SRI SANMODANA BHASYAM 

Bhaktivinoda Thakura

 
cetah - of the heart;  darpana - the mirror;  marjanam - 
cleansing;  bhava - of material existence;  maha-davagni - the 
blazing forest fire;  nivapanam - extinguishing;  sreyah - of 
good fortune;  kairava - the white lotus;  candrika - the 
moonshine;  vitaranam - spreading;  vidya - of all education;  
vadhu - wife;  jivanam - the life;  ananda - bliss;  ambudhi - 
the ocean;  vardhanam - increasing;  prati-padam - at every step; 
purna-amrta - of the full nectar;  asvadanam - giving taste;  
sarva - for everyone;  atma-snapanam - bathing of the self;  
param - transcendental;  vijayate - let there be victory;  sri-
krsna-sankirtanam - for the congregational chanting of the holy 
name of Krsna. 

	"Let there be victory for the chanting of the holy name of
Lord Krsna, which can cleanse the mirror of the heart and stop
the miseries of the blazing fire of material existence. That
chanting is the waxing moon that spreads the white lotus of good
fortune for all living entities. It is the life and soul of all 
education. The chanting of the holy name of Krishna expands the 
blissful ocean of transcendental life. It gives a cooling effect 
to everyone and enables one to taste full nectar at every step." 
  
Sri Sanmodana Bhasyam 

	I begin this Sanmodana Bhasyam commentary on the eight
Siksastaka verses written by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu by offering
my humble obeisance at the lotus feet of Lord Caitanya and His
eternal associates in the Sri Pancatattva, namely Nityananda
Avadhuta, Advaita Prabhu, Gadadhara Pandita and Srivasa Thakura. 
 
The path of perfectionÄ.77Ä„

     The path of devotional service is the highest perfection of 
life, and it is sought after in all the Vedic literatures. 
Applying his superior intelligence to repeated research of the
Vedas, Lord Brahma ascertained that the best method of self
Hari, who dwells within everyone's heart. 

     Brahma's philosophical conclusion unequivocally establishes
the supremacy of devotional service over fruitive activities, 
speculative knowledge, or any other process.  However,  pure 
devotional love of God is unattainable without great faith and 
intense eagerness to relish the nectarean pastimes of the Supreme
Lord and without deep understanding of the confidential truths of
the scriptures.  And even when profound faith has arisen, it is
impossible without the association of saintly persons to discuss
the transcendental topics of the Supreme Lord.  Sadhusangha is
integral to the hearing and chanting process of devotional
service. 

	Thus the Lord Himself has declared, "It is only in the
association of My pure devotees that discus¬sions about My
transcendental glory become spiritually potent and arouse loving
devotional mellows within the inner core of one's heart."  
 
     The Lord's holy name, form, qualities and activities are 
particularly glorified in such company. In Lord Caitanya's 
teachings He first discusses these glories.  In the fourth line, 
for example, the word param indicates that chanting Krsna's allªpurifying holy name is the very highest benediction.  This
follows the establishment of proper faith and association with
saintly devotees.  Thus the process of devotional service begins. 

 
     This chanting is never to be confused with sentimental and 
pseudo-devotional chanting, however.  In these Siksastaka verses 
Sri Caitanya explains in His own words the principles of 
sambandha (our eternal relationship with God), abhidheya (the
means by which we can revive that relationship), and prayojana
(the ultimate goal of that relationship for every living being). 
This commentary, then, will briefly examine each of these
philosophical principles.  As Lord Caitanya, the Supreme Personality of Godhead who is lovingly served by all pure Vaisnava 
devotees, says:  "Let the congregational chanting of the holy
name be especially glorified." 
 
     Therefore, please hear just how the chanting of the holy 
name is victorious in the mundane world, which is a creation of
the external energy of the Lord.  

	Scripture certainly evinces the absolute oneness of the
Supreme Truth.  "Only the one non-dual substance existed before
crea¬tion", we read.  And in another place, "Other than the one
non-dual Brahman no varigatedness exist."  In these statements,
the all-pervading impersonal aspect of the Absolute Truth is
established.  

	Simultaneously, the statement, "Everything is Brahman" x
eternal and supreme Absolute Truth.  Though differentiated
personalism and undifferentaied impersonalism coexist in the
Absolute Truth, it is the personal feature that is actually
perceivable; impersonalism is not.  Therefore, the personal 
feature of the Absolute Truth predominates.  

	Our spiritual master in the matter of scriptural conclusions, Srila Jiva Goswami, has therefore declared that the One
Absolute Truth eternally exists in four features: as His original
transcendental form, as His everexpanding all-pervasive potency,
as the living entities, and as the sum total of all matter.  This
is analogous to the features of the sun planet: the sun god
himself, Surya; the powerful sunglobe; the sunshine; and the
reflections of the sun's rays on other surfaces.  

	The point here is that God alone is the Supreme Absolute
Truth, saktiman; He is the only source of all potencies or
energies.  The Brahma-sutra does argue the essential oneness of
the Energetic Source (saktiman) and Energy (sakti), yet the Vedas
conclude, "That Supreme Absolute Truth manifests Himself in a
variety of forms.  His potencies are multifarious."  This  proves
that there exists an essential and eternal difference between the
Energetic and His Energy, and that the inconceivable Absolute
Truth acts in ways that are parad¬oxical and contradic¬tory.  The
monistic school of Kevalad¬vaitavada cannot successfully op¬pose
with arguments this scriptural principle of simultaneous oneness
and difference.  

     The Absolute Potent Supreme Truth manifests Himself in three
categories: as His internal potency, as His marginal potency, and
as His external potency.  

	Through the agency of His internal spiritual potency He
displays the infinite transcendental realm, and He exists there
eternally as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the proprie¬tor
of all His energetic expansions.  That He may perform various
personal pas¬times, His internal potency exhibits the spiritual
Vaikuntha planets within the transcendental realm. 

	The marginal potency is made up of the eternal living
entities (jivasouls) who are like rays or in¬finitesimal sparks
of the sun.  They are part and parcel of the Absolute Truth,
non-dif¬ferent from Him in quality and different in quantity.  

	The external energy (maya) is but the reflection of the
eternal spiritual realm.  Maya establishes the hierarchy of
various material conditions that the souls in her power become
subject to.   

      In each of their own ways, therefore, maya (the material
energy), the living entities (the marginal spiritual energy) and
Vaikuntha (transcendence) are different and non-different from
the Supreme Lord. 

	As long as the jiva takes full shelter of the Supreme Lord,
he remains a resident of Vaikuntha; but when his innate spiritual
knowledge of the Lord is covered by forgetful¬ness, he is placed
outside the transcendental realm.  The jiva is compared to a ray
of the sun, and when under the cloud of maya he becomes conditioned to an unconstitutional and hence unnatural type of existence.  The jiva was created to support and par¬ticipate in the
Supreme Lord's transcendental pastimes, but due to his marginal
nature he can fall under maya's spell to suffer the pangs of
repeated birth and death.  If, however, the jiva awakens to his
original self, the dark mists of ignoran¬ce are dissipated and the
long suffering of repeated birth and death at last comes to an
end.  Then he regains his true spiritual identity.   
 
     When the jiva meets a saintly person, he gradually acquires
an eager taste for knowledge of scripture and attraction to the
Supreme Lord Himself; when situated in his original constitutional position, the awakened soul is eligible to enter into a
conjugal loving exchange with the Lord.  One gets the chance to
as¬sociate with real saintly persons and take shelter of a
bonafide spiritual master by sincerity and faith; only in this
way can he hear the true import of the revealed scriptures. 

	After submissively hearing, one can chant the holy name; and
gradually the real self, the respiritualized jiva, overcomes the
illusory energy as his original nature becomes prominent. Such is
the sublime effect of chanting the Lord's holy name.  Chanting
alone cleanses the heart - ceto-darpana-marjanam - and eventually
brings out seven types of perfections in the spirit soul. 
 
      The phrase ceto-darpana-marjanam indicates the original 
transcendental nature of the living entity.  Srila Jiva Gosvami
explains that the living entity is a part and parcel of the
Supreme Absolute Energetic Truth; He is the aggregate of all
jivas.  Like rays of the sun, the jivas are of the same spiritual
nature as the Supreme; but they are infinitesimal in size.  

	Srila Baladeva Vidyabusana has similarly analyzed Godhead as
the infinite Supreme Lord, with the jiva being His infinitesimal
part.  All transcendental qualities are eternally present in
perfect fullness in the Supreme Lord.  His pure ego is manifest
as both absolute knowledge and  knower.  The jiva is also in
possession of transcendental knowledge and pure ego, but to a
partial degree.  By logic, qualities of the sun like heat and
light present must also be present in the sun's rays.  
 
     Of the two, then, it is the Supreme Godhead who is fully
indepen¬dent.  He possesses and embodyies all transcendental
qualiti¬es.  He is the origin of everything, and He enters into
material nature and as its controller;  He alone creates and
maintains the material world.  As the reservoir of all spiritual
bliss, He relishes His own spiritual self and distributes the
nectar of pure love of Godhead by the means of His pure devotional service.  Indeed, He forces all living entities to taste that
sweet nectar.

	Innumerable living entities move through varied stages of 
existence; some become eternally conditioned, some become
eternally liberated.  When the jiva rejects the Supreme Lord, he
is eternally ensnared by matter; but if he again aspires for the
shelter of the Lord, the curtain of maya that separates the jiva
from his own transcendental identity and qualities is forever
removed; he is and immediately restored to his original pure
self.  

     Therefore, it is clear that the jiva is in¬šfinitesimal. 
Though he is of a transcendental nature having pure ego, pure
consciousness and pure form, if he turns away from God and contemplates material energy, his pure nature becomes contaminated
by nes¬cience.  

	In this way, the soul's consciousness is like a mirror: just
as it is impossible to see one's face in a dusty mirror, it is
similarly impossible to see the real self in the mirror of
consciousness when it is covered by the dust of ignorance.  But
if one begins to render loving devotional service  (particularly
hearing and chanting the holy names and pastimes of Sri Krsna)
under the influence of the Lord's hladhini pleasure potency, the
material contamination of nescience is completely eradicated. 

	Then jiva's pure consciousness, which is a function of his
pure ego, manifests itself.  He sees reflected on the mirror of
his pure ego the five principles of the Supreme Lord, the jiva,
prakriti (nature), kala (time), and karma (action), with absolute
clarity.  He sees the reflection of his original identity without
any distortion, and this helps him to know his inherent nature as
an eternal servant of the Lord.  When one becomes truly expert in
serving the Lord, the propensity to enjoy material life is
converted into a loving devotional mood of service.  

     The word bhava indicates the jiva's forcible subjection to
repeated births in this world.   Bhava is a continuous cycle of
birth and death called mahadavagni (blazing fire), a raging 
conflagration that cannot be extinguished by any means other than
the congregational chanting of Krsna's holy name.  

	A question may arise at this point:  when one is at last
enlightened about his svadharma or eternal function as a liberated soul, does he then cease chanting Krsna's holy name?  The
answer is no; the stoppage of chanting never occurs, because
chanting God's name is verily the soul's sva-dharma.  The phrase
sreyah-kairava-¬candrika-vitarana confirms this by specifically
conveying the sense of the eternal activity of the spirit soul in
his original spiritual condition. 

     Jivas who are enslaved by maya prefer to enjoy material
life, and this desire perpetuates their bondage to the cycle of
birth and death.  This the root cause of the threefold miseries.
But when the spirit soul becomes disgusted with material 
enjoyment and re-dedicates his time and energy to Lord Krsna's 
loving service, he reaps the greatest benefit.  This benefit is
compared to a the cluster of pristine white lotuses, for just as
the moon's soothing rays  cause the white lotuses to blossom, the
rasaladen rays of the chanting of the holy name stirs the enfolded petals of the lotus of the jiva's good fortune, causing it
to open. 

