HARINAAM, RADHA NAAM AND GURU BY SRISRI VINOD BABA

Piteous state. Slackened mind, intellect and thought processes. Consistently surrounded by problems. Adhi (natural disasters), Vyadhi (illness) and Upadhi (social propreity that come with name and fame) eating away one's mental peace. Sunk in bad association. Easily influenced by Maya. Constantly harrassed by material desires. All these describe the state of the jeevatma in this Kaliyuga. If someone is still able to persevere in the bhakti sadhana of Radha Krishna then it is only due to mercy of Guru and rise of samskaras of previous lives. Harinaam is the best and the primary way of bhakti sadhana, all other forms of bhakti are secondary to Harinaam.

"Harer naam harer naam harer naamaiva kevalam, 

kalau nasteyiva nasteyiva nasteyiva gatiranyatha."

Meaning: Harinam is the only, only and only way to acquire bhakti. In kaliyuga, there is no, no, just no other way. (The purpose of saying thrice is to emphasize on its importance).

Even without any sacrifice or abstinence from pleasures, Harinaam is able to pull the mind from material pleasures and direct one's inclination towards bhakti of Radha Krishna.

Which name of God is best for chanting? God has innumerable names. They have been described in various Puranas and Smritis. Krishna, Mukunda, Murari, Govind, Ram, Narayan and so on. Shrimad Bhagavatam says:

"Etam vrata sapriyanaamkirtya yathanurago dhritchittadurjayih, 

hasati atha rodati ro'oti gayati unmaadvat nrityati lokbahyah."

Meaning: 'Sapriyanaam' means the name which is dear to you. The name of God which you like, are passionate to chant, and which attracts your heart, should be chanted repeatedly. (It can be different for different people). By chanting the name repeatedly, Harinaam prabhu will cleanse your mind of materialistic inclination and purify your mind. What are the symptoms of a purified mind? By repeated chanting, the mind is purified and softened, and the sadhak sheds tears, shivers and gets goosebumps while chanting Harinaam.

"Vak gadagadaya dravatachetsapina, 

vina anandasrukalaya katham siddhir vinashaya."

Meaning: By repeated chanting, listening to satsanga and other bhakti yogas, if the throat is not obstructed due to overwhelming emotions, the chitta or mind is not softened, the eyes are not brimming with tears of joy (there is divine ecstasy in the contemplation of God and with prolonged chintan the sadhak gets a taste of it), then how do we know the mind of a sadhak has been purified? (Without the symptoms of asru (tears), kampa (shivering) and pulak (goosebumps), the sadhak cannot be said to have achieved a pure mind, let alone acquire bhakti). One must chant Harinaam with utmost respect and love, and know that Naam prabhu is not different from Nami (Krishna). This is the best and simplest form of sadhana.

"Sadhan madhye shreshtha navavidha bhakti, Krishna prem Krishna dite dhare mahashakti. Taar madhye sarvashreshtha naam sankirtan, niraparadhe layile naam paaye premodhan."

Meaning: Among all forms of sadhanas, nine are best which are able to give Krishna Prem and consequently, Krishna himself. Among those nine, Harinaam sankirtan is the king of all sadhanas. If one avoids any kind of aparadhas, Harinaam prabhu gives the wealth of love of Krishna.

Harinaam can be chanted (japa) in three ways: Vagyas japa, Manas japa and Upanshu japa. Vagyas japa means Harinaam sankirtan or chanting loudly. In this form, Harinaam benefits both the speaker/singer and the listener. When there is a lot of commotion, for example if you are in the middle of a party, you cannot concentrate on harinaam without chanting it loudly. Upanshu japa means chanting by moving one's lips but Harinaam can be heard only by oneself. This is practiced in a place where there is a lot of sound and one could neither do kirtan nor contemplate Harinaam, like in a marketplace. Manas japa means chanting in one's mind, neither the lips will move nor there is any sound of Harinaam. Harinaam will play like a recorded tape on loop inside the mind. But for this, we need total silence and a lot of concentration. The best time for Manas japa is when everyone is asleep at night and there is no sound anywhere. If someone asks whether we must contemplate on pastimes of Krishna while chanting, the answer is while doing Manas japa, one must concentrate on Harinaam only. If you contemplate on pastimes of Krishna, you will not focus on Harinaam and Harinaam will be given less importance. One must become engrossed in Harinaam while chanting and leave behind all other thoughts. This form of Harinaam sadhana is very powerful. But one must lessen one's need to sleep to sit in Padmasana and do Manas japa at night. One has to take satvik food and almost no dinner at night to stay awake. Or, one can sleep early and wake up at 1pm to do Manas japa. (Baba says Shri Ram Vairagi Baba, who is a disciple of Shri Deoraha Baba and is 100 years old, still wakes up at 1pm at night daily and practices Manas japa. He sometimes comes over to Baba's ashram to stay for a few weeks.)

(There are two types of chintan: Hradavat and Srotavat. Hradavat is contemplating a still scene like Radha Krishna is seated in Nikunja and sakhis are serving them. If you are able to focus on harinaam while contemplating a scene like this, it is beneficial. But Srotavat lila chintan where a sadhak contemplates on a whole lila, must come on its own due to the mercy of Harinaam. Consciously trying to contemplate a srotavat lila will undermine your focus on Harinaam and that will not help.) A sadhak should have full focus on Harinaam, it doesn't matter he is able to do any lila chintan or not. When Harinaam prabhu will shower mercy the pastimes of Krishna will emerge in the heart of sadhak on their own. Take the shelter of Harinaam, Naam ashray.

Another question is if someone has not been able to find his Guru yet, and has no affiliation with any Acharya parampara therefore, is he not able to progress in sadhana and receive mercy of Krishna? Padmapuran has answered that among all the names of Bhagwan, Radha naam is the superior most name. By chanting Radha naam, all sins wash away and Krishna himself tries to please and shower mercy on the sadhak. For a fallen soul victimized by the negative traits of Kaliyuga, the best path is to take shelter of Srimati Radharani and Radha naam, and pray to her, "He Radharani, He Karunamayi, I take the shelter of your lotus feet. I am yours. Please save me! Please have mercy on me! Please protect me!" Krishna says He will give all kinds of Siddhis to such a sadhak and will eventually free him from all wordly ties to accept him in his pastimes of Goloka.

For those who have found their Gurus, following their respective paths prescribed by their Gurus is the best path for them. (Someone asks if a sadhak can contemplate on the image of his Guru while chanting Harinaam, if he is not able to concentrate his mind on any other image). Contemplating on the image of Guru, or the lotus feet of Guru, is even more appreciated in our scriptures. Since Guru is not a human made up of flesh and blood, but the highest tatva who has been honored by even Ram and Krishna (by accepting Vashishtha rishi and Sandipani muni as Gurus, respectively), the attitude of resolute bhakti of Guru is said to be rare and more desirable than devotion to Krishna. "Kimparamadhikam Krishnebhaktih na guror adhikam na guror adhikam". But one must have firm faith that Guru is not a human being, Guru tatva is non different from Isvara tatva. While contemplating on the image of Guru, the image of Krishna will emerge from the image of Guru by the mercy of Gurudev. Indeed, one who has firm and unfailing faith in Guru is rare.