Hari-nāma Cintāmaṇi – Chapter 11

dharma-vrata-tyāga-hutādi-sarva-
śubha-kriyā-sāmyam api pramādaḥ

Equating pious activities such as vows, penances, renunciation, yajñas and all other auspicious deeds (with the Holy Name), as well as being inattentive (to the Name),

(1)
jaya jaya gauracandra nāma avatāra
jaya jaya hari-nāma sarva-tattva-sāra

Glories, glories to Gauracandra, the avatāra of the Name. Glories, glories to hari–nāma, the essence of all truths.

(2)
hari-dāsa bale prabhu kara avadhāna
anya śubha-karma nahe nāmera samāna

Hari Dāsa said, “O Lord, kindly be aware that other pious activities are never equal to the Name.

Nāmera Svarūpa (The Intrinsic Nature of the Name)

(3)
tumite cinmaya sūrya tomāra svarūpa
sampūṛna cinmaya ei tattva aparūpa

You are the transcendental sun, for that is Your nature. You are perfectly divine and Your nature is unprecedented.

(4)
sarvatra cinmaya tava śrī-vigraha haya
nāma dhāma līlā tava sampūrṇa cinmaya

Your form is fully spiritual in every sense, and Your name, dhāma and līlā are all fully spiritual.

(5)
tava mukhya-nāma saba tomāte abhinna
jaḍīya vastura nāma-vastu haite bhinna

Your direct Names are all non-different from You, yet material elements are different to the Name.

(6)
bhakta-mukhe āile nāma goloka haite
ātmā haite dehe vyāpi nāce jihvā-dite

The Name descends from Goloka and enters the mouths of the devotees. Manifesting from the ātmā, it pervades the body and dances on the tongue.

(7)
ei-jñāne nāma laile haya tava nāma
nāme jaḍa-buddhi yāya tāra duḥkhagrāma

This is the knowledge concerning Your Holy Name. One who thinks the Name is mundane will attain many miseries. (1)

(1) Anyone who thinks like this—that kṛṣṇa-nāma is comprised of the dull matter of māyā, will experience a hellish existence for a long time. Seeing the face of such a person, one should immediately take bath with one’s clothes and remember Viṣṇu.

Kṛṣṇa-pāda upeya. Adhikāra bhede upāya bahu-vidha (The Feet of Kṛṣṇa are the Goal. Those with Different Qualifications Attain Many Different Types of Results)

(8)
tomāre pāite śāstra upāya kahila
adhikāra bhede tāhā nānā-vidha haile

The śāstra has said that attaining You is the goal. Due to different qualifications in people there are various ways (of achieving You). (2)

(2) Śāstra has designated various ways such as karma, jñāna, bhakti etc. to achieve Kṛṣṇa according to various qualifications. Those who are strongly influenced by matter should purify their consciousness by engaging their intelligence’s tendency to perform karma. Those that are strongly attached to māyā — they follow the path of advaita-jñāna (knowledge of the monistic Advaita philosophy), for all other jīvas—śuddha–bhakti is advised.

Karma-svarūpa: anya śubha-karma jaḍamaya. Upeya vastu cinmaya (The Intrinsic Nature of Karma: All Other Pious Activities are Fully Mundane. That thing which is the Goal is Transcendental)

(9)
jaḍa-buddhi-jana jaḍa-dravya-kālāśraye
tomāra sādhana kare śamanera bhaye

Materially-minded people that take refuge in mundane objects and situations, only perform sādhana of You to mitigate fear.

(10)
tumi ta’ abhaya-pada advitīya hari
tomāra caraṇa-mātra bhavārṇave tarī

O Hari, You are second to none! Your feet grant fearlessness. Only by Your feet can one cross over the ocean of birth and death.

(11)
sei pada-lābhe yata upāya sṛjila
jaḍa-bhāvāśraye saba jaḍīya haila

Materially-minded people have created many ways to attain Your feet, but they are all mundane.