	As it is said, "devotion gives birth to devotion": the
sincere and faithful devotee must therefore follow the principles
of elementary bhakti by regularly hearing and chanting the holy
name until the first light of pure devotion begins to dawn in the
heart.  The closed lotus flower touched by the moon's rays
awakens in full bloom, and similarly, when the congregational
chanting of the holy name spreads the rays of bhava (the essence
of hladini) and impregnates the soul's heart, rati (conjugal love
for Sri Krsna) then lights up his consciousness, bestowing the
highest benediction.  This is what is meant by the "rays of the
benediction moon." 

     When does a person, having attained this level of pure devotion, acquire his pure spiritual identity?  Lord Caitanya answers
this question by saying, vidya-vadhu-jivanam, "the life of all
transcendental knowledge."  The Supreme Lord's sakti has two
aspects, vidya (knowledge) and avidya (ignorance).  Yogamaya, the
svarupasakti, is the Lord's internal spiritual potency.  This
potency is called vidya, whereas mahamaya, His external energy,
is avidya; it is the latter that creates the material universe
and covers the soul's svarupa. 

	When, by his sincerely following the process of hearing and
chanting, the first rays of pure devotion finally appear on the 
horizon of the sadhaka's heart, then the Bhaktidevi, the
eradica¬tress of all unwanted material desires detrimental to the
Lord's service, eclipses the avidya potency.  By suffusing the
soul with spiritual knowledge, Bhaktidevi destroys both the
gross and subtle coverings of the soul. Simultaneously, the
jiva's original spiritual form becomes manifest so that he
acquires the form of a gopi, for example, if his pure devotional
propen¬sities are steeped in the conjugal mood.  Thus it stands
proven that Krsna's holy name is the life and the soul of all
transcen¬dental know¬ledge (vidya-vadhu-jivanam.)  Svarupasakti is
therefore often said to be Krsna's wife.     
           
     When the gross and subtle material bodies of the jiva are 
completely destroyed, the infinitesimal soul regains his original
pristine purity.  Although the jiva is anu or minutely small, his
capacity for spiritual happiness is not minute.  To remove any
doubt about this fact, Lord Caitanya adds, anandambudhi-vardhana,
"It is an ever increasing ocean of bliss." 

	The Holy Name of the Lord, through the hladini potency,
endlessly expands the natural bliss inherent in the soul; thus
his happiness increases by leaps and bounds, fixing the soul
eternally in one of the spiritual mellows (of dasya, sakhya,
vatsalya or madhurya).  When thus established in his eternal
spiritual mellow, he continues to relish the limitless nectar at
every step of the exchange of loving emotions in his transcendental relationship with the Supreme Lord. 

     Lord Krsna's enchanting beauty, His divine qualities, and
His sublime pastimes are eternal and everfresh in ecstacy. 
Inebr¬iated with divine prema, the pure jiva continuously drinks
that ecstatic nectar, yet still the Lord's captivating beauty is
forever new.  

     Now, one final question may arise: isn't the pursuit of 
happiness selfmotivated and hence contrary to the principles x
called unalloyed and transcendental?  As the answer, Lord
Caitanya uses the expression sarvatma-snapanam: the bliss 
of Krsna consciousness is completely pure, being wholly free of
any desire for self-satisfaction.  Specifically, this means that
in the natural course of pure devotional service the devotee
attains the form of a maid-servant of Srimati Radharani, who
embodies the zenith of mahabhava, or divine ecstasy.  In in Her
service, the devotee participates in conjugal pastimes with the
Lord and experiences unlimited bliss.  

	This sublime mood of service is therefore untainted by even 
the slightest tinge of lust or self-indulgent craving. 
Sarvatmasnapanam also confirms that in this state of perfect
bliss neither the contamination of sayujya-mukti (becoming one
with the Lord's impersonal aspect) nor the impurity of selfªgratification can divert the devotee from his fixed position in
pure Krsna consciousness.  
 
     May the chanting of the holy name of Krsna be ever victorious, for it is adorned with seven transcendental qualities;
it is the form of eternality, knowledge, and the highest bliss,
steeped in the wonderful and variegated amorous pastimes of Sri
Sri Radha-Krsna. 
 
     Sri Caitanya Caritamrita, Antya 20.11,13,14: 

	"Simply by chanting the holy name of Lord Krishna one can be
freed from all undesirable habits.  This is the means of awakening all good fortune and initiating the flow of waves of love for
Krsna.  

	"By performing congregational chanting of the Hare Krsna
mantra one can destroy the sinful condition of material existence, purify the unclean heart and awaken all varieties of
devotional service.  

	"The result of chanting is that one awakens his love for
Krsna and tastes transcendental bliss.  Ultimately, one attains
the association of Krsna and engages in His devo¬tional service,
as if immersing himself in a great ocean of love." 

 
     There are innumerable engagements in the execution of
devotion¬al service, and Srimad Bhagavatam and Haribhaktivilasa
have described many of them.  Broadly, sixty-four limbs of devotional service are considered as the main engagements of bhakti. 

	Vaidhibhakti (devotional service according to rules and 
regulations) and raganugabhakti (spontaneous devotional 
service) are the two methods of executing these sixtyfour
principle engagements.  In Srimad Bhagavatam Prahlada Maharaja
glorifies pure and spontaneous devotional service as the best
method; Lord Gaurasun¬dara has identified the best engagement by
saying, "The congregational chanting of the holy name of Lord 
Krishna is the most perfect form of devotional service." 

x
defined the Supreme non-dual Substance as Brahman when it is
preliminarily realized as eternity; when realized as eternity and
knowledge, it is defined as Paramatma; when its transcendental
nature of full knowledge, eternity and bliss is realized with all
potencies, that Supreme Absolute Truth is known as Bhagavan.  

	That Supreme Personality of Godhead (Bhagavan) is called 
Vasudeva when He manifests His supreme opulence; when His 
opulence gives way to His loving conjugal mood, He is known as 
Krsna.  As Narayana, He particularly reciprocates with His
devotees in the rasas of santa and dasya; Lord Krsna is the
worshipable object of all five rasas. 

	Lord Krsna's vaibhavaprakasa expansion is Lord Balarama,
who rules Vaikuntha in His eternal catur-vyuha forms. 

     The chanting of mantras that is properly supposed to take
place in the mind is called japa; by japa, the chanter receives
his desired perfection.  Audible chanting in which the lips move
is called kirtana; it is more effective than japa and avails the
greatest benefit to the hearer.  Samkir¬tana means total or
perfect kirtana; all other devotional activities become unnecessary if one does samkirtana.  

	Samkirtana can never be partial or imperfect glorification
of Lord Krsna's holy name, because partial or imperfect chanting
of Krsna's name is unable to cause a wonderful transformation in
the living entities.  Partial or imperfect kirtana should not be
accepted as samkirtana, as people would then doubt the potency of
kirtana. 

	Let samkirtana, the total and perfect chanting of Krsna's
holy name, be victorious.  The experience of something mundane
can only be incomplete, but the transcendental plane is never
touched by material nature.  Therefore, by the discussion of
transcen¬dental subject matter - Krsna, the supreme subject   
one experiences all supra-mundane perfection.  Amongst these
perfections are seven that are especially invoked by chanting
Lord Krsna's holy name, as explained in this verse by Lord
Caitanya. 

     The chanting of Lord Krsna's holy name acts as a purifying
agent upon the mirror of the living entities' contaminated
hearts.  The heart of the conditioned soul is completely covered
over by three impurities: the desire to lord over matter, the
godless attitude of being the sole enjoyer and/or renouncer of
the fruits of one's actions, and atheism.  These three 
treacherous contaminations form a sheath that covers the mirror
of consciousness, causing one to reject His true nature as a
jiva.  

	Krsna's holy name alone frees the consciousness of these
impurities.  By constantly chanting and thus taking complete 
shelter of the holy name, the jiva gradually perceives the
reflection of his original form as the servant of Lord Krsna in
the mirror of his consciousness.  

     This material existence appears to be pleasurable and sweet,
but in reality it is like a fire in the depths of a forest; such
a fire can reduce the entire forest to ashes.  The faithless
non-devotees must constantly tolerate the excruciating burning
pain of the flaming forest fire of material existence.  But when
Lord Krsna's holy name is congregationally chanted in full
perfection, the devotees, even though they may dwell in the
material world, are never scorched by those flames. 

     Lord Krsna's holy name imparts the supreme goodness and 
munificence.  Sreyah means benediction; kairava - white lilies;
candrika - moon rays or white luminescence.  Just as the rising 
moon illuminates and reveals the whiteness of the white water 
lily, similarly the chanting of Krsna's holy name reveals the
greatest benedic¬tion for the entire universe.  Human society
cannot benefit from material desires for sense enjoyment,
fruitive work or speculative knowledge.  Chanting Krsna's name
blesses all with the greatest prosperity. 

     The Mundaka Upanishad notes two types of knowledge or 
education: material knowledge and transcendental knowledge. 
Indirectly, the chanting of Lord Krsna's holy name is the cause
and sustainer of even material knowledge, but primarily 
it is the life and soul of all transcendental knowledge. 
Chanting induces the jiva to break free from the shackles of
false ego and prestige arising from material education and leads
him to understand his eternal relationship with Lord Krsna.  The
ultimate purpose of transcendental knowledge is to simply chant
Krsn¬a's holy name.  

     The chanting of the Holy name expands the ocean of 
transcendental bliss.  A limited expanse of water cannot be 
described as an ocean; therefore "unlimited bliss" is being 
compared to a boundless ocean.  Chanting Krsna's name causes one
to relish the sweet nectar of that ocean fully at every step.
Because this transcendental experience is unfettered by imperfections, one can always relish full spiritual nectar from 
the chanting of Krsna's holy name. 

     The forms and features of Transcendence radiate a tender and
cooling sheen that is perceivable through the chanting of Krsna's
holy name.  In the mundane realm, the body, mind and above them
the soul not only become purified by chanting the holy name, but
they too gradually and inevitably are touched by the cooling
tenderness of the spiritual realm.  The subtle and gross contaminations of the material conception of life and the acceptance
of false designations have devoured the spirit soul, but all
these afflictions can be ended by chanting the holy name.  When
the soul finds release from material designa¬tions, he becomes
eager to reach Lord Krsna.  He thus engages in devotionalx
service, taking shelter in the cooling shade of the Lord's lotus
feet. 

      In Bhaktisandarbha 273 and in the Kramasandarbha of the
Seventh Canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, Srila Jiva Goswami writes,
ata eva yadyapyanya bhaktih kalau kartavya, tada kirtanakhya-
bhakti-samyogenaiva, which means: "Although it is required even
in Kaliyuga to practice the other eight limbs of devotional
service, they must be performed in conjunction with the chant¬ing
of the holy name of the Lord." 

References and quotes from Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura's 

     The contaminations that cover the mirror of consciousness is
swept away by chanting the holy name; the holy name is the 
embodiment of profound spiritual bliss. For example Srila Rupa 
Goswami writes in the seventh stanza of the Namasthaka -  

 
     "O holy name!  O Lord Krsna!  You dissipate the sufferings 
(offenses against the holy name) of Your surrendered devotees; 
You possess a transcendental form of ecstatic beauty and bliss
and You appear as the figure of sublime joy for the residents of 
Gokula. 

     "You are therefore a fully spiritual entity of the same 
spiritual nature as the Vaikuntha planets. I offer my repeated 
obeisances to You." 
 
The second perfection:

"The blazing fire of material existence is extinguished."

     In Srimad Bhagavatam it is stated:  

 
     "Therefore one who desires freedom from material bondage 
should adopt the process of chanting and glorifying the name, 
fame, form and pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, at
whose feet all the holy places stand.  One cannot derive the 
proper benefit from other methods, such as pious atonement, 
speculative knowledge and meditation in mystic yoga, because even
after following such methods one takes to fruitive activities 
again, unable to control his mind, which is contaminated by the 
base qualities of nature, namely passion and ignorance." 

