To speak of performing strenuous deeds when all one’s strength is spent Is nothing but foolish talk......Jnanadev says: It’s enough If only you chant His name; At once your fetters will fall

Nama Article 8th August 2008

Meaning 

To speak of performing strenuous deeds when all one's strength is spent Is nothing but foolish talk; To speak of one's love for God When there is no feeling in the heart Is also worthless and vain.

Only when true feeling arises can love for God bear fruit.

Will the Lord appear to you at your sudden call? No. You must yearn for Him in your heart!

It's sad to see that you weary yourself with so many worthless tasks. Day after day, you anxiously fret For your petty worldly affairs. 

My dear, why do you never think to turn to Hari with love?

Jnanadev says: It's enough If only you chant His name; At once your fetters will fall.

Transliteration 

bhaave.nviiNa bhakti bhaktiviiNa mukti . baLe.nviiNa shakti boluu.n naye .. 1..

kaiseni daivata prasanna tvarita . ugaa raahe.n nivaa.nta shiNasii vaayaa.n .. 2..

saayaase.n karisii prapaJNcha dinanishii.n . harisii na bhajasii koNyaa guNe .. 3..

GYaanadeva mhaNe harijapa karaNe.n . tuTela dharaNe.n prapa.nchaache.n .. 4..

 

Abhang

भावेविण भक्‍ति भक्‍तिविण मुक्‍ति ।

बळेविण शक्‍ति बोलू नये ॥ १ ॥

कैसेनि दैवत प्रसन्न त्वरीत ।

उगा राहे निवांत शिणसी वाया ॥ २ ॥

सायासे करिसी प्रपंच दिननिशी ।

हरिसी न भजसी कोण्या गुणे ॥ ३ ॥

ज्ञानदेव म्हणे हरिजप करणे ।

तुटेल धरणे प्रपंचाचे ॥ ४ ॥

Chant the Mahamantra Nama kirtan : 

Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Water in a lake appears green, blue or black from a distance. But if you go near and take some water in your palm, you will find that it is colourless. The sky from a distance appears blue. But if you go near it, it has no colour

Nama Article 6th August 2008

 

Source: The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna

 

Explanation of the forms of Kali and Shyama ­ the Infinite is not comprehensible

 

"Why are the forms of Kali and Shyama three and a half cubits tall? It is because of the distance. On account of distance, the sun seems small. If you go near, it will look big beyond your imagination. And why is the complexion of Kali, or Shyama black? That, too, on account of distance. For example, water in a lake appears green, blue or black from a distance. But if you go near and take some water in your palm, you will find that it is colourless. The sky from a distance appears blue.  But if you go near it, it has no colour.

 

"So I say that according to the Vedanta philosophy, Brahman is without attributes. What Its real nature is like cannot be expressed in words. But so long as you are real, the world is also real. The names and forms of the Lord are also real, taking Him as a person is real too.

 

"For you there is the path of bhakti. It is a very good and easy path. Can the Infinite Lord be known? Besides, where is the need to know Him? Having the rare privilege of been born as a man, we should develop devotion at His lotus feet by all means possible.

 

"If I can quench my thirst with one pot of water, what need is there for me to measure the quantity of water in the tank? I get intoxicated with half a bottle of wine what need is there to know how many maunds of wine there is in the wine shop? So, what is the need to know the Infinite?"

 

Chant the Mahamantra Nama kirtan :

 

Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

If you have such a strong conviction and faith in the Mahamantra, then the rest are not necessary

Nama Article 5th August 2008

 

Source: http://www.namadwaar.org/answers/questions.html

 

 

If Mahamantra can give us everything, then is it necessary to recite other slokas?

  

Sri Sri Muralidhara Swamiji:

 

If you have such a strong conviction and faith in the Mahamantra, then the rest are not necessary.

 

Chant the Mahamantra Nama kirtan :

 

Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Is there any need to count the numbers while chanting the Maha Mantra? When a child calls out his mother’s name with love, he would not count the number of times he called out. Would he?

Nama Article 3rd August 2008

 

Source:  http://www.namadwaar.org/answers/questions.html

 

Question

 

Is there any need to count the numbers while chanting the Maha Mantra? 

 

Sri Sri Muralidhara Swamiji:

 

When a child calls out his mother's name with love, he would not count the number of times he called out. Would he? When Nama Kirtan is done with true love and devotion, the count doesn't matter.

 

Though it is a fact that you are liberated even if you chant the Maha Mantra once, chant continuously if you desire a sorrow-free journey through life and if you wish to see God face-to-face within this lifetime.

 

Chant the Mahamantra Nama kirtan :

 

Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

The Divine Name is like a boatman who touches both banks. It is here that the great science of the practice of the Divine Name comes as an answer to this problem, this great barrier between the known and the unknown, the finite and the infinite, the

Nama Article 2nd August 2008

 

Source : Vision

 

Bound in this state of limited, finite consciousness, what is the possibility of trying to link ourselves with that which is infinite, with that which is beyond time and space, beyond name and form?

 

It is here that the great science of the practice of the Divine Name comes as an answer to this problem, this great barrier between the known and the unknown, the finite and the infinite, the manifest and the unmanifest, the individual and the universal.

