches the summit of chanting the pure name or
çuddha-näma. One obtains love of Kåñëa only after reaching this stage of pure
chanting. In nämäbhäsa, sin and unwanted desires in the heart are eventually
dissipated; thereafter the devotee chants purely. Çuddha-näma offers the
devotee the highest spiritual success, love of Kåñëa.
Vyavadhäna or ‘disruption’ causes offense

Chanting should be free from any form of disruption because this will result
in offenses against the Holy Name, which in turn pose an insurmountable
obstacle on the path to success. Vyavadhäna or ‘disruption’ is of two kinds.
The first type is known as varna-vyavadhäna or disruption in the syllables. For
example, in the Bengali word hathikari, ‘ha’ and the last syllable ‘ri’ can be put
together to form ‘Hari’, a name of Kåñëa. But because the syllables ‘thi-ka’ are
inserted in the middle, the repetition of ‘hathikari’ will not give actual
benefit. Yet the Islamic word häräm is not perverted by such disruption of the
syllables or varna-vyavadhäna. The syllables comprising the Holy Name
‘Räma’ are uninterrupted; hence, speaking the word ‘häräm’ gives liberation
because it is nämäbhäsa. The second type of vyavadhäna is called tattva-
13
vyavadhäna or disruption of philosophical conclusions. This offense is much

more serious. Lord Kåñëa’s name and Lord Kåñëa Himself are non-different.
But someone who is polluted by Mäyävädé philosophy imagines them to be
separate. Such an offensive conclusion is clearly against all Vedic teachings
and will totally destroy one’s spiritual life. It is impossible to obtain Kåñëa-
prema from such chanting. In summary, one should understand properly that
the Holy Name is identical to the Lord Himself. The principal names of
Kåñëa should be chanted as çuddha-näma, devoid of nämäbhäsa and the
aparädha of vyavadhäna. The person who takes these considerations to heart
and chants çuddha-näma even once is considered a Vaiñëava. He is to be
served with faith and devotion.
Overcoming nämäbhäsa and attaining prema

Anyone wanting to attain the highest spiritual success of chanting purely
must approach a bona-fide spiritual master and serve him carefully and
sincerely. Gradually, as all the anärthas or unwanted desires in the heart are
destroyed, the transcendental name of Kåñëa appears and dances on the
tongue of the devotee. The Holy Name, now nectarean in taste, cannot but
be relished by the devotee at every moment. Thus spiritually intoxicated, the
devotee always feels like dancing. As the Holy Name dances, the devotee
likewise dances, and at that moment the ecstasy of love of Godhead also
enters dancing into the devotee’s heart. Then the entire world will dance and
mäyä will flee away. Only the faithful are eligible to chant the omnipotent
Holy Name. The Supreme Lord has infused His transcendental name with all
of His potencies and offered it to humanity. One who has sufficient faith in
Lord Kåñëa’s name is eligible to chant, and only one who chants the name is
properly executing the prescribed duties of the human being. He is called an
adhikäré or possessor of the Holy Name.
The Holy Name is so potent that chanting does not dependent on conditions
of time, place, rules, cleanliness, and so on. Pious activities, such as the giving
of charity, the performance of sacrifices, the taking of ablutions, or the
recitation of Vedic mantras are all regulated by stringent rules. But for the
chanting of the Holy Name, the only prerequisite is faith. One who takes
shelter of the Holy Name with unflinching faith will attain all perfection.
Accept things favorable to chanting and reject things

unfavorable
The jéva in Kali-yuga must become free from deceit, join Lord Kåñëa’s family
of devotees and continuously chant the Holy Name. He should accept
everything favorable for devotional service and at the same time reject
unfavorable things. He should seek out the association of devotees and utilize
14
his life in service to the Lord’s Holy Name and the Vaiñëavas. He should
forgo all other religious practices and pious activities and never worship any
other devatä. Nor should he think anything to be independent from Kåñëa.
One who always chants the Holy Name and serves the devotees will surely
obtain Kåñëa-prema. Çréla Haridäsa Öhäkura again placed his head on the
Lord’s lotus feet. Weeping, he begged the Lord that he might develop
attachment for the Holy Name.

One who is blessed with love and devotion and who takes pleasure in serving
Çréla Haridäsa Öhäkura’s lotus feet will find the touchstone of the Holy Name
to be as precious as life itself.
15
Chapter Three
The Unclarified Name (Nämäbhäsa)
Extending His lotus-like hands, the merciful Lord Caitanya lifted up Çréla
Haridäsa and said, “My dear Haridäsa, please take hold of yourself and inform
Me about nämäbhäsa. The Holy Name is so potent and endowed with such
transcendental qualities that anyone can easily achieve liberation simply by
chanting. Once nämäbhäsa is understood, one can strive to chant purely the
Holy Name of Kåñëa.
Ajïäna is like mist, and anärtha is like clouds

“The Holy Name is an all-powerful, brilliant sun that disperses the darkness
of mäyä or nescience. Clouds and mist may sometimes blanket one’s vision;
the sun is then not visible. Similarly, the jévas are covered over by the mist of
ajïäna (ignorance) and the clouds of anärtha (material tendencies).
“Lord Kåñëa and His Holy Name are identical. They are an omnipotent
spiritual sun that destroys the darkness of nescience. To stream mercy upon
the conditioned souls the sun of the Holy Name has arisen on the horizon of
this material world. The mist of ignorance and the clouds of anärtha spread a
blanket over the jéva’s vision so that he is unable to see the sun-like Holy
Name. The sun is too big for any cloud or mist to cover, but if the jéva’s vision
is obscured, then the sun is hidden from him.
Ignorance covers knowledge of the Holy Name, the Lord’s

position, and self-identity
“Even after accepting the Holy Name, if one does not understand the name’s
identity and transcendental nature, a mist of ignorance is created that
plunges the jéva into darkness. One who is ignorant about Lord Kåñëa’s
position becomes confused and begins to worship the demigods. Thus he is
entangled in the cycle of fruitive action or karma. That person who has not
realized the jéva’s transcendental nature suffers from svarüpa-bhräma
(confusion of identity), and is in material consciousness, deluded and always
in ignorance.” Çréla Haridäsa Öhäkura exclaimed in exhilaration, “Today I am
most fortunate, for from my mouth the Supreme Lord Himself, Caitanya
16
Mahäprabhu, wants to hear about the Holy Name!” He then began by

elaborating further on the subject of ignorance.
One who is in ignorance does not know that Lord Kåñëa is supreme over all.
His eternal servitors are the demigods and all other jévas. He does not know
that the jéva’s nature is transcendental, and that the material world is an
appearance of mäyä, the Lord’s illusory energy. Anyone who understands
these truths and their relationships is freed from the darkness of ignorance
and can pass beyond the veil of nämäbhäsa. The cloud of anärtha is comprised
of hankering for illusory things, weakness of heart, and offenses. Hankering
for things temporary and unreal, weakness of the heart and mind, and
offenses are clouds of anärthas that keep the jévas in constant suffering.
Asat-tåñëa (‘thirsting for the illusory’) indicates desires for things not related
to Lord Kåñëa. These desires are: the craving for so-called material gains in
this world or in heaven, the craving for mystic powers, and the craving for
impersonal liberation.
Hådäya-daurbalyam refers to propensities of the heart and mind (viz. material
attachment, deceit, enviousness of another’s advancement, and desire for
name, fame and glory) that arise from a condition of spiritual weakness.
Aparädha means offenses; these may be offenses to the Holy Name (näma-
aparädha), to Kåñëa’s service (sevä-aparädha), to Kåñëa’s devotees (Vaiñëava-
aparädha), or to other living entities (jéva-aparädha).
These clouds hide the sun of the Holy Name. If one chants the Holy Name
while maintaining these anärthas, the chanting can at best be only the
unclarified name (nämäbhäsa). The Holy Name is always perfect in itself, but
nämäbhäsa obfuscates the jéva’s vision of it.
Nämäbhäsa is counteracted by sambandha-tattva

As long as the jéva is not firmly established in the knowledge of sambandha-
tattva or the correct understanding of the relationship between God, His
energies, and the jéva, he will continue to chant in the nämäbhäsa stage.
When the serious chanter takes full shelter of a bona-fide spiritual master, he
learns how to expertly perform devotional service and thus disperse the mist
and clouds in his heart. Once the cloud and mist are removed, the sun of the
Holy Name shines brilliantly once more and bestows the devotee with love of
Godhead.
17
Sambandha as relationship, abhidheya as indication, prayojana

as necessity
The bona-fide spiritual master gives the disciple sambandha-jïäna. The
chanting of the Holy Name is the indication (abhidheya) of this eternal
relationship (sambandha). The spiritual master enthuses the disciple to take
up abhidheya or chanting. The sun of the Holy Name then shines stronger
and evaporates the mist and clouds. Chanting at this stage becomes an
indispensable need (prayojana). Prayojana leads the devotee to pure love of
Godhead, at which point he experiences ecstasy in every moment of
chanting. The spiritual master must exactingly explain sambandha-jïäna to
the disciple, who in turn must receive it with proper faith. The quintessence
of this knowledge is that Lord Kåñëa is eternally the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, the jéva is His eternal servitor, and the jéva’s loving relationship
with Kåñëa is likewise eternal as an inherent trait of his nature.
In contact with material nature, the jéva forgets his eternal relationship with
the Lord and loiters aimlessly in this world of illusion searching for bliss. The
material world is a veritable prison house where the jéva is penalized for
turning his back on Kåñëa. It consists of the fourteen planetary systems which
together are known as the Devi-dhäma. These planetary systems are the cells
within the prison where the recalcitrant jévas are confined. Devi-dhäma is
not a place for experiencing happiness and bliss. The material so-called
pleasures offered to the jévas here are only temporary, and as such are the
cause of further suffering. As is the plan of any penal system, the jévas are
gradually reformed through this punitive arrangement. By the mercy of a
Vaiñëava devotee of the Lord, an imprisoned jéva may accept the Holy Name
and the attendant sambandha-jïäna and finally ascend to pure love of
Godhead. Such a fortunate soul will consider even säyujya-mukti or
impersonal liberation to be reprehensible. But until he is solidly grounded on
the sambandha-jïäna understanding, his chanting will be polluted by
anärthas. This is nämäbhäsa. In this stage, the jéva cannot chant the pure
name of Kåñëa.
The result of nämäbhäsa chanting

However, the value of the nämäbhäsa stage of chanting is not to be
underestimated, for it avails many positive benefits to the jéva and increases
his piety. Verily, nämäbhäsa proves to be one of the jéva’s greatest benefits. It
offers him more good fortune than all religiosity, vows, yoga, or sacrifices can
offer together.
In nämäbhäsa, all sins are absolved, liberating the jéva from the effects of
Kali-yuga. The nämäbhäsa chanter becomes a well-wishing servitor of the
18
fallen souls because he frees others as well as himself from the disease of
material consciousness. Fear and distress are subdued, allowing the chanter to
enjoy security and equanimity. The miseries inflicted by demons, ghosts,
hobgoblins, evil spirits and malefic planetary influences are easily averted.
Even if the chanter is destined for the hellish planets he will attain
liberation, because prärabdha-karma (sinful reactions of previous lives’
activities that are taking effect now) is countered.
Nämäbhäsa is greater than the result of studying all the Vedas, of visiting
every pilgrimage place, or of performing every possible altruistic and pious
work. The four goals offered in Vedas—religiosity, wealth, sense enjoyment
and liberation—are made freely available by nämäbhäsa chanting. It is
endowed with unimaginable power to reclaim any living entity. It bestows
unlimited joy and elevates even the derelicts to a very exalted stage of
realization. Nämäbhäsa offers eternal residence in the spiritual abode of
Vaikuëöha, especially in Kali-yuga. This is the declaration of scripture.
Nämäbhäsa has four attitudes: saìketa, parihäsa, stobha and

helä
The four attitudes in nämäbhäsa chanting are saìketa (unintentionally or
coincidentally), parihäsa (in jest or ridicule), stobha (derisively) and helä
(with disregard and neglect).
Saìketa is of two kinds: 1) when one, though intending to chant Lord Viñëu’s
name, has a material conception of it, and 2) when one has something
entirely different than the Lord or His name on his mind, but chants the
Holy Name being somehow or other reminded of that transcendental sound.
The yavanas eat cows, yet in spite of this they can attain liberation by
uttering ‘häräm’, an ordinary word of their language (Urdu). Because saìketa
is the least offensive attitude of nämäbhäsa, the power of the Holy Name is
largely undiminished when chanted in that way. Chanting in jest—parihäsa,
like Jaräsandha—results in liberation, as does chanting derisively (stobha, like
Çiçupäla). Even chanting inattentively and with disregard (helä) results in
deliverance from the pangs of material existence. Nämäbhäsa chanting can
purify anyone. People of low upbringing like mlecchas, gross materialists, and
lazy persons can all avail of this opportunity to obtain liberation.
The difference between çraddhä-nämäbhäsa and nämäbhäsa

Faithful chanting that is yet afflicted by anärthas is known as çraddhä-
nämäbhäsa. The element of çraddhä (faith) is absent in the four attitudes of
nämäbhäsa chanting; even saìketa chanting is tinged with neglect.
Nonetheless, even the lowest attitude of nämäbhäsa (helä) gives one
liberation, what to speak of faithful chanting. Chanting with faith establishes
19
one on the platform of sambandha-jïäna, which results in rati or attraction

for the Holy Name. Çraddhä-näma actually clears away anärthas very easily
and quickly.
Anärtha-free nämäbhäsa chanting becomes çuddha-näma,

which gives Kåñëa-prema
Short of Kåñëa-prema, every other success is available in nämäbhäsa. When
anärthas are nullified, then nämäbhäsa is converted to näma or çuddha-näma,
the pure name. By pure chanting and by following the rules of sädhana as
instructed by guru, sädhu and çästra, one slowly but surely acquires Kåñëa-
prema—love of Godhead. But nämäbhäsa chanting can never give Kåñëa-
prema. That soul is indeed fortunate who has freed himself from committing
näma-aparädha in the nämäbhäsa stage. The offenseless stage of nämäbhäsa is
far superior to karma and jïäna, for it nurtures the seed of faith that sprouts
rati or attraction. This attraction leads the chanter to çuddha-näma and
finally to prema.6
6
The scriptures are filled with words like ‘nämäbhäsa’, ‘Vaiñëaväbhäsa’, ‘çraddhäbhäsa’, ‘rati-
äbhäsa’, ‘premäbhäsa’, ‘mukti-äbhäsa’, etc. The suffix ‘äbhäsa’ has a special meaning that is
applicable in many ways.
Äbhäsa (faint or indistinct image) is of two sorts: svarüpa-äbhäsa and pratibimba-äbhäsa.
Svarüpa-äbhäsa is the partial infiltration of the full brilliance. For example, on a cloudy day
the light of the sun is only partially visible because the full brilliance of the sun is shaded by
the clouds. Nämäbhäsa caused by the cloudlike coverings of ignorance is called chäya
nämäbhäsa or ‘the faint shadowy name.’ The way to the shadowy name is opened by chäya
çraddhäbhäsa or the faint shadow of çraddhä (faith).
Pratibimba-äbhäsa means the reflection of a distorted image of the real object, as sunlight is
distorted when reflected off the surface of water. Such a distorted, broken reflection can
never result in a complete perception of the original source of light.
When the rays of the Holy Name reflect off the heart of a Mäyävädé, pratibimba-nämäbhäsa
appears, bequeathing säyujya-mukti upon the Mäyävädés who chant it. Such chanting,
however, will fail to generate the quintessence of chanting: Kåñëa-prema. Indeed, this type of
nämäbhäsa is a major nämäparädha; therefore it cannot really be counted as a nämäbhäsa at
all.
Chäya-nämäbhäsa or svarüpa-nämäbhäsa is the real nämäbhäsa, and is subdivided into four
categories of attitude, as previously mentioned. The scriptures, while praising nämäbhäsa,
profusely condemn pratibimba-nämäbhäsa. Chäya-nämäbhäsa is the result of chanting the
Holy Name with anärthas born of ignorance. But the chanting of the Holy Name with
anärthas nurtured by wicked and distorted philosophy produces pratibimba-nämäbhäsa, and
this is a major obstacle to devotional service and a grave offense. A Vaiñëava-äbhäsa person,
though not honored as a genuine Vaiñëava, should still be given the respect due a neophyte
devotee as long as he is not contaminated by the Mäyävädé philosophy. Such a person can
easily become elevated by contact with saintly personalities. The elevated Vaiñëavas consider
20
When such a person sees pure firm faith in others, he is impressed, and dim
faith is invoked in him by good association. Desiring elevation, he may chant
constantly, but because he nurtures strong attachments to sense pleasure and
liberation, his çraddhä is not real it merely appears to be çraddhä. This is
defined in the scriptures as pratibimba-çraddhä-äbhäsa. Hence, pratibimba-
çraddhä-äbhäsa results in pratibimba-nämäbhäsa. If this sort of nämäbhäsa
becomes further aberrated by Mäyävädé philosophy, the chanter thinks that
the perfect and transcendental name of the Lord is mundane and imperfect,
and requires to be perfected by impersonal knowledge. This offense
obliterates whatever little bit of genuine çraddhä he may have had.
The difference between chäya- and pratibimba-nämäbhäsa

Chäya-nämäbhäsa is symptomatic of ignorance and weakness of the heart.
Many anärthas may plague the devotee in this condition, but all these faults
are rectified by continuous chanting of the Lord’s Holy Name. But
pratibimba-nämäbhäsa chanting increases one’s offenses.
According to the Mäyävädés, Lord Kåñëa’s name, form, qualities and pastimes
are all illusory, false, temporary and contaminated. They mistake prema or
pure love of Godhead for sentimentalism. Mäyävädé philosophy
characteristically contradicts the devotional path of bhakti at every turn.
Therefore, Mäyävädés are the greatest offenders.
The Mäyävädé’s chanting is not real chanting. The syllables of the Lord’s
name may emanate from his mouth, but the vibration is bereft of the potency
of the Lord. His chanting is filled with yearnings for sense pleasure and
liberation, and all the while he thinks the Lord’s name is material. Because he
tries to cheat, his chanting results in unrelenting misery.
How does the Mäyävädé redeem himself?

If by some good fortune the Mäyävädé relinquishes the desire for sense
gratification and liberation and, thinking himself a servant of Kåñëa, begins
to chant, he becomes exonerated from his offenses and philosophical
aberrations. He then takes shelter of the Holy Name and repents. This opens
the way to again hear from and associate with the pure devotees. Thus his
such neophytes to be innocent and so shower mercy on them. They must not be ignored and
avoided like the agnostic Mäyävädés. The pure devotees will resuscitate the small spark of
devotion in the neophytes, encourage their propensity to worship the Deity and progressively
give them sambandha-jïäna and establish them in devotional service of the Supreme Lord
and His devotees. But if a neophyte exhibits a strong inclination to incorrigible Mäyävädé
attitudes, then he must be avoided.
21
chanting leads him to comprehend sambandha-jïäna. If he chants while

continuously shedding tears of contrition, he can invoke the mercy of the
Holy Name.
The Mäyävädé’s offense is he sees bhakti as material

The Mäyävädé considers both the transcendental form of Lord
Kåñëa and the jéva’s constitutional position as the Lord’s eternal servitor to be
transient and imaginary. This Mäyävädé philosophy is a grievous
nämäparädha. Nämäbhäsa is truly a wish-fulfilling tree, for it even offers to
the Mäyävädés the säyujya liberation so desired by them. Because the Holy
Name is omnipotent, it offers mukti-äbhäsa or seeming liberation in the
pratibimba-nämäbhäsa stage. Amongst the five types of liberation, säyujya
(becoming one with God) is considered äbhäsa, or merely the hint of
liberation. Material suffering is indeed terminated in säyujya, but certain
spiritual doom follows. The Mäyävädés, captivated by mäyä, find säyujya
pleasurable; but it is only a mere hint of actual happiness. They forever forfeit
transcendental existence, knowledge, happiness and devotional service,
because säyujya-mukti obfuscates remembrance of Kåñëa. Where is the
question of eternal bliss when the eternality of bhakti and prema is doubted?
If the chäya-nämäbhäsa chanter refrains from Mäyävädé

contamination, he gradually attains çuddha-näma
If the chäya-nämäbhäsa chanter is not contaminated by atheistic concepts,
then he has a good chance. He is ignorant about the potency of the Holy
Name, but it is the inherent nature of the name to impregnate that
knowledge into the chanter. For example, the sun may not be visible when
the sky is cloudy, but once the clouds are dispersed, the sun shines through in
full glory. The dispersal of the clouds of anärtha and ignorance is greatly
assisted by the powerful influence of a bona-fide spiritual master, and in a
short time the chanter is able to attain the pure name and Kåñëa-prema.
A devotee must not associate with Mäyävädés

Concluding his explanation of nämäbhäsa, Haridäsa said, “The devotee must
diligently avoid the association of Mäyävädés, and serve Vaiñëavas who are
attached to the pure Holy Name. O Lord Caitanya, this is Your injunction
and whoever follows it is very fortunate. Those who disregard and disobey
this instruction are wretches who will suffer for a hundred million births. My
Lord, please rescue me from bad association and keep me at Your lotus feet,
for I can see no other alternative to Your lotus feet.”
22

One who takes shelter at the feet of Çréla Haridäsa Öhäkura will incessantly
chant the Holy Name and find real satisfaction in life.
23
Chapter Four
Ten Offenses against the Holy Name (nämäparädha)
Blasphemy of the Devotees (sädhu-nindä) is the First Offense7
All glories to Lord Çré Gauraìga, the life of Çré Gadädhara Paëòita; all glories
to Lord Nityänanda, the heart of Çrématé Jahnava-devi; all glories to Çré
Advaita Äcärya, the Lord of Mother Sétä; all glories to Çréla Çréväsa Paëòita
and all the devotees of Lord Caitanya.
Lord Caitanya said, “Haridäsa, now describe in detail the offenses against the
Holy Name.” Çréla Haridäsa replied, “My Lord, whatever I say will be on Your
prompting alone. I am a mere puppet.
The ten offenses against the Holy Name

“The scriptures enumerate ten offenses against the Holy Name. I am very
fearful of these offenses. I will list them one by one. As I do, please give me
the strength to avoid them, my Lord.”
1) Blasphemy of the devotees of the Lord. 2) To consider demigods to be
independent of the Supreme Lord, and to similarly think Lord Kåñëa’s name,
form, qualities and pastimes are separate from Him. 3) To disobey the
spiritual master who reveals the truth about the Holy Name. 4) To criticize
the scriptures that describe the glories of the Holy Name. 5) To think the
excellences and divine qualities of the Holy Name are imaginary, and to so
interpret the scriptural glorification of the Holy Name. 6) To commit sinful
activities on the strength of the Holy Name. 7) To instruct the faithless on
the glories of the Holy Name. 8) To equate chanting of the Holy Name with
auspicious ritualistic activities recommended in the karma-käëòa sections of
the Vedas.
7
Nämäbhäsa was described in the previous chapter; the next ten chapters deal with the ten
offenses to the Holy Name, and Chapter Fourteen explains offenses to the Deity (sevä-
aparädha). Näma- and sevä-aparädha initially arise from anärthas that cause nämäbhäsa. If
these aparädhas are not corrected and become intentional, they not only impede one’s
spiritual progress, but remove one from devotional service entirely, placing him in hell. The
first of these offenses is the subject of this chapter. Criticism or harmful intent to a qualified
sädhu is a serious offense to the Holy Name. How can the Lord tolerate criticism of those who
spread the glories of His name?
24
9) To be inattentive while chanting the Holy Name. 10) To not develop love
for the Holy Name after learning the name’s glories because of maintaining
attachments to the body and things related to the body.
To blaspheme devotees is the first offense

To blaspheme a devotee of the Lord is the first offense against the Holy
Name, and it completely disrupts one’s spiritual life. The good qualities of a
devotee have been personally described by Lord Kåñëa in His instructions to
Uddhava, as recorded in the Eleventh Canto of Çrémad-Bhägavatam. The
devotee is merciful; is tolerant; is equal to all; does penance without injuring
the body; is truthful; is pure-hearted; is compassionate; is free from lust in his
intelligence; is master of the senses; makes no claims of ownership; is gentle;
is clean; is regulated in eating; is peaceful; is apathetic to materialism; is
patient; is steady; takes Lord Kåñëa as his only shelter; is free from illusion; is
grave; has conquered over hunger, thirst, lamentation, envy, old age and
death; does not expect honor from others; offers respect to others; is expert; is
not a cheater; is knowledgeable.
Qualities are of two kinds: svarüpa and taöasthä

These qualities can be divided into two categories: svarüpa, or the direct and
indigenous quality of any substance, and taöasthä, qualities that are
ornamental and visible when the substance comes in contact with something
else. The devotee’s acceptance of Lord Kåñëa as his only shelter (kåñëa eka
ñaraëam) is his svarüpa-lakñana, and all the other qualities are taöasthä.
If by some good fortune one associates with a Vaiñëava, he may develop a
taste for the Holy Name and take complete shelter at Kåñëa’s lotus feet. Thus
he develops the svarüpa-lakñana, and then through continued chanting he
will gradually develop all the other lakñana or symptoms. The other symptoms
are taöasthä but nevertheless are essentially present in a Vaiñëava.
Saintliness depends not on external designations but on

svarüpa-lakñana
External designations such as the four social and religious orders of
brähmaëa, kñatriya, vaiñya, çüdra and brahmacäré, gåhastha, vänaprastha,
sannyäsa are not the symptoms of a devotee. The scriptures say the quality of
complete surrender to Lord Kåñëa is the hallmark of a devotee, and he alone
can chant Kåñëa’s name purely. Through Raghunätha das Gosvämé’s example,
Çré Caitanya taught everyone how the proper gåhastha Vaiñëava should
behave. Çréla Raghunätha das Gosvämé appeared not in the brähmaëa caste
but in the inferior käyastha caste of the village of Saptagräma. The Lord
25
instructed him not to be impatient and impulsive, but to return to his

household life and remain there.
One is purified in degrees by following this orderly process. There is no need
to prematurely pretend that one is detached and renounced just to impress
people. Renunciation has to take place within the heart. Wearing the dress of
a renunciant when the senses are still uncontrolled is called monkey
renunciation or markaöa-vairägya.
The householder should regularly fulfill his duties. Detachment from matter
will naturally arise within his heart as he internally cultivates firm faith in
Kåñëa while conducting normal external social dealings among the people in
general. Very quickly Lord Kåñëa will personally liberate him.
The symptoms of a renounced sädhus

When Çréla Raghunätha das Gosvämé at last left his household and embraced
a sannyäsé’s life, the Lord personally instructed him about the proper path of
renunciation. The sannyäsé should not engage in nor give audience to
frivolous materialistic conversations. The wearing of fine clothes and the
tasting of delicacies must be rejected. Being always ready to offer respect to
others, demanding no respect for himself, the sannyäsé should constantly
chant the Holy Name. He should render intimate service to Çré Rädhä and
Kåñëa in the mood of the residents of Vraja.
The svarüpa-lakñana of both the householder and sannyäsé is

the same
The svarüpa-lakñana or principal symptom (i.e. surrender to Lord Kåñëa)
must prevail in a devotee regardless of his varna or äçrama. The taöasthä-
lakñana or marginal symptoms will naturally vary according to the varna and
äçrama, while undeviating surrender to Lord Kåñëa remains as the fixed
symptom of devotional service in all cases.
Once he has this symptom, gradually but unfailingly the marginal symptoms
appear in the devotee’s character. Even if the marginal symptoms haven’t
reached full maturity in a surrendered devotee, and instead some serious
discrepancies are visible in his character, he is still to be respected as a sädhu
or saintly soul. This is the verdict of the scriptures as expressed in Lord
Kåñëa’s own words in the Bhagavad-gétä, and it must be given full respect.
It is offensive to criticize a devotee on the basis of his past sins

When one has developed a real taste for chanting, then a single utterance of
the Holy Name can eradicate all previous sins. Some vestiges of sinful
reaction may still remain in a particular individual, but these will steadily be
26
removed by the process of chanting. As these last traces of sin disappear, he

emerges a pure devotee. Of course, the lingering traces of sin are seen by
ordinary people as actual sin; if a devotee is criticized because of the traces of
almost extirpated sin in his character, that is a grievous offense. If criticism is
made against a devotee for sins committed prior to his surrendering to Kåñëa,
that is likewise another serious offense. Such a faultfinder surely invites the
wrath of Lord Kåñëa.
A few words on the principal symptom of a devotee

One who has fully surrendered to Lord Kåñëa will naturally only chant Lord
Kåñëa’s name. By the grace of the Lord, such a person is entitled to be called a
sädhu. Only a devotee of Lord Kåñëa is eligible to be respected as a sädhu, and
none other. One who proclaims himself a sädhu is but a charlatan and a
braggart; one who humbly says he is a poor soul surrendered to Lord Kåñëa
and who constantly chants Kåñëa’s name is a real sädhu. He, considering
himself lower than a blade of grass and more tolerant than a tree, offers all
respects to others without expecting any for himself. The Holy Name of
Kåñëa grants such a sädhu pure love of Godhead.
A Vaiñëava firmly fixed in the Holy Name is the real sädhu;

criticizing him is näma-aparädha
Hearing such a sädhu chant the Holy Name, one should offer him all respects,
knowing him to be a perfect Vaiñëava. A Vaiñëava is the spiritual master of
the world, a true friend of every being, and is always an ocean of compassion.
Anyone who criticizes such a Vaiñëava goes directly to hell and suffers untold
pains birth after birth. The doors of bhakti are closed to such an offender
because devotional service is the merciful gift of a Vaiñëava to the living
entities. The Vaiñëava is an abode of Lord Kåñëa’s spiritual potencies; others
receive Kåñëa-bhakti only by his confidential association. This pure bhakti
potency is distributed by a perfected pure devotee to the aspirant devotee,
and that devotee, becoming perfect, distributes it to another aspirant. Thus
the bhakti potency expands. The three great touchstones of bhakti-çakti are
the mercy of the pure devotee in the form of his eatable remnants, the water
from his foot bath, and the dust from his lotus feet.
How a Vaiñëava imbues his potency in others: By remaining in the presence
of a Vaiñëava for some time, one absorbs the bhakti energy flowing from the
body of that saintly person. If one is sufficiently faithful, he can bind that
energy within his own heart and experience immediate ecstasy. By just a
moment’s association with a Vaiñëava, bhakti is invoked in the heart of a
27
pious person, who will immediately be inspired to chant Lord Kåñëa’s name;
gradually, the Holy Name will award him all good qualities.8
There are four kinds of blasphemy of a devotee

The offender criticizes a Vaiñëava about his caste, or some unpremeditated
accidental fall-down, or the last traces of his previous sins, or his sinful
activities prior to his surrendering to Lord Kåñëa. Such an offender will never
develop a taste for chanting the Holy Name.
One who has taken complete shelter of the pure devotional process is
considered a pure Vaiñëava. The four abovementioned faults may be present
in him, but he is totally free from all other shortcomings. Hence, criticizing
him spells doom for the offender. The glories of the Holy Name are
propagated by the Vaiñëava, and Lord Kåñëa does not tolerate any criticism
against him. One may discard all other activities like religiosity, yoga,
sacrifices, fruitive activities, empirical knowledge and so on; if one simply
chants the Holy Name, that is the quintessence of spiritual culture. The
sädhu takes complete shelter of the Holy Name
Never criticizing demigods or other scriptures, the Vaiñëava simply chants
the Holy Name. Regardless of whether such a sädhu is a householder or a
sannyäsé, one should eagerly take the dust from his lotus feet. The purity of a
Vaiñëava is judged by how much attraction or rati he has for the name. His
purity has nothing whatsoever to do with his official status as a Vaiñëava, or
his wealth, erudition, youth, pleasing appearance, strength or following.
One who aspires to take shelter of the Holy Name must shun the propensity
to criticize devotees. Pure devotion in the chanting of the Holy Name
depends on association with the pure devotee and his pure devotion. Without
this association, everything becomes perverted and spoilt. Bhakti immediately
recedes at the first indication of sädhu-nindä, which immediately becomes
näma-aparädha. Let the aspirant devotee reject sädhu-nindä and associate
with and serve the pure devotees.
8
The potency or çakti of pure devotion is a blend of hlädiné (Kåñëa’s pleasure-giving potency)
and samvit (Kåñëa’s knowledge-giving potency). Bhakti reposes in the heart of the
transcendentalist and uses him as a vehicle for further movement. When a jéva becomes free
from envy and is inclined to devotional service, the bhakti potency is then transferred from
the pure devotee’s heart into that jéva’s heart, where it takes shelter of his soul and achieves
perfection there. This is a great mystery.
28
There are two types of bad association, the first being

association with women
The proper Vaiñëava behavior is to avoid asat-saìga or bad company that
influences a person to disrespect a sädhu. Bad association is of two kinds. The
first is association with a woman, which means either to have illicit
connection with a woman other than one’s wife, or to be excessively fond of
one’s own wife. The scriptures permit a husband only a properly regulated
relationship with his spouse. Keeping company with a licentious or
henpecked man also falls within this first category of asat-saìga or bad
association.
Non-devotees are of three kinds

The second type of bad association is to mix with non-devotees. There are
three kinds of non-devotees: the Mäyävädé, the dharma-dhvajé (pretender),
and the niréçvara (atheist). Mäyävädés never accept the Supreme Lord’s form
as being eternal. They say the Deity form of the Lord is material, and that the
jéva is also a product of mäyä. A dharma-dhvajé is a person who has no
devotion or attachment in the heart but makes a show of it externally. He
wears the clothes of a devotee to accomplish materialistic ends. A niréçvara is
a nonbeliever who rejects God outright. A serious aspirant or sädhaka must
shun such bad association. If anyone argues that avoiding such non-devotees
is sädhu-nindä, their company must also be shunned. One has to keep away
from such bad association and take complete shelter of the Holy Name. Only
then is love of Godhead ensured.
There are three kinds of devotees: the lowest is the kaniñöha

devotee
The neophyte devotee (kaniñöha Vaiñëava) displays a faith that is formal and
worldly. He worships the Deity but has no service attitude towards the
devotees of the Lord. He is almost a Vaiñëava (Vaiñëava-präya), but is not a
real Vaiñëava yet; hence, he is not able to take full advantage of sädhu-saìga.
Such a neophyte will have to receive the blessings of a pure devotee to
advance further.
The madhyama devotee

The madhyama devotee knows well the importance of the Lord’s devotees,
and remains always in their association. He is convinced of Kåñëa’s position
as the Lord, the jévas as His eternal servants, the means of advancement as
bhakti and the goal as prema. He is compassionate to the innocent and avoids
the company of atheists.
29
The madhyama stage of devotee marks the beginning of pure Vaisnavism

because at this stage one become eligible to chant the pure name. The
madhyama devotee knows well the different effects of different types of
association. He distinguishes between the Vaiñëavas and the non-Vaiñëavas,
for he is especially required to serve the advanced devotees and avoid asat-
saìga and sädhu-nindä. Indeed, this is his necessity. If he neglects to
differentiate between the grades of devotees and between Vaiñëavas and non-
Vaiñëavas, then he stands to commit Vaiñëava-aparädha.
The uttama devotee

A pure devotee of the highest order sees Lord Kåñëa manifest everywhere,
and knows that everything rests in Him. He sees Kåñëa is his very life and
soul. He is unconcerned with distinctions of who is a Vaiñëava and who is
not, thus for him there is no regulation to serve a Vaiñëava. His whole life
revolves around the Holy Name, which he considers to be the essence of
everything. The scriptures declare that a kaniñöha devotee, being ignorant of
the proper attitudes towards Kåñëa, the devotees and the Holy Name, is only
capable of nämäbhäsa chanting. A madhyama devotee is worthy of chanting
the pure name: therefore he must always carefully avoid offenses to other
devotees, so that his chanting will be pure. The uttama Vaiñëava can never
commit any offense, because he perceives Lord Kåñëa everywhere. Every
sädhaka should consider these points calmly and reflect upon his real
position. First, he must stop sädhu-nindä. Then he should chant with firm
faith, according to his status as a Vaiñëava. He should aspire to become fixed
on the madhyama platform through association with equal devotees, service
to superior devotees, avoidance of non-devotees, compassion for all living
entities and constant chanting of the Holy Name.
The remedy for sädhu-nindä

If anyone offends a devotee in a moment of delusion or madness, he must fall
at the devotee’s feet and repent bitterly and, weeping and full of contrition,
beg forgiveness. He should declare himself a fallen wretch, in need of that
devotee’s grace. A devotee is very merciful; his heart will soften and he will
embrace the offender, thus exonerating him from his offenses.
Haridäsa Öhäkura concluded, “I offer this explanation of the first of ten
näma-aparädhas at Your lotus feet.”
30

One who is like a bumble-bee lingering the lotus feet of Çréla Haridäsa
Öhäkura will find his life and soul in this Harinäma Cintämaëi.
31
Chapter Five
Worshiping the Demigods Independently of Kåñëa
is the Second Offense
Advaita Äcärya, the Lord of Mother Sétä; all glories to all the devotees of
Lord Caitanya.
Çréla Haridäsa Öhäkura continued speaking with folded hands: “O Lord of the
Universe, now I pray that You may listen to my explanation of the second
offense against the Holy Name.” Viñëu-tattva, or the principle of the
Supreme Godhead Viñëu Lord Viñëu is the supreme non-dual Absolute
Truth. Though He is the ultimate lord of material creation, His own form is
transcendental, being always situated in pure goodness. Lord Kåñëa in Goloka
is the original and supreme form of Viñëu. Kåñëa is embellished with sixty-
four extraordinary excellences, and He is the shelter of all transcendental
mellows. Lord Näräyaëa possesses sixty of those excellences, and to a lesser
degree of fullness than Him, so do Lord Viñëu and the puruña-avatäras.9
The Supreme Lord’s separated parts or vibhinnäàça are of two categories. The
ordinary jévas possess only fifty of the Lord’s transcendental characteristics,
and these in lesser degree. But in the second category of jévas, including the
demigods, the same fifty characteristics are found in full potency.
Additionally, five more qualities are partially evident in Çiva. These five
qualities are exhibited in full potency only by the Viñëu category. Thus the
Viñëu forms are adorned to the fullest degree with the fifty-five qualities of
the demigods. They furthermore display an extra five qualities for a total of
9
Lord Näräyaëa, the Lord of Vaikuëöha, is Lord Kåñëa’s viläsa-vigraha or partial expansion.
In Vaikuëöha, the Saìkarñana form of Näräyaëa expands as Mahä-Viñëu, Who lies in the
Causal Ocean. This is the first puruña expansion; the next is Garbodakaçäyé Viñëu, the source
of Brahmä. He enters every universe as the puruña-avatar. He further expands as
Kñérodakaçäyé Viñëu, the Supersoul within every living entity.
The three puruña expansions are known as Lord Viñëu. Kñérodakaçäyé Viñëu is the source of
the incarnations like Matsya, Kürma, etc. All these incarnations are different forms of the
same Viñëu principle and are ornamented with sixty transcendental characteristics. The
çaktyäveña-avatäras are jéva-tattva; in them the potency of the Lord has descended. They are
Lord’s separated expansions or vibhinnäàça and are exemplified as Parasurama, Buddha,
Påthu, and so on.
32
sixty, which are visible to a degree of absolute fullness in Lord Näräyaëa

alone. Çiva and the other demigods are the Supreme Lord’s servitors. Though
the demigods are superior jévas, the Supreme Lord Viñëu is the master and
controller of the jévas and demigods alike.
Out of sheer ignorance, people equate the Supreme Lord with

the demigods
People who are ignorant of the Viñëu-tattva principle try to equate the
Supreme Lord with the demigods, but Çiva and the other demigods are simply
the order carriers of the Supreme Lord Viñëu.
Mäyävädés say that Brahman is really impersonal and formless, and that the
worshipable forms of God (i.e. the three predominating deities of the modes
of goodness, passion and ignorance) are material. But the scriptures
unequivocally declare that Brahmä only creates the material world and Çiva
only destroys it, while Lord Näräyaëa or Lord Viñëu maintains everything
eternally, including Brahmä and Çiva and their cycles of creation and
destruction. Therefore only He is the eternal worshipable Lord. Whoever
worships other demigods and disregards Väsudeva, the Supreme Lord
Näräyaëa, rots eternally in the hell of material existence.
On the basis of the Vedas, some persons, accepting Lord Viñëu as the all-
pervading Absolute Truth, argue that since the Lord is present in all the
demigods, the worship of demigods is equivalent to the worship of Lord
Viñëu. This argument is fallacious. The scriptures do not support the notion
that the worship of the demigods is the same as the worship of Lord Viñëu. In
truth, Lord Viñëu’s worship accomplishes the worship of all the demigods.
Hence, separate worship of demigods is not required.
The correct interpretation of the Vedic truth is: if Lord Viñëu is omnipresent,
then worship of Him is automatically worship of all the demigods. By
watering the roots, a tree prospers, but by watering the limbs, leaves and
branches, the tree withers and dies. Only foolish people who have forgotten
all Vedic principles can commit such a mistake. They fail to understand that
worship of Lord Viñëu is an eternal activity in pure goodness, beyond the
three material modes.
Due to the advent of Kali Yuga and the contamination of Mäyäväda, people
disregard the supreme position of Lord Viñëu and worship the demigods
independently of Him. Individual demigods offer only specific benefits, while
the Supreme Lord Viñëu alone can offer all benedictions. He is the
maintainer of everyone. If only these greedy materialists could realize the
advantage of worshiping Lord Viñëu, they would abandon that kind of
demigod worship.
33
A householder Vaiñëava’s responsibilities