     A quote from Skanda Purana appears in Haribhaktivilasa 
11.234:  

 
     "The holy name of Krsna the highest benediction above all 
other benedictions for humanity, sweeter than the sweet honey, 
the eternal fruit of transcendental knowledge of the tree of 
entire sruti scriptures.  O best of Bhagavas! If anyone chants 
Lord Krishna's name just once without offence, whether he chants 
with faith or indifferently, the holy name immediately liberates 
him." 
 
The fourth perfection:
vidya-vadhu-jivanam 
"The holy name is the life of transcendental knowledge  
(the Lord's own wife)."

     In the Garuda Purana it is stated:  

 
     "O best of kings!  If you are desirous of acquiring that 
extraordinary knowledge by which the Supreme Goal is realized, 
then chant Lord Govinda's name with love and devotion." 
 
     Again in Srimad Bhagavatam 3.5.40: 

 
     "O Father, O Lord, O Personality of Godhead, the living 
entities in the material world can never have any happiness 
because they are overwhelmed by three kinds of miseries. 
Therefore they take shelter of the shade of Your lotus feet, 
which are full of knowledge, and we also thus take shelter of 
them." 

	In S.B. 4.29.49, there is the phrase sa vidya tanmatiryaya,
which means: "real knowledge or education is that realization
which increases our attachment for the Supreme Lord." 

 
     "That potency which invokes loving attachment for Krsna in
the heart is called the knowledge that destroys nescience. The 
holy name of Krsna is the life and soul of all knowledge and it
fastens the heart firmly at Krsna's lotus feet." 

     In the Srimad Bhagavatam, 8.3.20: 

 
     "Unalloyed devotees, who have no desire other than to serve 
the Lord, worship Him in full surrender and always hear and chant
about His activities, which are most wonderful and auspicious. 
Thus they always merge in an ocean of transcendental bliss.  Such
devotees never ask the Lord for any benediction." 

     From the Padma Purana:  

 
     "I offer my respectful obeisances at the feet of that extra-
ordinary personality whose body shivers with sublime joy and 
horripilates with ecstasy at the sound of Krsna's sweet name, 
and who is expert in redeeming the conditioned souls engrossed in
the mire of the ocean of repeated birth and death."  

The seventh perfection:

    
	In the Srimad Bhagavatam, 12.12.48: 

 
     "When people properly glorify the Supreme Personality of 
Godhead or simply hear about His power, the Lord personally 
enters their hearts and cleanses away every trace of misfortune, 
just as the sun removes the darkness or as a powerful wind drives
away the clouds." 

 
     "All the unwanted things that were heard and experienced 
(pertaining to this world of nescience) are immediately expelled 
Just as the clouds that blocked the sunlight are riven by the 
winds, so the name upon entering the heart destroys the dark 
nescience within.  By taking shelter of the holy name of Krsna 
the jiva's heart is cleansed very quickly, thus he attains the 
highest spiritual experiences of love of Godhead." 
 
     In the Namastaka, stanza 8: 
 
narada-vinojjivana sudharmi-niryyasa-madhuripura 
tvam krsna-nama kamam sphura me rasane rasena sada 
 
     "O holy name of Krsna!  You are the lifesustaining elixer
of Sri Narada Muni's vina and the exhilarating waves on the ocean
of nectar.  Therefore I beg You to eternally remain ecstatically 
dancing on my tongue." 

     Again in the Namastaka, stanza 2: 
 
jaya namadheya munivrndaeya janaranjanaya paramaksarakrte 
tvamanadaradapi managudiritam nikhilograta papataham vilumpasi 
 
     "All glory to You, O holy name!  The sages have always sung 
hymns praising You, You have now appeared in the transcendental 
form of the supreme syllable for the pleasure of the entire 
humanity.  Even if one chants those syllables with indifference
(i.e. the four types of namabhasa - indirectly, jokingly,
derisively, neglectfully) even then You are capable of destroy¬ing
the most dreadful sinful reactions; thus all of one's sufferings
are extirpated.  You are always victorious."  

     In Caitanya Bhagavata, Madhya 23.76-77: 

 
     'Lord Caitanya said, "I am giving you this mahamantra: 
hare krsna hare krsna krsna krsna hare hare hare rama hare rama 
rama rama hare hare; now go and chant it with earnest enthusiasm.
Since by this chanting you receive all the perfections in life,
you should continue to chant incessantly.  There are no rules or
regula¬tions for chanting this mahamantra."'

 

 
namnam - of the holy names of the Lord;  akari - manifested;  
bahudha - various kinds;  nija-sarva-saktih - all kinds of 
personal potency;  tatra - in that;  arpita - bestowed;  
niyamitah - restricted;  smarane - in remembering;  na - not;  
kalah - consideration of time;  etadrsi - so much;  tava - Your; 
krpa - mercy;  bhagavan - O Lord;  mama - My;  api - although;  
durdaivam - misfortune;  idrsam - such;  iha - in this (the holy 
name);  ajani - was born;  na - not;  anuragah - attachment. 
 
	"My Lord, O Supreme Personality of Godhead, in Your holy
name there is all good fortune for the living entity, and
therefore You have many names, such as Krsna and Govinda, by
which You expand Yourself.  You have invested all Your potencies
in those names, and there are no hard and fast rules for remembering them.  My dear Lord, although You bestow such mercy upon
the fallen, conditioned souls by liberally teaching Your holy
names, I am so unfortunate that I commit offenses while chanting
the holy name, and therefore I do not achieve attachment for
chanting." 

 
      The chanting of Krsna's holy name has four aspects, consisting of the glorification of the Lord's name, form, qualities and
pastimes.  Krsna's holy name is the original seed of all joys,
because the holy name and He who is designated by that name are
one and the same, being non-dif¬ferent in principle.  

	Chanting the holy name is most beneficial for one and all in
every respect; therefore Lord Sri Krsna Caitanya Himself demonstrates the super-excellent qualities of the holy name.  In
order to evoke genuine faith in the holy name, Lord Caitanya
prays, "O Lord!  O most munificent One!  Becoming compassionate
seeing our destitute situation as souls condi¬tioned by matter,
You have of Your own accord manifested Your holy name, which is
non-dif¬ferent from Yourself.  

	"Your holy name is of two types, principal and secondary. 
Among Your principle names are Hari, Krsna, Govinda, Acyuta,
Rama, Ananta, and Vishnu; Brahma, Supersoul, Supreme Controller,
Main¬tainer, Creator, and Mahendra are secondary names.  You have
invested all Your internal spiritual potencies and Your transcendental qualities in Your principal names."  Innumerable scriptural statements substantiate this fact; a few are cited below.

 
     "My Lord, one can be im¬mediately freed from all material
contaminations just by seeing You.  But if seeing You personal¬ly
is not possible, then by simply hearing only once the holy name
of Your Lordship even Candalas, dogeating men of the lowest
class, are freed from their impurities, just as if they had seen
You." 

     "If the amount of time a dvijabrahmana expends in the study
and recitation of the Vedic mantras would be utilized in chanting
even just the Lord's secondary names, that brahmana would incur
more benefit; of this there is no doubt.  But one who just chants
the two syllables of the holy name Hari is understood to have
already mastered the four Vedas - Rg, Sama, Yajur and Atharva.
Therefore it is not advisable to spent time in studying the
Vedas; instead the holy name of Govinda should be chanted
continuously, for His name is glorified eternally." 

     "O King, constant chanting of the holy name of the Lord 
after the ways of great authorities is the doubtless and fearless
way of success for all, including those who are free from all 
material desires, those who are desirous of material enjoyment,
and also those who are self-satisfied by dint of transcendental
know¬ledge." 

     "O Lord Visnu!  Your holy name is fully spiritual and self
manifested.  So even if one not thoroughly informed of its
glories chants the holy name, he will gradually acquire perfect
understanding just by chanting.  Lord Brahma was the first to
disseminate the transcendental sound om; the mere utterance of
this sound dispelled his ig¬norance and fear of death.  Therefore
the vibration om is also known as tarak Brahma." 

     "Any person who says the name Hari just once without 
offense immediately becomes resolved to serve the lotus feet of 
the Supreme Lord unconditionally and thus strives for libera¬tion
from the clutches of illusion." 

     "Certainly that heart is steel framed which inspite of 
one's chanting the holy name of the Lord with concentration, does
not change when ecstasy takes place, tears fill the eyes and 
hairs stand on end." 

     "O respected Bhrigu!  The holy name of Krsna is more 
nectarean than the sweetest honey; most beneficial amongst all 
auspicious activities; and is the eternal, mature and transcenden¬tal fruit of the desirefulfilling tree of the Vedas. 
If any person utters this holy name even once, casually or in
full sincerity  but without offenses  then the holy name
instantaneously liberates the chanter." 

     "O Arjuna!  I declare to You truly that anyone can purchase
Me just by chanting My name and abiding by Me.  I become his
property, fully dependent on him." 

 
     "The holy name of Krsna is transcendentally blissful.  Like
a touchstone gem it bestows all spiritual benedictions, for it is
Krsna Himself.  Krsna's name is complete, and it is the form of
transcendental mellows.  It is not a material name under any
conditions, and it is no less powerful than Krsna Himself. Since
Krsna's name is not contaminated by the material qualities, there
is no question of its being involved with maya.  Krsna's name is
always liberated and spiritual; it is never conditioned by the
laws of material nature.  This is because the name of Krsna and
Krsna Himself are identical."  

     "No one can understand the transcendental nature of the 
name, form, quality and pastimes of Sri Krishna through his 
materially contaminated senses.  Only when one becomes spiritually saturated by transcendental service to the Lord are the
transcendental name, form, quality and pastimes of the Lord 
revealed to him." 
  
     From the above quotations of different revealed scrip¬tures
we can conclude that the holy name is endowed with unlimited 
spiritual potencies.  In the practice of karma, jnana, yoga, etc.
the sadhaka is bound by the strict rules of scripture and the
factors of time, place and circumstances.  But in chanting and
remembering the Lord's name there is no such consideration of
time, place or circumstances - this indeed is an example of
Lord's fathomless mercy upon us. 

	Yet in spite of all this it is truly a matter of great
regret that we cannot develop even a drop of attraction for this
most magnanimous holy name.  The word durdaiva or misfortune is
synonymous with offenses to the holy name (namaparadha).  A
concise resume of these offenses is given below. 

 
     1) Criticizing and finding faults in devotees or sadhus is 
a serious offence against the holy name.  How can the name 
tolerate criticism of devotees who have dedicated their lives 
to propagating the glories of the Name?  Therefore offending 
sadhus or saintly person is the first namaparadha. 
 
     2) Those who try to comprehend spiritual subject matter with
material intelligence falsely conclude that Lord Visnu's name,
form, qualities and pastimes are different from the Lord Himself. 
In other words, they impose material characteristics and limitations on spirituality.  Thus they equate demigods like Siva and
Brahma with the Supreme Lord Visnu, or even think that these
demigods are independent of Lord Visnu.  The chanting of such
persons is offensive. 
 
     3) It is an offense against the holy name to consider the
spiritual master (who is self-realized and perfect in the
chanting of the holy name) to be an ordinary mortal who possesses
a material body, and to thus disobey and disregard him. 
 
     4) It is an offense to criticize and find fault with the
Vedas, Puranas and other corollary scriptures. 

     5) It is an offense to think the glories of the holy name
are exaggerated. 
 
     6) It is an offense to consider the holy name to be fictious
or concocted. 
 
     7) One who commits sinful activities on the strength of 
chanting the holy name can never be exonerated from this offense
by any process, including the disciplines of yama, niyama,
dhyana, meditation and so on in the yoga system.  
 
     8) Only a person in illusion thinks that mundane ritualis¬tic
activities such as charity, fasting, vows, abnegation, austerity
and so on are on the same level as the transcendental activity of
chanting the holy name. 
 
     9) It is also an offense to instruct a faithless person who
is adverse to hearing the name on the glories of the holy name. 
 
     10) After hearing the wonderful qualities of the name, 
it is offensive to maintain material attachments of 'me' and
'mine'.  This means one has not developed a genuine attraction or
interest for chanting. 
 