(12)
iṣṭā pūrta āra yajñādika puṇya-karma
snāna, homa, dāna, yoga, varṇāśrama-dharma

Domestic fire sacrifices (iṣṭā), public welfare activities (pūrta), long-term fire sacrifices (yajña), pious activities, bathing in sacred rivers, one-day fire sacrifices (homa), giving in charity, yoga, varṇāśrama–dharma…

(13)
tīrtha-yātrā, vrata, pitṛ-karma, dhyāna, jñāna
daiva-karma, tapaḥ, prāyaścittādi vidhāna

…going on pilgrimage to holy places, observing vows, worship of the Pitṛs, meditation, gathering knowledge, activities connected to the Devas, performing austerities, atonement etc. are performed by them.

(14)
sakalai jaḍīya dravya kariyā āśraya
upāya svarūpa sadā śubha-karma haya

Taking shelter of all these material things, they attempt to attain the nature of their goal by performance of pious activities.

(15)
upāya dhariyā pāya upeya carame
anitya upāya chāḍe siddhi-samāgame

Eventually, by following these processes, he achieves the ultimate goal. Rejecting the other methods, he attains perfection.(3)

(3) At the time of attaining perfection in bhakti, any assistance from mundane karma flees.

(16)
pūrṇānanda lābha haya sarva-siddhi-sāra
jīvera upeya tāhā śuna sārāt-sāra

Kindly hear about the goal of the jīva, O quintessential Personality, which awards complete bliss and all perfection.

Śubha-karma upāya (Attaining the Highest Result Through Pious Deeds)

(17)
jaḍa-dravya kāla haya nirānandamaya
kauśale jīvera tāhe krame siddhi haya

Mundane objects and situations are not full of bliss. They are all part of a ruse in order for the jīva to eventually attain perfection. (4)

(4) The bound jīva cannot exist without material affairs. All his actions and thoughts are mixed with matter. While he is in the midst of matter, the trick of karma is to make him search for śuddha-bhakti, which is beyond matter.

(18)
ataeva śubha-karma sakalai upāya
upeya carama-siddhi prema-rūpe bhāya

Therefore, all auspicious activities are a way to attain the goal. That goal exists as the highest perfection in the form of prema.

Tāhāte upeya prāpti vilamba-siddha (Through these Methods there is a Delay in Attaining Perfection)

(19)
sarva śubha-karme siddhi vilambe udaya
upeya upāye vyavadhāna-hetu haya

With all these auspicious activities, achieving perfection is delayed because they will create a distance between the method and the goal. (5)

(5) The goal is prema, and the method (mentioned previously) is mundane activities, and there is a considerable distance between the two.

Sādhana-kāle hari-nāma upāya kirūpe haiyācchen (At the Time of Sādhana, Why is Hari-nāma the Method?)

(20)
hari-nāma e jagate dile kṛpā kari
siddhi-lābhe śiṣṭha jīva laileka bari

By Your mercy, you have given hari–nāma to the world. Those jīvas who are wise will accept it in order to attain perfection.

(21)
upāya haila nāma śāstrera sammata
anya śubha-karma-madhye haila ganita

The śāstra admits that nāma is the method (of attaining perfection). Anything else is counted as being amongst auspicious activities.

(22)
sarveśvara viṣṇu yena brahmā-śivasane
devatā-lakṣaṇe gaṇya haila tribhūvane

(Anything else) is similar to considering Viṣṇu, the Supreme Controller of everything, to have the same nature as the Devas such as Brahmā and Śiva who reside within the three worlds.

Nāma śuddha-sattva. Māyāvādī aparādha-krame anya śubha-karmera sahita nāmake ekai mane karena (The Name is Pure Goodness. Due to their Offences, Māyāvādīs Consider the Name to be Like Any Other Auspicious Activity)

(23)
nāmera svarūpa haya śuddha-sattvamaya
jaḍa-gandha śuddha nāme kabhu nāhi raya

The Name is comprised of pure goodness. Not even a trace of matter comes in contact with śuddha-nāma.

