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Which Special Nama? |
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Chanting the
Lord's Name
gives eternal
bliss and
happiness.
Now the question
arises, 'There
are so many Gods
and Godesses in
my faith and
each of them has
umpteen names!
Which one should
I pick and
choose?' Infact
Yudishtira
himself had this
doubt and,
questions Bhishma
in the prelude
to
Vishnu
Sahasranama,
"kim ekam
daivatam lokE
kimvApekam
parAyaNam
stuvantam kam
prApnuyu: mAnavA:
subham
ko dharma sarvadharmAnAm bhavata: paramO matah:
kim japan muchyatE jantu: janma samsAra bandanAt
"Who is the greates Lord in the world? Who is the one refuge for all?
By extolling whom can one reach happiness and prosperity?
Which is the
faith that is
the best of all
the religions?
By chanting whose Name can the beings cross the sea of Samsara?
"
And
Bhishmacharya
answers,
jagat prabhum dEvadEvam anantam purushOttamam|
stuvan nAma sahasrENa purusha: sathatothitha:
"The endless Supreme Powerful Being, and protector of all - Sri Vishnu --
By singing his Names, man attains prosperity and happiness."
Thus speaks Vishnu Sahasranama. However, given the
current busy
day, where one
finds it
difficult to
even sing a
thousand names,
we are forced to
turn to our
scriptures for
an easier way.
The Upanishads
are considered
to be the
Knowledge
portion of the
Vedas. One
such upanishad,
"Kali
Santarana
Upanishad"
resolves this
predicament of
ours!
The following
conversation
between Sri
Narada Maharishi
and Lord Brahma
is found in
Kali Santarana
Upanishad.
At the end of
Dwapara Yuga,
Narada, after
traveling around
the world,
approached Lord
Brahma and asked
him, “How may I
overcome (the
evil effects of)
Kali Yuga?”
Lord Brahma
said: “You have
asked me an
excellent
question. I
shall reveal to
you the secret
of all the Vedas
by which you
will cross over
the ‘samsara’
(ocean of life)
filled with the
bad effects of
the Kali Yuga.
This secret must
be preserved and
protected.”
“Bhagavata
Adipurushasya
nArAyaNasya
nAmoccAraNamAtreNa
nirdhrtakalir
bhavati |
nAradah punah
papraccha
tannAma kimiti,”
Said Lord
Brahma, 'By
merely uttering
the names of the
Primeval ‘Purusha’,
who is Bhagavan
Narayana, one is
freed from the
clutches of
Kali."
Narada asked
further, “sa
hovaca
hiranyagarbhah”
|
What are
those names of
Narayana?"
“HARE RAMA HARE
RAMA RAMA RAMA
HARE HARE |
HARE KRISHNA
HARE KRISHNA
KRISHNA KRISHNA
HARE HARE”
iti shodashakam
nAmnAm
kalikalmashanAshanam
|
natah
parataropAyah
sarvavedeshu
drushyate ||
Lord Brahma
said, “This
collection of
the sixteen
Names (of
Narayana)
destroys the
evils of the
Kali Yuga. I
don't see any
other effective
means (of
liberation) in
the Vedas.
Narada further
clarifies for
the sake of us,
‘O Lord, what
are the rules to
be observed with
reference to it
?"
Brahma replied
that there
were no rules
for it. Whoever
in a pure or an
impure state,
utters these
always, attains
the same world
of, or proximity
with, or the
same form of, or
absorption into
the divine.
Sri Sri Swamiji says that though all Names of God are divine and have the power to
deliver us from
the evils of
this age, this
particular Maha
Mantra is
prescribed in
the Shastras and
has been
chanted,
followed,
preached and
lived for by
great Mahans
like Sri
Chaitanya
Mahaprabhu and
ascertains so,
"Wherever
Maha Mantra Nama
kirtan is
performed, the
cosmic changes
there. Waves of
the Lord’s
Presence exist
there. There
will be peace in
that home. All
auspicious
happenings will
take place!"
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