     It is imperative that a devotee avoids these ten offenses in
chanting the holy name of the Lord.  He must never try to
counteract his sins or accrue piety through ritualistic observances, because he is neither required nor even eligible to perform
karmakanda rituals.  If perchance a devotee commits a namaparadha, then with an anxious heart he should go on chanting continuously.  Such con¬tinuous chanting will protect him from
committing further offenses as well as uproot his previous
offenses.  The scriptures clearly state that chanting alone can
absolve all offenses and sinful reaction.  Hence chanting the
holy name is the best shelter for everyone.  Chanting removes the
very desire to commit namaparadha and gradually elevates one to
the highest spiritual platform of Krsna-prema. 
 
     When one is free from offenses, his attachment for the Name
increases; he will soon attain all perfection. Here  `all perfection' is synonymous to Krsna-prema.  This is Lord Caitanya
Mahaprabhu's second instruction.  
 
     Sri Caitanya Caritamrita, Antya 20.17-19: 
 
     "Because people vary in their desires, You have distributed 
various holy names by Your mercy.  Regardless of time or place,
one who chants the holy name, even while eating or sleeping,
attains all perfection.  You have invested Your full potency in
such individual holy name, but I am so unfortunate that I have no
attachment for chanting Your holy names." 

  
     "O Lord!  Out of Your causeless mercy You have manifested x
own potencies.  You have not imposed rigid rules for chanting and
remembering Your names, i.e., You have not laid down conditions
barring anyone to chant or remember Your name even during eating,
reclining, sleeping etc.  But I am so wretched that I am not
attracted to Your names." 

	The word bahu or many indicates the two types of the Lord's
names, principal and secondary.  The principal names include
Krsna, Radharamana, Gopijanavallabha, etc. that convey the
loving conjugal mood of the Lord; and Rama, Vasudeva, Narasimha,
etc. that convey His aweinspiring opulent mood.  

	Brahman, Paramat¬ma etc. are His secondary names; they are
incomplete, separated and partial names.  The Lord's principal
names are non-different from the Lord and possess all His
energies; the secondary names are also impregnated with His
pastime potencies but in partial degrees only. 

 
     The jiva was imprisoned in the illusory, ephemeral
kingdom of maya due to his turning away from Lord Krsna.  Thus
the conditioned soul has brought great misfor¬tune upon himself;
that misfortune is first and foremost his reluctance to serve the
Lord.

	Anyabhilasita means the base material desires which, when
engaged in the karma and jnana processes, lead to different
levels of material enjoyments.  Thus his base desires for sense
gratifica¬tion, karma and jnana have deluded the jiva into
forgetting his real svarupa (transcendental identity); they have
propelled him into a whirlpool of misery. 

	Under the spell of anyabhilasita he is intoxicated by
immediate sen¬sual pleasures.  Pious activities goad him to 
yearn for heavenly pleasures; his enjoyment of matter leads to
frustration, and so he becomes engrossed in striving to realize
the impersonal, non-dif¬feren¬tiated Brahman.  

	The jiva's own eternal desire is to engage in Lord Krsna's
service, but the residue of the practice of these three paths
has smothered this proclivity and hidden his good fortune.  Now
he is caught up in the endless pursuit of religiosity, material
wealth, and sense gratification; thereafter, being harassed by
the frustrations of his own sins, anarthas and lust, he pursues
liberation.  

	In this way he has become the choice can¬didate for commitªting namaparadhas.  If he takes up chanting, he is unable to
avoid the ten offenses.  Due to his offenses, he cannot chant
purely. 
 
     He first gets the opportunity to chant when he soberly
reviews the hopeless chaos of the neverending conflict in his
life; such introspection forces the jiva to deeply consider his
own good.  The yearning for a peaceful solution to the endless
torment of the un¬quench¬able thirst for enjoyment draws him to the
shelter of the holy name of the Lord. 
	Thus he begins to chant, initially indifferent to the proper
under¬stand¬ing of sambandhajnana (knowledge of the relationship
between God, His sakti, and the jiva).  Such chanting is known as
namabhasa or the semblance of the pure name.  Namabasa is not the
holy name proper, but it results in the severance of the jiva's
ties with the material mentality: he no longer sees everything
materially.  Gradually he becomes eligible to render transcendental devotional service to the Supreme Lord.  But only very
elevated souls who have become completely immune to the onslaught
of misfortune and offense can obtain pure love of Krsna by
inoffensive chanting.  

	Lord Caitanya, knowing the ill fate of the conditioned souls
of this age, descended to spread the message of the chanting the
holy name of God.  He saw in the jivas their apathy to the holy
name, and gave voice to it in this verse.  Yet even in such
depths of human misfortune the Lord's causeless mercy is available. 
 
     There is indeed a way to escape the steely clutches of 
namaparadha.  First one must recognize and isolate his offenses; 
he must conscientiously avoid them, simultaneously chanting 
continuously.  This will keep namaparadha at bay, allowing one to
reap the benefit of namabhasa chanting.  

	Namabhasa chanting elevates one to actual mukti or liberation, meaning freedom from the influence of and dependence upon 
matter; only thereafter does one become competent to chant the
pure name. 

	The opportunity afforded to us by namabhasa chanting is but
an indication of the Lord's unlimitedly flowing compassion. 
Thus, the simple chanting of the prin¬cipal names of God brings
about the best and only real benedic¬tion to humanity. 
 
     When the jiva attempts to grasp at insignificant, evanescent
material fruits, he is enmeshed in stringent regulations, the
factors of time, place and circumstance, and the struggle with
the limitations of his own ability to perform the complicated
rituals.  But one who chants the holy name of the Supreme Lord
faces no such insurmountable obstacles, by the Lord's causeless
mercy.  In the Caitanya Bhagavat we find this statement: "Always
remember to chant the holy name in the sleeping, eating or waking
hours.  There are no hard and fast rules of chanting, so chant
all the time." The same instruction is repeated in the Sri
Caitanya Caritamrita.  

 

      
	In the Skandha Purana it is stated: 
 
	"The potency to destroy sin, the allauspicious potency, 
the potencies residing in pious acts of charity, vows, penances
etc., the potencies of all the places of pilgrimage, the potencies in the asvamedha and raja-suya yajnas, the potency in
knowle¬dge of the Absolute - these potencies have been assembled
together by the Supreme Lord Hari and channeled into His holy
name, making it all powerful." 

	From the Vaisvanara Samhita: 
 
	"There are no fixed times or considerations of cleanliness
and uncleanliness regarding the chanting of the holy name. 
Simply  the  repeated utterance of Rama, Rama is enough to
liberate the jiva from his material bondage." 

 
	Srimad Bhagavatam 3.9.3) states: 
 
	"O my Lord, persons who are bereft of the all-auspicious 
performance of chanting and hearing about Your transcendental 
activities are certainly unfortunate and are also bereft of good 
sense.  They engage in inauspicious activities, enjoying sense 
gratification for a very little while." 

