(comprehensive), The Thousand Holy Names of ... - Mandhata Global

Preface
“Hare Kåñëa, Hare Kåñëa, Kåñëa Kåñëa, Hare Hare; Hare
Räma, Hare Räma, Räma Räma, Hare Hare—these sixteen
names composed of thirty-two syllables are the only means to
counteract the evil effects of Kali-yuga. In all the Vedas it is
seen that to cross the ocean of nescience there is no alternative
to the chanting of the Holy Name.”
Çré Mädhväcärya, in his commentary upon the Muëòaka
Upaniñad, quotes the following çloka from the Näräyaëa
Saàhitä:
dväparéyair janair viñëuù païcarätrais tu kevalaiù
kalau tu näma-mätreëa püjyate bhagavän hariù
“In the Dväpara-yuga one could satisfy Kåñëa or Viñëu only by
worshiping Him gorgeously according to the païcarätriké
[Deity worship] system, but in the Age of Kali one can worship
and satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead Hari only by
chanting His Holy Name.”
Since the Holy Name can deliver the conditioned soul from all
material suffering, it is called sarva-mantra-sära, the essence of
all Vedic hymns. However, one should receive the Holy Name
from the pure devotee who is fully engaged in the loving
devotional service of the Lord. One who has a merely
academic interest in religion, or who poses as a great spiritual
teacher merely for the sake of transient name, fame, profit and
cheap adoration from the innocent public, cannot impart the
real thing.
The Holy Name is most effective when heard from a selfrealized
teacher situated in the paramparä (disciplic
succession) from Kåñëa Himself:
evaà paramparä-präptam imaà räjarñayo viduù
“This supreme science was thus received through the chain of
disciplic succession, and the saintly kings understood it in that
way.” [Bhagavad-gétä 4.2]
A self-realized spiritual master is not an ordinary human being,
but is fully qualified to act as the representative of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead. How to approach such a spiritual
master is also described:
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