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| Laksheshvara |
Q. Does the preaching of the chanting of the Nityananda and Gauranga Mantrarajas minimize the chanting of
the Hare Krishna Mahamantra?
A. Swami Gaurangapada:
The Holy Names of Nityananda, Gauranga and Hare Krishna are the Names of the self-same Lord
Gauranga-Krishna so there is no question of one Holy Name compromising the other. Those who see a
difference between Lords Balarama Krishna and Lord Nityananda Gauranga and Their Holy Names are
considered as typical victims of the mentality of Kali Yuga.
In regards to the chanting of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra, I am personally training my disciples to gradually
come up to the level of chanting 64 rounds (100,000 Holy Names) of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra daily which
is the original order of Lord Gauranga and which I myself practice daily. I myself chant daily 64 rounds each of
the Nityananda and Gauranga Mantrarajas and the Hare Krishna Mahamantra. After reaching the stage of
chanting 16 rounds of each of the Nityananda and Gauranga Mantrarajas and the Hare Krishna Mahamantra
daily, I suggest my disciples to increase the chanting of the Nityananda and Gauranga Mantrarajas from 16 to
64 as per their capacity and then after that gradually increase the chanting of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra
from 16 rounds to 64 rounds daily which is the supreme position of all spiritual glory known as Laksheshvara.
I personally feel that my first and foremost service to my worldwide disciples, to the Acharyas and to the Lord is
to complete the chanting of 100,000 Holy Names of the Lord in the most holy abode of Shri Jagannatha Puri
Gambhira Dhama. What can the Guru give to the disciples spiritually if the Guru is not a Laksheshvara? The
Guru offers the services and chanting of the disciples to the Lord and the Lord states in Shri Chaitanya
Bhagavata that I do not accept anything from one who does not chant 100,000 Holy Names. So it is incumbent
than the Guru chants 100,000 Holy Names daily with attachment to be a fully transparent via medium to the
Lord with no uncertainty. The spiritual benefit of the Laksheshvara Bhajana (chanting) of the Guru in the Holy
Abode goes to the soul of each and every disciple wherever they are situated.
There are so many Gurus and so many Disciples in this world but those Gurus who follow this primary order of
Lord Gauranga-Krishna of chanting 100,000 Holy Names daily with attachment are able to benefit the disciples
more than anyone else as they please the Lord more by following His order. Of course the nitya-siddha
associates of the Lord like Shrila Prabhupada benefit the whole world simply by presence even if they chant or
do not chant.
I have translated, compiled and commented on the glories of chanting 100,000 Holy Names of the Hare Krishna
Mahamantra daily as ordered by Lord Gauranga and all the Acharyas at
http://mahamantrayoga.gaurangapada.com so I do not see any way in which chanting of the Nityananda and
Gauranga Mantrarajas comprises the chanting of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra as it is not as a replacement
but is an addition. In fact the Holy Names of Nityananda Gauranga enable us to have ever-expanding taste to
chant and sing the Holy Names of Shri Shri Radha Krishna in the form of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra. This has
been the experience and realization of all those who are chanting the Nityananda and Gauranga Mantrarajas.
Many of the present devotee groups do not stress the chanting of Laksha Nama (100,000 Holy Names) daily
thinking maybe that the order of their own spiritual masters is higher than the order of Lord Gauranga
Mahaprabhu Himself and seeing the order of the Guru as different from the order of the Lord. But this is not the
case as the supreme order of Lord Gauranga Mahaprabhu to chant 100,000 Holy Names of the Hare Krishna
Mahamantra daily never becomes outdated and should be worshiped and preached by all bona-fide spiritual
masters as the ultimate ideal of Gaudiya Vaishnavism for all time to come. Shrila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
Prabhupada said that the daily chanting of 100,000 Names is the only full-proof remedy to fully uproot the
deep-rooted desires for sense-gratification which bind us to the cycle of birth and death. This is confirmed by his
own Gurudeva Shrila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada.
Unfortunately many of the present devotees seem to be unaware on the importance of increasing the chanting
of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra from more than 16 rounds daily because the instructions of the Lord and the
Acharyas are not known to them or even if they are known to them, they tend to ignore them.
Many think that 16 rounds is the maximum and some even stop others from increasing the chanting and criticize
the process of chanting more than 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra daily. Some even go to the most
unfortunate extent of calling it a deviation even though it is actually the ultimate goal and crest-jewel of all our
spiritual practices. We perform all the devotional services to ultimately awaken taste for chanting Nitai Gaura
Nama and Harinama constantly. Thus when
one stops or discourages others from chanting These Holy Names constantly it defeats the whole purpose of
spiritual life.
The teachings of Lord Gauranga Mahaprabhu regarding the chanting of 100,000 Holy Names daily of the Hare
Krishna Mahamantra daily have become so extinct that even the very followers of Lord Gauranga hardly care
about this order what to speak of the materialistic people who are not interested in devotional service and thus
consider chanting as a waste of time. Shrila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada has said that it
should be the ideal of every Gaudiya Vaishnava to gradually come to the platform of chanting 100,000 Holy
Names daily otherwise one
should humbly accept within one's heart that one is fallen and one is not able to fulfill the order of Lord
Gauranga. This humble attitude will please the Lord and not the attitude of justifying not chanting 100,000 Holy
Names daily on the pretext of doing some other devotional service.
The order, vani and instructions of the Supreme Lord Gauranga Mahaprabhu is the essence of all our spiritual
practices and the institution or organization we belong to is only an external thing as the soul does not belong
to any institution but is an eternal servant of Lord Gauranga-Krishna. Thus the order of Lord Gauranga-Krishna
to chant 100,000 Holy Names daily stands above all institutions and organizations since it is the direct order to
each and every soul which is direct part and parcel of the Lord.
Also some devotees tend to bend the order of the Lord as per time, place and circumstances justifying that
when Lord Gauranga Mahaprabhu ordered everyone to chant daily 64 rounds of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra
500 years back, everyone had so much time in the day but now no one has time due to the increased rat-race
of urban life. This is not a valid justification because the number of hours in the day have not reduced, they are
still 24.
Just because the human civilization has become more animalistic with the philosophy of the survival of the
fittest, does not mean that the original instructions of Lord Gauranga have to be diluted. The qualification for
entering the spiritual world never changes whether it is Satya Yuga or Kali Yuga.
People are ready to work like asses 12 to 14 hours a day to become rich in this world and solve their economic
problems for the 60 to 80 years they live in this world, but when it comes to give 6 to 7 hours a day to chant
100,000 Holy Names of the Lord daily to permanently solve all material problems and attain a fully spiritual body
in spiritual world which is free of the miseries of birth, old age, death, disease, sorrow, poverty, calamities etc.
they can never do it.
Let us consider a mathematical equation:
To temporarily solve economic problem for a life of 80 years;
Required: to work hard 12 hours/day for 60 years = 262,800 hours.
To permanently solve the material problems of repeated birth, death, disease, old age, poverty, etc. which we
have suffered for the past trillions of years in different bodies.
Required: to peacefully chant 7 hours/day (100,000 Holy Names) for 80 years (one life) = 204,400 hours.
Please tell me which is easier of the two. Even a child can say that it is the second one. The first one is only a
temporary solution for one life and when we die we loose everything which we make in the 262,800 hours of
hard toiling work throughout our lives. We start from scratch again in our next life.
But the second option is so easy and sublime that we have to work once only for 204,400 hours in one life and
it permanently solves all our problems life after life. No more problems! The chanting is also very easily and
blissfully performed not like the hard toil of the first kind of work. And it does not mean that you give up your
other work. You have 17 hours to discharge your responsibilities and do other work during the day.
So who will not go for it? Theoretically, everyone should go for it but no one does. This is the biggest miracle in
this world and it shows the extraordinary powerful of Maya, the illusory energy of the Lord in bewildering
everyone to choose the temporary first option which throws the soul in 8.4 million species of life.
The above equation also proves that the order of Lord Gauranga Mahaprabhu to chant 100,000 Holy Names
daily is practical and fully applicable and possible even in the present times and not utopian as some people
would feel. But no one will go for it. Why? Because they foolishly say, "Who has seen the spiritual world?". They
ask, "What is the guarantee that the chanting will solve all problems of life.?" "Why should I not take birth
again as a dog? I can enjoy with my puppies." "I prefer to become a cat, dog, mosquito, pig, tree, fish, etc.
rather than to go to the spiritual world." They make all this grossly ignorant statements not knowing the
suffering their soul will have to face in the animal species. As they say, "Ignorance is Bliss."
Shrila Prabhupada gave initiation into 64 rounds (100,000 Holy Names) of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra when
he first gave initiation in USA. This shows that our Acharyas are not very happy but actually very hesitant to
compromise the original order of the Supreme Lord Gauranga. It was only because of heavy pressure from his
disciples that he reduced it to 16 rounds daily but he stated that it was the minimum and not the maximum as
some devotees tend to believe.
We are personally endeavoring in our own humble way to establish the chanting of Laksha Nama (100,000 Holy
Names) as the ideal for all our disciples and for the world in general. That is why we have the different stages
in chanting. The stages of chanting help the devotees not to feel uncomfortable and choose a stage of chanting
which they can easily practice daily and on the other hand not to loose the vision of the ideal stage of chanting
as ordered by the Lord Himself.
Very very few Gaudiya Vaishnava groups as per our knowledge are really actively and openly accepting,
emphasizing and promoting this ideal and most important order of Lord Gauranga Mahaprabhu, though there
must be some advanced devotees who must be practicing it themselves. The problem with Laksha Nama
preaching of the glories of chanting 100,000 Holy Names daily is that one has to practice it before preaching it.
Very few devotees are able to actually practice it daily as they have accepted many other devotional and
material priorities as more important in their life than the chanting of 100,000 Holy Names. If one cannot chant
100,000 Holy Names daily, one should still maintain a very worshipful mood for this ideal standard and always
make oneself climb one step higher in the ladder to achieve this goal at least when one retires from active
material life towards the end of one's life.
Many of the present devotees do not actively accept, emphasize and promote the ideal basic order of Lord
Gauranga to chant 100,000 Holy Names of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra daily so it is not surprising that they
will not accept the glories of the critical importance of chanting Nityananda Gauranga Nama for bringing us to
the offenseless and pure chanting of Harinama. The glories of chanting Holy Names of Nityananda and
Gauranga are so confidential and rare then they can be fully understood and grasped only by those who have
achieved the real mercy of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra. And Maya will try very frequently to create doubts in
the minds of those devotees who are chanting the Holy Names of Nityananda and Gauranga as Maya knows
that a soul will escape my clutches and control very quickly if the souls takes shelter of Holy Names of
Nityananda and Gauranga along with the chanting of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra.
We do not want to remain among the very few preachers who understand and emphasize the glories of ideal
process of chanting 100,000 Holy Names daily and we hope that many devotee preachers will realize the
importance of this order of the Supreme Lord Gauranga Mahaprabhu and will take it up seriously in the future.
The vox populi verdict of the general people will always be against the process of daily chanting of the Holy
Names because this material world is the domain of Maya and it is not Vaikuntha, the spiritual world where all
souls are engaged constantly in the Lord's service.
Thus the conclusion is that in spiritual life one should not consider favoring the vox-populi or majority vote and
stop chanting Nityananda Gauranga and Hare Krishna because no one chants it, but rather always meditate on
following the orders and instructions of Lord Gauranga, Lord Nityananda and all the previous Acharyas, even
though one may have to practice it alone in one's spiritual life.
Please always remember that the association of the Lord, the Acharyas and Shrila Gurudeva are always
available to us in the form of the sound vibration of their instructions and there is no need to panic by thinking
that we are alone in our spiritual struggle against the illusory energy of the Lord.
TOP
the Hare Krishna Mahamantra?
A. Swami Gaurangapada:
The Holy Names of Nityananda, Gauranga and Hare Krishna are the Names of the self-same Lord
Gauranga-Krishna so there is no question of one Holy Name compromising the other. Those who see a
difference between Lords Balarama Krishna and Lord Nityananda Gauranga and Their Holy Names are
considered as typical victims of the mentality of Kali Yuga.
In regards to the chanting of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra, I am personally training my disciples to gradually
come up to the level of chanting 64 rounds (100,000 Holy Names) of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra daily which
is the original order of Lord Gauranga and which I myself practice daily. I myself chant daily 64 rounds each of
the Nityananda and Gauranga Mantrarajas and the Hare Krishna Mahamantra. After reaching the stage of
chanting 16 rounds of each of the Nityananda and Gauranga Mantrarajas and the Hare Krishna Mahamantra
daily, I suggest my disciples to increase the chanting of the Nityananda and Gauranga Mantrarajas from 16 to
64 as per their capacity and then after that gradually increase the chanting of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra
from 16 rounds to 64 rounds daily which is the supreme position of all spiritual glory known as Laksheshvara.
I personally feel that my first and foremost service to my worldwide disciples, to the Acharyas and to the Lord is
to complete the chanting of 100,000 Holy Names of the Lord in the most holy abode of Shri Jagannatha Puri
Gambhira Dhama. What can the Guru give to the disciples spiritually if the Guru is not a Laksheshvara? The
Guru offers the services and chanting of the disciples to the Lord and the Lord states in Shri Chaitanya
Bhagavata that I do not accept anything from one who does not chant 100,000 Holy Names. So it is incumbent
than the Guru chants 100,000 Holy Names daily with attachment to be a fully transparent via medium to the
Lord with no uncertainty. The spiritual benefit of the Laksheshvara Bhajana (chanting) of the Guru in the Holy
Abode goes to the soul of each and every disciple wherever they are situated.
There are so many Gurus and so many Disciples in this world but those Gurus who follow this primary order of
Lord Gauranga-Krishna of chanting 100,000 Holy Names daily with attachment are able to benefit the disciples
more than anyone else as they please the Lord more by following His order. Of course the nitya-siddha
associates of the Lord like Shrila Prabhupada benefit the whole world simply by presence even if they chant or
do not chant.
I have translated, compiled and commented on the glories of chanting 100,000 Holy Names of the Hare Krishna
Mahamantra daily as ordered by Lord Gauranga and all the Acharyas at
http://mahamantrayoga.gaurangapada.com so I do not see any way in which chanting of the Nityananda and
Gauranga Mantrarajas comprises the chanting of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra as it is not as a replacement
but is an addition. In fact the Holy Names of Nityananda Gauranga enable us to have ever-expanding taste to
chant and sing the Holy Names of Shri Shri Radha Krishna in the form of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra. This has
been the experience and realization of all those who are chanting the Nityananda and Gauranga Mantrarajas.
Many of the present devotee groups do not stress the chanting of Laksha Nama (100,000 Holy Names) daily
thinking maybe that the order of their own spiritual masters is higher than the order of Lord Gauranga
Mahaprabhu Himself and seeing the order of the Guru as different from the order of the Lord. But this is not the
case as the supreme order of Lord Gauranga Mahaprabhu to chant 100,000 Holy Names of the Hare Krishna
Mahamantra daily never becomes outdated and should be worshiped and preached by all bona-fide spiritual
masters as the ultimate ideal of Gaudiya Vaishnavism for all time to come. Shrila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
Prabhupada said that the daily chanting of 100,000 Names is the only full-proof remedy to fully uproot the
deep-rooted desires for sense-gratification which bind us to the cycle of birth and death. This is confirmed by his
own Gurudeva Shrila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada.
Unfortunately many of the present devotees seem to be unaware on the importance of increasing the chanting
of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra from more than 16 rounds daily because the instructions of the Lord and the
Acharyas are not known to them or even if they are known to them, they tend to ignore them.
Many think that 16 rounds is the maximum and some even stop others from increasing the chanting and criticize
the process of chanting more than 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra daily. Some even go to the most
unfortunate extent of calling it a deviation even though it is actually the ultimate goal and crest-jewel of all our
spiritual practices. We perform all the devotional services to ultimately awaken taste for chanting Nitai Gaura
Nama and Harinama constantly. Thus when
one stops or discourages others from chanting These Holy Names constantly it defeats the whole purpose of
spiritual life.
The teachings of Lord Gauranga Mahaprabhu regarding the chanting of 100,000 Holy Names daily of the Hare
Krishna Mahamantra daily have become so extinct that even the very followers of Lord Gauranga hardly care
about this order what to speak of the materialistic people who are not interested in devotional service and thus
consider chanting as a waste of time. Shrila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada has said that it
should be the ideal of every Gaudiya Vaishnava to gradually come to the platform of chanting 100,000 Holy
Names daily otherwise one
should humbly accept within one's heart that one is fallen and one is not able to fulfill the order of Lord
Gauranga. This humble attitude will please the Lord and not the attitude of justifying not chanting 100,000 Holy
Names daily on the pretext of doing some other devotional service.
The order, vani and instructions of the Supreme Lord Gauranga Mahaprabhu is the essence of all our spiritual
practices and the institution or organization we belong to is only an external thing as the soul does not belong
to any institution but is an eternal servant of Lord Gauranga-Krishna. Thus the order of Lord Gauranga-Krishna
to chant 100,000 Holy Names daily stands above all institutions and organizations since it is the direct order to
each and every soul which is direct part and parcel of the Lord.
Also some devotees tend to bend the order of the Lord as per time, place and circumstances justifying that
when Lord Gauranga Mahaprabhu ordered everyone to chant daily 64 rounds of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra
500 years back, everyone had so much time in the day but now no one has time due to the increased rat-race
of urban life. This is not a valid justification because the number of hours in the day have not reduced, they are
still 24.
Just because the human civilization has become more animalistic with the philosophy of the survival of the
fittest, does not mean that the original instructions of Lord Gauranga have to be diluted. The qualification for
entering the spiritual world never changes whether it is Satya Yuga or Kali Yuga.
People are ready to work like asses 12 to 14 hours a day to become rich in this world and solve their economic
problems for the 60 to 80 years they live in this world, but when it comes to give 6 to 7 hours a day to chant
100,000 Holy Names of the Lord daily to permanently solve all material problems and attain a fully spiritual body
in spiritual world which is free of the miseries of birth, old age, death, disease, sorrow, poverty, calamities etc.
they can never do it.
Let us consider a mathematical equation:
To temporarily solve economic problem for a life of 80 years;
Required: to work hard 12 hours/day for 60 years = 262,800 hours.
To permanently solve the material problems of repeated birth, death, disease, old age, poverty, etc. which we
have suffered for the past trillions of years in different bodies.
Required: to peacefully chant 7 hours/day (100,000 Holy Names) for 80 years (one life) = 204,400 hours.
Please tell me which is easier of the two. Even a child can say that it is the second one. The first one is only a
temporary solution for one life and when we die we loose everything which we make in the 262,800 hours of
hard toiling work throughout our lives. We start from scratch again in our next life.
But the second option is so easy and sublime that we have to work once only for 204,400 hours in one life and
it permanently solves all our problems life after life. No more problems! The chanting is also very easily and
blissfully performed not like the hard toil of the first kind of work. And it does not mean that you give up your
other work. You have 17 hours to discharge your responsibilities and do other work during the day.
So who will not go for it? Theoretically, everyone should go for it but no one does. This is the biggest miracle in
this world and it shows the extraordinary powerful of Maya, the illusory energy of the Lord in bewildering
everyone to choose the temporary first option which throws the soul in 8.4 million species of life.
