The Wonder that is Vishnu’s Name II/III

• Read Part I/III here

The path to liberation has the chanting of the Lord’s names as both the entry door and the exit door. We enter the path of spiritual seeking with Hari Naama Smarana (Chanting of the Lord’s names with his remembrance) as the first step. However we don’t leave it there. For every spiritual step that we ascend, be it through pilgrimages, serving the Guru, worshipping God, listening to the scriptures or any other divine activity, the chanting of the Lord’s names not only remains a constant but also becomes more intense. All those rigorous intellectual endeavours of the learned in their path of seeking the truth by delving into the scriptures to realise the nature Brahman finally culminate in one great accomplishment- “chanting the Lord’s names with total surrender and complete conviction that he is full of virtues and is flawless”. Finally we make an exit from materialistic bondage by remembering the Lord’s name while seeing the lustrous form of the infinite in-dweller in the cave of our heart. The chanting of his name does not end with materialistic bondage. It continues as the soul’s expression of spotless spontaneous flow of love towards the Supreme Lord even in the liberated state.

All we need to do now is start chanting the names of the Lord. They are highly addictive. The more we chant them, the more desirous we would be to repeat them. And the more we repeat them, the closer we get to liberation. In other words, the path to liberation is fixed that very day we take the name of the Lord once! It is none other than Shrimat Anandatirtha Bhagavatpadacharya himself who says this!

“सकृद् उच्चारितं येन हरिरिति अक्षरद्वयम्।
बद्धः परिकरस्तेन मोक्षाय गमनं प्रति।।” –  Krishnamrita Maharnava, Verse 208

“He who utters the two words “Ha-Ri” even once, has secured a path to liberation”.

Many seekers do habitually keep chanting the names of the Lord. However, for achieving God realisation, the same chanting is to be done with the fullest possible wisdom, devotion and renunciation. Only when a person evolves to that level of spiritual advancement where he is so engrossed in calling the Lord that he completely loses attachment even on his own body, the in-dwelling Lord reveals himself in the heart and destroys the ignorance present in the heart. The Bhagavata Purana states the following-

“आपन्नः संसृतिं घोरां यन्नाम विवशो गृणन् ।
ततः सद्यो विमुच्येत यं बिभेति स्वयं भवः”॥ -Bhag. 1-1-14

“On chanting the Lord’s names with complete engrossment such that there is no attachment on external objects, there is quick liberation from materialistic bondage which terribly binds the soul, because such bondage is itself afraid of the Lord.”

Shrimat Acharya commentates this verse and explains the secret behind achieving such engrossed chanting of the Lord’s names. He says-

“विवशः बह्वभ्यासात्”
“शारीराद् वाचिकाभ्यासः वाचिकान्मानसा भवेत्। मानसाद् विवशान्मुच्येन्नान्यथा मुक्तिरिष्यते”॥ -Bhagavata Tatparya Nirnaya, 1-1-14

“Such remembrance of the Lord with complete dispassion towards all external objects (including one’s own body) can be achieved with rigorous practice.”

“By practicing to serve the Lord and his devotees physically, verbal practices such as chanting of God’s names, studying and preaching scriptures etc. are accomplished. Through such verbal practices, the practice of constant mental remembrance of the Lord is attained. Such mental remembrance makes one engrossed in the Lord and dispassionate in the mundane world. This liberates him. There is no other way for liberation.” Going by these instructions of Shrimat Acharya, it is clear that we need to constantly practice chanting of Vishnu’s names. This would finally result in God-realisation and liberation.

(…. to be continued)

Gururaj Bhandarkar