Excerpt from a lecture by HH Nirañjana Swami
The following is a partially-edited transcription of an excerpt of a lecture given at the Baltics Winter Festival – Chanting with Feeling
Today I wanted to read and speak from a few quotes about the Holy Name. Some of them I have read recently and found a lot of significance to them, not only to myself but those with whom I shared them. A lot of times the devotees struggle to make their chanting relevant. The previous speaker, Dhīra-śānta Prabhu was using the word ‘mechanical’, and he was explaining how to avoid being mechanical.
The quotes I am going to present today are from Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, and he is quite incisive in his presentation. The one thing I’ve really noticed when reading a lot of these references given by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta is that he is cutting and very clear. When I use the word ‘cutting’, I mean he really makes it very clear what is bhakti, and what is not bhakti. Sometimes he presents it in a way ‘what is useful’ and ‘what is useless’. Sometimes, if we are not careful in our own discrimination, we may not be able to see something as useless, the way he sees it. We may gravitate towards a certain understanding about bhakti, which may be compromised. And it’s compromised because we can’t fully surrender, and when we hear about full surrender, it’s disappointing because of our own limitations. Or, it may not be disappointing, but it may also be fearful.
As Dhīra-śānta Prabhu was saying before, “Kṛṣṇa is Hari – One who takes away.” When we hear that, sometimes we think, “Why should I let Kṛṣṇa take these things away?” And we become a little fearful about what could possibly happen if we chant too sincerely. We have this sense that if I chant too sincerely, Kṛṣṇa may take something away – and I am not ready for that! But although Kṛṣṇa is Hari (One who takes away), when one cultivates firm faith in Kṛṣṇa and in His Name, one finds that Kṛṣṇa not only takes away our obstacles but He also takes away our fear!
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