(24)
jaḍī-bhūta-jīva nāme jaḍa-bhāvadāne
anya śubha-karma saha eka kari māne

Those materially bewildered jīvas, that think of the Name from a mundane perspective, believe that it is just another auspicious activity. (6)

(6) Jaḍī-bhūta-jīva—the jīva, who is spiritual by nature, is bewildered by avidyā and considers himself to be material.

(25)
māyāvāda haite ei nāma-aparādha
yāhāra daurātmya sadā haya bhakti-vādha

This nāmāparādha stems from māyāvāda. Those who accept such a depraved philosophy always find impediments to bhakti.

Nāmera upāyatva sattveo upeyatva (The Name is Both the Means and the End)

(26)
kṛṣṇa-nāma haya prabhu pūrṇānanda-tattva
upeya vā siddhi bali yāhāra mahattva

Kṛṣṇa-nāma is the Lord Himself and the principle of complete bliss. Those who understand its glories attain the highest goal, or the greatest perfection.

(27)
upāya haiyā āvirbhūta dharātale
upeya upāya aikya sarva śāstre bale

The method (of chanting the Holy Name) has appeared upon the earth. The means and the end are one and the same. This is stated by all the śāstra.

(28)
adhikāra-bhede yini upāya svarūpa
tini-i upeya anye baḍa aparūpa

According to their different qualifications, some consider the Name to be the method, and others consider it to be the most comparable goal. (7)

(7) ‘Adhikāra-bhede’ means that as long as the jīva does not have ātmā–rati (attraction to the ātmā), then he will consider nāma to be the means to a goal. Therefore, he will continue to engage in sādhana as the means to attain the goal of ātmā–rati.

Śubha-karma gauṇopāya nāma mukhyopāya
(Auspicious Activities are the Indirect Means, and Nāma is the Direct Means)

(29)
ataeva upāya dvi-vidha guṇa dhāma
gauṇopāya śubha-karma mukhyopāya nāma

Thus, O Abode of all good qualities, the method is of two types. The performance of auspicious activities is the indirect means, and the Holy Name is the direct method. (8)

8) Although nāma is counted as the means, it is the direct means. All other types of auspicious activities are counted as indirect methods. One must understand this reality, that the Holy Name is distinct from other types of auspicious deeds.

Nāmera atīndriyatva (The Name is Beyond the Senses)

(30)
ataeva śāstre yata anya śubha-karma
nāma saha nahe ei sarva-śāstra marma

Therefore, the śāstra says that other auspicious deeds are never equal to the Name. This is the meaning of all the śāstra.

(31)
sarala hṛdaye yabe kṛṣṇa-nāma gāya
atīndriya-sukha āsi cittake nācāya

One who chants kṛṣṇa–nāma with a sincere heart experiences how happiness beyond the material senses dances within his heart.

(32)
sei sukha kṛṣṇa-nāma-svabhāva tatpara
ātma-rati ātma-krīḍā nāhi yāra para

That happiness is connected to the intrinsic nature of kṛṣṇa-nāma. Even attachment or bliss in connection with the ātmā cannot compare.

Sāyujya kaivalya sukha ānanda sukhera chāyā mātra (The Happiness of Absorption and Identification with Brahman is But a Shadow of that Bliss)

(33)
brahma-jñāne yoge ye ānanda vaibhava
jaḍera viccheda sukha chāyā anubhava

The great bliss experienced through knowledge of Brahman or yoga is merely the cessation of gross materialism, and is thus a shadow of the happiness (found in kṛṣṇa–nāma).

(34)
abhedya kaivalya sukha svalpa bali jāni
kṛṣṇa-nāmānanda-sukha bhūmā bali māni

I know that happiness in the indivisible Brahman is meagre. but I consider the bliss of chanting kṛṣṇa–nāma to be the greatest.