The householder Vaiñëava should simply worship Kåñëa in all
of his duties and not worry about transgressing the Vedic codes.
For example, in all saàskäras from insemination (garbhädhäna) to
funeral rites (antyeñöhi), he should worship Kåñëa through the
Vedic mantras. The real purport of the Vedic injunctions is that one should
worship Viñëu and the Vaiñëavas directly and worship the forefathers and
demigods by offering them the remnants of Viñëu and Vaiñëava worship.
If on the other hand the householder devotee worships the demigods or
forefathers directly, as is the Mäyävädé method, he commits the second
offense to the Holy Name and is immediately disqualified from the path of
pure bhakti.
Another dangerous form of this same nämäparädha is to consider demigods
like Çiva to be separate supreme divinities. Such polytheism is a heinous
offense. “Lord Viñëu is the Supreme Godhead, but Lord Çiva and the other
demigods are also individual supreme godheads”—such thinking is completely
wrong.
One can, however, worship the demigods as guëa-avatäras, çaktyäveña-
avatäras or as Lord Viñëu’s servants. No one is independent of the Viñëu’s
control, for He is the Supreme Controller and master of all energies.
Demigods like Çiva, Brahmä, Ganeña and Sürya have been invested with the
Supreme Lord’s potencies. Hence, they are powerful. The Supreme Lord is
one, the rest are His energies.
The householder devotee should abandon outright all materialism in the
execution of his duties. He should increase his mood of pure devotion while
satisfying his social and religious obligations according to the varnäçrama
system. He should be convinced that just by worshiping Kåñëa and His
devotees, all results will be attained.10
Even the lowborn outcastes are fully eligible to enter devotional service to
Kåñëa. But they must live their lives free from sin and offenses; they will do
that only by submitting to the duties of householder life prescribed at least for
10
Human society should conduct itself according to the guidelines of the varnäçrama system;
such a lifestyle is called sanätana-dharma or ‘eternal religion’. India is the land of piety
(puïyä-bhümi), and the varnäçrama religious system was introduced and implemented there
by great sages of yore. In other countries varnäçrama is also present in some form, though it
never evolved into the perfected socio-religious system that was established in India. Human
nature cannot find full expression nor attain consummation without the social divisions of
varna.
34
the çüdra class. Without situating oneself in one of the four varnas, there is
no question of dharma or religious life.
Even those desiring just their own material welfare respect the
customs of varnäçrama-dharma.
On the strength of worshiping Kåñëa in full surrender, one is gradually
elevated through varnäçrama-dharma to the platform of saintliness. But if one
follows the varnäçrama system without worshiping Lord Kåñëa, he is doomed.
Every householder is obliged to fulfill his varnäçrama responsibilities. He
should therefore live with restraint and accept only what is essential for
serving Lord Kåñëa, and fulfill the formal rules and responsibilities of his
varna. One easily accomplishes all this simply by chanting the Holy Name
and engaging in devotional service. Moreover, one attains bhava or spiritual
ecstasy by these same devotional practices. With the advent of bhava, one
transcends the jurisdiction of rules and regulations.
As long as one needs a regulated, formal social life, he must remain within the
bounds of varnäçrama. But after the first stirrings of love of Godhead with
the attainment of bhava, the jéva’s own divine nature becomes apparent: he
will then require no further inspiration from the external guidelines of
varnäçrama-dharma. The mood of bhava is incomprehensible to materialistic
persons because it is transcendentally dynamic, appearing in a person by its
own volition regardless of that person’s varna or äçrama. The Vaiñëava
householder who follows this path of Kåñëa conscious varnäçrama-dharma
with single-mindedness, shunning the Mäyäväda contamination, thus
transcends the limits of varna and äçrama.
Lord Viñëu’s name and qualities are not different from Him; lack
of this knowledge is nämäbhäsa
Lord Viñëu’s name, form, qualities and so on should never be viewed as being
separate from the Lord Himself. He is non-dual (advaya-tattva); as the
complete whole, He is the Supreme Absolute. If due to ignorance someone
has a dualistic concept of God, he can at best rise to the nämäbhäsa stage of
chanting, but he will never reach prema. Then again, if he can get the mercy
of a bona fide spiritual master and can overcome his anärthas, he will attain
the pure name by the progressive clearing process.11
11
Self-opinionated philosophers fall into duality when they try to conceptualize God with
their tiny brains. Imposing duality upon Lord Viñëu is an offensive tendency that is very
difficult to overcome. Mäyävädé philosophers propose that Brahman is formless and
impersonal, and that Lord Viñëu’s name, form etc are all products of illusion; with the lifting
of the veil of illusion, they expect to perceive Lord Viñëu as impersonal Brahman and
35
The intelligence of the Mäyävädé philosopher is extremely demented. Seeing

that the material existence is variegated, he concludes that the spiritual
existence, being opposite to the material realm, must be void. This
incomplete, immature theorizing leads him to imagine Brahman as dry and
impersonal. In its original state, Brahman has a name, form, qualities,
pastimes and so on but the Mäyävädé is incapable of accepting this truth. If he
would accept it, Brahman would appear before him as Lord Viñëu.
Mäyäväda is the wretched condition of human existence, and the pure
devotee is the scourge of this mischievous philosophy. He establishes the
correct scriptural viewpoint that the Supreme Lord is non-different from His
name, form, pastimes and qualities.
Nirviçeña and sa-viçeña Viñëu versus the Mäyävädé notion of

Brahman
Both the personal and impersonal features are inherent in Lord Viñëu’s
divine Being. The Lord’s acintya-çakti (inconceivable potency) harmoniously
displays His personal and impersonal aspects (sa-viçeña, with variety, and
nirviçeña, without variety). The Supreme One, by His acintya-çakti, exhibits
all-attractive beauty and pastimes that silence all contradictory speculations
about Him.
Human intelligence is limited and puny. It cannot easily fathom the Lord’s
inconceivable potency. So when a human being tries to conceive of a
supreme truth with his inadequate brain, he can only come as far as the
impersonal Brahman, which is a partial representation of the Absolute
Whole. In this way he is diverted from the supreme goal of worship, Lord
Viñëu, whose lotus feet are worshiped even by the great demigods. Ignorant of
the benefit he has lost, he becomes attached to the worship of impersonal
Brahman. But anyone who comprehends the transcendental nature of the
name, form and qualities of the Supreme Lord, knowing them to be not
different from Him, can perceive Lord Kåñëa in His divine fullness by
chanting His Holy Name purely.
Duality exists only on the material plane here a name is different from the
object it identifies. But as this is not the case on the spiritual platform, it is a
gross blunder to imagine such a difference between the Lord and His name,
form, qualities and so on. The same pitfall entraps those who consider Çiva
and other demigods to be independent of the Supreme Lord’s control.
nothing more. But such arguments are foolish and nihilistic. The Mäyävädé viewpoint stems
from madness and a stubborn ignorance of the fact that the Supreme Lord is endowed with
omnipotence. ‘Omnipotent Brahman’ is verily a name for the Supreme Person, Lord Viñëu.
36
Why devotees do not mix with Mäyävädés

The devotee who has taken single-minded shelter in the Holy Name is a truly
elevated soul. He worships Kåñëa and no one else as the Supreme Lord. He
does not attack the deities of other scriptures, but worships and respects them
as servitors of Lord Kåñëa. He always refrains from dry speculation. When
different scriptures try to establish the superiority of other demigods, it is
only to facilitate the limited ability of a particular mentality to grasp the
absolute truth. These scriptures are actually trying to elevate their followers
to become devotees of Kåñëa. Therefore one should never criticize other
scriptures and the demigods described therein, for such criticism is an offense.
A devotee should not accept remnants of food or garlands from a Mäyävädé,
even if they were offered to Lord Viñëu, because a Mäyävädé’s worship is
impure. A Mäyävädé’s chanting of the Holy Name is likewise offensive. The
Lord never accepts the Mäyävädé’s offerings or worship. It is also an offense
for the devotee to accept garlands and other remnants of demigod worship,
for this is detrimental to the development of pure devotion. But if a devotee
worships Kåñëa and offers His remnants to the demigods, it will not be
offensive to receive these remnants, nor will one’s spiritual development be
hampered in any way.
A pure devotee must always avoid the second offense to the Holy Name and
chant the name constantly. Thus he attains prema. His entire success is found
in the Holy Name.
The remedy for the offense

Illusion and madness blind the jéva, and thus he thinks that others are also on
the same platform as Lord Viñëu. The only remedy is to repent intensely and
meditate on Lord Viñëu, Kåñëa, for by this remembrance all offenses are
dissolved. Thereafter, one must meticulously avoid committing the same
offense again.
Remembrance of the Lord is the most effective penance; the Vedas always
recommend imperiled brähmaëas to meditate upon the lotus feet of Lord
Viñëu for protection. Remembering the Lord’s name is the same as meditating
upon His lotus feet. The Holy Name can disperse all previous offenses, for it
acts as the devotee’s best friend. The Lord is an ocean of mercy and
forgiveness. Like a dear friend, he forgives one for previous mistakes.
In conclusion, the devotee must disassociate himself from demigod
worshippers and polytheists and seek the company of Vaiñëavas who
exclusively worship Kåñëa as their Supreme Lord.
37

One who is blessed with love and devotion and takes pleasure in serving Çréla
Haridäsa Öhäkura’s lotus feet will find this book Harinäma-cintämaëi as
valuable as life itself.
38
Chapter Six
To Disrespect and Disobey the Spiritual Master
(guruaväjïä) is the Third Offense
All glories to Çré Païca-tattva and Çré-Çré Rädhä-Mädhava. All glories to

Navadvépa-dhäma, Vraja-dhäma, Yamunä-devi and all the Vaiñëava devotees.
Çréla Haridäsa Öhäkura said, “O Lord, kindly allow me to explain the third
näma-aparädha. This aparädha is to disobey the orders of the spiritual master
and thus to disrespect him.”
The soul travels through many lifetimes in different bodies and at last gets a
chance at the rare human birth, which is auspicious in every respect. The soul
has rotated through 8,400,000 different species, It is by ajïäta-sukåti or
unintentional pious activities that the soul finally attains a human body. A
birth in the human form is most uncommon, because only in that body are
spiritual activities possible to perform, unlike any other species.
A demigod or denizen of the heavenly planets is destined only to enjoy the
reactions of his past good karma. He cannot voluntarily initiate any spiritual
activities. Animals are likewise bound by karmic reactions and are too
steeped in gross ignorance to undertake any pious activities independently.
The human birth alone is most conducive for spiritual life and service to the
Supreme Lord.
A spiritual master is essential for everyone

Yet the fact remains that this body is transient. If one does not carefully
endeavor for self-realization, which is the greatest benediction, then he
returns again to the endless cycle of birth and death. An intelligent person
will therefore utilize this rare opportunity. He will search out a spiritual
master who can lead him to the Supreme Lord Kåñëa.12
A few of the characteristics of a bona fide spiritual master are that he is
peaceful, unperturbed and a pure devotee of Kåñëa. He should be approached
12
Such a spiritual master is the only helmsman who can help the drowning jéva get across the
ocean of material nescience. Only the most foolish persons will attempt to cross this ocean by
their own intelligence. The achievement of any success in this world requires the help of a
teacher’s instructions. How, then, will one obtain perfection in the best of all subjects,
spiritual science, without the aid of a teacher? He is who fit to teach this science is he who is
self-realized and fully proficient in Kåñëa consciousness.
39
with humility. The jéva should satisfy him with service and receive from him
formal initiation into the worship of Lord Kåñëa. Herein lies his best chance
to surmount the material entanglement. The jéva’s inherent love for Kåñëa
lies dormant in the heart and can easily be revived by a qualified spiritual
master.
But the jéva can just as easily lose this chance by challenging the spiritual
master through speculative debates and mischievous logic. He must evade
such pitfalls, surrender to the spiritual master’s instructions and receive the
proper mantra from him. As for householders, they should take shelter of a
bona-fide spiritual master and remain within the varnäçrama system.
A good brähmaëa is fit to be a spiritual master

A brähmaëa is fit to be a spiritual master for all the other varnas or social
orders as long as he is a devotee of Lord Kåñëa. But if a brähmaëa spiritual
master is not available then a spiritual master from another varna should be
searched out. If there is a choice, the householder would be best advised to
accept initiation from a spiritual master in the brähmaëa-varna.
A real spiritual master is one who is conversant with the science of Kåñëa
consciousness. A spiritual master can be from any varna or äçrama, but he
must be a kalpataru or touchstone that can fulfill the spiritual needs of people
from all varnas and äçramas. He must be able to give the jéva çuddha-rati (pure
attraction) for Kåñëa.
The prestige of having a spiritual master from a superior varna is a material
consideration, because that prestige simply depends on the caste status of the
one who judges the spiritual master’s caste. The factor of caste rarely has any
bearing on spiritual realization.
Necessity demands that one must find a spiritual master who is bona fide and
qualified. If he happens to belong to a higher varna, so much the better. A
householder may look for a spiritual master from a higher varna, and if he
finds one who is qualified then he need not look for one from a lower varna.
It must be noted well, though, that in looking for a ‘high class’ spiritual
master, one should not choose an unqualified person simply for the prestige of
having a spiritual master from a higher varna.
A renunciant should accept a sannyäsé guru

If a householder leaves home to embrace the life of a renunciant but has not
yet been satisfactorily trained in Kåñëa consciousness, he naturally requires a
qualified spiritual master. For one who is determined to renounce, a spiritual
master in the sannyäsa order is best. By receiving spiritual guidance and
40
initiation from a sannyäsa guru, the renunciant will very quickly relish the
ecstasy of chanting the Holy Name.
If the householder previously had a qualified spiritual master, he should not,
when planning to renounce householder life, disrespect or neglect that guru.
Indeed, while he is in the gåhastha-äçrama, the householder is advised to take
shelter of a householder guru who is qualified and pure. That spiritual master
should always be honored.
But if such a householder spiritual master is not available, one can take
initiation from a qualified sannyäsé even before leaving home. In any case,
the spiritual master must be qualified. Under his instructions, the neophyte
householder begins Kåñëa consciousness and gradually advances to
experience transcendental loving emotions in the service of the Lord.
Only when the neophyte householder develops distaste for material life is he
ready to become a sannyäsé. This is a natural development of the practice of
Kåñëa consciousness. Once he has actually renounced sense gratification, he
is obliged to accept a sannyäsé spiritual master. He must be trained in the life
of renunciation from the sannyäsé-guru and accept from him the clothes or
veça of a mendicant.
Both dékñä-guru and çikñä-guru must be equally respected

There are two kinds of spiritual masters: the initiating spiritual master or
dékñä-guru, and the instructing spiritual master or çikñä-guru. Both gurus have
to be respected equally. This is the key to success in Kåñëa consciousness.
The dékñä-guru initiates his disciple into the chanting of the Holy Name and
gives dékñä-mantra. The çikñä-guru imparts sambandha-jïäna or the
knowledge of the jéva’s relationship with the Supreme Lord and his energies.
The dékñä-guru is one but the çikñä-guru can be many. In fact, all the pure
Vaiñëava devotees who benedict the world by distributing the Holy Name are
çikñä-gurus. Both the dékñä-guru and the many çikñä-gurus are to be equally
respected.
The Vaiñëava sampradäyas

The four Vaiñëava disciplic successions (sampradäyas) are the only real
schools of saintly teachers. These sampradäyas have since days of yore
disseminated the bona-fide mantras, the proper scriptural conclusions, the
authorized devotional process and the ultimate goal of life. If one wants to be
saved from the perils of false doctrines, then he should surrender to a saintly
spiritual master from one of the four Vaiñëava schools.
41
The teachings left by the founder-äcäryas of the four sampradäyas are to be

especially honored. Çré Rämänuja, Çré Madhväcärya, Çré Nimbärkäcärya, and
Çré Viñëusvämé are the four original äcäryas of the Vaiñëava schools. One
should accept only their teachings and conclusions and not others. One
should receive spiritual initiation in one of these four sampradäyas and not
others.
The founder-äcärya is the principal çikñä-guru

The founder äcärya of the sampradäya is the principal çikñä-guru for the
entire disciplic succession. Speculations that contradict his teachings are to
be immediately rejected. Only a saintly devotee who has understood the
teachings of the principal çikñä-guru is eligible to be a dékñä-guru for others. If
one thinks that he can be initiated by an unauthorized guru or a Mäyävädé
into these teachings, he errs severely. He will never attain Kåñëa
consciousness.
One should accept only a pure devotee as a spiritual master

He who imparts wrong teachings and he who receives them are both destined
for hell. One who has accepted teachings and conclusions outside the line of
pure bhakti has wasted his life. How then can such a person become a
spiritual master? How can he save other conditioned souls? He himself is in
illusion and is therefore imperfect, so how can he bring good fortune to
others? One must understand that a pure devotee is not an ordinary soul. The
scriptures declare that only he is eligible to be worshipped as the spiritual
master.
The principle of the spiritual master

The dékñä-guru and the çikñä-guru are both intimate associates of Lord Kåñëa.
They are eternally situated in the Vraja mood of service, and they are
manifestations of Lord Kåñëa’s own energy.13
13
Never make the mistake of judging the guru as an ordinary mortal. The spiritual master is
the representative of Lord Kåñëa’s potencies, sent by the Lord as the eternal master of the
disciples. He must always be worshiped as an eternal associate of the Supreme Lord,
empowered by the Lord’s superior spiritual potency.
On the other hand, the spiritual master must never be considered to be the Supreme Lord
Himself, for this is Mäyävädé philosophy and is not in line with the pure Vaiñëava
conclusions. The Vaiñëava devotees are very wary of such misinterpretations because the
Mäyävädé whirlpool of word jugglery is so contaminating to the heart. The spiritual master
must always be worshiped according to the scriptural conclusions, for when properly
executed, this worship results in pure Kåñëa consciousness.
42
Guru-püjä and how to respect the spiritual master

Before one can worship Kåñëa, he must first worship the spiritual master.
While doing guru-püjä, upacära like seat, foot-wash, ärghya, bath, cloth,
ornaments and so on are to be offered; then with the spiritual master’s
permission one may begin worship of Rädhä-Kåñëa vigraha. The Deity’s
prasädam is given to the spiritual master first, then to the demigods and
forefathers. Just as the disciple is required to get the spiritual master’s
blessings before worshipping Rädhä-Kåñëa, before chanting the Holy Name
the disciple should remember the spiritual master and his instructions.
One who disrespects the spiritual master commits a serious offense that will
expel him from the path of bhakti. The spiritual master, Lord Kåñëa, and the
Vaiñëavas must be worshiped with equal attention. Undeviating faith in the
spiritual master will lead to pure chanting and the final goal of Kåñëa-prema.
When to reject a guru

If by some misfortune the spiritual master falls into bad association, he may
gradually lose his spiritual realization and potency. At the time the disciple
accepted him, the guru was exalted, famous and greatly realized. But offenses
against the Holy Name are so dangerous that even a highly qualified soul
becomes bewildered. In that condition he comes to detest Vaiñëava company
and the chanting of the Holy Name. Gradually, he is enslaved by lust, greed,
wealth and women. If by the mercy of Lord Kåñëa the disciple sees through all
this, he must reject that guru, seek out a pure devotee and under his spiritual
guidance cultivate the pure chanting of the Holy Name.
The spiritual master must be strict

The spiritual master must be strict with his disciples. He must straighten out
the prospective disciples before initiating them, and punish the wayward
initiated ones. This is the symptom of a responsible spiritual master. A
disciple’s spiritual life is rendered useless if he serves and worships a slack,
irresponsible guru. But as long as the relationship between the spiritual
master and the disciple is stable (i.e. each remains qualified in his position)
then there is no question of one rejecting the other.
The guru-disciple relationship is eternal. If both maintain their pure positions
and are bona fide, their eternal relationship is never jeopardized. However, if
the spiritual master is later exposed as perfidious, the disciple must
immediately repudiate him. The same is to be done by the spiritual master if
the disciple is similarly exposed. If such repudiation is not is not carried out
by both parties when it is necessary, then they stand to be condemned.
43
A spiritual master must be tested before acceptance to insure

that he is a pure devotee
One who disrespects the bona fide pure Vaiñëava spiritual master is a
reprobate fit to be shunned by all. It is advisable, therefore, that before
accepting a spiritual master one should carefully choose the right person.
Basically, the spiritual master must be a pure devotee of the Lord.14
How to serve the spiritual master

Never disrespect the articles used by the spiritual master: for instance, his
seat, bed, shoes, vehicle, footstool, bath water, etc. Stepping on his shadow,
worshipping another person in his presence, giving initiation while he is still
alive, showing off spiritual knowledge in his presence and trying to control
him are to be totally rejected.
Whenever and wherever one sees his spiritual master, he should offer his
prostrated obeisances to him with prayers. The guru’s name must be uttered
with great reverence. His orders are never to be disobeyed. Always be eager to
honor his remnants and do not say anything that is displeasing to him. Fall
humbly at his feet and beg shelter from him and in this way act to please him.
Simply by behaving thusly, one can easily develop a taste for chanting, which
in turn offers all perfection. All this is confirmed in the Vedas. But if one
offends the näma-guru, the spiritual master who initiates one into the
chanting of the Holy Name of the Lord, he will surely fall into the sinful
company of atheists.15
14
The scriptures recommend that both the spiritual master and the disciple place each other
under strict scrutiny before mutual acceptance. This, then, precludes the acceptance of a
kula-guru or traditional family guru. Of course, if the kula-guru is qualified, it is of immediate
convenience to accept him; but if he is not, a pure devotee should be searched out and taken
as one’s spiritual master.
Since even ordinary household items are tested before acquisition, it is only an unfortunate
fool who will fail to go through a testing period in the selection of his true spiritual master,
who is his ever well-wisher. The unqualified kula-guru, after he is offered due respect and
worship, should be requested to release the disciple from all duties of allegiance. Having
abandoned his connection to the family guru, the genuine aspirant then must seek out a
qualified spiritual master.
The point is that one must not bring upon himself the calamity of having to reject his
spiritual master. If one is prudent then he can avoid such a situation. One must be very
careful not to commit any offense against a pure devotee guru. This is so disastrous it will
ruin both men and demigods alike.
15
The näma-guru teaches scriptural conclusions and reveals the esoteric nature of the Holy
Name, and he initiates the disciple in the mantra consisting of the Holy Name. The Vaiñëava
44
The remedy for guruaväjïä

The only way to be pardoned for this offense is to forsake sinful company,
cast away blasphemous literatures and throw oneself at the spiritual master’s
lotus feet, repenting piteously. As a compassionate Vaiñëava, the spiritual
master will surely be forgiving and bestow prema upon the disciple through
the Holy Name.

