HH Lokanath Swami Mahraj speaks on World Holy Name
Hailing from a small village in central India, HH Lokanath Swami Mahraj is one of the most senior disciples of Srila Prabhupada and a vaishnava devotee. He has been handed over the responsibility of heading the World Holy Name Week by HH Bhakti Tirtha Swami Mahraj who was the pioneer of this event. He unfolds the pages of his past as he speaks to us about what the Holy Name of Krishna means to him.
1. When and how you were first introduced to the Hare Krishna mahamantra?
There was a Hare Krishna festival organized by the ISKCON devotees way back in 1971 in Mumbai and I had the fortune of attending that, which was the first time I had come across the mahamantra. Srila Prabhupada had been travelling all over the country holding various Hare Krishna festivals and here was Mumbai’s turn to witness the onset of the Holy Name. it was at a stadium in Churchgate station wherein his disciples, mostly westerners, were chanting and dancing in front of the lord and thousands of people had gathered to witness the same. Even in my village, I had not heard of the mahamantra as we would chant different mantras then.
2. What were your first realisations when you heard the mahamantra?
I was reminded of a biblical statement then – “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' As I watched the devotees singing, chanting, dancing and playing different instruments on the stage, they were doing so with all their heart and were truly absorbed in it. Oblivious to the surrounding, their heart was immersed into chanting the mahamantra, the Holy Name of the Lord, as if nothing else was important to them. They were using all their strength and even perspiring but they continued dancing and chanting, and this left a deep impact on me. For them, it was a serious business and that seriousness was what attracted me. That dancing was an expression of the joy within themselves and were satisfied with that.
3. Describe what does the Holy Name mean to you?
I don’t think I could exist or survive without the Holy Name.
4. How has the Holy Name transformed your life?
I give the Holy Name credit for all sorts of transformation I have undergone. The Holy Name is also a prayer to the lord. Seva Yogyam kuru – Oh Lord please make me eligible to serve you – is also a prayer. To the degree we have prayed, the lord reciprocates to the sincerity involved. That reward is the transformation of our consciousness and everything then changes with it. The cause of all transformation is, hence, the kindness, mercy and potency of the Holy Name of the Lord.
5. One advice to increase focus during japa?
We should be alert while chanting and we should do so honestly. If I am chanting, I should keep checking on where my mind is and actually engage it in chanting. Sometimes we do forget while chanting that we are chanting but it is the intelligent that can discriminate between mechanical chanting and devotional chanting. Less intelligent people anyway cannot chant. It is only the intelligent that can. In the shastras it is stated that only the intelligent can take up the Sankirtan Yagya so it is the job of the intelligent person to chant Hare Krishna. We should take charge of our mind and understand its nature. We need to think about the lord and the pastimes of the lord which is very important. Constantly remembering that Oh Lord, I am your servant is the thinking we should have. Thinking is, then followed by feelings as depending on what thoughts we have, our feelings originate from that and then the will develops. A strong will to serve he Lord or propagate the Krishna Consciousness, will lead you to having a deeper relationship with the Lord. Where there is a will, there is a way.
Comments