Śridhara Mahārāja on the 10 offences to the holy name

Since going through the Gaudiya-Kanthahara on Nama-tattva, I thought the readers would profit by hearing the mature version of Śrīdhara Mahārāja explaining the  glories and ten offences to the holy name. 

This is an excerpt from:

The Search

For

Śrī Kṛṣṇa

 

Reality The Beautiful

 

 

His Divine Grace

Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣak

Śrīdhar Dev-Goswami Mahārāj

Excerpt From: Swami B.R. Sridhar. “The Search For Śrī Krishna.” iBooks. 

Before chanting the holy name of Kṛṣṇa, we must first chant the Pañcha-tattva mantra:

শ্রী কৃষ্ণ ছৈতন্য প্রভু নিত্যানন্দ

শ্রী অদ্ৱৈত গদাধর শ্রীৱাসাদি গৌর-ভক্ত-ৱৃন্দ

śrī kṛṣṇa chaitanya prabhu nityānanda

śrī advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi gaura-bhakta-vṛnda

The Pañcha-tattva, or five features of the Absolute Truth, came to give the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra to the fallen devotees of this age, so they are the general representation of Guru for us. They help us to enter into the domain of Kṛṣṇa and also the plane of Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu.
After chanting the Pañcha-tattva mantra, we should count on the beads of the japa-mālā and chant the mahā-mantra:

हरे कृष्ण हरे कृष्ण कृष्ण कृष्ण हरे हरे

हरे राम हरे राम राम राम हरे हरे

Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare

Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare

While counting beads and chanting the holy name, the beads should be placed inside a cloth bag, and the index finger, which is generally considered inauspicious, should not touch the beads, but should remain outside the bag. Generally we use the thumb and middle finger to count. One should chant sixteen rounds, as recommended by Bhaktivedanta Swāmī Mahārāj, but if there is any emergency, he must chant at least four rounds; the mālā should not be kept fasting.

In the process of counting, we begin from the bigger beads and go towards the smaller, and again return in the same line. The giant bead in the center is called Mount Sumeru. We must not cross over that.

This harināma mahā-mantra is found in the Upaniṣads, as well as in the Agni Purāṇa and the Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa. In the Kalisantaraṇa Upaniṣad, it is recommended as the highest mantra, and scholars have mentioned this mantra as a means of address only; no appeal should be attached to that.

This Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra is the yuga dharma nāma, or the process of God realization especially meant for the present age, Kali-yuga. We find the mahā-mantra mentioned everywhere in the Purāṇas. This mantra can be chanted silently, mentally, and aloud. It has been given to us by Mahāprabhu as the general recommendation for the fallen souls. He has given it for all, whether they are qualified or unqualified. The only condition for receiving it is śraddhā, faith.

It is mentioned in the Padma Purāṇa that there are ten kinds of offenses we must try to avoid in the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. There are“There are also four kinds of nāmābhāsa, or apathetic chanting, which will not give us entrance into the domain of mercy. Mere liberation will be effected by that kind of invocation.

These two improper kinds of chanting stem from our tendencies for exploitation and renunciation. We must chant the name with the spirit of service and avoid the ten offenses.

The First Offense is to abuse the devotees who are the agents of spreading the greatness and nobility of the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa. If we abuse and dishonor His agents, then the name is dissatisfied. Only the devotees of Kṛṣṇa are real saints, because they are after eternal life. Those persons who worship demigods for temporary gain are not considered saints. They may be neglected, for they are not devotees. Saint means Vaiṣṇava, or devotee. All others, such as the worshipers of demigods, are not considered saints. We avoid them. A saint is one who has no ambition in his life but to have a connection of loving service with the Supreme Lord. Only those who are agents of eternal truth, absolute good, are to be considered saintly. We should not abuse such saintly persons.


The Second Offense concerns how we should treat the demigods, including Śiva, Śakti, the Sun-god, and others. They are not to be considered equal to or greater than Viṣṇu, or Kṛṣṇa. They are under Him, and they are all inferior to Him. They are given engagements by the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa, and they have to discharge their duties according  “and they have to discharge their duties according to His order. They are never equal or superior to Kṛṣṇa.

The Third Offense is to consider the Guru a human being. Although so many human symptoms may be found in him, still, according to our sincerity to meet Godhead, the Lord descends and represents Himself in the Guru to satisfy our hunger for the truth. We must see him as the agent of the Lord. It has been advised to us in a general way not to think of the Guru as a mortal being, because if our attempt to attain the Absolute is sincere, then He will also come to us to deliver us. God is omniscient, so through a particular agent who acts as His representative, He comes here to accept us and take us up to the higher plane. We are ordered by the advice of the scriptures to see the Guru as the representative of the Absolute, because none can give us Kṛṣṇa but He Himself.
God’s presence should be perceived in our Gurudeva. We should see that God has come to give Himself to us. Generally we find mortal signs in “in the body of the spiritual master, but we must transcend that. The Ganges water may be filthy in external appearance, but still the dirty Ganges water can purify us by its touch. To our material senses the Deity seems to be wood, stone, or earth, but that is our polluted vision. Kṛṣṇa is there, and sometimes He is seen to walk and to talk with devotees of a higher order. We must not think that He is made of material stuff. When we go and stand before the Deity, we should not think that we can see Him, but that He is seeing us. He is in the subjective plane; I am His object.
He is mercifully seeing us to purify us. In this way our vision must be adjusted. Kṛṣṇa was killed by a hunter; the atheists will interpret that it was an ordinary incident, but it is not so. Sītā was stolen by Rāvaṇa. This is all external, all illusory. The real truth is above, in the transcendental realm. So, we are requested by the expert transcendentalists and by the śāstra to see that our Gurudeva is above these mortal signs. Kṛṣṇa says:

āchāryaṁ māṁ vijānīyān
“nāvanmanyeta karhichit
na martya-buddhyāsūyeta
sarva-deva-mayo guruḥ

“I Myself am the āchārya. Do not think that the Guru is an ordinary man. I myself reside within the heart of Gurudeva with all My parts and parcels, for the benefit of the disciple.”

The Fourth Offense is śāstra nindā: blaspheming the śāstra, the scriptures. Of course this means those scriptures which are concerned with praising ”

“the greatness and nobility of Kṛṣṇa, not others. We must not abuse those scriptures that instruct us about God and His devotees, and teach us the eternal good.


The Fifth Offense is to interpret the holy name of Kṛṣṇa with the help of the dictionary and grammar, to find diverse meanings in the words of the name. The sound is transcendental. The dictionary, grammar, and any other books of mundane knowledge cannot limit or qualify the holy name. Above the material sound of the name is the transcendental sound within (śabda-brahma). The name itself is the Supreme Person incarnate by His own free will. He is inseparable from His name and fully present in His sound form.

The vaikuṇṭha śabda, transcendental sound, is different from the mundane sound that can be produced by the tongue and lips. In homeopathic medicine, all the globules are apparently the same, but the potency within is all-important. It is something like that. The ordinary sound of the name, and the sound vibrated by a pure devotee come from different planes. The difference is in the potency within. The holy name descends from the spiritual world and  “and comes to express itself by dancing on the tongue. The transcendental sound of the holy name is inseparably connected with the person whom it represents.

The Sixth Offense is to consider the glories of the holy name of Kṛṣṇa to be a concoction.


The Seventh Offense is to sin on the strength of the holy name. The scriptures declare that one name is sufficient to clear all the sins one can commit, so if we go on indulging, committing many sins with the idea that we will chant one name to cleanse the sin, it will be an offense to the name, and not the name proper. We cannot try to utilize Him for our service; He is above all this māyā.

The real name will not appear there. We must not think, “I can do anything and everything, and the name will purify me.” It is written in the scriptures that if you go on with this spirit it will be suicidal.


The Eighth Offense is to think that chanting the holy name is another pious activity like penance, pilgrimage, giving in charity, service to the country, and so on. If we think lightly of the holy name in this way, then we commit an offense, because the holy name is absolute and these other processes have only a partial, relative position. Other processes are partial; they award some success in this mundane world, but the name can give the Lord Himself. So, no other process of purification can hold the same position as chanting the holy name of Kṛṣṇa. It is supreme and none can come close to it.


The Ninth Offense is to give the name to those who do not deserve it, who have no faith in chanting the name. If you press them to chant the holy name, a bad reaction will come to you. Also, without getting “ any inspiration, we should not make disciples and give harināma initiation. We will commit offense against the name if we make a business or trade with name-giving. If we give the name to anyone and everyone, out of greed for becoming a Guru, then it will be an offense. Without sanction from above, if one runs to become a Guru to get name and fame with some mundane purpose, then it is a great offense.


The tenth offense is to be too much addicted to a particular thing, or to have too much affinity towards the body and bodily wealth. When a boat is anchored, rowing will simply move the boat around the anchor. The anchor must be taken up, and then the boat can move forward. So, we must not anchor “ourselves down with a particular thing. We must be open. The name will create some transformation within the mental system, and we must be open and unprejudiced enough to go where the name will send us. If we carefully try to avoid that transformation and stick to our present life, that is an offense against the name: to invite Him, and then ignore Him.

We must not accept the name as a foreign thing: He is our friend. We should be quite at home with Him. We are going to attain a very soothing and friendly connection by the realization of the holy name of Kṛṣṇa, which is all-good, all-beautiful, and all-charming. By chanting the holy name we will attain our most desirable end of life and go back to God, back to home, and not to any foreign country.

We must take the name in a friendly, affectionate way. The name is the only object of our love. He is our friend, and not any anti-party. So, the name will take us home — not to any foreign land. That is our sweet home, and He is our sweet guardian. With this spirit, we shall  “we shall go on chanting the holy name of Kṛṣṇa.

These are the ten offenses to be avoided in chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra: Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare, Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare.”