I, the wretched author of Harinäma Cintämaëi, am a sinner. My only hope of
redemption is the dust of the lotus feet of Haridäsa Öhäkura.
dékñä-guru is the näma-guru, and the dékñä-mantra is nämätmikä, receiving its life from the
Holy Name. The mantra loses its meaning and purpose if it is separated from the Holy Name,
and conversely, simply by uttering the Holy Name of the Lord, the mantra is automatically
chanted.
45
Chapter Seven
Criticism of the Vedic Scriptures (çruti-çästra-nindä)
is The Fourth Offense
All glories to Çréla Gadädhara Paëòita, Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu, Çré

Nityänanda Prabhu, Çré Advaita Äcärya and all the devotees of Lord
Gauraìga.
Çréla Haridäsa Öhäkura said, “My Lord! To criticize the Vedic literature and
other literatures in pursuance of the Vedic version is a serious offense that
denies a person the ecstasy of pure devotion.”
The Veda (çruti) is the only proof

The çruti-çästra (the Vedic literature), which includes the four Vedas, the
Upäniñads, the Puräëas and other corollary scriptures, has emanated from the
Supreme Lord Kåñëa’s own lips. This literature establishes and proves the
Absolute Truth. It contains transcendental knowledge that is beyond the
range of the material senses, and it can be understood by Lord Kåñëa’s grace
alone.
The senses are capable of experiencing only material objects; transcendence
lies completely beyond their bounds. The science of Kåñëa consciousness is
purely spiritual: hence it is transcendental. That knowledge of transcendence
has been mercifully given by Lord Kåñëa in the Vedic literature for the
ultimate benefit of humanity. The word veda specifically refers to scriptural
knowledge received through the proper authorized disciplic succession or
paramparä.
Human beings are born with four natural faults: they commit errors, they are
subject to illusion, they have the propensity to cheat, and they have
imperfect senses. Everything they do is tainted by these faults. Vedic
literature is free from any mistakes or discrepancies. It is the only means to
spiritual salvation. The Vedic knowledge was originally revealed by the mercy
of Lord Kåñëa. It was compiled by sages who had received this knowledge
while in samädhi, or total spiritual absorption, far beyond the range of the
four natural human faults.
The çruti teaches ten principles

The Vedic literature teaches that both mundane fruitive activities (karma)
and empirical speculative knowledge (jïäna) are inferior paths. The
46
conclusion is that perfection is available only through bhakti. The Lord gives
karma and jïäna for preliminary purification of the jévas, and afterwards gives
pure bhakti. In the Vedic literature there are ten principal instructions. The
first is that the proof or basis (pramäëa) of real knowledge is the çruti. The
other nine principles are prameyas, ascertained from the pramäëa. These ten
principles destroy nescience and establish true spiritual knowledge.
The nine ascertainable principles: the first three pertain to

Kåñëa
The first of the nine prameyas is that Hari, Kåñëa, is the only Supreme
Absolute Truth. The second is that He is omnipotent. The third is that He is
Rasa-mürti, the embodiment of all spiritual mellows. He is the source of bliss
for all living entities and He eternally resides in His abode in the spiritual
sky. These first three teaching pertain to the Supreme Lord, Kåñëa.
The second three pertain to the position of the jéva

The fourth prameya is that the jéva is the Lord’s separated part and parcel.
The jévas are the infinitesimal eternal spiritual sparks of pure consciousness
who comprise the innumerable living entities. The jéva is of two types:
eternally conditioned, who populate the material world, and eternally
liberated, who populate the spiritual world.
The fifth prameya is that the conditioned souls are enamored by the glitter of
mäyä’s illusory potency. They have forgotten Kåñëa and remain eternally in
this phenomenal world, enjoying and suffering material existence.
The sixth prameya is that the eternally liberated jévas are associates of Lord
Kåñëa. They reside in the spiritual world and enjoy transcendental loving
relationships with the Lord. These three, then, are the teachings about the
jéva found in the çruti.
The seventh prameya is acintya-bhedäbheda-sambandha

Everything material and spiritual is acintya-bhedäbheda-sambandha
(simultaneously one and different). The jévas and matter are inconceivably
manifested from Lord Kåñëa’s internal potency. Once knowing acintya-
bhedäbheda-tattva, the jéva understands that he is the servant of Kåñëa and is
like the spark or ray of the spiritual sun that is Kåñëa.
The transformations of the Lord’s energy are beyond the mind’s grasp
(acintya), says the çruti. But the so-called transformations of the Supreme
Lord Himself that the Mäyävädés would like to have us all believe in are only
mischievous and offensive postulations.
47
Thus, so far, the above seven prameyas comprise sambandha-jïäna or

knowledge of the eternal connection between the Lord and his energies. The
çruti further points out abhidheya, which is the means to achieve prayojana,
the supreme goal.
Abhidheya is devotional service

The nine limbs of devotional service are: hearing, chanting, remembering,
worshiping, praying, rendering service, carrying out the orders of the Lord,
being a friend of the Lord and completely surrendering to the Lord. The
chanting of the Holy Name is the most important devotional activity, and for
this reason the Vedas glorify the chanting of the syllable oà. Devotional
service (sädhana-bhakti) has two divisions: vaidhé and räga. Abhidheya, the
nine-fold process of sädhana-bhakti, is the eighth prameya.
Prayojana is Kåñëa-prema
By the mercy of Lord Kåñëa, the jéva who takes shelter of abhidheya will attain
Kåñëa-prema or love of Godhead. Kåñëa prema is the prayojana (necessity and
ultimate goal) of the jéva; it is the ninth prameya.16
These nine basic principles were ascertained from the çruti by learned
spiritual masters who taught them for the guidance of all conditioned souls.
But those who criticize the çruti, the very source of spiritual knowledge, are
offenders against the Holy Name and are known as the lowest among men.
Philosophers who opposed the çruti
Jaimini, Kapila, Nagna, Cärväka, Sugata-Buddha and Gautama were
philosophers who propagated theories based on mundane logic and reasoning.
Some of them did some lip service to the teachings of the çruti, but they all
rejected God. Jaimini proclaimed that the best knowledge the çruti has to
offer is the fruitive ritualistic portion known as karma-käëòa. Kapila dared to
argue that God is imperfect. He accepted the process of yoga, but without
understanding its real goal: realization of Paramätmä. Nagna spread poison by
teaching tantric practices in the mode of ignorance. Cärväka Nañöika was an
atheist who never accepted the Vedic authority, and Sugata devised his own
path of religion in place of the çruti. Gautama propagated logic and did not
worship the Supreme Lord.
16
Pure devotion is indicated by the human proclivity to always render favorable devotional
service to Kåñëa. Such devotion strives only for further excellence in service, being satisfied
with nothing else. Pure devotion is uncontaminated by fruitive activity or empirical
knowledge. The Vedic literature recommends that we cultivate pure devotion by taking full
shelter of the Holy Name.
48
These mischievous interpretations are in fact offenses against the Vedic

literature. Through sophism, such philosophers speak half-truths that are
likely to confuse the ordinary listener, though a learned devotee knows their
sole object is to defame the çruti. One who develops faith in these theories
becomes an offender. Therefore the devotee avoids hearing them.
The Mäyävädé philosophy is equally as dangerous, for it suppresses bhakti in
the heart of the jéva. Mäyävädé philosophy is factually camouflaged
Buddhism. On the Lord’s behest, Çiva became its chief proponent in the Kali-
yuga. As Jaimini seemingly upheld Vedic authority but practically
propounded a warped version of the Vedic conclusions, similarly Mäyävädé
philosophers pervert Vedic proofs to establish their covert Buddhism. Thus
they hide the essential message of the çruti, which is the science of devotional
service.
Añöävakra, Dattätreya, Govinda, Gaudapäda, Çaìkaräcärya and his followers
are well-known Mäyävädé philosophers. In Buddhism, the principal teaching
is the nonexistence of the soul, and there is no concept of Brahman. The
theory of nothingness, the last word in Buddhism, is rendered by the
Mäyävädés into the concept of the formless, impersonal Brahman which they
argue is beyond matter. Such ideas diametrically oppose the eternal science of
devotional service. Any affiliation with such thoughts automatically makes
the jéva commit nämäparädha.
The direct meaning is the real meaning

When all the principle understandings of the Vedic philosophy are brought
together, they add up to pure devotional service by which the jéva attains pure
love of Godhead. Wherever the principle understandings are applicable, it is
wrong to substitute secondary understandings in their place. These principle
meanings all indicate the science of Kåñëa consciousness. To artificially
impose secondary meanings upon the Vedic statements is a sin that distances
one from the Absolute Truth.
From beginning to end, the çruti-çästra expounds the super-excellence of the
syllable oà. The oàkära is a name of Kåñëa, and by chanting the Lord’s name,
the jéva attains the Lord’s supreme abode. The Vaiñëava devotees of the Çré
Sampradäya chant oà as a Holy Name of the Lord. The Vedas declare the
Holy Name to be the transcendental form of the Supreme Lord in this
material world; even nämäbhäsa, the Holy Name’s indistinct appearance,
grants all perfection. Only unfortunate fools will purposefully disregard such
Vedic teachings and thus ruin their lives by offenses.
49
The çruti teaches pure chanting of the Holy Name

The devotee who takes shelter of the pure name accepts the absolute
authority of the Vedas, and quickly attains the nectar of the name, Kåñëa-
prema. The çruti proclaims that by chanting the Holy Name of Hari, one
experiences ecstatic bliss. Further, it is declared that the eternally liberated
residents of the spiritual sky are always engaged in chanting the pure name.
Mäyä-devi engages the present-day critics of the çruti in sinful

practices
As Kali-yuga degrades, more and more people worship mäyä, the material
energy. Even so-called great devotees give up the opportunity to chant the
Supreme Lord Kåñëa’s Holy Name, which is full of ecstasy, and instead take
up tantric worship in the mode of ignorance. Ever-critical of the Vedic
literature, they swerve from the real path of religion to eat meat, drink
alcohol and perform other sinful activities. These offenders can never receive
the shelter of the name, nor can they enter the Supreme Lord’s eternal abode
of Våndävana.
Mäyä-devi engages such atheists in ever-increasing sin, depriving them of the
nectar of chanting the Holy Name. The superior spiritual energy is Lord
Kåñëa’s original and primeval energy. Mäyä (Durgä, Kälé) is its shadow. Her
intention is to rectify the erring jévas who drift away from Kåñëa and bring
them back to Kåñëa consciousness. Indeed, this is her prime duty to the
Lord.17
The remedy for çruti-nindä

One must avoid committing the offense of criticizing the Vedic scriptures and
constantly chant the Holy Name. If one inadvertently criticizes the çruti, he
should sincerely repent his error by properly glorifying the çruti. He should
worship the Vedic literature and the Çrémad-Bhägavatam with great joy and
17
Mäyä showers two kinds of graces niñkapaöa (honest and unrestricted) and sakapaöa
(capricious and illusory). By her niñkapaöa mercy she gives bhakti by way of jïäna (bhakti-
jïäna-miñra). Her sakapaöa mercy gives temporary pleasures that overwhelm the jéva,
bringing him under the control of illusion. And when she is thoroughly merciless, she casts
the jéva into brahma-säyujya liberation; thus he is doomed.
But she becomes pleased when someone renders service to a saintly Vaiñëava, and showers
him with her true mercy, connecting him to Lord Kåñëa’s lotus feet. Mäyä is an eternal
maidservant of Lord Kåñëa. She punishes the wayward jévas who drift away from Kåñëa’s
service, for those who want to serve mäyä are simply cheaters who can never know happiness.
Yet Mäyä-devi rewards those who chant the Holy Name. She helps them cross over the ocean
of material nescience.
50
respect, offering them flowers and Tulasé. The Çrémad-Bhägavatam is the

essence of the Vedic teachings and is the scriptural incarnation of Lord
Kåñëa. The Bhägavatam will certainly shower mercy upon the offender,
because the Bhägavatam is an ocean of mercy.

One who hankers for the dust of the lotus feet of Çréla Haridäsa Öhäkura will
wear this gem necklace called Harinäma-cintämaëi around his neck.
51
Chapter Eight
To Consider the Glories of the Name as Imaginary
(ärtha-väda harinäma kalpanäm) is The Fifth Offense
All glories to Lord Gauraìga and Çréla Gadädhara Paëòita; all glories to Çré-
Çré Rädhä-Mädhava. All glories to the places of Lord Gauraìga’s pastimes,
and to all the Vaiñëava devotees of the Lord.
“O Lord Gauraìga! The fifth nämäparädha is to think that the glories of the
Holy Name are exaggerated, as for example when one thinks, ‘The scriptural
presentation of the glories of the Lord’s Holy Name is not entirely true,
because hyperbole has been employed to increase the readers’ faith in the
chanting of the name.’ ”
It is a fact that in the karma-käëòa and jïäna-käëòa sections of the Vedas,
ritualism and philosophical speculation have been overly praised. Such
praises are intended to elicit interest in these processes. But the same is not
true in the case of the Holy Name. Therefore to think so is an abominable
offense.
The glories of the Holy Name

The Puräëas (småti-çästras) say that anyone who chants the Holy Name,
whether with faith or neglect, attracts the mercy of Lord Kåñëa. The Holy
Name is the purest form of knowledge; it is the best of all vratas or vows and
the highest meditation; it gives the most auspicious fruits; it is the greatest
renunciation; it gives incomparable peace; it is the most pious of holy works;
it is the supreme path of self-realization; it is the greatest liberation and goal;
it is the topmost destination; it is the best devotional service; it is the purest
inclination; it gives love of Godhead and is the essence of remembrance of
the Lord; it is the cause of all causes, the Supreme Absolute Truth; it is the
most worshipable object and acts as the supreme spiritual master. ‘A thousand
names of Lord Viñëu is equal to one name of Lord Räma, and three names of
Lord Räma are equal to one name of Lord Kåñëa.’ Thus the Holy Name’s
transcendental nature is ever glorified in the scriptures.
One goes to hell for thinking the glories of the name are
exaggerated
Only a hardened atheist thinks that the passages of the çruti and småti
scriptures describing the superexcellent qualities of the name contain
exaggerations. Whoever commits such an abominable offense rots eternally in
52
hell. Offenders claim that misrepresentations have been made to increase

attraction for chanting. They have no idea of the purport of the scriptures
and of what is beneficial for humanity, because they take everything
backwards.
Because they have no reserve of previous pious activities (bhakti-sukåti), they
can never develop faith in the scriptural science of devotional service. The
chanting of the Holy Name is the best form of devotional service. Without
sufficient piety a person can neither acquire a taste for chanting nor have
adequate faith in its results. Those who are attached to just one section of the
scriptures (i.e. karma-käëòa) cannot perceive the essential meaning of the
scriptures.
There is no appeal to selfishness in the methodology of the

Holy Name
The exaggerations in the karma-käëòa section of the Vedas appeal to
ambitious materialists. Concessions to selfishness are absent from the
scriptural presentation of the method of chanting the Holy Name in pure
devotion. The scriptures frankly declare that the results of the karma-käëòa
process are merely transient sensual enjoyments, whereas the results of
chanting the Holy Name and engaging in Kåñëa’s service are eternal and
permanent.
In the chanting of the Holy Name of the Lord, capriciousness, cheating and
exaggeration are shunned. For instance, when a devotee inspires someone to
chant, he does so without self-interested motives. He engages another in
Kåñëa’s service only for the pleasure of Kåñëa. Though attractive material
results of chanting the Holy Name may be mentioned in some scriptures, a
pure devotee pays no heed to them, for he is beyond material desire.
But the officiator of a ritualistic sacrifice displays explicit selfishness, for as a
matter of course he expects remuneration. Since the scriptures declare that
chanting begets unlimited auspicious results, why do such seekers of fruitive
rewards minimize the glories of the Holy Name?
The follower of karma-käëòa is supposed to gradually realize that pious
fruitive works, being material, give only unimportant fruits. He should then
perform his duties free of self interest. This will purify his heart and help him
to see the need for chanting the Holy Name. A purified heart strives for self-
realization and is naturally repelled by material activities.
Thus the real success of karma-käëòa, when performed without material
motivation, is attraction for the chanting the Holy Name of the Lord. Pious
results that a brähmaëa could not accrue anywhere in the entire universe are
easily obtained by chanting Kåñëa’s name. The supreme position of the
53
chanting of the Holy Name cannot be diminished by the envious statements

of stubborn karmés and jïänés.
Simply by nämäbhäsa chanting one gains all the results of the paths of karma
and jïäna. So if mere nämäbhäsa offers such wonderful results, then surely
the pure name will offer so much more, unlimitedly. Therefore, whatever
results the scriptures say are gained from chanting are easily obtainable by the
devotee who is attached to the pure name.
There is no point in objecting to what the Lord Himself has

wrought
One who doubts this fact is a sinner who is doomed because of committing
nämäparädha. All the revealed scriptures the Vedas, Rämäyana, Mahäbhärata,
the Puräëas and others are filled with glorifications of the super-excellence of
the Holy Name. What can the person who blatantly disregards this evidence
expect? He is simply abominable.
The Holy Name and the Lord Himself are the same. Kåñëa personally
positioned the chanting of His Holy Name at the very top of all auspicious
activities. He is fully independent, autocratic and omnipotent. All processes
have come into force due to His energy. He invested karma-käëòa with his
material energy, and jïäna-käëòa with his impersonal energy. Kåñëa then
invested of His own accord His entire personal potency in the syllables of His
Holy Name. There is no point in objecting to these arrangements. An
intelligent person will therefore carefully avoid offending the all-powerful
name of the Lord.
The remedy for the ärtha-väda offense

If this nämäparädha is somehow committed, the offender has to go humbly to
the assembly of Vaiñëavas and attentively listen to the narrations of the
pastimes and qualities of the Supreme Lord from the lips of a pure devotee.
Full of remorse, the offender must admit his transgression against the Holy
Name and beg forgiveness from the Vaiñëavas. The Vaiñëavas are realized in
the glories of the name, and they will mercifully deliver the offender from his
sins by embracing him. The offender, now purified, will be protected from
further onslaughts of mäyä.
If a devotee meets or even just sees the face of an unrepentant doubter of the
power of the Holy Name, he should immediately plunge himself, fully clothed,
into the Ganges for purification; if the Ganges is not nearby, he should bathe
in some other pure water. In the event that this also is not possible, he should
purify himself by bathing mentally.
54

