Śrī Śīkṣāṣṭakam Verse Two

VERSE 2

nāmnām akāri bahudhā nija-sarva-śaktis
tatrārpitā niyamitaḥ smaraṇe na kālaḥ
etādṛśī tava kṛpā bhagavan mamāpi
durdaivam īdṛśam ihājani nānurāgaḥ

O Bhagavān! It is Your Name that bestows all auspiciousness to the jīvas, therefore You have distributed Your various Names such as Kṛṣṇa, Govinda etc. You have invested all Your potencies in those Names, and You have not created any rules (regulations or considerations) in remembering them. Prabhu, being so kind, You have made Your Name easily accessible to the jīvas. However, my misfortune has made it so that, even though your Name is so attainable, affection for it does not arise within me!

Sammodana Bhāṣyam
(That Commentary Which Gives Bliss to the Devotees)

There are four kinds of śrī-kṛṣṇa-kīrtana in terms of nāma, guṇa, rūpa and līlā (Kṛṣṇa’s name, qualities form and pastimes). Because the Holy Name is intrinsically the seed of all bliss, and because nāma (the Name) and nāmī (the possessor of the Name) are identical, then nāma-kīrtana is the best of all. To show this first, with a desire to create śraddhā for Bhagavān’s Name in the jīvas, Bhagavān Śrī Caitanyadeva states, “O Bhagavān! Seeing that I am devoid of shelter and being supremely merciful, you have revealed many of Your Names which are primary (mukhya) and secondary (gauṇa).” Names such as Hari, Kṛṣṉa, Govinda, Acuyta, Rāma, Ananta, Viṣṇu etc. are primary Names. Brahma, Paramātmā, Niyantā, Pātā, Śraṣṭa, Mahendra etc. are secondary Names. You have transferred all the powers of Your svarūpa-śakti (nija-sarva-śakti) into Your primary Names.

na hi bhagavann aghaṭitam idaṁ
tvad-darśanān nṛṇām akhila-pāpa-kṣayaḥ
yan-nāma sakṛc chravaṇāt
pukkaśo ‘pi vimucyate saṁsārāt

(O Bhagavān! There is nothing impossible for You. By seeing You, all the sins of men are eradicated. By hearing Your Name even once, an outcaste may be delivered from the world of birth and death. – Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.16.44)

vedākṣarāṇi yāvanti paṭhitāni dvijātibhiḥ
tāvanti hari-nāmāni kīrtitāni na saṁśayaḥ

(Undoubtedly, whatever is attained by the twice-born by reciting the syllables of the Vedas is achieved by chanting hari-nāma. – Garuḍa Purāṇa 3.2.55)

ṛg-vedo hi yajur-vedaḥ sāma-vedo’py atharvaṇaḥ
adhītas tena yenoktaṁ harir ity akṣara-dvayam

(The results of studing the Ṛg, Yajur, Sāma, and Atharva Veda are certainly found in one who has uttered the two syllables ‘ha–ri’. – (Haryāṣṭakam 6)

mā ṛcho mā yajus tāta mā sāma paṭha kiñcana
govindeti harer nāma geyaṁ gāyasva nityaśaḥ

(Do not recite the Ṛg, Yajur, or Sāma Veda any longer. Constantly sing the Names of Govinda, Hari etc. – Skanda Purāṇa)

avamanya ca ye yānti bhagavat-kīrtanaṃ narāḥ
te yānti narakaḥ ghoraḥ tena pāpena karmaṇā

(Those men who disregard bhagavat-kīrtana, achieve the most hellish conditions due to such a sinful act. – Padma Purāṇa 5.96.63)

etan nirvidyamānānām icchatām akuto-bhayam
yogināṁ nṛpa nirṇītaṁ harer nāmānukīrtanam

(O King! Continuous kīrtana of hari–nāma has been prescribed for those who are free of all selfish desires, for those who have desires, for those who are free from doubts and fear, and for those engaged in yoga. – Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.1.11)

oṁ āsya jānanto nāma cid vivaktan mahas te viṣṇo su-matiḥ bhajāmahe

(O Viṣṇu, Your Name is conscious and supreme. Having some knowledge of it, and even chanting it impurely we have achieved fine intelligence, because the Name is perfect in itself. – Ṛg Veda 1.156.3)

oṁ ity etad brahmaṇo nediṣṭaṁ nāma yasmād uccāryamāna
eva saṁsāra-bhayāt tārayati tasmād ucyate tāra iti

(Oṁ is a name which denotes Brahman. By chanting this one becomes free of the fear of saṁsāra. Thus it is known as tāra, that which gives liberation. – Ṛg Veda)

sakṛd uccāritaṁ yena harir ity akṣara-dvayam
baddha-parikaras tena mokṣāya gamanaṁ prati

(By once chanting the two syllables ha-ri, one guarantees his path to liberation. – Skanda Purāṇa)

tad aśma-sāraṁ hṛdayaṁ batedaṁ
yad gṛhyamāṇair hari-nāma-dheyaiḥ
na vikriyetātha yadā vikāro
netre jalaṁ gātra-ruheṣu harṣaḥ