Anya śubha-karma haite nāmera vailakṣaṇya (Other Auspicious Activities are Different to the Holy Name)

(35)
sādhana-kālete nāma upāya svarūpa
siddhi-kāle upeya se ei aparūpa

At the time of sādhana, the Name is the means. At the time of attaining perfection, it is the incomparable goal.

(36)
upāya svarūpa nāme upeyatva siddha
anya śubha-karme aiche nahe ta prasiddha

The Name is the means and the goal of all perfection. Other auspicious activities are not important.

(37)
anya śubha-karma yata saba jaḍāśrita
nāma ta cinmaya sadā svataḥ siddhodita

All other auspicious activities take refuge of matter. The Name is spiritual and eternally manifests as self-perfect.

(38)
sādhana kāleo nāma śuddha su-nirmala
sādhakera anarthete dekhāya sa-mala

Even at the time of sādhana, the Name remains pure and completely free from any defect, but the anarthas of the sādhaka make it look as if it is impure.

(39)
sādhu-saṅge nāma laite jaḍa-buddhi yāya
anartha niḥśeṣa haile śuddha nāma bhāya

Material conceptions leave when one takes the Name in the association of sādhus. When anarthas are finished, then śuddha–nāma shines forth.

(40)
anya śubha-karmī kare tyajiyā upāya
upeya parama-bhāva carame āśraya

Rejecting all other auspicious activities as the means, one should take shelter of the topmost ecstasy (parama–bhāva).

(41)
kintu nāmāśrayī jana nāma nāhi tyaje
nāmera śuddhatā mātra siddhi-kāle bhaje

But one who takes shelter of the Name never abandons it. They simply worship śuddha–nāma even at the time of perfection.

(42)
anya śubha-karma haite ati vilakṣaṇa
nāmera svarūpa haya apūrva lakṣaṇa

It is completely different from other auspicious activities. Intrinsically, the Name has unparalleled qualities.

(43)
sādhana daśāya ei vilakṣaṇa jñāna
guru kṛpā haite haya vedera pramāṇa

At the stage of sādhana, by the guru’s mercy and through the evidence of the Vedas, one should understand these differences (between the Name and auspicious deeds). (9)

(9) From śraddhā comes sādhu-saṅga. From sādhu-saṅga comes bhajana-kriyā, and by constantly engaging in bhajana, one’s anarthas are removed. To the extent that anartha–nivṛtti occurs, the purity of the Name will arise, and as niṣṭḥā progresses, ātmā–rati emerges. At the time of sādhana, these truths must be understood with faith by the saāhaka by the mercy of the guru. Otherwise one will make nāmāparādha and anarthas will increase.

(44)
sādhana daśāya yini ei jñāna hīna
nāma aparādhī tiṁha ati arvācīna

If one is bereft of this knowledge at the stage of sādhana, one is an offender to the Name and totally backwards.

(45)
nāma sarvopari nāma-tulya kichu naya
e dṛḍha viśvāsa kari yei nāma laya

The Name is the highest of all and has no equal – one who has firm faith in this may properly chant the Name.

(46)
acire tāṅhāte haya śuddha-nāmodaya
pūrṇānanda nāma-rasa karena āśraya

Very soon śuddha–nāma arises and he takes shelter in the completely blissful nāma–rasa.

Ei aparādhera pratikāra (The Remedy for this Offence)

(47)
kāhāro yadyapi anya śubha-karma sane
nāme sama buddhi haya duṣkṛti bandhane

One who considers other auspicious deeds to be equal to the Holy Name is bound by impiety.(10)

(10) ‘Duṣkṛti’ is offences to Vaiṣṇavas. As a result of this, a taste appears in the jīva towards the misconceptions of the māyāvādīs in regards to the Name. If this impiety is destroyed through sādhu–saṅga, then one will attain nāma–śraddhā.

(48)
se duṣkṛti kṣaya lāgi karibe yatana
nāme śuddha buddhi pābe prema-dhana

One should endeavour to destroy such impiety. Then through the Name, one’s intelligence will be purified and one will achieve the great wealth of prema.