  	"One who thinks himself lower than the grass, who is more
tolerant than a tree, and who does not expect personal honor but
is always prepared to give all respect to others, can very easily
always chant the holy name of the Lord." 
four very special qualities.  These are: a natural meekness and
humility because of total detachment from matter; pure compas¬sion
unencumbered by envy; a spotless heart free from mundane, false
prestige; a proper respectful attitude towards everyone.  	When the holy name, the full embodiment of the transcendental rasas, appears in the sadhaka's heart, his attitude of mind
is transformed.  He thinks, "I am constitutionally an inšfinitesimal eternal servitor of Lord Krsna.  I have no real need
for materialism.  But, alas  because of my estrangement from 
Krsna's lotus feet, I find myself in my present predicament.  H
Being bound to the grinding wheel of repeated birth and death, I 
am suffering untold miseries.  	"Now, by the grace of my spiritual master and the Vaisnavas,
I have come to realize that only by devotional service to the
Supreme Lord can I find release from the distresses of material
existence, be re¬instated in my constitutional position, regain my
spiritual identity, and attain love of God.  	"But as long as I am not freed from the chains of material
bondage, I am obliged to embrace the path of yukta-vairagya
(renuncia¬tion by actively engaging the senses in the Lord's
service).  Relying upon sambandhajnana, I will have to accept
matter for my bare neces¬sities to keep body and soul together.      "Misery stemming from paucity, disease, calamity and old
age, and happiness caused by wealth, health, beauty, and education, are called prarabdha karmic reactions and must be experienced as inseparable features of this present body.  I will
not be able to avoid such reactions.  In any case, loss and gain,
birth and death, suffering and joy are left behind when one
ascends to the spiritual plane.  	"Therefore these mundane matters are inconsequential to my
actual life.  I will approach the Lord with utmost humility and
pray, 'O Krsna!  O Govinda!  O Lord of my heart, when will I be
engaged in Your divine service?  Kindly be merciful upon this
lowly creature now and quickly accept me as Your servitor.'  	"In this mood I may either renounce my family or remain at
home living frugally.  It doesn't matter, for by Krsna's grace I
will somehow sustain my life.  	"A dead straw in the street is simply matter; accord¬ingly,
its ego or identity naturally corresponds to its factual existence, for a straw is but a straw.  But my present ego is
ahankara, made up of gross and subtle coverings; it does not
tally with my original spiritual self.  The straw's abhiman or
ego is factual but my material ego is unreal.  Therefore it is
only correct that I become more humble than the straw in the
street." 
tolerant than a tree", is as follows.  The tree is so tolerant that it cannot even neglect to offer its cooling shade and
succulent fruits to the very person who is going to cut it down.  The devotee of Lord Krsna is even more kind because he is compassionate to everyone, friend or foe, desiring only their best.  	One who chants the holy name without offenses is overwhelmed
with thoughts of the well-being of others.  He thinks,  "O Lord!
My friends, companions and all other living entities are very
unfor¬tunate.  How shall they be able develop love and attraction
for chanting Your all-auspicious name?  They are sunken in the
quagmire of familial attachments, wealth and property, petty
successes and reverses, lost and profit, joys and sufferings,x
birth and death and on and on - all because they are blinded by
maya.  	"I see not the slightest indication that they are disgusted
with this futile material existence filled only with anarthas
(un¬wanted things).  They are being slowly strangled by the noose
of their unlimited desires for sense gratification.  They spend
their valuable time busying themselves in useless affairs of
karma and jnana.  How can these persons be made interested in
self-realization?" 	Entreating the Lord in this manner, the devotee's heart
becomes flooded with spiritual emotions.  He loudly sings: 	"In the age of Kali, there is no other way, there is no
other way, no other way than chanting the holy name of Lord
Hari!"  	The word amani reveals the third quality of the devotee
whose chanting is decorated with offenselessness: his heart is
spotlessly free from mundane ego and false prestige.  	The false designations of the jiva's gross and subtle body
have grown up out of nescience.  Yogic mystic powers, opulence,
good looks, high birth, strength, position, influence are all
features of his ahankara; they are incompatible with his real
spiritual iden¬tity; indeed, they are totally alien and false.	Having a spotless heart devoid false ego and prestige means
specifically that the devotee completely distances himself from
all unreal designations.  But what about the pride that may well
follow the subjugation of false designations?  In spite of his
being highly respected, the devotee who demonstrates toler¬ance,
humility and a pure heart is a fit candidate to chant purely.  He
will take care to avoid becoming proud of being honored as
brahmana (if he is a householder) or sannyasi (if he is a
renunciate); he concentrates on the lotus feet of Lord Krsna and chants His holy name. 
eternal servants, so he is never envious or spiteful to anyone.
He pleases everyone with sweet sublime words and exemplary
actions that bring benediction to the world.  He offers respect to distinguished personalities such as learned brah¬manas;
to Brahma, Siva and other demigods he offers obeisance with
utmost humility, praying to them for increasing his devotion to
Lord Krsna; and to elevated Vaisnavas and pure devotees he offers
service with heart and soul.      The chanting of the holy name that is felicitated with the
above men¬tioned four qualities is the highest success in human
life.  This is the declaration of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, thex
most magnanimous avatara and saviour of the fallen souls of Kaliªyuga.      Sri Caitanya Caritamrita, Antya 20.22-26: 	"These are the symptoms of one who chants the Hare Krsna
maha-mantra.  Although he is very exalted, he thinks himself
lower than the grass on the ground, and like a tree he tolerates
everything in two ways.      "When a tree is cut down, it does not protests and even when
drying up, it does not ask anyone for water.  The tree delivers
fruits, flowers and whatever it possesses to anyone and everyone.
It tolerates scorching heat and torrents of rain, yet it still
gives shelter to others.      "Although a Vaishnava is the most exalted person, he is prideless and gives all respect to everyone, knowing everyone to be the resting place of Krsna.  If one chants the holy name of
Lord Krsna in this manner he will certainly awaken his dormant
love for Krsna's lotus feet."   
Lord Krsna, his eternal dharma or religion is chanting the holy
name, whether he is a resident of this material world or enters
into the spiritual sky.  There is no better means for attaining
allaround benefit and success for humanity then the chanting of
the holy name, for chanting brings good fortune to others and
allauspiciousness to the self. 	This sloka was composed for the sole reason of clearly
establishing how to avoid namaparadha and namabhasa in chanting.
One whose intelligence avoids Krsna and rushes headlong after the
intoxication of material enjoyment can never perceive his true
position as but an infinitesimal spark of consciousness.  One who
thinks he is the enjoyer can never admit his insig¬nificance.  Nor
is he tolerant by nature; he'll not like to give up his false ego
and false prestige. 	A gross sense enjoyer is thoroughly unwilling and incapable
of ungrudgingly offering respect to another enjoyer like himself;
it is the mate¬rial¬ist's habit to be insincere in his dealings
with others, to the point of being obnoxious.  But the Vaisnava
who actually finds ecstasy in the holy name is more humble than a
blade of grass and more tolerant than a tree; he is unconcerned
and even unwilling to receive respect, but eager to offer respect
to others.  Only such an elevated soul is awarded constant
association of the holy name in kirtana. 	When these pure souls offer glorification and obeisances to
the spiritual master and other senior Vaisnavas, they do so because of their quality of manada (respecting others according
to station); when they advise and enthuse disciples and sadhakas
on the process of chanting, showering them with appreciative and
even laudatory words spoken in great affection, their quality of
amani (expecting no respect) is revealed. 
position of his elevated status; therefore, he is tolerant of the
anger and dismay of the fools who resent his prominence.  In this
way he exhibits deep forbearance.  The offenseless chanter sees
himself as lower than the straw in the street that is trampled by
the walking masses.  Such a saintly soul never thinks, "I am a
Vaisnava", or "I am a guru."   Indeed, he always thinks himself a
disciple of everyone, most meek and fallen. 	Knowing every atom and every infinitesimal spirit soul to be
the residence of Lord Krsna, he never treats anyone as inferior
to himself, nor does he require anything from anyone in this
world.  Even if others are envious and spiteful to him, he never
retaliates; on the contrary, he prays for his tormentors' wellªbeing. 
process he received from his spiritual master by introducing new
methods, e.g. by replacing the maha-mantra with some concocted
and imaginary rhyme.  A Vaisnava's humility is not to be questioned if he preaches widely the glories of the holy name by
writing new books as long as this is done strictly in accordance
with the instruc¬tions of his spiritual master.  But if one tries
to trick people, making a show of humility only to gain the
adoration of the masses, that is not accepted as humility. 	The pure chanter of the holy name never visualizes the
exploi¬table form of "enjoyable matter"; he sees everything in
this world as parapher¬nalia for the service of Lord Krsna and His
associates and devotees.  Enjoying this world is simply never
considered, because the devotee takes the position of a submissive hearer and never considers disassociating himself from the
maha-mantra he received from his spiritual master.  Thus he is
neither eager or interested in propagating new ideas or opinions.	One who regards himself to be the guru of any Vaisnava
devotee rings humility's death knell.  The plain truth is that he
who does not heed Lord Caitanya's instructions in this Siksastaka is doomed to pursue material gain with the sole intention of
appeasing the senses at the cost of his real spiritual iden¬tity. 
Even if he is a spiritual master, he will simply hanker for
recognition in that position.  The holy name can never be chanted
by such an offender. 	No matter how sincere and faithful his disciples may be,
they will never become worthy of receiving and chanting the pure
holy name if they hear his offensive chanting.  kirtaniyah sada harih 	Srimad Bhagavatam 2.1.11: 	"O King, constant chanting of the holy name of the Lord
after the ways of the great authorities is the doubtless and
fearless way of success for all , including those who are free
from all material desires, those who are desirous of all material
enjoyment and also those who are self-satisfied by dint of transcendental knowledge." 	Mukundamalastotra, sloka 37: 	"O fool! O you rascal!  This constantly changing body is
under attack from innumerable attachments and diseases that are
due it by the law of karma, and death is a certainty; what
remedial measures have you undertaken?  Simply drink the medicine
of Krishna's name which is the cure for all diseases."

 

 
na - not;  dhanam - riches; na - not;  janam - followers;  na - 
not;  sundarim - a very beautiful woman;  kavitam - fruitive 
activities described in flowery language;  va - or; jagat-isa - O
Lord of the universe;  kamaye - I desire;  mama - My;  janmani - 
in birth;  janmani - after birth;  isvare - unto the Supreme 
Personality of Godhead; bhavatat - let there be;  bhaktih - 
devotional service;  ahaituki - with no motives;  tvayi - unto 
You. 
 
	"Lord of the universe, I do not desire material wealth, 
materialistic followers, a beautiful wife or fruitive activities 
described in flowery language. All I want, life after life, is 
unmotivated devotional service unto You." 

Sri Sanmodana Bhasyam 
 
     The sadhaka must attentively receive the sound of the holy
name from the spiritual master; thereafter he may chant the name
devoid of namaparadhas.  By this process, the pre¬viously mentioned four qualities will gradually appear in his heart. 

	But if the sadhaka's attachment to sensual pleasures is not
severed, his original spiritual identity cannot manifest.  Thus
bhakti, the flavor of the hladini potency, cannot be transformed
into the bhava of conjugal attraction.  

	This verse explains the pure form of sadhana-bhakti (here
sadhana-bhakti means the process of chanting) in two ways.  The
direct explanation stresses the principal symptom of bhakti,
which is loving devotional service to Sri Krsna (bhavabhakti);
while the expressions 'na dhanam na janam ...' point to the
attendant symptom of pure bhakti.

	The secondary symptom of bhakti has two concomitants - 
freedom from all other desires (anyabhilasita sunyam) outside the
path of bhakti, and the absence of the influence of karma and
jnana.  As long as loving devotion to Krsna (anukulyam krsnaanusilam) is encum¬bered by anyabhilasitam, karma, jnana, yoga and
so on, bhakti cannot be uttama (exalted); it is visible merely as
shadow devotion or bhakti-abhasa. 

	This sloka in fact reveals how this shadow bhakti is to be  
dissipated.  It is stated here, `O Lord! I do not hanker for
dhanam (wealth), janam (following), or sundarim kavitam (beautiful poetry or literature).'  Here dhanam means the wealth of
piety incurred by strictly following the path of varnasrama
(which includes materialistic karma-kanda activities and so on).
Further clarified, dhanam implies all the paraphernalia, gross
and subtle, required to fulfill a person's desires for sensex
enjoyment in this world and in heaven.  The word janam in¬dicates
wife, sons, servants, subjects, friends, rela¬tives, and so on. 

     Education or learning is correctly defined as the culture
that promotes attraction to and attachment for the lotus feet of
the Supreme Lord.  The expression sundarim kavitam does not refer
to narratives of Lord Krsna's pastimes, or conclusive philosophical examinations of scripture, or transcendental literatures or
poetry; rather, it refers to mundane literatures and compositions.  Such trivia are rejected.  And what is desired?  The
loving service of Krsna, even in birth after birth; let it be
unwavering devotion devoid of any conditions. 

	Unconditional devotion means that which is guided by no
consideration other than Krsna's satisfaction. 

     In the jiva's struggle to be victorious over all the many
miseries suffered in the cycle of repeated birth and death,
ultimate victory lies ever beyond his capacity - it depends
entirely on the Supreme Lord's will.  All misery will automatically cease when, by the Lord's desire, the jiva is saved from
the cycle of birth and death.  Therefore, what is the use of a
Godless prayer for libera¬tion that violates the precepts of pure
devotion?  

	This prayer of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu expresses the soul's
urgent need of bhavabhakti over all else: "Without waiting for
the cycle of birth and death to be stopped by the Lord's grace,
let me now have uncondition¬al devotion at Krsna's lotus feet life
after life, regardless of what my present material situation is."
	Sri Caitanya Caritamrita Antya 20.27,28,30: 

     "As Lord Caitanya spoke in this way, His humility increased 
and He began praying to Krsna that He could discharge pure 
devotional service. 

     "Wherever there is a relationship of love of Godhead, its 
natural symptom is that the devotee does not think himself a 
devotee.  Instead, he always thinks that he has not even a drop
of love for Krsna.
 
     "'My dear Lord Krsna, I do not want material wealth from 
You, nor do I want followers, a beautiful wife or the results of 
fruitive activities.  I only pray that by Your causeless mercy
You give Me pure devotional service to You, life after life.'" 

 
     "O Lord of the universe! I have no desire for material 
wealth, following, or beautiful poetry. You are my object of
worship and devotional service life after life; I only pray that
I may have unconditional love and devotion at Your lotus feet."

	Sundarim kavitam refers to dharma, religious principles
found in the  Vedas; dhanam means artha, or wealth; janam means
wife, children, rela¬tives etc., who are the objects of kama (soªcalled love, or lust).  The Lord declares, "I am not merely
abhorred by sense gratification derived through religiosi¬ty,
wealth and lust, but I am appalled at the idea of transitory
liberation from the cycle of birth and death.  I do not want
these four Vedic goals (dharma, artha, kama, moksha) to be the
cause for My rendering service at Your lotus feet."  A prayer by
King Kulasek¬ara has similarly expressed this mood of pure
devotion. 
 
	Persons who strictly adhere to Vedic dharma worship Surya
(the sungod); those who desire wealth worship Ganesa; those
craving carnal pleasures worship sakti (Kali, Durga); those who
strive for liberation or mukti worship Siva; and those who
worship Lord Visnu as the source of Vedas do so for material
motives.  All these grades of worshippers are contaminated by
materialism and are never to be considered as pure devotees. 
This type of Vedic worship is known as pancopasana or the worship
of five demigods; whether it is performed with or without
material desires hardly makes a difference, for such worship is
in fact impersonal in any case.  Lord Visnu can be worshipped
purely and properly only by un¬motivated devotional service. 

     Srimad Bhagavatam 6.11.25:
 
     "O my Lord, source of all opportunities, I do not desire 
enjoy in Dhruvaloka, the heavenly planets or the planet where 
Lord Brahma resides, nor do I want to be supreme ruler of all the
earthly planets or the powers of mystic yoga, nor do I want 
liberation if I have to give up Your lotus feet." 

     Srimad Bhagavatam 11.2.42:
 
     "Devotion, direct experience of the Supreme Lord, and 
detachment from other things - these three occur simultaneously 
for one who has taken shelter of the Supreme Personality of 
Godhead, in the same way as pleasure, nourishment and relief from
hunger come simultaneously and increasingly, with each bite, for 
a person engaged in eating." 

     Srimad Bhagavatam 1.5.18:
  
     "Persons who are actually intelligent and philosophically 
inclined should endeavour only for that purposeful end which is 
not obtainable even by wandering from the topmost planet 
(Brahmaloka) down to the lowest planet (Patala). As far as 
happiness derived from sense enjoyment is concerned it can be 
obtained automatically in course of time, just as in course of 
time we obtain miseries even though we do not desire šthem."