One who takes shelter of the mercy of Kåñëa’s dear companion, His flute, will
be adorned by the glory of Harinäma-cintämaëi.
55
Chapter Nine
To Commit Sin on the Strength of Chanting the Holy
Name (nämno baläd yasyähi päpabuddhi)
is the Sixth Offense
Chanting destroys all anärthas

Çréla Haridäsa Öhäkura continued by explaining that the Holy Name is
eternally situated in pure goodness. Those jévas who take shelter of Kåñëa’s
Holy Name are most fortunate, because chanting soon removes the anärthas
from their hearts. Consequently, hådäya-daurbalyam (weakness of heart)
disappears.
As faith in the Lord’s Holy Name becomes firm, the propensity to sin is
totally extirpated. All previous sins are then dissolved, and the heart shines
with positive purity. Sinful activities sprout from the seeds of sinful desire in
the heart, and the sinful desire seeds are rooted in ignorance; these three
(ignorance, the seeds of sin and sin) are the source of all suffering for the
conditioned soul. Not being able to bear the sufferings of His dependent parts
and parcels, the Lord in His infinite compassion gives them help through the
process of bhakti-yoga by which the lust to enjoy the senses is driven from
their hearts.
As one practices bhakti, he finds materialistic endeavor to enjoy wealth and
women repulsive. He follows the path of righteousness, being satisfied in his
service to the Lord. He accepts only what is favorable for executing
devotional service and rejects that which is unfavorable. He has absolute
conviction in all situations that Lord Kåñëa is his protector, savior and
maintainer. He is free from attachments to the body and the notions of ‘me’
and ‘mine.’ In a humble state of mind, he constantly chants the Holy Name of
the Lord. Such a person is never again inclined to sinful activities.
Previous sin and its faint residue are also destroyed

Chanting gradually diminishes the propensity to sin and simultaneously
purifies the consciousness. As the inclination to commit sinful activities
56
vanishes, taste for the Holy Name appears, though a faint residue of previous
sinful activity still lingers on in the consciousness. The receding sinful
reactions leave an odor of sinful habit (päpa-gandha), but the chanter’s
contact with the name engenders the strength of willpower and purity of
mind that overcomes this clinging smell of sin.
Lord Kåñëa promised Arjuna that His devotees will never be in danger of
destruction. If there are reverses He personally comes to His devotees’ rescue.
The devotees’ sins are annihilated by the Lord’s mercy alone. The empirical
philosopher or jnani may subdue his sins with great efforts and penance, but
as soon as he leaves or denies the shelter of Lord Kåñëa’s lotus feet, he
immediatly falls down. The scriptures testify that whoever simply embraces
the Lord’s protection is an elevated soul, and his progress will never be
impeded by obstacles.
There is no need for ritualistic penances or präyaçcitta

By chance, a devotee may commit some sin, but still he does not have to
undertake the penance of präyaçcitta. Such sins are a passing phase that will
be drowned in the nectar of the Holy Name. The devotee is never lost from
the path of pure devotion.
However, if a devotee again commits another sin, this time calculating that
the strength of Holy Name will counteract the reaction, then he is not fixed
on the path of pure devotion. Rather, he is a deceitful person doomed by his
offenses to the Holy Name. Scripture affirms that there is a vast difference
between sin committed due to sudden weakness or mistake and due to
premeditation.
Just being inclined to this nämäparädha is utterly ruinous

For karmés, the means to get free of sinful reaction is the performance of
präyaçcitta in repentance. But if someone even contemplates relieving himself
of the reaction of deliberate sin by exploiting the purifying strength of Holy
Name, he is utterly ruined, and no amount of präyaçcitta will help him. Even
after untold retribution in hell, he will not be absolved from this mental
nämäparädha. If just the inclination to commit sin on the strength of
chanting results in such tribulations for the soul, the fate of one who acts on
that inclination is too terrible to envision.
This nämäparädha is inevitable for the cheaters

The scriptures declare the Holy Name to be so potent that it can eradicate a
burden of sins that even in ten million lifetimes could not be committed.
Even the gravest of sins are counteracted just in the ‘nämäbhäsa’ stage of
57
chanting. And that is precisely why the cheats and charlatans are attracted to
the chanting of the Holy Name. They forsake the responsibilities of honest
labor as being drudgery and, disguised in the renunciant’s attire, travel from
country to country, their hearts smoldering with desires for wealth and
women. Such persons are called markaöa-vairägi or ‘monkey renunciant’.
These unfortunate fellows dress as sannyäsés but nurture the householder
mentality. They are nothing more than dead weights upon mother earth and
human society and must be avoided. A devotee who has taken shelter of the
Holy Name can live in any situation in household life or in the forest as a
hermit. If the household situation is conducive to chanting, then the life
of a mendicant is unnecessary, but if household life is unfavorable, the
devotee is duty-bound to forsake it. In either case, it is a terrible offense to
commit sins on the strength of chanting. Such an offender is forever
banished from the path of devotional service.
Devotees in the nämäbhäsa stage of chanting must beware of such cheating
company because that company will have an evil influence on them they will
also fall down into committing this dreaded nämäparädha. As for those who
are chanting the pure name, they are always free from this nämäparädha.
Pure devotees are free from the ten nämäparädhas

Devotees who have taken complete shelter of chanting the pure name are
never prone to commit any of the ten nämäparädhas. The Holy Name
Himself protects these pure devotees who have surrendered themselves to
chanting. But as long as the pure name has not dawned in the heart of the
devotee, he is always threatened by the danger of committing nämäparädha.
Therefore devotees in the nämäbhäsa stage have to particularly avoid this
offense of committing sin on the strength of chanting.
Vigilance is required in the nämäbhäsa stage

A devotee must seek the association of pure devotees who chant the Holy
Name without offense, and he should personally be very alert against
committing offenses. One who chants the name purely is of fixed mind and
consciousness, since he never deviates from thinking about Kåñëa for even a
moment. As long as one has not strengthened his chanting to the point of full
surrender to the Holy Name, he must be very vigilant to avoid offenses. He
must especially guard against the offense of committing sin on the strength of
chanting. He should continuously chant the Holy Name and thus attract his
spiritual master’s mercy, which yields sambandha-jïäna. This knowledge
reveals the science of pure devotion and the pure Holy Name.
58
The remedy for this nämäparädha

If by some error one commits this nämäparädha, one must go before an
assembly of pure Vaiñëavas. The propensity to sin is like a highway robber,
and the pure devotees are like the guardians of the path who come to one’s
aid when the someone calls aloud for their help. Just hearing that call, the
robber immediately runs away, fearing that the guards will come. The
guardians, the pure Vaiñëavas, will console the devotee with soothing words
and assurances of their protection.

I, the author of Harinäma-cintämaëi, am a useless wretch. I recite this
composition having taken shelter of the pure Vaiñëavas.
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Chapter Ten
To Instruct the Glories of the Holy Name to the Faithless
(açraddädhäna vimukhe’py añånvati)
is the Seventh Offense
Advaita Äcärya, the Lord of Mother Sétä; all glories to Çréla Çréväsa Paëòita
and to all the devotees of Lord Caitanya.
With his hands folded and in a soft voice Çréla Haridäsa Öhäkura said, “Now
please hear about another nämäparädha.”
Çraddhä (faith) is essential for chanting the Holy Name

The foremost requirement for chanting Kåñëa’s Holy Name is çraddhä or firm
faith. One who is bereft of it cannot hear the name and is therefore unfit to
chant. High birth, respectable family, knowledge, strength, learning or wealth
are not qualities that make a person eligible to chant the name. The
scriptures extol çraddhä to be the one indispensable ingredient for proper
chanting. Lord Kåñëa’s name is the jéva’s most valuable treasure. Faith means
to have complete conviction that chanting Lord Kåñëa’s name will
automatically fulfill all duties and complete all pious activities. Those who do
not possess such faith are unfit to chant.
It is an offense to instruct the faithless on the Holy Name

According to Vaiñëava etiquette, a person who does not have faith in the
name should not be initiated into chanting. If a faithless person is initiated
into chanting or is instructed about the glories of the Holy Name, then he
will only defile and neglect the name. This is the statement of scripture. The
swine will crush the pearls strewn before it and the monkey will tear the cloth
it is given; the faithless person will likewise increasingly offend the Holy
Name and thus invite his doom. Simultaneously, the initiating guru will be
dragged down by his share in these offenses. Very soon, he will be forced off
the path of devotional service.
What is to be done if a faithless person wants to be initiated?

The faithless person sometimes slyly comes to the Vaiñëavas to beg initiation
into chanting. The devotee should see through this pretentious cheating and
60
refuse him initiation. The pretender thinks, “The Holy Name of Kåñëa is the
all-purifying agent, and once I’ve received the name I will not have to worry
about committing sins. Besides, when I chant people will respect and worship
me as a Vaiñëava then I can extract a goodly amount of service from them.
The prestige I have lost by my bad deeds will be regained fully by chanting;
such a loss will never occur again. I shall at last become very happy in
material life”, etc.
The devotee should demand of the pretender his full renunciation of
dishonesty. To become worthy of initiation, he must at once neglect his
desires for distinction and adoration, and should instead try to develop
çraddhä for the Holy Name. Only when faith in the Holy Name is present in
the heart can one be initiated into chanting. The Holy Name then carries the
chanter across the material ocean of nescience. But as long as one has not
developed sufficient çraddhä, he is unfit to chant. One should hear the glories
of the Holy Name from a saintly Vaiñëava. Becoming humble by hearing his
instructions, he should cast aside material desires and begin to chant. When
the Vaiñëava spiritual master perceives the proper degree of çraddhä in the
candidate, he initiates him into the greatest spiritual treasure Kåñëa’s Holy
Name. But to initiate a faithless person is an abominable offense. The guru
goes to hell if he gives initiation to a faithless person for remuneration.
If the guru knows that a person who has approached him for initiation is an
insincere, faithless pretender, and yet he still heedlessly initiates this unfit
person out of consideration for the material gain it may bring him, he is
condemned as a nämäparädhé. If the guru was unable to make a correct
assessment and gave the candidate initiation only to later discover that he is
a pretender, he must make immediate redress for his mistake.

If it was due to inadvertence and lack of experience that the mistake of
instructing and initiating a faithless person occurred, the initiating spiritual
master should be filled with fear and remorse. He has to publicize his offense
before the Vaiñëava community and reject that insincere disciple,
excommunicating him. If the guru fails to act promptly, he will gradually sink
into the depths of moral depravity and illusion, and be disenfranchised from
the path of devotion.
Lord Caitanya’s instructions to preachers

Çréla Haridäsa Öhäkura said, “O Lord Caitanya, in Your instructions to those
You have ordained to propagate the Holy Name, You specifically give
warning about this. Preachers may instruct the glories of the Holy Name only
to the çraddhävän (persons with çraddhä).
61
“This the way by which the whole world will be inundated with the chanting
of the Holy Name: with loud congregational chanting, the Holy Name is to be
propagated widely among the masses. Those who are faithful will come
forward and choose a bona-fide spiritual master, receiving instructions and
initiation in the name from him. By sincere chanting they will surely obtain
love of Godhead, Kåñëa-prema.
“Prostitutes, criminals, cheaters and other sinful people should first be made
to give up their unrighteous, harmful ways. Sincere faith should then be
implanted in their hearts by good association. When their faith in Kåñëa’s
Holy Name matures, only then may they receive initiation. This is the duty of
a preacher as he goes from place to place.
The result of this nämäparädha

“If, without paying heed to Your instructions, a guru initiates an insincere
pretender, he commits a grievous offense for which he goes to hell. The
nämäparädhas committed by the charlatan disciple slowly but surely diminish
the guru’s spiritual potency, and finally the guru is ruined. This offense has a
devastating effect on both the guru and the disciple: they both must enter
hell.
Çraddhä first, then initiation

“My dear Lord, You were very merciful to Jagäi and Madhäi. These brothers
were born in a brähmaëa family, their original names being Jagadänanda and
Mädhavänanda. They became known as the worst rascals in Navadvépa due to
their virulent and violent acts. First You invoked faith in them and then You
gave them the Holy Name. O Lord, Your character and activities are
exemplary, and they spread illumination throughout the world. Let everyone
follow Your wonderful example.”

Those who are servants of the servants of the Vaiñëavas are entitled to wear
the precious gem of this Harinäma-cintämaëi.
62
Chapter Eleven
To Equate Chanting with Other Pious Activities
(dharma-vrata-tyäga hutädi)
is the Eighth Offense
All glories to Lord Gauracandra, the avatära Who delivers the Holy Name; all
glories to the Holy Name, the essence of all Vedic conclusions.
Çréla Haridäsa Öhäkura continued, “O Lord, other pious activities can never
be equal to chanting the name.”
The original form of the Holy Name

The Supreme Lord is like a transcendental sun Whose potency is unlimited,
ever-pure and all-pervading consciousness. All His endless expansions exhibit
this absolute transcendental consciousness, as do His name, abode, and
pastimes. Unlike forms of inert matter which are separate from their names,
His direct names are not different from Him.
Descending from Goloka, having been summoned by the chanting of the pure
devotee, the Holy Name enters that devotee’s soul. The pure name then
emanates out of the soul and permeates his entire body, dancing on the tip of
his tongue. One who chants understanding this is actually chanting the Holy
Name, but one who nourishes a material concept of the name is drowned in
despondency and suffers eternally in hell; a devotee should never see the face
of such an offender.
The scriptures declare Lord Kåñëa to be the only object of research for
seekers of the Absolute Truth. According to their abilities, different
researchers adopted their own means to find that one goal. Thus different
paths like karma, jïäna and bhakti are delineated. Those who are attached to
gross materialism are recommended the path of karma for purification. For
souls attracted to the illusionism of mäyä, the suggested path is the
cultivation of monistic philosophy. But for all jévas, pure devotional service is
the best and most suitable.
What is çubha-karma?
Persons pursuing mundane existence take to the worship of the Supreme
Lord out of fear of death. The Lord’s lotus feet are the perfect shelter, free
from all anxiety, and are the only means to cross over the ocean of nescience.
But when the process to obtain the protection of the Lord becomes colored by
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material motives, then the process itself becomes mundane. Even though it is
the Lord who is being worshiped, because the process of worship is mundane,
the worship becomes materially pious activity or çubha-karma.
Çubha-karma includes: altruistic work, fire sacrifices, ablutions, charity, yoga,
the practice of varnäçrama-dharma, pilgrimages, vows, offerings to
forefathers, meditation, cultivation of empirical knowledge, propitiation of
demigods, penances, austerities, etc. All these activities are means to
mundane objectives. But after a long period of practice of çubha-karma, the
performer gradually obtains the real goal of all his endeavors the shelter of
the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord. At this juncture, he must abandon the
temporary ways of çubha-karma, for he now knows the genuine essence of all
religious duties bhakti, devotion to the Lord. Çubha-karma is indeed a viable
path for conditioned souls to attain the ultimate goal, i.e. love of Godhead.
Yet one fact must be clearly stated reaching perfection through çubha-karma
is a time-consuming affair. The ultimate objective is Kåñëa-prema, which is
fully spiritual, but on the çubha-karma path, the means to attain it is
mundane. Thus there is a gulf of difference between the means and the
objective.18
Chanting the Holy Name is not çubha-karma

Out of His causeless compassion, the Supreme Lord incarnated as the Holy
Name, making Himself immediately available to the jévas; thus the Holy
Name is accepted by the intelligent and righteous jévas as their only means of
perfection. The scriptures recommend chanting the Lord’s name as the most
effective process of obtaining the supreme goal, but some persons understand
this to mean that chanting is one of many çubha-karmas. This misconception
is similar to Lord Viñëu being seen as just another demigod like Çiva or
Brahmä.
The Holy Name is fully spiritual and transcendental to material nature. It is
untainted by matter. Though the jéva is likewise spiritual, he thinks himself
material due to gross ignorance. Consequently, he thinks that everything,
including the Holy Name of the Lord, is also material. Thus the chanting of
Lord Kåñëa’s Holy Name came to be categorized as çubha-karma, and the jévas
18
The evolution of the jéva from mundane religiosity to Kåñëa consciousness is the master
plan of Providence, which impels the jéva to aspire for perfection. The conditioned souls
cannot exist without contacting matter. All their thoughts and activities are intimately
woven into the fabric of materialism. Pious activities (çubha-karma) provide a means for the
jéva to approach pure devotion through skillful efforts of material contact. Simultaneously,
this contact with matter gives rise to discontent and suffering. Therefore, to achieve the bliss
of Kåñëa consciousness, in the end the jéva must give up çubha-karma.
64
with Mäyävädé leanings are convinced that this is right and proper. But those
who adhere to this view are excluded from the path of devotional service.
The Holy Name is both the means and the end

The Holy Name is the repository of spiritual bliss. He has descended to this
material world to be the means by which He, the summum bonum of bhakti, is
attained. The scriptures eulogize His divine glories, for Kåñëa’s name is both
the means to prema and prema itself. According to the individual jéva’s
degree of spiritual perfection, he considers the Lord’s Holy Name to be either
the means or the end. As long as one has not attained full Kåñëa
consciousness, the name appears as the means to reach that goal.
Çubha-karma is the secondary means; the Holy Name is the

primary means
There are two means to the supreme goal: primary and secondary. Çubha-
karma is the secondary means and the Lord’s Holy Name is the primary
means. Though the Holy Name is counted as a ‘means’, it is nevertheless
eternally the principal means. Once this point is clearly understood, the
differences between the Holy Name and çubha-karma will be clearly seen.
The scriptural verdict is that the Holy Name is the essence of spiritual bliss,
and is thus incomparable to any other çubha-karma. One who chants purely
experiences how the unsurpassable joy of the Lord and His pastimes enters
the heart and makes it soar with sublime delight: such is the nature of the
Holy Name of Kåñëa.
The joy of säyujya-mukti is insignificant

Even the bliss of self-realization through jïäna or yoga cannot be compared to
that of chanting the Holy Name, for the state of joy in impersonal liberation
is merely the cessation of material suffering.
The wonderful quality of the Holy Name is that during the sädhana
(practice) period it is the means, and in the perfected stage, it is the ultimate
goal. Even while being utilized as the means, the Holy Name remains always
the goal. This cannot be said of other çubha-karmas, which are all mundane
activities. The Holy Name is purely spiritual, being self-manifested from the
realm of çuddha-sattva. Even during the practice of sädhana, the Holy Name
is situated in pure goodness; the sädhaka’s imperfections and anärthas only
seem to color it.
The Holy Name must be chanted in the association of devotees: then all the
material inebrieties and anärthas disappear, being replaced by the pure name
of Kåñëa. The practice of çubha-karma must be discarded upon attainment of
65
the shelter of the ultimate destination. But chanters have never to give up
the Holy Name. They simply chant the pure name in the perfected stage.
The Lord’s Holy Name is diametrically opposite in nature to mundane çubha-
karma activities. In the sädhana stage, the devotee should, by the grace of his
spiritual master and on the basis of Vedic proofs, comprehend the difference
between the Holy Name and çubha-karma.19

This nämäparädha of equating the Holy Name with çubha-karma is
committed because of sinful activities, especially the sin of offending the
devotees of the Lord. Immediate countermeasures must be undertaken,
because as a result of these offenses, the jéva acquires the perverted Mäyävädé
understanding of the Holy Name. Only the association of devotees can
exculpate such offenses.
To rid himself of this nämäparädha, one must approach a householder
Vaiñëava who originally came from a very low caste; this is to stamp out any
false understandings of designation and caste distinctions. The offender
should then smear all over his own body, with great respect and faith, the
dust of the feet of that Vaiñëava. He must also eat the remnants of this
Vaiñëava’s food and drink the water that washed his feet. In this way, the
proper attitude towards the pure name will again develop within the
offender’s heart. The whole world sings of how Kalidäsa was saved from this
nämäparädha by the mercy of the Lord.
Çréla Haridäsa Öhäkura’s attachment to the Holy Name

“My dear Lord, my consciousness is thoroughly mundane. Though I mouth
the names of the Lord, I am too unfortunate to experience their
transcendental touchstone qualities. O Lord! I beg You to please appear as the
Holy Name and dance on my tongue. I fall at Your lotus feet and pray: if You
like, You can keep me in this material world or place me in the spiritual sky.
Whatever desire is Yours, You are free to fulfill, but please let me taste the
divine nectar of Kåñëa’s Holy Name. You have descended amongst the
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Çraddhä, when sufficiently mature, brings one to the association of devotees. In that
association, one begins devotional service. The heart is cleansed of all anärthas by chanting
the Holy Name of the Lord. As much as the heart is cleansed of anärthas, to that degree the
chanting becomes pure. Progressively, one is fixed in devotion and develops taste for the
Holy Name. The knowledge of these developmental stages must be preliminarily understood
and believed in by the sädhaka through the grace of his spiritual master. Otherwise, his
anärthas will multiply due to his committing nämäparädha. But with this proper
understanding and faith, the pure name manifests very quickly.
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conditioned souls to distribute the Holy Name, so kindly also consider me, an
insignificant jéva. I am a fallen soul and You are the savior of the fallen. Let
this be our eternal relationship. O Savior! On the strength of this
relationship, I am begging from You the nectar of the Holy Name.
Why the name is the religion of the age

“In Kali-yuga all other processes except the Holy Name are incapable of
redeeming the fallen souls. Therefore the chanting of the Holy Name is the
yuga-dharma. Actually, it is the most efficient religious practice throughout
all the ages. But in Kali-yuga, unlike other ages, there is no other religion
available. Thus the Holy Name appears as the only religion that can redeem
the fallen souls.”