 

The Divine Name is like a boatman who touches both banks. He comes to this bank and he can take us across, because he goes to the other bank as well. The Name has this great advantage.

 

Chant the Mahamantra Nama kirtan :

 

Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

"From this very moment I am going to change my way of life," and began to do japa of Rama Nama incessantly.......The Lord's Name purifies us however sinful a life we might have led.

Nama Article 1st August 2008

 

Excerpts from "Living with the Himalayan Masters" of Swami Rama

 

Once, the author of this Book - Swami Rama - was ordered by his Guru to go to Darjeeling and stay in a graveyard there for forty-one days and practice a particular sãdhana. The Guru had insisted that he (Swami Rama) should exercise patience for forty-one days and practice the sãdhana. Losing patience, he should not discontinue it before the stipulated time. Swami Rama, as ordered by the Guru, began to live in the graveyard. He built a small hut there and began to practise the prescribed sãdhana.

 

For thirty-nine days he practiced the sãdhana as advised by his Guru. He did not fear living all alone in a graveyard. He lit a fire there for cooking his food. On the thirty-ninth day all of a sudden his resolve changed. "There has been no change even after thirty-nine days of sãdhana. I have moved into a graveyard, where one would dread to come, on the mere words of the Guru! How can the Guru who commands me to do this be a good one? Should I not write letters to my friends?" With such thoughts he poured water over the fire and put it off. He pulled down the hut and began to walk towards the town.

 

While he passed a house he heard a melodious song and the sound of dance steps. The singer, a girl, was repeatedly singing a line. She was a prostitute. "The oil in the lamp of life is decreasing. Night still remains. Enjoy all that you have to in life" - the line carried this meaning. Swami Rama was surprised, as he felt that these words were meant for him. He turned back and ran to the graveyard. He continued his sãdhana for the remaining two days and completed it. On the forty-first day he underwent the experience that his Guru had predicted. Leaving the graveyard he went directly to the prostitute's house. Seeing him, the prostitute said to him, "Swami! You have come to the wrong place. Go away from here!" and closed the door. The watchman at the gates chased Swami Rama away. But, Swami Rama said to him, "To me she is like my mother. She has rendered me a great help. I have come only to thank her." The girl came out and he explained all that had happened to him.

 

That girl had also heard about Swami Rama's Guru. At once, she said to Swami Rama, "From this very moment I am going to change my way of life," and began to do japa of Rama Nãma incessantly. She went to Vãrãnasi (Kasi/Benares). She stayed on a boat house on the Ganga. At dusk she would come to the banks of the Ganga and perform kirtan of the Maha Mantra. Thousands of people began to join her in her kirtan. On her boat house she had written the words, "I am not a Sãdhu: I had been a prostitute. Do not bow down to me."

 

For all questions she would offer the only reply, 'Ram, Ram'. One evening, addressing the people who had gathered there, she said, "Tomorrow at dawn I shall attain to the Divine Feet of the Lord. Throw my body into the Ganga as food to the fish. Just as predicted, the next morning she attained to the Divine Feet of the Lord.

 

The Lord's Name ('Bhagavan Nãma') purifies us however sinful a life we might have led.

 

Chant the Mahamantra Nama kirtan :

 

Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Dip your mind in the jar of Lord’s name, and all the unclean stuff will be washed away. Then dip it in the jar of Lord’s grace. You will see how beautifully your real nature will shine forth.

Nama Article 31st July 2008

 

After Sri Ramakirshna's departure in mortal form, in 1896, the apostles moved to a derelict building, now known as Baranagar Math. They used to go deeper and deeper in spiritual journeys. An article by Swami Jitatmananda in the Statesman, Calcutta of 23rd December, 2005. "Naren made the ambience vibrant with the study of scriptures, history and literature, Kali (Abhedananda) was virtually consumed by research and meditation and Latu (Adbhutananda), among others were intoxicated with the incessant chanting of God's name".

 

One day Shashadhar Ganguly, a teacher from Malda, asked Latu Maharaj, 'Can the Atman be an object of knowledge?'

 

Latu Maharaj: 'An object is something that cannot be known without the help of something else, but the Atman is self revealing.'

 

Shashadhar: 'Then why should we want to know the Atman?'

 

Latu Maharaj: 'Because the Atman is our real nature.'

 

Shashadhar: 'If the Atman is our real nature, then why are we not aware of it?'

 

Latu Maharaj: 'Man's real nature is covered by a dense cloud of ignorance. . . Dip your mind in the jar of Lord's name, and all the unclean stuff will be washed away. Then dip it in the jar of Lord's grace. You will see how beautifully your real nature will shine forth.

 

Latu Maharaj had absolutely no knowledge of even the alphabets and obviously had no book-learning, Latu  Maharaj could instinctively see the inner significance of scriptures because of his spiritual realizations. Once a pundit was reading the Kathopanishad. He read the following verse:

 

'The Purusha of the size of a thumb, the inner soul, dwells always in the heart of beings. One should separate Him from the body with patience as the stalk from a grass.'

 

Latu Maharaj was overjoyed and exclaimed, 'Just the thing', as if he was giving out his own inner experience of life.

 

Chant the Mahamantra Nama kirtan :

 

Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare