The Nectar of The Holy Name
Compilation of A.C. BV Swami Maharaja Srila Prabhupada's teachings
by Subhananda Prabhu
The Holy Name: The Universal and Supreme Religion for this Age
12.
In This Age, Krsna Appears in His Name in Order to Annihilate the Demons and Protect the Devotees
Krsna has now appeared in His holy name through the Hare Krsna movement to annihilate the demons and protect the devotees:
[Vasudeva to Lord Krsna]: O my Lord, proprietor of all creation, You have now appeared in my house, desiring to protect this world. I am sure that You will kill all the armies that are moving all over the world under the leadership of politicians who are dressed as ksatriya rulers but who are factually demons. They must be killed by You for the protection of the innocent public.
Krsna appears in this world for two purposes, paritranaya sadhunam vinasaya ca duskrtam: [Bg. 4.8] to protect the innocent, religious devotees of the Lord and to annihilate all the uneducated, uncultured asuras, who unnecessarily bark like dogs and fight among themselves for political power. It is said, kali−kale nama−rupe krsna avatara. The Hare Krsna movement is also an incarnation of Krsna in the form of the holy name (nama−rupe). Every one of us who is actually afraid of the asuric rulers and politicians must welcome this incarnation of Krsna: Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Then we will surely be protected from the harassment of asuric rulers. At the present moment these rulers are so powerful that by hook or by crook they capture the highest posts in government and harass countless numbers of people on the plea of national security or some emergency. Then again, one asura defeats another asura, but the public continues to suffer. Therefore the entire world is in a precarious condition, and the only hope is this Hare Krsna movement. Lord Nrsimhadeva appeared when Prahlada was excessively harassed by his asuric father. Because of such asuric fathers−that is, the ruling politicians−it is very difficult to press forward the Hare Krsna movement, but because Krsna has now appeared in His holy name through this movement, we can hope that these asuric fathers will be annihilated and the kingdom of God established all over the world. The entire world is now full of many asuras in the guise of politicians, gurus, sadhus, yogis and incarnations, and they are misleading the general public away from Krsna consciousness, which can offer true benefit to human society. (Srimad−Bhagavatam 10.3.21)
Just as formerly Krsna appeared personally to decrease the military burden on the earth, He has now appeared by His name in the Hare Krsna movement for the same purpose: In this verse from Srimad−Bhagavatam we find the words puraiva pumsavadhrto dhara−jvarah. The word pumsa refers to Krsna, who was already aware of how the whole world was suffering because of the increase of demons. Without reference to the supreme power of the Personality of Godhead, the demons assert themselves to be independent kings and presidents, and thus they create a disturbance by increasing their military power. When such disturbances are very prominent, Krsna appears. At present also, various demoniac states all over the world are increasing their military power in many ways, and the whole situation has become distressful. Therefore Krsna has appeared by His name, in the Hare Krsna movement, which will certainly diminish the burden of the world. Philosophers, religionists, and people in general must take to this movement very seriously, for man−made plans and devices will not help bring peace on earth. (Srimad−Bhagavatam 10.1.22)
13.