 

 
 
ayi - My Lord;  nanda-tanuja - son of Nanda Maharaja, Krishna; 
kinkaram - the servant;  mam - Me;  visame - horrible;  
bhavambudhau - in the ocean of nescience;  krpaya - by causeless 
mercy;  tava - Your;  pada-pankaja - lotus feet;  sthita - 
situated at;  dhuli-sadrsam - like a particle of dust; 
vicintaya - kindly consider. 

	"Oh, My Lord, O Krsna, son of Maharaja Nanda, I am Your
eternal servant, but because of My own fruitive acts, I have
fallen in this horrible ocean of nescience. Now please be
causelessly merciful to Me. Consider Me a particle of dust at
Your lotus feet."
 
Sri Sanmodana Bhasyam  
 
	Is it proper for a sadhaka who has taken shelter of the holy
name to be excessively concerned about the material miseries
afflicting him?  To answer this question, Lord Caitanya composed
this sloka, in which He il¬luminates the correct attitude of a
devotee thusly:  

	"O Lord Krsna! Son of Maharaja Nanda! I am Your eternal
servant; but now as a result of my previous activities I have
fallen into this terrible ocean of material existence.  Lust,
greed, anger and envy are my adversaries; they lurk in the waters
like big fish to swallow me up.  The rough waves of wasted hopes
and anxiety are tossing me here and there, making my life
miserable.  Lashing gales of bad association add further suffering.  In this condi¬tion I see You as my only shelter.  

	"Occasionally a small bunch of seaweed can be seen floating
by; these are the weeds of karma, jnana, yoga, tapasya and so on.
Has anyone ever crossed this ocean of nescience by grasping these
paltry weeds?  All I have ever seen is that some persons, while
trying to swim across this ocean, have reached out to hold these
weeds for support only to sink, seaweed and all, like dead
weights. There is no other hope for safety other than Your
unlimited mercy. 
 
	"The sturdy vessel of Your holy name is the only means to 
cross over this dangerous ocean of material existence.  Knowing
this too well, I have acted; I begged passage aboard the ship of
the Lord's holy name from my spiritual master; by His cause¬less
mercy, it was awarded.  O Lord!  You are known as the protector
of Your devotees who are souls surrendered to Your lotus feet. 
Please accept this homeless destitute, cleanse me of all my
faults and consider me a dust particle at Your lotus feet." 
 x
accepted by the Lord on the path of bhakti should never return to
the ways of sense enjoyment and liberation, despite material
difficulties. 

	Caitanya Caritamrita, Antya 20.31,33,34:
 
	"In great humility, considering Himself a conditioned soul
of the material World, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu again expressed
his desire to be endowed with service to the Lord." 
	
	"I am your eternal servant, but I forgot Your Lordship.  Now
I have fallen in the ocean of nescience and have been conditioned
by the external energy.

	"Be causelessly merciful to Me by giving Me a place with the
particles of dust at Your lotus feet so that I may engage in the
service of Your Lordship as Your eternal servant."   

 
      Lord Krsna, the son of Maharaja Nanda, is the object of 
everyone's devotion.  Servitorship to Lord Krsna is inseparable
from the identity or svarupa of the spirit soul.  

	Now that servant of Krsna has become apathetic to his
service and is drowning in the terrible ocean of material
existence, his only hope of survival is to get the Lord's mercy. 
If Lord Krsna out of His fathomless compas¬sion accepts the jiva,
placing him as a pollen particle at His lotus feet, then his
hidden identity and eternal proclivity will be remanifest.  The
word pada-dhuli (lotus-feet dust) used here further substan¬tiates
the jiva's original identity as the infinitesimal part and parcel
of Krsna, as stated in the scriptures. 

	The jiva may intensely desire to acquire a place at Krsn¬a's
lotus feet, but the fact is that only when he becomes subservient
to Krsna's will and cultivates devotional service is he accepted
by the Lord. 

     Until he is fully situated in his svarupa, a residue of
anarthas cling to his heart; thus his ultimate perfec¬tion and
goal remains hidden by these slight impurities.  Sambandhajnana 
makes him eligible to chant the holy name purely and render
loving devotional service by clearing these anarthas from his
heart; this is called anarthanivrtti. 

	At this stage of development, the devotee as known as
jatarat¬i (born of rati or love).  The difference between `ajatarati sadhaka' (not born of rati) and jatarati devotee is all in
the quality of chanting.  One cannot be accepted as a jatarati
devotee on the basis of pretense.

	After anartha-nivrtti follows nairantarya, or undeviating
steadiness in serving, then sveccha-purvika, voluntary meditat¬ion
on Krsna's pastimes by which one develops spontaneous attrac¬tion
for them; and then svarasiki, the spontaneous revela¬tion of
Krsna's pastimes even without one's expectation.  Only after
these three stages comes the final perfection of prema. 

     Srimad Bhagavatam 6.11.24: 
 
     "O my Lord, O Supreme Personality of Godhead, will I again 
be able to be a servant of Your eternal servants who find shelter
only at Your lotus feet? O Lord of my life, may I again become 
their servant so that my mind may always think of Your 
transcendental attributes, my words always glorify those 
attributes and my body always engage in the loving service of 
Your Lordship." 
 
     Srimad Bhagavatam 10.29.38:  
 
     "Therefore,O vanquisher of all distress, please show us 
mercy. To approach Your lotus feet we abandoned our families and 
homes, and we have no desire other than to serve You. Our hearts 
are burning with intense desires generated by Your beautiful 
smiling glances. O jewel among men, please make us Your 
maidservants." 
 
     Srila Rupa Goswami writes:  
 
     "If you have not worshipped the dust of the lotus feet of 
Srimati Radharani, or the land of Vraja that is marked with Her 
lotus feet, or did not serve the lotus feet of Her devotee who is
grave because of meditating on Her, then how will you become 
attracted to that blackish ocean of nectar known as Syama or 
Krsna?" 
 
     In Bilap-kusum-anjali, sloka 8:  
 
     "O Radharani, beloved damsel of Vraja!  I am exhausted 
from swimming in the tempestuous ocean of misery; I am but a 
derelict.  Kindly pick me up on the infallible boat of Your 
causeless mercy.  Guide me to the wonderful sanctuary of Your 
lotus feet." 
 
     In Radha-rasa-sudha-nidhi, sloka 259:  
 
     "Become totally absorbed in Krsna, whose crown is decorated 
with a peacock plume, and constantly sing His holy name and
glories.  Engross yourself in serving His lotus feet and continuously chant the mahamantra to invoke His pleasure.  My only
and intimate heartfelt desire is to become a slave to Srimati
Radharani's lotus feet. By Her causeless mercy I may attain
spontaneous love for Her service." 

 

 

 
 
nayanam - the eyes;  galat-asru-dharaya - by streams of tears 
running down;  vadanam - mouth;  gadgada - faltering;  russhaya -
choked up;  gira - with words;  pulakaih - with erection of the 
hairs due to transcendental happiness;  nicitam - covered; 
vapuh - the body;  kada - when;  tava - Your;  nama-grahane - in 
chanting the name;  bhavisyati - will be. 

	"My dear Lord, when will My eyes be beautified by filling
with tears that constantly glide down as I chant Your holy name?
When will My voice falter and all the hairs on My body stand
erect in transcendental happiness as  chant Your holy name?"
  
Sri Sanmodana Bhasyam  
  
     In the five previous slokas, the following topics have been
explained: sraddha, sadhusangha, bhajanakriya, anarthanivritti, nistha, ruci, asakti and bhava.  

	From the progression of the subject matter so far, we are
learning how the jiva, with the assistance of pure bhakti which
is the essence of the Lord's hladinisakti, gradually attains his
svarupa.  

	In this verse, the theme of bhavabhakti is being further
elaborated upon.  When the stage of bhavabhakti is attained,
pure devotion¬al service is perfected to the point of becoming
con¬tinuous and unbroken.  Bhava is synonymous with the word rati
(spontaneous attraction); bhavabhakti is the bud that soon
flowers into the full bloom of premabhakti, loving devo¬tion.  

	Out of the nine limbs of devotional services that are
initiated in sadhanabhakti, it is the chanting of Krsna's name
alone that becomes very intensified in bhavabhakti. 

 
     The sadhaka in bhavabhakti is marked by nine symptoms: 1)
he is anxious to utilize his time in Krsna's service and does not
like to be idle; 2) he is always reserved and per¬severant; 3) he
is always detached from all material attrac¬tion; 4) he does not
long for any material respect in return for his service; 5) he is
certain of Lord Krsna's mercy; 6) he is always very eager to
serve the Lord faithfully; 7) he is very attached to the chanting
of the holy names of the Lord; 8) he is always eager to describe
the transcendental qualities of the Lord; 9) he is very pleased
to live in a place where the Lord's pastimes are performed, such
as Mathura, Vrndavana or Dwaraka.  These symptoms become visible
in a devotee when he is on the threshold of entering into full
bhava. 
 
ruci or the intense desire to attain the Lord's lotus feet, which
softens and melts the heart, such sadhanabhakti is then known as
bhavabhakti.  That bhava consists of the rays of the sun of
prema and the rays of the sun of Krsna's matchless transcenden¬tal
beauty.  

	Therefore it is concluded that bhavabhakti or rati is the
dawning of prema.  Prema in its the very initial stage can be
called bhava; and in this stage the eight ecstatic symptoms
(asta-sattvika vikara) like crying, horripilating, etc. begin to
slightly manifest.  When meditating on the Lord's lotus feet, the
heart melts and profuse tears stream out spontaneously. Descriptions of such ecstacies are found in the Vaisnava tantrasastras
and the Puranas, which confirm that the ecstatic symptoms that
are manifest in prema with full intensity make a shy but firm
appearance in the stage known as bhava. 

	The scriptures list many bodily symptoms of bhava under the
heading anubhava, which include dancing, rolling in the dust,
singing loudly, stretching the body, making loud outbursts,
yawning, breathing heavily, ignoring outsiders, drooling,
laughing like a madman, wheeling the head and belching.
 
     As mentioned, there are eight major ecstatic symptoms called
asta-sat¬tvika vikara; these are paralysis, perspiration, horripilation, pallor, choked voice, trembling, weeping and swooning.  Of these, dancing, singing, crying, horripilating, and
choked voice are particularly prominent in the stage of bhava. 
In this sloka, we find the supreme teacher Sri Krsna Caitanya has
taken these symptoms into special account.  He prays, "O Krsna! 
O Son of Maharaja Nanda!  When will My eyes be decorated with
tears of love when I chant Your Name?  When will My voice choke
up with ecstatic emotions?  When will My body be filled with
horripila¬tions?  O Lord!  Be merciful that these ecstatic¬symptoms
may soon decorate My body at the time of chanting Your Name!" 
 
    Sri Caitanya Caritamrita Antya 20.37:  
 
	"Without love of Godhead, My life is useless.  Therefore I
pray that You accept Me as Your servant and give Me the salary of
ecstatic love of God." 

  
     "O Lord Krsna, enjoyer of the gopis, when will the eyes of
this gopi brim over with cascading tears at the recita¬tion 
of Your Name?  When will my voice choke up with love and my body 
tingle with horripilation?"  

	This is a perfect example of a prayer of love for Krsna. In
the context of this verse another verse from Bhakti-rasamrita-
sindhu may be cited for consideration: "O Lord Pundarikaksa,
while chanting Your holy name with tears in my eyes, when shall I
dance in ecstasy on the bank of Yamuna?" (BRS 1.2.156) 

	In chanting the secondary names of Krsna (gauna-nama), there
is no question of experiencing prema.  Therefore Lord Caitanya
has said, "Although the teachings of the Upanisads may be heard,
they are far removed from the nectarean pastimes of Krsna, and
therefore they are unable to melt the heart and make the hearer
erupt into ecstatic tears and horripilation."  The subject of the
Upanisads is Brahman; but that is only remotely connected with
the sweetness of the narration of Krsna's pastimes, which always
produces ecstasy in the hearts of pure devotees. 
 