(One’s heart is certainly made of stone when in spite of chanting hari-nāma with concentration, there is no transformation – no tears come to the eyes and the hair of one’s body does not stand on end. – Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.3.24)

madhura-madhuram etan maṅgalaṁ maṅgalānāṁ
sakala-nigama-vallī-sat-phalaṁ cit-svarūpam
sakṛd api parigītaṁ śraddhayā helayā vā
bhṛgu-vara nara-mātraṁ tārayet kṛṣṇa-nāma

(Kṛṣṇa-nāma is the sweetest of the sweet and the most auspicious of all that is auspicious. It is the greatest fruit in the tree of the Vedas, and is naturally comprised of pure transcendence. O best of the Bhṛgus! If someone chants it once with faith or even with indifference he is immediately delivered. – Skanda Purāṇa)

gītvā ca mama nāmāni vicaren mama sannidhau
iti bravīmi te satyaṁ krīto’ham tasya cārjuna

(O Arjuna, by singing My Names, one achieves a position close to Me. I declare this truth. I am purchased by such a person. – Ādi Purāṇa)

nāma cintāmaṇiḥ kṛṣṇaś caitanya-rasa-vigrahaḥ
pūrṇaḥ śuddho nitya-mukto’bhinnatvān nāma-nāminoḥ

(The Name of of Kṛṣṇa is a touchstone. It is the form of conscious rasa. It is complete, pure, and eternally liberated. The Name and the Named are non-different. – Padma Purāṇa)

“By these quotes from the Śruti, Smṛti and Tantras, it is understood that the Holy Name possesses all potencies. In the practice of karma, jñāna etc. the restrictions of time, place and the aspirant (kāla, deśa, pātra) are powerful considerations. However, in remembering Your Name, such restrictions are not implemented. You have shown Me supreme mercy in regards to the Name. But My misfortune is that attachment (anurāga) for Your Name has not appeared within Me. Here, durdaiva refers to nāmāparādha (offences to the Holy Name). This should be explained. In the world created by māyā, the jīva who is averse to Bhagavān (bhagavad-bahirmukhatā) is bound to various kinds of mundane activities. He never attempts to become favourably disposed to Bhagavān. Considering that the jīva will never attain eternal auspiciousness through the various rules pertaining to karma, jñāna etc., by His boundless mercy, the Supreme Lord reveals His Names, which is the process of attaining Him, to manifest bhakti within the heart of the jīva which is the essential inherent function of hlādinī, His svarūpa-śakti. Yet despite hearing the glories of the Holy Names, and chanting japa of the Names, due to nāmāparādha, the jīva’s attraction does not develop very quickly. In this way, after hearing the Name from the lips of a guru, those who possess śraddhā should always avoid nāmāparādha and, as much as possible, engage in nāma-kīrtana.

Herein it is described. The aparādhas are as follows:

satāṁ nindā nāmnaḥ paramam aparādhaṁ vitanute
yataḥ khyātiṁ yātaṁ katham u sahate tad-vigarhām
śivasya śrī-viṣṇor ya iha guṇa-nāmādi-sakalaṁ
dhiyā bhinnaṁ paśyet sa khalu hari-nāmāhita-karaḥ
guror avajñā śruti-śāstra-nindanam
tathārthavādo hari-nāmni kalpanam
nāmno balād yasya hi pāpa-buddhir
na vidyate tasya yamair hi śuddhiḥ
dharma-vrata-tyāga-hutādi-sarva-
śubha-kriyā-sāmyam api pramādaḥ
aśraddadhāne vimukhe’py aśṛṇvati
yaś copadeśaḥ śiva-nāmāparādhaḥ
śrutvāpi nāma-māhātmyaṁ yaḥ prīti-rahito’dhamaḥ
ahaṁ-mamādi-paramo nāmni so’py aparādha-kṛt

(Criticising devotees is the greatest offence that one can make to the Holy Name. The Name can never tolerate condemnation of those who spread His glories. Those who see any difference between the auspicious Śrī Viṣṇu and any of His names, qualities etc. are certainly offenders to the Name of Hari. To neglect or disobey the guru. Blaspheming the śruti-śāstra. Giving an imaginary interpretation to hari-nāma or considering the glories of the Name to be imaginary. The desire to commit pāpa on the strength of the Name, cannot be purified by any type of regulation. Equating pious activities such as vows, penances, renunciation, yajñas and all other auspicious deeds [with the Holy Name], as well as being inattentive. Instructing those who lack śraddhā, those who are averse, or those who do not have interest to hear, are offences to the auspicious Name. That person who is so fallen that, even after hearing the glories of the Name, is still devoid of love for the Name, but maintains the idea of ‘I’ and ‘mine’ makes an offence. – Padma Purāṇa)

Those who are devoted to nāma-japa do not have to try to avoid pāpa and accumulate the puṇya which accompanies karma, because those who possess śraddhā lack the eligibility to engage in karma. However, if they commit nāmāparādha, then distress should arise within them in order to destroy those aparādhas. If they take to chanting the Name incessantly, then along with the distress they feel in making such offences, their hearts will naturally become free from aparādha. There is a statement in the śāstra:

nāma-aparādha-yuktānāṁ nāmāny eva haranty agham
aviśrānti prayuktāni tāny evārtha-karāṇi ca

(For those who have committed nāmāparādha, then to remove that offence, constant engagement in chanting is certainly the way to accomplish that. – Padma Purāṇa)

When nāmāparādha is absent, attraction for hari-nāma arises, then one achieves all perfection. This has been recommended.