The Holy Name Destroys the Demoniac Mentality of the People in General
As Krsna appeared in order to kill the demons, the demoniac mentality of the people in general is killed in this age by the chanting of the Hare Krsna mantra:
Whenever there is a burden created by the demons and whenever the innocent devotees are distressed by demoniac rulers, the Lord appears in due course of time to kill the demons with the assistance of His real representatives, who are technically called demigods. In the Upanisads it is stated that the demigods are different parts of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As it is the duty of the parts of the body to serve the whole, it is the duty of Krsna's devotees to serve Krsna as He wants. Krsna's business is to kill the demons, and therefore this should be a devotee's business also. Because the people of Kali−yuga are fallen, however, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, out of kindness for them, did not bring any weapon to kill them. Rather, by spreading Krsna consciousness, love of Krsna, He wanted to kill their nefarious, demoniac activities. This is the purpose of the Krsna consciousness movement. Unless the demoniac activities on the surface of the world are diminished or vanquished, no one can be happy. The program for the conditioned soul is fully described in Bhagavad−gita, and one simply has to follow these instructions to become happy. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu has therefore prescribed:
harer nama harer nama harer namaiva kevalam kalau nasty eva nasty eva nasty eva gatir anyatha [Adi 17.21]
Let people chant the Hare Krsna mantra constantly. Then their demoniac tendencies will be killed, and they will become first−class devotees, happy in this life and in the next. (Srimad−Bhagavatam 10.1.64)
The Krsna consciousness movement is killing the demoniac mentality of the people by the chanting of the holy name:
Whenever God incarnates He has two missions, as stated in the Bhagavad−gita. There Krsna says, "Whenever I appear, My mission is to deliver the pious devotees and to annihilate the demons." When Krsna appeared, He had to kill many demons. If we see a picture of Visnu we will notice that He has a conchshell, lotus flower, club, and disc. These last two items are meant for killing demons. Within this world there are two classes of men−the demons and the devotees. The devotees are called demigods; they are almost like God because they have godly qualities. Those who are devotees are called godly persons, and those who are nondevotees, atheists, are called demons. So Krsna, or God, comes with two missions: to give protection to the devotees and to destroy the demons. In this age Caitanya Mahaprabhu's mission is also like that: to deliver the devotees and annihilate the nondevotees, the demons. But in this age He has a different weapon. That weapon is not a club or disc or lethal weapon− His weapon is the sankirtana movement. He killed the demoniac mentality of the people by introducing the sankirtana movement. That is the specific significance of Lord Caitanya. In this age people are already killing themselves. They have discovered atomic weapons with which to kill themselves, so there is no need for God to kill them. But He appeared to kill their demoniac mentality. That is possible by this Krsna consciousness movement. (The Science of Self−Realization)
In Kali−yuga, rather than looking toward the light of mental speculation and atheists, people should take advantage of Lord Caitanya's movement of chanting Hare Krsna: During the rainy season, in the evening, there are many glowworms visible about the tops of trees, hither and thither, and they glitter just like lights. But the luminaries of the sky, the stars and the moons, are not visible. Similarly, in the age of Kali, persons who are atheists or miscreants become very prominently visible, whereas persons who are actually following the Vedic principles for spiritual emancipation are practically obscured. This age, Kali−yuga, is compared to the cloudy season of the living entities. In this age, real knowledge is covered by the influence of material advancement of civilization. The cheap mental speculators, atheists and manufacturers of so−called religious principles becomes prominent like the glowworms, whereas persons strictly following the Vedic principles or scriptural injunctions become covered by the clouds of this age. People should learn to take advantage of the actual luminaries of the sky, the sun, moon, and stars, instead of the glowworm's light. Actually, the glowworm cannot give any light in the darkness of night. As clouds sometimes clear, even in the rainy season, and sometimes the moon, stars and sun become visible, so even in this Kali−yuga there are sometimes advantages. The Vedic movement of Lord Caitanya's−the distribution of chanting the Hare Krsna mantra−is heard in this way. People seriously anxious to find real life should take advantage of this movement instead of looking toward the light of mental speculators and atheists. (Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead)
In this age, worship of the salagrama−sila is not as important as chanting the holy name:
It has been a custom since time immemorial that a person born in a brahmana family must worship the salagrama−sila in all circumstances. In our Krsna consciousness society, some of the members are very anxious to introduce the salagrama−sila, but we have purposely refrained from introducing it because most of the members of the Krsna consciousness movement do not originally come from families of the brahmana caste. After some time, when we find that they are actually situated strictly in the line of brahminical behavior, this salagrama−sila will be introduced. In this age, the worship of the salagrama−sila is not as important as the chanting of the holy name of the Lord. That is the injunction of the sastra.
harer nama harer nama harer namaiva kevalam kalau nasty eva nasty eva nasty eva gatir anyatha [Adi 17.21]
Srila Jiva Gosvami's opinion is that by chanting the holy name offenselessly one becomes completely perfect. Nevertheless, just to purify the situation of the mind, worship of the Deity in the temple is also necessary. Therefore when one is advanced in spiritual consciousness or is perfectly situated on a spiritual platform he may take to the worship of the salagrama−sila. (Sri Caitanya−caritamrta Adi−lila 13.86)