	This sloka does not refer to those who have naturally moist
eyes or who display artificial bhava; when the jiva becomes pure
and spontaneously attracted to devotional service to Krsna, his
body and very life force become completely obedient to the
eternal bhavas that constantly play within the heart.  Therefore,
the melting of the heart, the ecstatic symptoms that grip the
body and life force are experienced only to those unalloyed
devotees who are absolute¬ly cleansed of all anarthas. 

	Those neophyte souls who try to artificially imitate the
ecstatic emotions and symptoms of the mahabhagavata devotees so
as to deceive the general populace are in fact creating a
gigantic hurdle on their path of advancement in Krsna consciousness. 

 
     Srimad Bhagavatam 11.3.30-31: 
 
     "One should learn how to associate with the devotees of the 
Lord by gathering with them to chant the glories of the Lord. 
This process is most purifying.  As devotees thus develop their 
loving friendship, they feel mutual happiness and satisfaction. 
And by thus encouraging one another they are able to give up 
material sense gratification, which is the cause of all 
suffering. 
 
     The devotees of the Lord constantly discuss the glories of 
the Personality of Godhead among themselves.  Thus they constantly remember the Lord and remind one another of His qualities and 
pastimes.  In this way, by their devotion to the principles of 
bhakti-yoga, the devotees please the Personality of Godhead, who 
takes away from them everything inauspicious. Being purified of 
all impediments. the devotees awaken to pure love of Godhead, and
thus, even within this world, their spiritualized bodies exhibit 
symptoms of transcendental ecstasy, such as standing of the
bodily hairs on end." 
 
     Srimad Bhagavatam 11.3.32: 
 
     "Having achieved love of Godhead, the devotees sometimes 
cry out loud, absorbed in thought of the infallible Lord. 
Sometimes they laugh, feel great pleasure, speak out loud to the 
Lord, dance or sing. Such devotees, having transcended material 
conditional life, sometimes imitate the unborn Supreme by acting 
out His pastimes.  And sometimes, achieving His personal audience, they remain peaceful and silent."  

 

 

 
 
yugayitam - appearing like a great millennium;  nimesena - by a 
moment;  caksusa - from the eyes;  pravrsayitam - tears falling 
like torrents of rain;  sunyayitam - appearing void;  jagat - the
world;  sarvam - all;  govinda - from Lord Govinda, Krishna;  
virahena me - by My separation. 
  
	"My Lord Govinda, because of separation from You, I consider
even a moment a great millennium. Tears flow from My eyes like 
torrents of rain, and I see the entire world as void."

 
     When bhava or ratibhakti reaches the stage of sthayibhava
(constancy), it mixes with four other bhavas - vibhava, anubhava,
sattvika and vyabhicari  and transforms into bhakti-rasa or the
spiritual mellow of devotional service.  Then the  ecstatic
symptoms of anubhava and sattvikavikara are fully expres¬sed. 

	Srila Rupa Goswami, describing prema, writes in the Bhakti-
rasamrita-sindhu, "That bhava-bhakti which from the start so
excessively affects the heart that it melts into a sublime 
salve of love, which brings within easy reach the highest
sentiments of divine bliss, which generates an intense desire for
Krsna, is known by the perfected devotees as prema."  From this
statement it is obvious that an extreme attraction, affection and
spontaneous dedication to Lord Krsna is synonymous with prema. 
 
     The relationship between the visaya (the object of worship,
or Krsna) and the asraya (the devotee) is ex¬changed through the
five principal rasas  of neutrality, servitor¬ship, friendship,
parenthood and conjugal love.  Sometimes the main rasas in the
relationship subside, allowing the seven secondary rasas of
laughter, wonderment, pity, bravado, anger, fear and horror to be
relished.  

	Among the principal rasas, conjugal or madhuryarasa is the
most exalted.  As madhuryarasa increases in intensity, it
manifests all the excellences of prema, which are pranaya (love
that avoids respect), sneha (melting of the heart), mana (hiding
of love by crooked means), raga (attachment), anuraga (further
attachment), bhava (ecstacy) and maha-bhava (great ecstacy),
one after another. 

	In santarasa (neutrality), there is a kind of affection for
the Lord marked by great exultation.  Such affection is displayed
as an attachment for Brahman coupled with an attitude of disregard and unconcern for everyth¬ing else, including other rasas. 
x	When this affection (known as mamata) increases, the attraction deepens to the point of dasyarasa or servitorship.  In this
rasa, the intensified affection remains permanent even if the
relation¬ship is seriously tested.

	When the affection for the Supreme Lord is fortified with
unflinching faith and trust it is called pranaya, the very
essence of sakhyarasa or friendship.  But in the presence of awe
and reverential worship pranaya will not appear.  

	As affection increases, pranaya develops into a mis¬chievous
and crooked mood of unusual flavor known as mana.  In this mood,
the loving resent¬ment of the devotee forces even the Supreme Lord
to compromise, out of His desire to relish this emotional exchange.

	That abundance of love that melts the heart to emotional
liquid is known as sneha.  Sneha is symptomatized by profuse unchecked tears; and in this stage the devotee's yearning to see
Krsna never admits satiety.  In vatsalyarasa or parental love 
this yearning is felt as the devotee's constant anxiety for
Krsna's wellbeing.
 
     Sneha infected by intense craving is called raga.  In the 
stage of raga a moment's separation from the beloved is 
unbearable; while in union the opposite is true  even extreme
grief feels like exhilaration.  In raga, the object of worship
(Krsna) is made to appreciate His own everyouthful form by the
attentions of the devotee; thus raga itself becomes evernew and
ageless and is transformed into anuraga. 

	In anuraga the lover and beloved enrapture one another into
obedience.  There is even a longing to be born as animals or
other lower species that enjoy a direct connection with Krsna;
this is called premavaicitra, the variations of love.  In the
anuraga stage, separa¬tion from Krsna blesses the devotee with
excessive ecstacies. 

	When anuraga is overflooded by the mag¬nificent ocean of
ecstatic love and the devotee completely loses himself in
transcen¬dental madness, mahabhava is attained.  In this stage,
even the dropping of an eyelid that blocks the devotee's view of
the Lord for less than a second is intolerable.  In the ecstacy
of separation, a mere moment is stretch¬ed to timeless eter¬nity. 
 
     In mahabhava, in both union and separation, all the 
symptoms of sattvika and sancari bhavas manifest to the fullest 
degree.  Lord Caitanya pours an ocean of meaning from the pitcher
of this sloka  for a full elaboration on the different gradations of loving ecstacy that are hinted at here, one should
consult Srila Jiva Goswami's Pritisandarbha. 
 
     The word yugayitam is a simple and direct expression of
timelessness; the phrase govinda virahena conveys deep feelings
of separation (vipralambha).  Fully Krsna conscious rasika
devotee have subdivided vipralambha into purva raga (preliminary
attraction), mana (seeming anger) and pravasa (separation by
distance).  In this sloka, Caitanya Mahaprabhu reveals that the
sadhaka dwelling within this world need only relish the purva
raga stage of vipralambha ecstacy.
 x
ten conditions in the sadhaka's person.  They are: pondering,
sleeplessness, perturbation, emaciation, pallor, in¬coherent
speech, a stricken condition, madness, delusion and death 
(unconscious). 
 
     Sri Caitanya Caritamrita, Antya 20.4041:  
 
     "In My agitation a day never ends, for every moment seems 
like a millennium. Pouring incessant tears, My eyes are like 
clouds in the rainy season. 
     
	"The three words have become void because of separation from
Govinda. I feel as if I were burning alive in a slow fire." 

 
     "O Govinda, the entire world is but a void in Your 
absence; My eyes are raining tears like monsoon clouds, and
each batting of My eyelids seems like a millennium." 

	This is an excellent expression of vipralambharasa. 

	This sloka was composed to teach the jata-rati devotee that
it is absolutely essential he take up the vipralambharasa not
caring for sambhoga or enjoyment.  In material life, viraha or
separation causes only grief.  But on the transcendental plane,
viraha produces extreme ecstacy within, though externally the
inner ecstacy is reflected as acute anguish. 

	Vipralambha therefore nourish¬es sambhoga or enjoyment
within.  In fact, sambhoga is an external feature of the vipralambharasa in the state known as prema vaicitra or loving
variegatedness.  The devotee incessantly and intensely recollects
Krsna and His pastimes in vipralambharasa, to the point of never
forgetting Krsna.  This is indeed the superexcellent stage of
bhajana.  

	The sambhoga exhibited by the pretentious group known as
gauranga-najari, who do not sincerely practice Krsna consciousness but claim to be devotees, is simply a result of their insincerity.  That sambhoga is a severe impediment on the pure
devotional path.  It is factually only selfpleasure; hence it is
bereft of sincere devotion to Krsna.  

	Just by knowing the meaning of the sloka, "The desire to
gratify one's own senses is kama (lust), but the desire to please
the senses of Lord Krsna is prema (love)" (C.C. Adi 4.165), one
is spared from the urge to sense enjoyment.  Unfortunately,
unscrupulous pseudodevotees try to disguise their lusty urges by
presenting Lord Caitanya to the world as a pleasure seeker
(nagari).  But the true meaning of Lord Caitanya's pastimes is
that Lord Krsna descended as Lord Caitanya to accept the sentiments of an asrayatattva devotee who is constantly absorbed in
the vipralambha mood.  

	As mentioned, vipralambha nourishes enjoyment, but it is
Krsna's enjoyment that is being nourished by the pure devotee in
this mood.  Caitanya Mahaprabhu is eternally the embodiment of
vipralambharasa, and He personally propagates this means of
nourishing Krsna's pleasure among the jivas, who must discard
their futile attempts for sambhogarasa. 

 
     Sri Krishna Karanamrita, sloka 41: 
 
     "O supreme shelter of the destitute, O Lord Hari, You are an
ocean of mercy!  Alas!  Oh alas!  Without seeing Your lovely face
how am I going to live through these wretched days and nights?" 
 
     Srila Madhavendra Puri's words as recorded in Padyavali, 
text 400: 
 
     "O compassionate Lord of the helpless!  O Lord of Mathura! 
When will I be able to see You?  Your absence has made my
stricken heart extremely anxious.  O my beloved!  What am I to do
now?" 
 
     In Ujjvala-nilamali, text 64: 
 
     "Srimati Radharani is completely smitten.  She is experiencing the limitless ocean of suffering as the ten conditions of
separation overcome Her.  She ponderings without sleeping and
suffers pertur¬ba¬tions, she has become emaciated and pallid, she
speaks in¬coherently, is stricken, mad and deluded and swoons 
almost to death." 

