Among all the processes available to a sadhaka for attaining spiritual perfection, chanting the holy name offers the highest purification of the heart.
Although Krishna and His service are absolute, meaning there is no intrinsic difference between different services, chanting holds a unique prominence.
This is why, at the time of initiation, the only positive vow we take is to chant a fixed number of rounds daily. There is no formal vow to hear at least an hour of Krishna katha every day or perform any other specific limb of bhakti with such consistency and with no compromise.
The Binding Power of the Holy Name
The unmatched power of Holy Name is mentioned in the scriptures:
harer nāma harer nāma
harer nāmaiva kevalam
kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva
nāsty eva gatir anyathā
In this Age of Kali there is no other means, no other means, no other means for self-realization than chanting the holy name, chanting the holy name, chanting the holy name of Lord Hari. CC Adi 17.21
Sanatana Goswami states,
“Hearing about Krsna from scripture and the lips of devotees is like binding him with thin silk thread. However, independent as he is, Krsna soon severs these threads and moves away. We lose him.
Meditating is a little bit more effective because it involves the king of the senses, the mind. So meditating is like binding the Lord with ropes, like those used to bind a cow. However, Krsna cuts these ropes also, and goes somewhere else. The bhakti of kirtana, however, binds Krsna as if with iron chains.
The effect of kirtana is that the mind can also be bound. Kirtana creates exquisite devotional feelings and then nothing has the power to pull the mind away. Krishna stays and does his work of transformation. You thus become blissful.” (Broken Names, Sachinandan Swami)
Such is the beauty of chanting the Holy Name! It binds our mind and our heart.
Krishna Kathā and Mixtures
Generally, when we hear Krishna kathā, many a times, it includes personal applications, moral lessons, anecdotes, analogies, and other elements. While these certainly result in our purification, they cannot be equated with chanting the Holy Name.
Lord Caitanya has also given his verdict that chanting the Holy Name is the topmost sadhana:
bhakti-sādhana-śreṣṭha śunite haila mana
prabhu upadeśa kaila nāma-saṅkīrtana
Bhaṭṭācārya asked Caitanya Mahāprabhu, ”Which item is most important in the execution of devotional service?” The Lord replied that the most important item was the chanting of the holy name of the Lord. CC Madhya 6.241
Chanting the holy names is pure Krishna kathā – free from any external mixture. This direct engagement with Krishna in His holy name thoroughly cleanses the heart.
As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.17):
śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ
hṛdy antaḥ-stho hy abhadrāṇi vidhunoti suhṛt satām
“Sri Krsna, who is the Paramatma in everyone’s heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses the desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who relishes His messages, which are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted.”
Meditation and Distractions
Many times, we try to meditate on Krishna’s charming pastimes, but distractions overpower us. While distractions can arise during japa as well, chanting involves both speaking (shravanam) and hearing (kirtanam). We chant, we hear, and we repeat. This process is far simpler than smaraṇam (remembrance), which needs a total mental absorption.
Once, a devotee asked Śrīla Prabhupāda, “Prabhupāda, my mind gets distracted while chanting. What should I do?”
Prabhupāda replied, “What is the question of the mind? Just chant and hear.”
One simply needs to chant and listen the Holy Name.
The Highest Practitioner
Harinama Chintamani states,
The highest type of practitioners are those who believe that, of all the processes of sādhana-bhakti, taking shelter of the Lord’s holy name awards one all perfection. (Taken from Bhaktivinode Vani Vaibhava)
The Purificatory Power of the Holy Name
The holy name has the unmatched ability to purge unlimited sins. Mahaprabhu says to Satyaraja Khan,
eka kṛṣṇa-nāme kare sarva-pāpa kṣaya
nava-vidhā bhakti pūrṇa nāma haite haya
Simply by chanting the holy name of Kṛṣṇa once, a person is relieved from all the reactions of a sinful life. One can complete the nine processes of devotional service simply by chanting the holy name.
No other limb of devotional service purifies the heart as thoroughly as chanting the holy name.
The essence of bhakti lies in crying out for Krishna’s mercy through the chanting of His holy name. By sincerely engaging in nāma-saṅkīrtana, one can purify and perfect the goal of this human form of life.
PS:
“Question: If all the processes are absolute, why is nāma-saṅkīrtana considered the best?
Gour Govinda Swami: Because Mahaprabhu gives prema through nāma:
nāmnaiva prādurāsīd avatarati pare
yatra taṁ naumi gauram
When Mahaprabhu appeared, He distributed prema through the Holy Name. That is why it is the best. One may hear Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, as Maharaja Pariksit did, and attain perfection, but not prema. You may go up to Vaikuntha, but without chanting the Holy Name under the guidance of a Gaura-priya-jana—a dear devotee of Gauranga—you cannot attain prema or enter Goloka Vrindāvana. Therefore, it is said that chanting the Holy Name is supreme.”
Vanisanga – Quotes from Sri Srimad Gour Govinda Swami
Darshan – Bhubaneswar – March 14, 1991