The above equation also proves that the order of Lord Gauranga Mahaprabhu to chant 100,000 Holy Names
daily is practical and fully applicable and possible even in the present times and not utopian as some people
would feel. But no one will go for it. Why? Because they foolishly say, "Who has seen the spiritual world?". They
ask, "What is the guarantee that the chanting will solve all problems of life.?" "Why should I not take birth
again as a dog? I can enjoy with my puppies." "I prefer to become a cat, dog, mosquito, pig, tree, fish, etc.
rather than to go to the spiritual world." They make all this grossly ignorant statements not knowing the
suffering their soul will have to face in the animal species. As they say, "Ignorance is Bliss."
Shrila Prabhupada gave initiation into 64 rounds (100,000 Holy Names) of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra when
he first gave initiation in USA. This shows that our Acharyas are not very happy but actually very hesitant to
compromise the original order of the Supreme Lord Gauranga. It was only because of heavy pressure from his
disciples that he reduced it to 16 rounds daily but he stated that it was the minimum and not the maximum as
some devotees tend to believe.
We are personally endeavoring in our own humble way to establish the chanting of Laksha Nama (100,000 Holy
Names) as the ideal for all our disciples and for the world in general. That is why we have the different stages
in chanting. The stages of chanting help the devotees not to feel uncomfortable and choose a stage of chanting
which they can easily practice daily and on the other hand not to loose the vision of the ideal stage of chanting
as ordered by the Lord Himself.
Very very few Gaudiya Vaishnava groups as per our knowledge are really actively and openly accepting,
emphasizing and promoting this ideal and most important order of Lord Gauranga Mahaprabhu, though there
must be some advanced devotees who must be practicing it themselves. The problem with Laksha Nama
preaching of the glories of chanting 100,000 Holy Names daily is that one has to practice it before preaching it.
Very few devotees are able to actually practice it daily as they have accepted many other devotional and
material priorities as more important in their life than the chanting of 100,000 Holy Names. If one cannot chant
100,000 Holy Names daily, one should still maintain a very worshipful mood for this ideal standard and always
make oneself climb one step higher in the ladder to achieve this goal at least when one retires from active
material life towards the end of one's life.
Many of the present devotees do not actively accept, emphasize and promote the ideal basic order of Lord
Gauranga to chant 100,000 Holy Names of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra daily so it is not surprising that they
will not accept the glories of the critical importance of chanting Nityananda Gauranga Nama for bringing us to
the offenseless and pure chanting of Harinama. The glories of chanting Holy Names of Nityananda and
Gauranga are so confidential and rare then they can be fully understood and grasped only by those who have
achieved the real mercy of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra. And Maya will try very frequently to create doubts in
the minds of those devotees who are chanting the Holy Names of Nityananda and Gauranga as Maya knows
that a soul will escape my clutches and control very quickly if the souls takes shelter of Holy Names of
Nityananda and Gauranga along with the chanting of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra.
We do not want to remain among the very few preachers who understand and emphasize the glories of ideal
process of chanting 100,000 Holy Names daily and we hope that many devotee preachers will realize the
importance of this order of the Supreme Lord Gauranga Mahaprabhu and will take it up seriously in the future.
The vox populi verdict of the general people will always be against the process of daily chanting of the Holy
Names because this material world is the domain of Maya and it is not Vaikuntha, the spiritual world where all
souls are engaged constantly in the Lord's service.
Thus the conclusion is that in spiritual life one should not consider favoring the vox-populi or majority vote and
stop chanting Nityananda Gauranga and Hare Krishna because no one chants it, but rather always meditate on
following the orders and instructions of Lord Gauranga, Lord Nityananda and all the previous Acharyas, even
though one may have to practice it alone in one's spiritual life.
Please always remember that the association of the Lord, the Acharyas and Shrila Gurudeva are always
available to us in the form of the sound vibration of their instructions and there is no need to panic by thinking
that we are alone in our spiritual struggle against the illusory energy of the Lord.
TOP