- Me;  adarsanat - by not being visible;  marma-hatam - brokenhearted;  karotu - let Him make;  va - or;  yatha - as (He likes);  tatha - so;  va - or;  vidadhatu - let Him do;  lampatah
- a debauchee, who mixes with other women; mat-prana-nathah - the
Lord of My life; tu - but;  sah - He;  eva - only;  na aparah - not anyone else.   	"Let Krishna tightly embrace this servant, who has fallen at
His lotus feet.  Let Him trample Me or break My heart by not
being visible to Me.  He is a debauchee, after all, and can do
whatever He likes, but He is still no more other than the
worshipable Lord of My heart."  
platform of prema is described in this sloka.  "That supreme
adulterer and libertine, Krsna, may grant endless bliss to this
servant surrendered to His lotus feet; or he may drive me into
excruciating depths of despair by not being present before me; He
may please to do anything He wants with me - even to the extent
of enjoying with another of His beloved gopis in my presence; yet
He remains always the Lord of my heart; for me there can never be
any other person."	We find accounts of the incomparable position of such fully
sur¬rendered souls in Srimad Bhagavatam: "When the mortal living
beings finally decide to relinquish all fruitive activities and
totally surrender to Me, I reciprocate by giving them the nectar
of immortality, elevating them to become My eternal associates." 	The conclusion is that in Krsnaprema, Krsna becomes the
life, soul and the greatest treasure of the devotee.  In this
mature stage of devotional service the sublime exchanges of
mutual attraction between the devotee and the Lord flower into
full bloom. 
feet." 	This statement demonstrates the truth of the eternal bond
between the infinitesimal jiva and infinite Supreme Lord.  This
relationship becomes obscured when the jiva gives up Krsna
consciousness.  But when, by good fortune, the living entity's
conscious¬ness becomes purified, then the mutual attrac¬tion
between the Lord and His part and parcel is revived. 	A piece of iron, when clean and shining, is automatically attracted to a magnet; similarly, the consciousness of the spirit
soul, when purified, clean and shining, will automatically
exhibit attraction to Krsna.  Besides facilitating this attraction, selfpurification has no function.  The path of Krsna
consciousness is called premadharma, the dharma of loving
devotional service; sadhakas of the prema-dharma must know that
save and except for prema, this path of religion neglects all
results desired by those who pursue dharma, artha, kama and
moksa.
Bhagavatam: "My dear gopis!  Severing all family attachments for
My sake, you have achieved what is very rare even for the great
philosophers and yogis.  Our meetings with each other are
completely pure and unblemished.  If I tried to repay My debt to you for your love, devotion, service and renunciation, even if
I endeavored with My immortal body throughout all eternity I
would be unable to do it.  I am obliged to you life after life.
Though you may consider Me absolved of any debt out of your
natural meekness and loving demeanor, I will nontheless always
remain beholden to you." 	As indicated by the Lord's declaration of indebtedness to
the gopis, to please and attract Krsna, one should love and
satisfy the devotees whom He holds most dear.  In other words,
one who desires entrance into Krsna consciousness must have no
interest in selfish socalled pleasu¬res.  A devotee serves Krsna,
has affec¬tion for Him, meets Him, or may do anything - the sole
intention  is to please Krsna and increasing one's loving service
to Him.       Lord Caitanya uses the phrase `deeply afflicted in the
heart' in this sloka; in reality, the devotee does not feel grief
but exultation.  To confirm this fact, Lord Krsna tells the
gopis: "For My sake you disregarded social taboos, Vedic injunctions, and even cut off connection to your rela¬tives and family
members.  In all this, your meditation on Me was single-minded.
You did not even care for your beauty and nuptial happiness.  So
in order to increase your love for Me I disappeared from your
sight.  Please do not blame Me for this act of love, because you
are extremely dear to Me, as I am to you." 	Another important point in this sloka is that although the
Lord speaks of `giving Me bliss by Your loving embrace', there is
no trace of self-satisfaction; even here the only thought is of
loving Krsna by giving oneself to Him for His pleasure.  Lord
Caitanya's statements very much exemplify the true emotions of
pure love.  
significant.  Lord Krsna desired to know, "How glorious is
Srimati Radharani's love for Me, She being My internal spiritual
potency?   How does She alone fully relish My transcendental
qualities?  What is the happiness She feels when She realizes the
sweetness of My love for Her?" 	Longing to answer these three questions, the Supreme Lord
Sri Krsna revealed His eternal form as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu,
Who personifies audarya or magnanimity in absolute fullness.  Sri
Caitanya savours to their mys¬terious depths the three states of
Radharani's love as He performs manifold pastimes in an exclusive
region of Goloka known as Sri Navadvipadhama. 	Adorned with the ecstatic sentiments and lustrous complexion
of Srimati Radharani, Krsna as Sri Caitanya Mahaprab¬hu appears on
this earth once in a day of Brahma.  His most recent descent to
the mortal plane occurred in the year 1486 of the Christian era
in the West Bengal district of Nadia, where the divine waters of
Mother Ganga purify the town of Navad¬vipa.  Navadwipadhama is
non-dif¬ferent from Vrindavana. 	He took His birth during a full lunar eclipse on the bright
moon night of the month of Phalguna (March).  The whole town of
Navadwipa was reverberating with the chanting of God's name, as
this was the custom during a lunar eclipse.  The Lord accepted
Pandit Jaganatha Misra and Srimati Sacidevi as His father and
mother. 	His childho¬od was filled with childlike restless¬ness and
miraculous pranks; His boyhood days were spent in studies; His
marriage in youth was strictly in accordance with Vedic culture
as was His execution of household life.  Thereafter He went to
Gaya and accepted spiritual initiation in the ten syllable Gopal
mantra from Sripad Isvara Puri, a great acarya in the BrahmaªMadhva disciplic succession; thus He taught the living entities  
their duty to take shelter of a self-realized spiritual master as
directed in the scriptures. After His return from Gaya He
performed congrega¬tional chanting of the holy name with His
associates and devotees, flooding Bengal with the nectar of the
holy name of God and propagat¬ing devotional service to Krsna. 	At age twentyfour He received sannyasa initiation from Sripad Kesava Bharati of the Sankara sampradaya and forever
severed all links with home and family life.  The next six years
found Him on pilgrimage through Bengal, Orissa, South India, Maharastra, Uttar Pradesh (Mathura, Vrindavana, Prayag, Kasi),
and Bihar (Kaukai, Natsala, Rajmahal).  	In His travels He blessed millions of conditioned souls by
giving them the holy name of Krsna and teaching them the science
of pure devotion.  He refuted all philosophi¬cal speculations
contradictory to the conclusions of the authorized scriptures and
firmly established the philosophy of acintya bheda-abheda tattva,
which He Himself taught for the first time as the essence of the
teachings of the other four schools of Vaisnava philosophy.       For the next eighteen years He made His residence at Sri Jaganatha Puri.  There, in the company of His intimate associates, He relished the nectar of love of Godhead, exploring
fully the three questions.  From amongst His followers, He sent
out powerful prea¬chers to lead the conditioned souls along the
path of pure devotional service to the Supreme Lord. 	In this way He drowned entire India in the waves of Krsna 
Damodara, Sri Ramananda Raya, Sri Prabhodananda Saraswati, Sri
Rupa Goswami, Sri Sanatana Goswami, Sri Raghunatha dasa Goswami,
Sri Gopal Bhatta Goswami, Sri Jiva Goswami, Sri Kavi Karnapura
and others to write books establishing His teachings; for this
purpose He impregnated their hearts with His divine potency. 	He has personally condensed these selfsame teachings into
His eight Sikshas¬taka prayers; they reach out and touch all
levels of devotees.  At times the Lord would immerse Himself in
the nectar of these eight slokas, tasting their conclusions in
the association of Srila Svarupa Damodara and Sri Ramananda Raya.
Later, these slokas were explained in great detail in important
scriptures like Sri Caitanya Caritamrita.       By His own example, Lord Caitanya taught how to lead an
ideal householder life and the life of strict renunciation,
sannyasa. These teachings too are all contained in thess eight
verses.  They are superexellent.      Surrendered souls who read with devotion these nectarean
prayers from the mouth of the Supreme Lord Gauranga will certainly be attracted to the honey of Lord Caitanya's lotus feet.  Like
spiritually intoxicated bees, they will swarm to the lilyfilled
lake of Krsna's love. 	Four hundred and one years after the advent of Lord Gauranga, the commentary known as Sri Sanmodana Bhasyam was composed by 
Kedarnatha Bhaktivinoda.       The Siksastaka prayers particularly distill the essence of
all Vedic scriptures for the taste of the rasikabhakta, the pure
devotee.  Having emanated from the lips of the Supreme Lord
Himself, these prayers are the Absolute Truth.  They should be
read, recited and worshipped daily by sincere and fortunate
souls.  These prayers should be as constant companions, learnt
and taken to heart.       Caitanya Caritamrita, Antya 20.48-52:       "I am a maidservant at the lotus feet of Krsna. He is the embodiment of transcendental happiness and mellows.  If He likes He can tightly embrace Me and make Me feel oneness with Him, or by not giving Me His audience He may corrode My mind and body. Nevertheless, it is He who is the Lord Of My life.       "My dear friend, just hear the decision of My mind. Krsna is the Lord of My life in all conditions, whether He shows Me affection or kills Me by giving Me unhappiness.       "Sometimes Krsna gives up the company of other gopis and becomes controlled, mind and body, by Me.  Thus He manifests My good fortune and gives others distress by performing His loving affairs with Me."       "Or, since after all He is a very cunning, obstinate debauchee with a propensity to cheat, He takes to the company of
other women.  He then indulges in loving affairs with them in
front of Me to give distress to My mind.  Nevertheless, He is
still the Lord of My life.       "I do not mind My personal distress.  I only wish for the 
always absorbed in serving Krsna's lotus feet.  He may embrace
me, He may exploit me, or He may break my heart by not appearing
before me.  He is a libertine accustomed to have His way with the
gopi damsels for the satisfaction of His lusty desires.  Let His
will prevail; in spite of everything He is the beloved Lord of my
heart, nothing less, nothing more.  Lord Krsna is the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, fully independent.  My religion is to
obey His command.  I have lost my independent whimsy; I could
never recoil from serving His will for any reason." 	In the perfect stage, the devotee has shed forever his
material designations of body and mind.  His only concern is to
satisfy Lord Krsna's every desire in the transcendental realm of
Goloka, which is Krsn¬a's personal playground.  In this mood of
unalloyed love, the devotee's only hope for service is in the
role of a female assistant to the gopis; such service is indeed
avail¬able in the devotee's original spirit¬ual form of tran¬scedental senses. 	The jiva must never consider assuming the position of an
asrayavigraha devotee (i.e. a principle associate of Krsna).
Just the thought of this will make him egoistic.  The uncontaminated state of the pure jiva's existence in the spiritual
world is subservience to the asrayavigraha.  The jiva is dear to
Lord Krsna; yet constitutionally, by the Lord's desire, he is in
the marginal category of the Lord's spiritual energy.  
sambandha, abhidheya, and prayojana.  Broadly, the first verse
teaches about the process of the congregational chanting of the
holy name; the second about the unfortunate reluctance of the
condi¬tioned soul to take up this best process; the third about
the proper means of chanting the holy name; the fourth about the
renunciation of deception and all adverse desires; the fifth
about the jiva's original spiritual identity; the sixth about
feeling the good fortune of coming nearer to the Lord; the
seventh about the highly elevated mood of separation; and the
eighth about how one gets es¬tablished in his absolute goal of
necessity.       In all eight verses, the abhideya principle is shown. Within that context, the first five verses impart sambandha jnana; the remaining three explain prayojana.  The first five
verses concern sadhanabhakti, and the next two about bhavabhakti.  The sixth to the eighth verse, and especially the
seventh and eighth, deal with premabhakti, but for sadhakas. 	Selecting the following verse composed by Srila Visvanatha
Cakravati Thakura to convey my feelings, I offer my obeisances to
all the readers and thus end this commentary.       "The Supreme Lord Krsna, the son of Maharaja Nanda, and His 
are my objects of worship.  The topmost service is rendered by
the gopis of Vraja.  Srimad Bhaga¬vatam is the absolutely authentic scripture, the basis of all teachings and conclusions. Krsnaªprema is the fifth goal, beyond the four goals of the Vedas; it
is  also the supreme destination.  All this is Lord Caitanya's
opinion, and therefore the opinion most favored by us; other
opinions are neither favored by or even interesting to us."  
feet, more beautiful than a lotus, being pricked by the spiked husks of grain and the rough grass and plants."       Srimad Bhagavatam 10.31.15:       "When You go to the forest during the day, a tiny fraction of a second becomes like a millennium for us because we cannot see You.  And even when we can eagerly look upon Your beautiful face, so beautifully adorned by curly locks, our pleasure is hindered by our eyelids, which were fashioned by the foolish creator."       Sri Krsna Karnamrita, sloka 12:       "May the lotus-like feet of the Supreme Lord Krsna, the only
gallant hero who plays eternal pastimes with all the Lakshmi-devis (gopis); whose blooming beauty withers the exquisite beauty
of lotuses; and who is an expert at fully convincing His devotees
of His divine protection, be forever enthroned in my heart,
giving me unfathomable happiness."