Only one who is blessed with loving devotion as the servant of Çréla Haridäsa
Öhäkura, and who thinks himself devoid of qualification, is fit to recite this
Harinäma-cintämaëi.
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Chapter Twelve
To Chant Inattentively (pramäda) is the Ninth Offense
All glories to Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu and all His devotees; by their
causeless grace alone, I perform congregational chanting of the Holy Name of
the Lord.
The offense known as pramäda or inattentive chanting

Çréla Haridäsa Öhäkura then said, “O Lord Caitanya, to Çréla Sanätana
Gosvämé here in Jagannätha Puré and Çréla Gopäla Bhaööa Gosvämé in South
India, you taught that the Holy Name must be chanted attentively.
Inattention in chanting is nämäparädha. One may carefully avoid all other
nämäparädhas, yet still not experience the ecstasy of the pure name. This is
an indication of another type of nämäparädha known as pramäda, which
prevents the chanter from reaching the stage of niñöhä, or firm faith. This in
turn blocks the further growth of bhakti to the flowering of Kåñëa-prema.”
Three kinds of inattention

Pramäda means ‘madness’, but ‘inattention’ and ‘carelessness’ are also
synonyms of this word. Inattentive chanting sows the seeds of anärthas which
soon develop in the heart. Inattention is of three kinds. The first is called
audäsinya, or ‘apathetic devotional service’, meaning a lack of fixed resolve in
sädhana. The second type is jaòya, ‘laziness’ or even ‘inertia’. The third kind is
viñkepa, which means ‘distraction’ or ‘misplacing one’s attention in
engagements other than sädhana-bhakti.’
It is essential to give special attention to chanting while

anuräga is undeveloped
By a special stroke of good fortune, a jéva develops enough çraddhä to take
shelter of the Holy Name. By regularly chanting a fixed number of Holy
Names with special care and attention, he may, by degrees, progress to
anuräga, or spontaneous attraction for the Lord’s name. He should chant his
prescribed number of rounds on a tulasé-mälä and increase his rounds with
time. Before he reaches the stage of anuräga, he must be very cautious about
offenses in chanting.
Most people are naturally very attached to material things, their memories
always absorbed in matter. They may indeed chant the Holy Name of the
Lord, but their minds may be far away from the chanting. Even if they daily
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chant one lakh (one hundred thousand) Holy Names on the japa-mälä, not a
drop of taste for the Lord’s name will be produced in their hearts. It is
difficult to restrain materialistic hearts from such offenses.
The process of overcoming apathy

One must make it his daily routine to chant for an hour in the company of
saintly Vaiñëavas in a sacred, undisturbed place. Taking note of the
Vaiñëavas’ devotional attitude and their relish for the Holy Name, the
neophyte should try to emulate this mood and gradually rid himself of his
apathy to chanting. Step-by-step, his mind and attention should become fixed
in the Holy Name. By constant chanting, the sweetness of the Holy Name
makes him anxious to taste more of that nectar.
Advanced Vaiñëavas advise that chanting is best performed in the presence
of tulasé-devi and in a place of Lord Kåñëa’s pastimes. The chanter should
always seek the association of saintly devotees and emulate their discipline.
He must follow in the footsteps of previous äcäryas in the joyful method of
worshiping the Lord through His Holy Name. He may begin with an hour of
such chanting, then two, then increase it to four until finally he will chant
not less then three lakhs of Holy Names a day. This helps him to soon sever
his links with materialism.
Another effective method for ridding oneself of apathy towards the Holy
Name is to sit in a closed room alone and meditate on the name as did the
previous sages. Or one can cover the head and face with a cloth and
concentrate on the sound of the Holy Name. This will immediately fix the
mind firmly on the Holy Name; slowly, one develops attraction for the name,
and the offense of apathetic inattention will vanish.
Overcoming laziness
Inattention arising from laziness (jaòya) prevents a person from relishing the
nectar of the Holy Name. He is slow to chant and remember the Holy Name.
Even after trying, he very soon finds the effort unendurable, and wants to
sleep or otherwise engage himself in frivolity.
Advanced devotees are cautious against such an offense. They never waste a
single moment in useless talks or activities. Their meditation on the Lord’s
Holy Name is unbroken. They are so absorbed in the nectar of the Holy
Name that they do not want anything else. One must therefore aspire to
associate with such rare devotees and follow their example, thus ridding
himself of his laziness.
It is the nature of saintly Vaiñëavas to be always engaged in devotional
activities. They never waste time uselessly. One should become attracted to
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this devotional trait. One should ask himself how he also can become like
these devotees, immersed in meditation upon the Holy Name; how, from this
very day, he can increase his chanting step by step until such time as he can
actually chant three lakhs of Holy Names with inspiration and eagerness.
When Lord Kåñëa sees such enthusiasm, He reciprocates by removing the
neophyte’s mental inertia with the power of His name, and by allowing him
to remain in the association of His advanced devotees.
Overcoming distraction
Distraction in chanting breeds illusion which becomes the cause of further
serious offenses against the Holy Name. This illusion, difficult to overcome,
engenders attraction to wealth, women, position, success and the cheating
propensity. When these attractions cover the heart, the neophyte becomes
neglectful of the chanting of the Holy Name.
One must make a constant effort to try and drive such attractions away from
the mind by diligently following the ways of Vaiñëava culture. This will bring
back his good fortune. For instance, he should nicely observe the Ekädaçé
vows, the appearance days of the Lord and other such important festival days.
He should spend the entire festival day and night chanting and singing the
glories of the Lord in association of saintly devotees. The ideal way to observe
these festivals is to be in one of the dhämas (Navadvépa, Våndävana, Puré
etc.) with sädhus (pure devotees in the line of Çréla Rüpa Gosvämé) reading
and discussing çästra (Vedic literatures like Bhagavad-gétä, Çrémad-
Bhägavatam and other Vaiñëava scriptures). He should wholeheartedly
participate in the festival programs without anxiety and hesitation. These
festivals will rekindle the dying spark of spiritual taste. Thus he will be
attracted to the pastimes of the Supreme Lord.
Tasting the superior flavor of pure Kåñëa consciousness, he will naturally be
disgusted by his inferior material attachments. He will be enraptured by sweet
songs of the Lord’s pastimes sung by the devotees, and his ears will fill up with
nectar that dislodges his mind from matter and fixes it upon the Holy Name
again. The devotee can then chant steadily in a joyous and peaceful mood.
Good advice for chanters

One must diligently complete the chanting of the daily prescribed number of
Holy Names according to one’s vow. But another kind of distraction occurs
when one is too eager to complete the fixed number of Holy Names even at
the sacrifice of quality. One must therefore always insure that he chants his
rounds sincerely. Also, one should better improve the quality of his chanting
rather than try to increase his daily number of rounds for show. The name of
the Lord should always be pronounced distinctly. Only by the grace of the
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Lord can this be achieved. Thus one should pray to the Lord that he never
falls victim to the wiles of the illusion of distraction, and that he can
continue to taste the full nectar of the Holy Name.
The secret to success is humility

The devotee should make it a regular practice to spend a little time alone in a
quiet place and concentrate deeply on the Holy Name. He should utter and
hear the name distinctly. It is impossible for the jéva to single-handedly avoid
and overcome the illusion of distraction. By the mercy of the Lord, however,
this is accomplished with ease. Therefore it is essential to prayerfully beg for
the Lord’s grace with great humility, for this is the only means to salvation
from this offense.
The necessity of developing enthusiasm

“O Lord Caitanya!” cried Haridäsa Öhäkura. “You are an ocean of
compassion! I wholeheartedly beg for Your mercy. Indeed, if I was unable to
pray to You in this way, then no one would be more unfortunate than I.
“Those who attempt to take up devotional service on the merits of their
individual intelligence and mental expertise will find that all their endeavors
are fruitless. Lord Kåñëa’s mercy is the prime cause of all successful work. One
who does not aspire to obtain the Lord’s mercy is indeed a very unfortunate
soul.”
A note about the vow of nirbandha

Çréla Haridäsa Öhäkura advised that we concentrate deeply on the Holy
Name of Kåñëa. Lord Caitanya’s teachings on this matter are found in the
Caitanya-bhägavata, Madhya 23.650:
“Hare Kåñëa Hare Kåñëa Kåñëa Kåñëa Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare
Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. The Lord said, ‘This is the mahä-
mantra; now go and do japa meditation, chanting these Holy Names a
prescribed number of times (nirbandha) each day. You will achieve all
desirable perfection from this chanting. Just chant the Holy Name
constantly, because no rules or regulations can restrict chanting.’
The word nirbandha needs elaboration. The sädhaka should chant the mahä-
mantra on a japa-mälä of 108 Tulasé beads. Four rounds on the beads makes a
grantha. By gradually increasing his chanting, the sädhaka should aspire to
chant 16 granthas or one lakh of Holy Names: this number is considered as
nirbandha. If chanting is then even further increased to three lakhs of names,
the devotee will always be immersed in the Lord’s Holy Name. All the
previous äcäryas and mahäjanas have followed this instruction of Lord
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Caitanya and attained perfection. Even now, anyone can attain perfection by
proper chanting. Everyone, including the pure devotees, the salvationists, and
the materialistic persons are eligible to chant the Holy Name of the Lord.
Two different moods of Kåñëa-prema are visible in pure devotees, but the
nectar of the Holy Name is relished in both of these moods, in the happiness
of meeting the Lord and in the pangs of separation from the Lord.

One who wears the gem of Harinäma-cintämaëi as a crown upon his head will
certainly find shelter at Çréla Haridäsa Öhäkura’s lotus feet.
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Chapter Thirteen
To Maintain Material Attachments of ‘Me’ And ‘Mine’
is the Tenth Offense
Lord Nityänanda, the life and soul of Çrématé Jahnava-devi; all glories to Çré
Advaita Äcärya, the Lord of Mother Sétä; all glories to all the devotees of
Lord Caitanya. Drenched in tears of ecstatic love, Çréla Haridäsa Öhäkura
went on to explain, in a choked voice, the last of the offenses to the Holy
Name. “My Lord, this last nämäparädha is the worst kind of offense; its
presence stops the flow Kåñëa-prema.”
Even after having taken spiritual initiation, most materially attached persons
cannot fully give up bodily designations. They maintain a ‘me’ and ‘mine’
mentality that sidetracks them from the path of devotion. Bodily
designations, e.g. ‘I am a brähmaëa’, ‘I am Vaiñëava’, ‘I am king’, or ‘I am a
rich man’; and possessiveness, e.g. ‘This is my position, wealth, son, grandson
and so on’, symptomize immaturity of realization and are deterrents to proper
cultivation of devotional service. This is a terrible offense that is only gotten
rid of when one surrenders to the Holy Name.
The necessity and symptoms of surrender to the Holy Name
Having given up first nine nämäparädhas, every devotee must surrender
completely to the Holy Name. According to the scriptures, the process of
surrender (çaraëägati) has six limbs. It is impossible to explain them in detail
here, but briefly they are as follows.
The vow to accept everything favorable for the execution of devotional
service; likewise, to reject anything unfavorable; to be convinced that Lord
Kåñëa will always give protection; to depend wholly on Kåñëa for everything;
to always feel meek and humble; and to throw oneself at Lord Kåñëa’s lotus
feet in full self-surrender—these are the six limbs of surrender .
Devotional service is possible only while alive. Hence one must accept that
which keeps the body and soul together, and not more. Life must be molded
to facilitate devotional service. Therefore one should develop a taste for
objects that are connected to Lord Kåñëa. Simultaneously, a natural distaste
for deterrents to devotional service will also arise within the heart. Lord
Kåñëa becomes the only protector and maintainer, because no one is as
dependable as He is. Knowing this, one should think, “As His eternal slave, I
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am somehow also an insignificant member of Lord Kåñëa’s family. My only

aspiration is to act according to His will.”
One must then drop all false designations like brähmaëa, çüdra, father,
husband, king, subject, master, donor, maintainer; and attachments to money,
body, sons, wife etc. Instead, one should enter the mood of the paraphernalia
of Lord Kåñëa, thinking: “He is the real Master and Lord, and His will is
imperative. I am ready to act only to fulfill Lord Kåñëa’s desire and will not
even think about my own wishes. I will adjust my household affairs for the
Lord’s satisfaction. By His wish I will cross the material ocean. Only by His
desire will I feel genuine compassion for the suffering souls. In times of both
joy and sorrow I remain eternally Lord Kåñëa’s servitor. My moments of
material enjoyment and my moods of renunciation are experienced
only due to the Lord’s will.” When these feelings arise spontaneously, one
achieves the stage of ätmä-nivedanam (surrender of the soul).
The consequences of not surrendering

One unable to accept the six limbs of surrender is a prisoner of false ego who
always thinks in terms of ‘me’ and ‘mine’. He proudly declares, “I am the
master here. This household and family belong to me. The fruits of work are
mine by right of labor, and I am their enjoyer, whether they be bitter or
sweet. I am my own protector and maintainer. This woman is my wife, here is
my brother, he is my son. By the sweat of my brow I earn my own living, and
success is the reward of my endeavors.”
Intoxicated with such egoism, these materialistic persons overestimate their
own ability and intelligence. Scientists propagate their theories and develop
technology to flaunt their denial of God. Among atheists, these are the worst
demons. They take credit for the so-called advancement of scientific
technology and for the material comfort it brings. But factually, it all happens
by the Lord’s will: this they completely fail to see.
When the atheists hear the glories of the Holy Name they disbelieve them.
Yet sometimes even they utter Kåñëa’s Holy Name due to the pressure of
social custom. But since this kind of chanting is bereft of faith, they never
experience bliss. Such are the stereotyped ways of cheaters who make a mere
show of religion. By repeating Kåñëa’s name, even though in neglect, they
earn a little piety, but they are deprived of the actual result of chanting: pure
love of Godhead.
The cause of their offensiveness is material engrossment. They are so
captivated by the illusory potency that they are blinded, and it is extremely
difficult for them to get free of their offensive condition. Only one who
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acquires a taste for pure devotional service becomes disgusted with material
life; leaving it, he takes full shelter of the holy Name.
How to rid oneself of this offense

Leaving aside all material attachments and accepting voluntary poverty, one
should humbly worship Lord Kåñëa’s lotus feet, taking full shelter of the
chanting of the Holy Name. He should aspire for the association of devotees
and serve them without material desires. Gradually his heart will become
impregnated with attraction for the Holy Name. The egoistic mentality of
‘me’ and ‘mine’ will disappear and he will surmount the ocean of material
nescience.
By hearing the glories of the Holy Name, the last traces of false ego will
dissipate, and the symptoms of a pure devotee will then blossom in his heart,
and he will take to the six processes of surrender. He who finds complete
shelter in the Holy Name is a great soul, for he becomes the recipient of the
great treasure of Kåñëa-prema.
The symptoms of one who is free from the ten nämäparädhas

In being warned to avoid the ten offenses to the Holy Name of the Lord, one
is actually being ordered to positively implement the specific saintly qualities
that render these aparädhas impossible. Therefore, one must: not criticize but
serve the saintly Vaiñëavas; worship Kåñëa as the Absolute Supreme Lord;
give full respect to the spiritual master who initiates one into the Holy Name;
regard the scriptures that reveal the glories of the Holy Name as preeminent;
know within the heart that the Holy Name is eternally situated in pure
transcendence; root out and destroy the desire to commit sins; preach the
glories of the Holy Name only to the faithful; give up ritualistic pious
activities entirely; chant with full attention and surrender fully to the Holy
Name.
Bhäva is attained quickly when the chanting is free from

offenses
When one is thus free from offenses, he becomes the most fortunate soul in
the three worlds. He acquires all good qualities and is eligible to receive Lord
Kåñëa’s causeless mercy. Very quickly, his chanting awards him the divine
fruit of bhäva, the first stage of prema. Thus the offenseless chanter is
promoted from the sädhana or practice stage to bhäva, or spontaneous pure
devotional service. From bhäva comes prema, which, according to the
scriptures, is the mature fruit of pure devotion, the pinnacle of all perfection.
Lord Caitanya personally guarantees that if any devotee chants the Holy
Name free from offenses, he will quickly obtain Kåñëa-prema.
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Pure bhakti is priceless; other attainments are imitation

If one continues to chant with offenses, then in spite of many endeavors, he
will never attain pure devotion. The fruitive worker or karmé enjoys heavenly
bliss through karma; the jïäné obtains liberation as a result of empirical
knowledge; but pure devotion to Kåñëa and Kåñëa-prema, which is very rarely
attained, is had only through the proper execution of sädhana-bhakti.
The bliss of heaven and liberation is compared to mother-of-pearl (the
shining inner surface of a pearl oyster shell), and pure bhakti to Kåñëa is the
priceless gem pearl. It is the jéva’s prerogative and the success of his human
birth to acquire pure devotion. If one sincerely and expertly practices
sädhana-bhakti, he very soon receives the seed of pure devotion or prema. The
meaning of expert practice is that one avoids the ten nämäparädhas.
One must be greedy for pure bhakti to avoid offending the Holy
Name
If one is sufficiently greedy for obtaining pure devotion, then he will chant
free from the ten offenses. He must diligently avoid each of the offenses with
feelings of deep repentance for having ever committed them. He should pray
sincerely to the lotus feet of the Holy Name and chant with determination.
Only then will he be blessed with the mercy of the Holy Name, which will
destroy all of his offenses. No other activity or penance can possibly exculpate
his offenses.
How to stop nämäparädha

Offenses to the Holy Name of the Lord are dissolved only through constant
chanting. When they are so destroyed, they can never reappear. Constant
chanting means that, apart from a minimal time for rest and other bare
physical necessities, one should chant throughout all hours of the day with
intense contrition. No other penance or ritual is as effective as this. When
the offenses are destroyed, the pure Holy Name blossoms within the heart.
The pure name of Kåñëa delivers bhava and finally prema.
Çréla Haridäsa Öhäkura concluded, “O Lord Caitanya, I humbly pray at Your
lotus feet that the ten offenses in chanting the Holy Name of the Lord never
find a place in my heart. Please kindly grant that I may remain submerged in
the nectar of the pure name.”
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Bhaktivinoda, the servant of the devotees, is able to recite Harinäma-
cintämaëi in great delight only on the strength of Çréla Haridäsa Öhäkura’s
causeless mercy.
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Chapter Fourteen
Offenses in Devotional Service (seväparädha)
Lord Nityänanda, the life and soul of Çrématé Jahnava-devi; all glories to
Mother Sétä and Çré Advaita Äcärya; all glories to Çréla Çréväsa Paëòita and
all the devotees of Lord Caitanya.
Çréla Haridäsa Öhäkura is Nämäcärya

