Nama Dwaar Nibbles

To conquer the mighty maya, the scriptures talk of very arduous paths like Karma marga, Ashtanga Yoga and Jnana marga- all of which involve tremendous effort. The same can be easily achieved by chanting the Divine names. Are you wondering how that can be? There is a mighty tree that is a few hundred years old. To fell that tree, it will require days of dedicated effort by hundreds of workers. But if you allow a tiny white ant to infect the tree, the whole tree is weakened in no time and collapses. That mighty tree is  maya and that tiny white ant is the “Nama”     

– Swami Ramdas

Once a person asked Swami Ramdas, “ Swami, are you a realized soul or not? If you are a realized soul why do you continue to chant the divine name? Afterall the purpose of any sadhana is attainment of liberation. If that goal is reached, what is the point of continuing with the chanting?”
Swami Ramdas was in a delta region where a river joined with the sea, at that time. He asked that person, “ Do you see this river? Where is it headed?”.

That person replied “To the sea”

“ Has it merged with the sea?”

“Yes! It has”

“ Still, the river  continues to run towards the sea. My state is similar to that!”