(49)
antyaja gṛhastha śuddha-nāma parāyaṇa
tāṅra pada dhūli dehe karibe mṛkṣaṇa

One should smear one’s body with dust from the feet of an outcaste gṛhastha who is dedicated to śuddha-nāma. (11)

(11) Rejecting the notion of vaiṣṇave jāti buddhi (considering a Vaiṣnava to be of a particular caste or community), one should smear on one’s body the foot-dust of a sādhu who is devoted to śuddha-nāma.

(50)
khāibe adharāmṛta pibe pada-jala
tabe śuddha nāme mati haibe nirmala

One should eat his nectarean food-remnants and drink the water that has washed his feet. Then one’s consciousness will be purified and one will attain śuddha-nāma.

(51)
kāli-dāse ei rūpe duṣkṛti khaṇḍana
punaḥ tava kṛpā-prāpti gāya jagaj-jana

Everyone in the world sings about how Kālī Dāsa destroyed such impiety by Your mercy.

(52)
āmi jaḍa-buddhi nātha nāma mātra gāi
nāma-cintāmaṇi-tattva kabhu nāhi pāi

O Lord, I possess dull intelligence – I just chant the Name, but I have never attained the cintāmaṇi gem of the Holy Name.

Hari dāsa ṭhākurera nāma-viṣaye niṣṭhā (Hari Dāsa Ṭhākura’s Attachment to the Name)

(53)
kṛpā kari’ nāma-rūpe āmāra jihvāya
nirantara nāca prabhu dhari tava pāya

Be merciful unto me. Assuming the form of the Name, constantly dance upon my tongue. O Lord, I hold Your feet.

(54)
rākha iṅhā lao tāṅhā tava icchā mata
yāṅhā rākha deha more kṛṣṇa-nāmāmṛta

Keep me here, or take me there – whatever is Your desire. Wherever this body remains, kindly give me the nectar of kṛṣṇa-nāma. (12)

(12) Iṅhā (here) – the material world. Tāṅhā (there) – the spiritual world.

(55)
jagaj-jane nāma dite tava avatāra
jagaj-jana-mājhe more kara aṅgīkāra

Your avatāra has descended to distribute the Name to the people of this world. Kindly accept me as one of those people.

(56)
āmi ta adhama tumi adhama tāraṇa
ubhaye sambandha ei patita pāvana

I am fallen and You are the deliverer of the fallen. O purifier of the fallen, that is our relationship.

(57)
acchedya sambandha ei tomāya āmāya
yāra bale nāmāmṛta e adhama cāya

The relationship between You and I can never be broken. This fallen person desires the nectar of the Name.

Kali-yuge nāme kena yuga-dharma hailena (Why the Name is the Yuga-dharma in Kali-yuga)

(58)
kali-yuge su-duḥsādhya anya śubha-karma
ataeva nāma āsi haila yuga-dharma

In Kali-yuga other auspicious activities produce no results. Therefore the Name is the only yuga–dharma. (13)

(13) The Name is the highest dharma at all times, but in the age of Kali there is no faith in other types of dharma, so the Name has descended in the form of the yuga-dharma to deliver the jīvas of this world from their suffering.

(59)
hari-dāsa-dāsa bhaktivinoda se jana
hari-nāma-cintāmaṇi gāya akiñcana

Bhaktivinoda, who is bereft of everything, a servant of the servant of Hari Dāsa, sings this Hari-nāma-cintāmaṇi.

iti śrī-hari-nāma cintāmaṇau anya śubha-karmaṇā saha nāmnaḥ tulya-jñāna-rūpa aparādha vicāro
nāma ekādaśa paricchedaḥ

Thus ends the Eleventh Chapter of Śrī Hari-nāma Cintāmaṇi
entitled, ‘A Deliberation on the Offence of Considering Other Auspicious Activities
to be Equal to the Holy Name.