Lord Caitanya said, “My dear devotee Haridäsa, the conditioned souls of Kali-
yuga will greatly benefit from this elaborate explanation of the offenses
against the Holy Name that you have given. You are indeed a great spiritual
master and äcärya.”
Çréla Haridäsa Öhäkura is Nämäcärya, or the foremost spiritual authority on
the chanting of the Holy Name of Kåñëa. He practiced everything he
preached. He taught the jévas about çuddha-näma, nämäbhäsa, and the glories
of Kåñëa’s name; he also instructed how one may stop committing
nämäparädha, all this by his own example.
Lord Caitanya continued, “I much relished your dissertation on the Holy
Name. As an äcärya, you are exemplary and as a preacher, you are profound.
You are always ornamented by the priceless gem of the Lord’s pure Holy
Name. Rämänanda Räya taught me the sublime science of transcendental
mellows, and now you have revealed the glories of the Holy Name. Kindly tell
me something about the different kinds of offenses made in the execution of
devotional service to the Deity.”
Çréla Haridäsa Öhäkura replied, “You are asking about a subject that is known
to a servant of the Deity. All my time is taken up in serving the Holy Name. I
don’t know how to reply, yet I cannot disregard Your instruction. I will speak
whatever you make me say.”
Varieties of seväparädha
Offenses in devotional service (seväparädha) are numerous. In some
scriptures, thirty-two such offenses are listed, and in others, fifty. By
definition, seväparädha is always related to Deity worship. Learned devotees
identify four classifications of seväparädha, which are: those pertaining to
persons engaged in Deity worship; those pertaining to the installation of
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Deities; those pertaining to persons taking darçana of the Deity in the temple;
and those that generally apply in all cases.
Thirty-two seväparädhas
The list of thirty-two offenses in Deity worship is as follows: 1) entering the
temple with shoes on; 2) alighting from a vehicle before the Deity; 3) not
observing the festival days; 4) forgetting to offer obeisances and prayers to
the Deity; 5) offering worship to the Deity in an unclean or contaminated
state; 6) offering obeisances on one hand; 7) circumambulating before the
Deity; 8) extending the feet towards the Deity or sitting on one’s haunches
before the Deity; 9) sleeping or reclining in the presence of the Deity; 10)
eating before the Deity; 11) speaking lies before the Deity; 12) speaking out
loudly before the Deity; 13) talking with others before the Deity; 14) using
abusive language before the Deity; 15) giving charity or giving thanks to
others before the Deity; 16) quarrelling before the Deity; 17) crying, howling
or shedding false tears before the Deity; 18) criticizing someone before the
Deity; 19) covering oneself with a blanket or quilt before the Deity; 20)
praising someone before the Deity; 21) using obscene language before the
Deity; 22) belching or passing air before the Deity; 23) offering substandard
paraphernalia in the service of the Deity in spite of having better; 24) eating
or drinking unoffered food; 25) not offering seasonal fruits and vegetables;
26) offering the Deity contaminated food, or food first eaten by someone else;
27) sitting with one’s back to the Deity; 28) acting immodestly before the
Deity, as by sitting directly in front of the Deity; 29) respecting or worshiping
someone else before the Deity; 30) not glorifying and offering obeisances to
one’s spiritual master before the Deity; 31) glorifying oneself before the Deity;
32) slandering the demigods before the Deity.
More offenses listed in other scriptures

Other scriptural sources have listed additional offenses:
It is offensive to eat the food of materialists; to touch the Deity of Hari in
darkness; to touch the Deity without proper rituals; to open the altar doors
without an accompanying performance of music and song for the pleasure of
the Lord; to offer food to the Lord that has been seen by a dog; to speak
during Deity worship; to leave the altar during Deity worship; to offer ärati
without putting a flower garland on the Deities; to worship Lord Kåñëa with
unattractive or non-fragrant flowers; to offer worship to Lord Kåñëa without
first cleansing the face and mouth; to offer worship to the Deity after sexual
relations; to touch a woman during her menstrual period; to touch fire during
Deity worship; to pass air before the Deity; to offer worship wearing dirty or
contaminated clothes; to offer worship while angry; to offer worship directly
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after having been at a cremation grounds, or having touched a dead body or

seen a dead body’s face; to offer worship while suffering from indigestion or
dysentery; to eat garlic and onions; to chew betel and tobacco; to touch the
Deity after having had a massage with oil; to offer flowers from an unclean
pot; to worship at an inauspicious time; to worship while sitting on the bare
floor; to touch the Lord with the left hand while bathing the Deity; to offer
old or already offered fruits or flowers; to boast during worshiping; to spit
habitually; to worship the Deity after having applied smudged or horizontal
(i.e. three-lined) tilaka; to enter temple without washing the feet; to offer the
Deity food cooked by a non-Vaiñëava; to do püjä in front of a non-Vaiñëava;
to not worship Viñvaksena (in place of Ganeña) before the püjä; to see or
speak to a Çiva or Durgä worshipper; to bathe the Deity with water touched
by the fingernails; to use water for worship into which sweat has fallen; to
make oaths before the Deity; to step over the Deity’s prasäda.
Seväparädha is to be avoided those serving the Deity;

nämäparädha is to be avoided by all devotees
One who is engaged in Deity worship must carefully avoid the seväparädhas,
and all Vaiñëavas must strictly abstain from the nämäparädhas and relish the
taste of pure devotional service to Lord Kåñëa. The devotee himself is the best
judge of which offenses in sevä to be vigilant about, according to the service
he is engaged in. But the responsibility of avoiding nämäparädha is applicable
to every Vaiñëava at all times.
On the path of bhava-sevä, or spontaneous devotional service,

nämäparädha must be nonexistent
Especially, that devotee who worships the Lord in a secluded place in the
ecstasy of separation from the Deity must be free of the ten offenses against
the Holy Name. In bhäva-sevä, service is performed in the mind; there is not
even opportunity for seväparädha. Only when the devotee on this path is
completely free of nämäparädha can he attain bhäva, spontaneous loving
devotional service to Kåñëa.
Constant meditation upon the Holy Name of the Lord is the sädhana practice
in bhäva-sevä, the offenseless stage of devotional service. By the grace of the
Lord, each of the nine limbs of sädhana-bhakti finally culminates in the
prema of the pure Holy Name. One who has ascended to this stage of
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realization may then fully submerge himself in the nectar of chanting the
Holy Name, leaving aside other services.20

It is on the strength of Çréla Haridäsa Öhäkura’s instructions that a lowly
person without means can recite the Harinäma-cintämaëi.
20
Lord Caitanya instructed Çréla Raghunätha das Gosvämé on the worship of Çré
Govardhana Çélä thusly (as recorded in Caitanya-caritämåta, Antya 6.294-304):
‘“This stone is the transcendental form of Lord Kåñëa. Worship the stone with great
eagerness. Worship this stone in the mode of goodness like a perfect brähmaëa, for by such
worship you will surely attain ecstatic love of Kåñëa without delay. For such worship, one
needs a jug of water and a few flowers from a Tulasé tree. This is worship in complete
goodness when performed in complete purity. With faith and love, you should offer eight soft
Tulasé flowers, each with two Tulasé leaves, one on each side of each flower.”
‘After thus advising him how to worship, Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu personally offered
Raghunätha das the Govardhana-Çélä with His transcendental hand. As advised by the Lord,
Raghunätha das worshiped the Çélä in great transcendental jubilation. Svarüpa Dämodara
gave Raghunätha das two cloths, each about six inches long, a wooden platform and a jug in
which to keep water. ‘Thus Raghunätha das began worshiping the stone from Govardhana,
and as he worshiped he saw the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kåñëa, the son of Nanda
Maharaja, directly in the stone. Thinking of how he had received the Govardhana-Çélä
directly from the hands of Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu, Raghunätha das was always
overflooded with ecstatic love. The amount of transcendental bliss that Raghunätha das
enjoyed simply by offering water and Tulasé is impossible to achieve even if one worships the
Deity with sixteen kinds of paraphernalia.
‘After Raghunätha das had thus worshiped the Govardhana-Çélä for sometime, Svarüpa
Dämodara spoke to him as follows: “Offer the Govardhana stone eight kaudis worth of the
first-class sweetmeats known as khaja and sandesh. If you offer them with faith and love, they
will be just like nectar.”‘
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Chapter Fifteen
The Bhajana of Confidential Worship of the Holy Name
(bhajana-praëälé)
All glories to Çré Gadädhara Paëòita and Lord Gauraìga; all glories to Lord
Nityänanda,; all glories to Çré Advaita Äcärya, the Lord of Mother Sétä; all
glories to all the devotees of Lord Caitanya. One who rejects all other
processes of elevation and simply immerses himself in the chanting of the
Holy Name is truly a magnanimous soul and is glorious in all respects.
Lord Caitanya said, “My dear Haridäsa, simply on the strength of your
wonderful devotion, you are conversant with all knowledge. All the Vedic
philosophical conclusions about the Absolute Godhead, the jéva, mäyä, the
pure name of the Lord, nämäbhäsa and nämäparädha are revealed in your
speech. It is therefore rightly said that the Vedas gleefully dance upon your
tongue.” The Lord, fully satisfied with His devotee, now desired to hear the
precepts of näma-rasa, the rare spiritual science of the sweet mellows of the
Holy Name, from the mouth of Çréla Haridäsa.
Lord Caitanya continued, “Now please instruct Me about näma-rasa. How
can a jéva become eligible to receive it?” Çréla Haridäsa Öhäkura then prayed
at the Lord’s lotus feet, submitting with intense prema that whatever he
would speak on this subject would be inspired by the Lord Himself.
The true rasa

In the Vedas the Supreme Personality of Godhead is called rasa. This rasa or
the nectar of transcendental love permeates the spiritual Kingdom of God.
Worldly poets dabble in a rasa that is totally mundane. Factually, theirs is not
rasa but a perversion of it.
The rasa that is transcendental and ever situated in pure goodness, beyond
the jurisdiction of the twenty-four elements of material nature, is in truth the
real rasa. It is unknown even to the ätmärämäs, the self-satisfied mystics who
have surpassed material nature but are yet unable to perceive transcendental
variegatedness. Rasa is eternal, full of cognizance and ever-blissful, ever
sheltered at Lord Kåñëa’s lotus feet.
The Supreme Absolute Truth exists as çaktiman or the Energetic and çakti or
the Energy. Qualitatively, çaktiman and çakti are the same, though differences
between the two are to be appreciated. Çaktiman is always the Supreme
Controller, willful and independent; çakti always displays His full and
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supreme potency. His çakti or potency manifests in three ways: the cit potency
or the spiritual nature, the jéva, and mäyä or the material nature. The cit
potency reveals the Supreme Truth, His name, abode, pastimes and beauty.
Lord Kåñëa is that Supreme Truth. His exquisite dark complexion, çyäma, is
His beauty. Goloka is His abode and the place of His pastimes. His name,
abode, form, qualities and pastimes are ever-existent features of the non-dual
spiritual substance, and the display of these transcendental varieties is the
function of His cit potency.
Lord Kåñëa is the original form of all transcendental qualities. His eternal
divine nature is His spiritual potency. There is no inherent difference
between the form of Kåñëa and His divine nature. Yet spiritual variety (rasa)
creates an impression of difference, which is exhibited in the spiritual world.
Mäyä-çakti is the external potency

The reflection of the spiritual potency is called mäyä-çakti or material nature.
She is also known as the external potency. She has produced this material
world or Devi-dhäma as ordered by Lord Kåñëa.
There are two types of jéva-çakti
The marginal region (taöasthä) of the spiritual potency manifests the jéva-
çakti. The jéva is eternal and inconceivably one with and yet simultaneously
different from the Supreme Lord. He is Lord Kåñëa’s spiritual energy and is
therefore meant to be part of the transcendental paraphernalia of the Lord’s
service.
There are two categories of jévas: nitya-baddha and nitya-mukta, or eternally
conditioned and eternally liberated souls. The eternally liberated jéva is
entitled to render eternal devotional service. The eternally conditioned jéva is
engrossed in material activities. He can also be said to be of two types:
extroverted and introspective.
The introspective nitya-baddha jévas are searching for the Absolute Truth.
The extroverted jévas are totally absorbed in the external features of gross
matter and thus are far removed from Kåñëa. They simply want to exploit
things meant for Lord Kåñëa’s service for their own enjoyment. The more
fortunate and pious jévas amongst the introspective ones come into contact
with devotees and in their association take to the chanting the Lord’s Holy
Name, which transports them through the portals of the spiritual world. The
less fortunate introspective jévas are attracted to the paths of karma and jïäna
by which they worship various demigods or finally merge into the impersonal
Brahman.
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The flowering of rasa

The Holy Name of Lord Kåñëa is the bud of the flower of rasa, which is the
essence of pure transcendence. By the grace of Kåñëa, rasa is propagated in
the material world in the form of His Holy Name.
With the first opening of the bud of the Holy Name comes the realization of
the enchanting Çyämasundara form of Kåñëa in Goloka Våndävana. The
Lord’s sixty-four transcendental qualities are like the irresistible fragrance
from the partially blossomed flower.
When this flower comes into full bloom, it manifests the eternal and
confidential pastimes of Lord Kåñëa known as the añöa-käléya-lélä, or the
eightfold loving affairs of Çré-Çré Rädhä-Kåñëa. And although this
manifestation is transcendental, it still appears in the material world.
The bhakti-çakti
Latent within the jéva are the miniscule spiritual potencies of ahläda (bliss)
and samvit (knowledge). With the flowering of rasa, the svarüpa-çakti (the
internal potency of the Lord Himself) descends to contact and revive these
tiny spiritual potencies of the jéva; all this is effected by the causeless mercy of
the Holy Name. The svarüpa-çakti descends as Bhakti-devi, who embodies the
full mixture of the hlädiné and samvit potencies. This mixture is called the
bhakti-svarüpa-çakti, the potency of the form of pure devotion. When his
latent bliss and knowledge are infused with this bhakti-svarüpa-çakti, the
spontaneous loving attitude required for entering the añöa-käléya-lélä appears
in the heart of the chanter of the Holy Name.
The churning of rasa

Thus one reaches a state of perfection known as sthäyi-bhäva, or permanent
emotion, which is also known as rati. Four bhävas combine to transform rati
to rasa. The four bhävas are: vibhäva, anubhäva, sättvika, and vyabhicäré (or
saïcäré).
Vibhäva, the element that excites loving sentiment, has two subdivisions:
älambana and uddépana. Älambana or the root is again of two parts: the viñaya
(subject) and the açraya (recipient). The devotee of Lord Kåñëa is the açraya,
and Lord Kåñëa Himself is the viñaya. Lord Kåñëa’s transcendental beauty and
qualities are known as uddépana or the impetus. Thus where there is
älambana (the root relationship of the devotee and Kåñëa) and uddépana (the
impetus of the realization of Kåñëa’s form and qualities), lélä and rasa can
occur.
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Anubhäva (the external symptoms of the internal permanent emotion) is

what results from vibhäva, or the effect of älambana and uddépana. When
these emotions become more intense, they are transformed into sättvika-
bhäva (loving emotions that cannot be checked). At this same time saïcäré-
bhava (emotions that set into motion the progress of rasa) come into play.
Rasa is like a machine. Rati, or permanent emotion, is the axle of this
machine. Once the machine starts moving by the combined energy of the
four bhävas, the permanent emotion (sthäyi-bhava) is then converted into
rasa. The devotee, who is the açraya (like a shelter or container), relishes that
rasa. And that rasa is the Vraja-rasa or the spiritual mellow of Våndävana.
That rasa is the essence of everything, and is for the jéva the highest goal. The
Vedas expound four goals: dharma, ärtha, käma, mokña; but in fact the
pinnacle of all these perfections is rasa. The fully realized and perfected
beings are entitled to taste that rasa.
Elevation via the Hare Kåñëa mahä-mantra

Amongst the introspective jévas, he who is attracted to pure devotional
service is the most evolved. The jéva can take up the path of bhakti only after
he has accrued sufficient sukåti or piety from previous births. When such a
jéva develops strong faith or çraddhä, he comes into contact with a pure
devotee spiritual master. By the grace of the spiritual master, he is initiated
into the chanting of the Hare Kåñëa mahä-mantra -the Holy Names of the
Divine Couple.
Though this jéva is blessed with çraddhä, his desire for material gain poses an
obstacle on his path of progress. The spiritual master graces the jéva with a
disciplinary process suitable for overcoming this obstacle. Thus he gains
spiritual strength from chanting. Chanting on Tulasé beads and meditating
on a fixed number of Holy Names every day is the best form of worship, and
will surely lead to success. Therefore, in the beginning, a little time should
daily be spent in seclusion for full concentration upon the Holy Name. In
degrees, as chanting increases, a more profound relationship with the Holy
Name is developed, and the material impediments fall away.
The path of bhakti features two important engagements, one of which is Deity
worship, the other chanting and meditating upon the Holy Name. Although
both engagements are expedient, chanting and meditating on the Holy Name
is preferred by the more deeply serious devotees.
Many elevated pure devotees at times chant aloud the Holy Names on their
beads, and then at other times meditate upon Kåñëa’s pastimes on the beads.
The advantage of performing kértana, or audibly chanting the mahä-mantra
on the beads, is that three kinds of devotional service—hearing, chanting
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and remembering—are accomplished simultaneously. Of course, all the nine

limbs of devotional service reside in the Holy Name; of them, hearing,
chanting and remembering are the best. Chanting automatically manifests
the other limbs of devotional service, like pada-sevanam, däsyam, sakhyam,
ätmä-nivedanam, and so on. Thus the process of Deity worship is
automatically accomplished by the devotee surrendered to the Holy Name.
But the devotee attracted to Deity worship will have to acquire attraction for
hearing and chanting in order to attain complete perfection in Kåñëa
consciousness.
Who is eligible to chant the Holy Name?

Three kinds of jévas are captivated by external material phenomena: the gross
materialists, the karmés and the jïänés. They are therefore extroverts all,
chasing after false hopes for happiness in the realm of fleeting appearances.
The gross materialist endeavors for sensual delights. The karmé aspires for
ephemeral heavenly bliss in the hereafter. The jïäné is wholly concerned with
how to mitigate his existential suffering. After surpassing these stages, the
jéva becomes truly introspective, seeking entrance into the realm of the
internal spiritual energy. The introspective jévas are divided into three
categories: kaniñöha, madhyama, and uttama (neophyte, intermediate, and
advanced).
The neophyte devotee rejects demigod worship and worships only Kåñëa, but
with certain material motivations due to lack of sambandha-jïäna. Simple
and naive, he is not offensive; he is just self-preoccupied. Therefore, although
such neophytes are not considered to be pure Vaiñëavas, they are certainly to
be accepted as Vaiñëava-präya or resembling Vaiñëavas.
The intermediate or madhyama devotee is pure and is very firmly situated in
faith. The uttama or advanced devotee is completely indifferent to material
things and is fully surrendered to Kåñëa. The pure name avails Himself to
those who have exclusive faith in Kåñëa.
Step-by-step advancement in hearing, chanting, and

remembering
The order of discipline (sädhana-kräma) for realizing the identity of the Holy
Name with the Lord is as follows. The devotee must in the beginning discard
the ten offenses and simply absorb himself in the Holy Name by chanting
constantly. He should distinctly pronounce the Holy Name and meditate
upon the transcendental sound vibration. When his chanting is steady, clear
and blissful, he will be able to meditate upon the Çyämasundara form of the
Lord. With chanting beads in hand, he should thus seek out the
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transcendental form of the Holy Name, which will appear when his vision is
pure.
Another method he may employ to see this form is to sit in front of the
Deities, drink the beautiful sight of the Lord with his eyes and meditate upon
the Holy Name. After reaching the stage where the Holy Name and the form
of the Lord become one, he must then absorb the transcendental qualities of
Lord Kåñëa into his meditation. Thus the Holy Name and the qualities of
Kåñëa merge to become one through constant chanting.
Next, he goes on to practice the remembrance of particular pastimes of the
Lord. This remembrance, called mantra-dhyäna mäyé upäsanä, facilitates
further absorption into the Holy Name. This lélä-smäranam or pastime
meditation also gradually become one with the Holy Name, form, and
qualities.
At this point, the first rays of näma-rasa, or the transcendental mellow of the
Holy Name, dawn on the horizon of perception. Chanting the name in great
delight, the devotee sees Kåñëa surrounded by cowherd boys and girls under a
desire tree at the Yoga-Péöha. Progressively, the devotee’s practice of lélä-
smäranam intensifies to the point where he begins to meditate on the most
confidential pastimes of the Lord known as the añöa-käléya-lélä, or the
eightfold pastimes of Radha-Kåñëa. When he reaches maturity in this
meditation, rasa rises in full glory.
The svä-rasiké process of worship

Añöa-käléya-lélä smäranam is also known as svä-rasiké worship. In this stage of
bhajana, one is awarded the opportunity to accordingly serve Kåñëa in the
times and places of his pastimes. Now the devotee realizes the full grace of his
spiritual master, who, in his eternal spiritual form (siddha-svarüpa), guides the
disciple to a sakhé (confidential gopi) who in turn introduces him into the
pastimes of the Lord. Of all the gopés, Çrématé Rädhäräëé, the daughter of
King Våñabhänu, is the most excellent. She embodies the highest spiritual
sentiment, mahäbhäva. Serving Kåñëa under Her leadership is the supreme
spiritual experience.
The five main rasas or spiritual mellows are: çänta (neutrality), däsya
(servitorship), säkhya (friendship), vätsalya (parenthood), and çåìgära or
mädhurya (conjugal). Of these, çåìgära or conjugal is the highest. Devotees
eligible to enter the conjugal rasa are the recipients of the special mercy of
Çré Kåñëa Caitanya.
In the conjugal rasa, Lord Kåñëa has many yutheçvarés or female group leaders;
but everyone prefers Çrématé Rädhäräëé. She is the direct manifestation of
Lord Kåñëa’s svarüpa-çakti or spiritual potency, and all the other Vraja-gopés
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are Her expansions. She is the Absolute embodiment of all the rasas. It is
therefore the goal of devotional service to enroll in Her yütha or group.
Service to Lord Kåñëa in Vraja is impossible without first taking shelter of the
Vraja-gopés. One should furthermore aspire to enter Çrématé Rädhäräëé’s
camp and serve directly under Lalita-devé.
When the material coverings are removed, the spiritual goal is

acheived
As the devotee becomes disciplined in rasa, the gap between sädhana
(practice) and bhajana-siddhi (perfection of worship) closes. Soon, the
servitor’s spiritual form begins to take shape. By the mercy of the yutheçvaré,
he becomes easily overpowered by attraction to Lord Kåñëa. This strong
spiritual attraction eradicates the gross and subtle material concepts of form
that captured him when he turned away from Kåñëa. Thus the jéva gains
entrance into Vraja in his original spiritual form.
Up to this point, the jéva’s progress in spiritual life can be framed in words.
Beyond it, there are even higher stages of Kåñëa consciousness that are
indescribable. These will be revealed by the grace of Kåñëa. The cultivation of
the conjugal loving relationship with the Lord is the highest mode of service;
by this, ever-increasing Kåñëa-prema will be experienced. By adopting the
bhauma-vraja-rasa, or the vraja-rasa revealed on this material plane in
Våndävana-dhäma, one becomes eligible to enter such conjugal love.
Çré Rämänanda Räya said, ‘Therefore one should accept the mood of the gopés
in their service. In such a transcendental mood, one should always think of
the pastimes of Çré Rädhä and Kåñëa. After thinking of Çré-Çré Radha-Kåñëa
and Their pastimes for a long time and after getting completely free from
material contamination, one is transferred to the spiritual world. There the
devotees attain an opportunity to serve Çré Rädhä and Kåñëa as one of the
gopés. Unless one follows in the footsteps of the gopés he can not attain the
service of the lotus feet of Kåñëa, the son of Nanda Mahäräja. If one is
overcome by knowledge of the Lord’s opulence, he can not attain the Lord’s
lotus feet even though he is engaged in devotional service.” (Çré Caitanya-
caritämåta, Madhya 8.228-230)
The devotee who is inclined to cultivate the conjugal rasa must accept the
form of a gopé under the guidance of a superior vraja-gopé. One can become a
gopé when eleven transcendental sentiments adorn the heart. They are: 1)
sambandha (relationship), 2) vayasä (age), 3) näma (name), 4) rüpa (form), 5)
yütha-praveça (entrance into a group), 6) veça (attire), 7) ajïä (instructions),
8) väsa-sthäna (place of residence), 9) sevä (service), 10) paräkäñöhä
(excellence), 11) pälya-däsé-bhava (the mood of a kept maidservant).
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Five stages of consciousness are ascended in bhäva-sädhana

The cultivation of these eleven gopé sentiments develops through five stages.
They are: 1) çravana-daçä (the stage of hearing), 2) väraëa-daçä (the stage of
acceptance), 3) smärana-daçä (the stage of remembering), 4) apäna-daçä
(stage of application), and 5) sampati-daçä (stage of inheritance).
Çréla Rämänanda Räya says, ‘One who is attracted by the ecstatic love of the
gopés does not care about the regulative principles of Vedic life or popular
opinion. Rather, he completely surrenders unto Kåñëa and renders service
unto Him.’ ‘In this liberated stage the devotee is attracted by one of the five
humors (rasas) in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. As he
continues to serve the Lord in that mood, he attains a spiritual body to serve
Kåñëa in Goloka Våndävana.’ (Çré Caitanya-caritämåta, Madhya 8.220, 8.222)
So saying, Çréla Rämänanda Räya instructs us to first attain the form and
mood of a vraja-gopé in order to obtain service in the conjugal relationship.
When a sädhaka devotee, having heard about Lord Kåñëa’s pastimes, is
attracted to the conjugal mellow, he should take further instruction on rasa
from a realized, saintly spiritual master. This is called the stage of hearing or
çravana-daçä. When the sädhaka devotee anxiously and eagerly accepts the
conjugal mellow, väraëa-daçä commences. Then, by pure remembrance of the
sentiments of rasa, he desires to practice them: thus he reaches the third
stage, smärana-daçä. When he is able to perfectly invoke these sentiments of
rasa, he attains apäna-daçä or präpti-daçä. Finally, when he can separate
himself from all his temporary material designations and is steadily fixed in
that original spiritual identity for which he yearns, he has reached sampati-
daçä: the inheritance of his spiritual identity.
Bhajana from the stage of çravana-daçä to smärana-daçä

If, after having tested the disciple, the spiritual master determines that he is
eligible to perform bhajana and serve in the çåìgära-rasa, he then
confidentially informs the disciple about his eternal spiritual form as a
maïjaré in Çrématé Rädhäräëé’s camp, under the supervision of Çré Lalita-devé.
The spiritual master teaches the disciple how to develop the eleven
sentiments of the gopés, how to meditate on the añöa-käléya-lélä, and how to
properly be established in both.
So that he may fully understand them, the sädhaka is shown his siddha-deha
or spiritual identity, viz. his spiritual name, form, qualities, service and so on.
The spiritual master also discloses who the parents of the sädhaka’s maïjaré
identity are, at which house she was born, who her husband is, and so on. At
this point, the disciple must spurn all Vedic religious pursuits and simply be a
fully surrendered maidservant of Çrématé Rädhäräëé, the camp leader;
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thereafter, the guru will reveal in detail the disciple’s eternal service to
Çrématé Rädhäräëé in the añöa-käléya-lélä. The sädhaka (now a female sädhaké)
embraces these revelations in väraëa-daçä. He enters into smärana-daçä
when he actually remembers them for himself. In this way, the sädhaka
prepares himself for spiritual birth as a gopé in Vraja.
A digression on the subject of ruci

But in the beginning the spiritual master and disciple must together sort out
the disciple’s natural inclination (ruci) for rasa. If the disciple finds his
natural taste coincides with the identity indicated by the spiritual master, he
should so inform his guru and embrace that identity as his life and soul. But if
the disciple does not have a natural taste for the selected identity, he must
frankly reveal this to his spiritual master, who will give him another identity.
If the disciple has a taste for the new identity, he should accept it. His
inherent nature will then manifest itself.
Ruci or taste is the natural devotional propensity born out of bhakti-sukåti, or
previous devotional service. It may therefore be long standing or only
recently developed. But in either case ruci is natural to the soul. When this
inclination is determined by the spiritual master, it must be confirmed by the
disciple. If the inclination is not fixed, the spiritual master’s instructions on
rasa will not take effect.
Those who are not attracted to the çåìgära-rasa, preferring däsya, säkhya or
vätsalya, must likewise receive instructions from the spiritual master on these
relationships in order to get the fruit of their devotion, or else return to a life
of anärthas. The great devotee Çyämänanda at first was not aware of his own
siddha-ruci or permanent devotional propensity; he was made to embrace the
säkhya-rasa or the mood of friendship. Later, by the grace of Çréla Jéva
Gosvämé, he attained his real position.
If an inappropriate ruci is falsely attached to the sädhaka, it is compared to
the gopé-identity’s acceptance of a husband. But by the grace of his spiritual
master, the sädhaka at last attains Kåñëa’s service in the parakéya-rasa or
paramour relationship. Rasa comes to a full bloom only in the parakéya mood.
The summit of Lord Caitanya’s teachings is that the parakéya attitude is the
permanent feature of the pastimes of the Lord, both in their appearance
[when Kåñëa descends to Vrajabhumi] and their disappearance [into the
invisible Vraja of the transcendental world].
The conjugal rasa is completely transcendental

Çåìgära-rasa is totally devoid of even an iota of materialism. The
transcendental jéva, in order to enjoy and exchange pure rasa, becomes a
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transcendental gopé and renders devotional service to the transcendental

personalities of Çré Rädhä and Çré Kåñëa in the transcendental realm of
Våndävana. There is not the slightest tinge of the mundane man-woman
relationship in Våndävana. Only the purest essence of conjugal love is
manifested in the perfected identity of the soul. And realization of this is
available only from a pure devotee spiritual master. Other than by his grace,
this inconceivable truth can never be understood. It is beyond the realm of
speculation and pedantic scrutiny. Its realization is extremely rare.
The transition from smärana-daçä to apäna-daçä is crucial

Perfection eludes the disciple if he does not elevate himself from the stage of
smärana-daçä to apäna-daçä. The confidential process of apäna-daçä is most
exalted, devoid of the false posturing of karma, jïäna or yoga. Externally, the
devotee engages himself fully in the chanting the Holy Name, leading a
renounced and simple life. Internally, he keeps the splendorous flames of rasa
burning with pure intensity all the time.21
Those sädhakas who are prone to a pompous external display of devotion or
who fail to steady and properly direct their internal spiritual aspirations are
unable to elevate themselves from the platform of smärana to apäna-daçä.
Thus the sädhaka may linger, unaccomplished, through many lifetimes of
devotional practice.
This path of worship or bhajana is the simplest, but if the purity of the
bhajana is in any way disfigured by a tinge of the contaminated desires for
recognition, distinction or preference, then the sädhaka is thrown off the
path of vraja-sädhana or bhajana in the mood of Vraja. One must approach
the spiritual master with simple humility and learn this pure process properly.
By always remembering that he is pure spirit soul, part and parcel of the
Absolute Whole, that he has a transcendental original form that is all-
perfect, that He has forgotten his perfect spiritual state and come under the
clutches of mäyä, that he is offensive to Lord Kåñëa, being inebriated with
the false designations of his gross body, but by the mercy of his spiritual
master he can regain knowledge of his real self the method for the
reawakening of the disciple’s original identity can be quickly accomplished.
Two methods of sädhana: vaidhé and rägänuga

There are two methods of sädhana-bhakti: one is vaidhé (rules and regulations)
and the other is rägänuga (spontaneous). In the beginning, these two methods
21
Refer to Caitanya-caritämåta, Ädi-lélä 4.50, purport, for further elaboration on this topic.
91
appear to be contradictory, but upon comprehension of their real purpose, the

differences between them are dissolved. The vaidhé method of sädhana arises
from respect for the regulations of scripture. Rägänuga-sädhana is born out of
an intense attraction for the activities of the residents of Vraja. The first is
the usual method, whereas the second is extremely rare and confidential.
To the stage of apäna-daçä via vaidhé-sädhana

The vaidhé-bhakta cross-checks all his activities of service to Kåñëa with
scriptural injunction. Thus his beginning faith (çraddhä) for the process of
devotional service leads him step-by-step to niñöhä (firm faith), then to ruci
(taste or attraction), then äsakti (attachment). When he reaches the first
stage of spontaneity and slight bhäva, he discards his dependence upon
scriptural directives as an impediment to his progress. After this, he is
elevated to the stage of apäna-daçä, where the difference between devotees
following vaidhé and rägänuga disappear.
To the stage of sampati-daçä via rägänuga-sädhana

In the smärana-daçä stage of rägänuga-sädhana, the eleven sentiments of the
gopés are first remembered by the sädhaka; these sentiments must adorn his
emotions before he can remember the añöa-käléya-lélä.
There are five levels of remembrance in smärana-daçä. Initially, his
remembrance will not be steady; this level is called smärana. Sometimes he
remembers the sentiments, his position and his service, and at other times he
forgets. But by steady practice of smärana, gradually he reaches permanency
of remembrance, or dhärana. As one meditates on every aspect of the subject
of remembrance, part by part, minutely, dhärana develops into fixed
meditation, this is dhyäna. When dhyäna becomes continual, it is called
anusmåti. Following anusmåti is the fifth level of remembrance, samädhi,
when the devotee has no interest in anything other than perfect absorption
in the pastimes of Lord Kåñëa.
From the samädhi level of smärana-daçä, the crucial ascension to apäna-daçä
or the stage of application takes place. For one who is not adept, elevation
through the five stages of smärana-daçä to apäna-daçä may require many
yugas of effort; for a dexterous sädhaka, reaching apäna-daçä is accomplished
quickly.
In the apäna-daçä stage, identification with the psychophysical body is
reduced to insignificance. His spiritual identity (svarüpa) becomes more and
more predominant. Intermittently, it manifests and he experiences sublime
ecstasy in rendering devotional service to Çré-Çré Rädhä-Kåñëa in Vraja.
These experiences develop until he spends long periods of time in Vraja
92
interacting with the residents in his vraja-svarüpa, seeing the dhäma and the
transcendental pastimes within.
The devotee’s constant näma-bhajana inevitably brings about a face to face
meeting with Lord Çyämasundara. By the Lord’s merciful will, all trace of the
devotee’s subtle body of mind, intelligence and false ego are extinguished
with the demise of the gross body of five elements. Thus he enters the
sampati-daçä stage.
This is when the devotee’s pure spiritual form fully manifests, free of material
coverings. In the mood of pure bhava, he takes up his eternal service to Çré-
Çré Rädhä-Kåñëa in the transcendental dhäma. He thus becomes a sädhana-
siddha or a perfected soul now reinstated in his svarüpa through practice of
sädhana and bhajana. He now serves the Lord in the company of the nitya-
siddhas, the eternal associates of the Lord who were never conditioned.
Summary
The Holy Name is the greatest and yet the easiest obtainable spiritual
treasure. This treasure is obtained by the jéva who chants with faith and
devotion, not caring for karma, jïäna and yoga. That jéva quickly and easily
ascends to the highest perfection by following the method of näma-bhajana
described above.
This method is the best of methods, better even than other methods of bhakti.
The basic requirement for successful accomplishment of näma-bhajana is that
the sädhaka must totally shun bad association and engage in the practice of
devotional service in the company of saintly devotees of the Lord. Pure love
of Kåñëa is the expression of unalloyed devotional service. Only a pure
devotee’s heart has the inclination and capability of receiving prema; the
non-devotee’s heart denies it. Prema refuses to enter the heart of one who
does not keep the company of pure devotees. The jéva’s decision to accept
either good or bad association has a powerful and lasting influence on his
destiny.
There are three essential traits that must be cultivated to obtain success in
chanting the Holy Name of the Lord: saintly association, isolation from the
disturbances of mundane life, and determined, confident enthusiasm.
After saying this, Çréla Haridäsa Öhäkura declared himself to be very low and
materially engrossed, bereft of good association and always engaged in self-
deception. Although Çréla Haridäsa is himself a nitya-siddha associate of the
Lord, he expressed himself in this humble way. Humility is the ornament of
prema.
93
The Lord’s special favor upon Çréla Haridäsa Öhäkura

Çréla Haridäsa continued, “O Lord, kindly shower upon me Your causeless
mercy (ahaituké-kåpä). I pray that You grant me entry into the realm of
bhakti-rasa.” Saying this, Çréla Haridäsa fell unconscious in loving ecstasy,
fully self-surrendered at the Lord’s lotus feet.
Ahaituké-kåpä means ‘causeless mercy’. By saying this, Çréla Haridäsa implied
that he was spiritually unaccomplished and therefore had no hope for the
kind of mercy Lord Kåñëa bestows upon His pure devotees. In his mood of
utter helplessness he simply prayed for Lord Caitanya’s unconditional grace.
Çréla Haridäsa Öhäkura is famous for näma-bhajana and his teachings on the
glories of the Holy Name, yet he is also the recipient of Lord Caitanya’s
special mercy. He is such an authority on the philosophy of näma-rasa that
once, when Lord Caitanya was relishing the topics of Rädhä-Kåñëa lélä with
Çré Rämänanda Räya and Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya in the courtyard of
Çréla Haridäsa Öhäkura’s bhajana-kuöéra, Çréla Haridäsa repeatedly expounded
at length on the glories of näma-rasa to the rapt attention of the other
exalted persons present.
Lord Caitanya was moved by divine loving emotions upon hearing Çréla
Haridäsa Öhäkura’s plea for mercy. Lifting Çréla Haridäsa up in His embrace,
the Lord then spoke in confidence to him. “O Haridäsa! Listen attentively to
what I have to say. The truth about the Holy Name will be hidden by
mischievous rascals who will create a dark shroud of ignorance over the
entire world. At that time, these excellent and unrivalled instructions of
yours about chanting in the association of saintly persons shall be understood
only by a remaining handful of devotees.”
What did Lord Caitanya mean by ‘mischievous rascals’? The prime candidates
for this appellation are the various upstart sects like the sahajiyäs, äulas,
bäulas and so on, who propagate bogus mundane doctrines disguised as
Mahäprabhu’s own teachings; they indeed conceal from the world the pure
philosophy of Kåñëa consciousness expounded by the Lord Himself in His
Çikñäñöaka.
The Lord continued, “The true path of the Holy Name will be followed by
saintly souls who are totally detached from material life. They will chant the
Holy Name with bhäva and will therefore be known be known as rasika-
bhaktas. Their bhäva will be that of separation; by their chanting they will
relish the pastimes of Rädhä-Kåñëa and the eight principal gopés.
“The jéva is blessed with pure bhakti only on the strength of his sukåti, or piety
and faith. Not everyone is entitled to have such devotion, but in order to
instill such devotion in the hearts of the faithful, I have descended to
94
propagate the chanting of the Holy Name as the religion for this age. The
chanting of the mahä-mantra—Hare Kåñëa Hare Kåñëa Kåñëa Kåñëa Hare
Hare, Hare Räma Hare Räma Räma Räma Hare Hare—is factually the jéva’s
inherent and eternal religion.
“My dear Haridäsa, in the accomplishment of this mission I depend upon your
help, and thus I am hearing from you the glories of the Holy Name.”

The Harinäma-cintämaëi, this touchstone of the Lord’s Holy Name, is an
unfathomable mine of divine nectar. Whoever tastes it is truly fortunate and
is blessed by Kåñëa; he is a great soul and always blissfully serves Lord Kåñëa
in spontaneous loving devotion. I am a fallen soul; I clasp his feet and humbly
pray that the remnants of this nectar should be distributed profusely, thus
spreading divine bliss to everyone.

Thus Ends Çré Harinäma-cintämaëi
95

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Çré Harinäma-cintämaëi

The Transcendental Touchstone of the Holy Name

Lord Kåñëa and His energies

The three kinds of vaibhava

The cit-çakti is known as viñëupäda

with Viñëu). There is no tinge of material influence in Lord Kåñëa’s energies:

Jéva-vaibhava consists of both liberated and conditioned souls

Lord Kåñëa is always merciful to the jévas

Pious acts are material and fruitive

The means of deliverance from material piety

Empirical philosophy (jïäna-käëòa) elevates one to the

Piety leading to devotional service

The Lord compassionately guides the karmé and jïäné to the

The indirect processes have deteriorated badly in Kali-yuga

The prime process: chanting the Holy Name

The Holy Name is both the means and the end

Elevation by pure devotion

Three stages of acceptance of the name

The spiritual identity of the Holy Name

Kåñëa’s name, form, qualities and pastimes are full of potency

Conditioned consciousness is opposite to Kåñëa

The Holy Name is the primary feature

The name is of two kinds: principal and secondary

The secondary names and their symptoms

The pure name and nämäbhäsa; different results

Vyavadhäna or ‘disruption’ causes offense

vyavadhäna or disruption of philosophical conclusions. This offense is much

Overcoming nämäbhäsa and attaining prema

Accept things favorable to chanting and reject things

Ajïäna is like mist, and anärtha is like clouds

Ignorance covers knowledge of the Holy Name, the Lord’s

Mahäprabhu, wants to hear about the Holy Name!” He then began by

Nämäbhäsa is counteracted by sambandha-tattva

Sambandha as relationship, abhidheya as indication, prayojana

The result of nämäbhäsa chanting

Nämäbhäsa has four attitudes: saìketa, parihäsa, stobha and

The difference between çraddhä-nämäbhäsa and nämäbhäsa

one on the platform of sambandha-jïäna, which results in rati or attraction

Anärtha-free nämäbhäsa chanting becomes çuddha-näma,

The difference between chäya- and pratibimba-nämäbhäsa

How does the Mäyävädé redeem himself?

chanting leads him to comprehend sambandha-jïäna. If he chants while

The Mäyävädé’s offense is he sees bhakti as material

If the chäya-nämäbhäsa chanter refrains from Mäyävädé

A devotee must not associate with Mäyävädés

The ten offenses against the Holy Name

To blaspheme devotees is the first offense

Qualities are of two kinds: svarüpa and taöasthä

Saintliness depends not on external designations but on

instructed him not to be impatient and impulsive, but to return to his

The symptoms of a renounced sädhus

The svarüpa-lakñana of both the householder and sannyäsé is

It is offensive to criticize a devotee on the basis of his past sins

removed by the process of chanting. As these last traces of sin disappear, he

A few words on the principal symptom of a devotee

A Vaiñëava firmly fixed in the Holy Name is the real sädhu;

There are four kinds of blasphemy of a devotee

There are two types of bad association, the first being

Non-devotees are of three kinds

There are three kinds of devotees: the lowest is the kaniñöha