Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.24.20

yasya ha vāva kshuta-patana-praskhalanādishu vivaśah sakrin nāmābhigrinan purushah karma-bandhanam añjasā vidhunoti yasya haiva pratibādhanam mumukshavo 'nyathaivopalabhante

SYNONYMS

yasya — of whom; ha vāva — indeed; kshuta — when in hunger; patana — falling down; praskhalana-ādishu — stumbling and so on; vivaśah — being helpless; sakrit — once; nāma abhigrinan — chanting the holy name of the Lord; purushah — a person; karma-bandhanam — the bondage of fruitive activity; añjasā — completely; vidhunoti — washes away; yasya — of which; ha — certainly; eva — in this way; pratibādhanam — the repulsion; mumukshavah — persons desiring liberation; anyathā — otherwise; eva — certainly; upalabhante — are trying to realize.

TRANSLATION

If one who is embarrassed by hunger or who falls down or stumbles chants the holy name of the Lord even once, willingly or unwillingly, he is immediately freed from the reactions of his past deeds. Karmīs entangled in material activities face many difficulties in the practice of mystic yoga and other endeavors to achieve that same freedom.

PURPORT

It is not a fact that one has to offer his material possessions to the Supreme Personality of Godhead and be liberated before he can engage in devotional service. A devotee automatically attains liberation without separate endeavors. Bali Mahārāja did not get back all his material possessions merely because of his charity to the Lord. One who becomes a devotee, free from material desires and motives, regards all opportunities, both material and spiritual, as benedictions from the Lord, and in this way his service to the Lord is never hampered. Bhukti, material enjoyment, and mukti, liberation, are only by-products of devotional service. A devotee need not work separately to attain mukti. Śrīla Bilvamańgala Thākura said, muktih svayam mukulitāñjalih sevate 'smān: a pure devotee of the Lord does not have to endeavor separately for mukti, because mukti is always ready to serve him.

In this regard, Caitanya-caritāmrita (Antya 3.177-188) describes Haridāsa Thākura's confirmation of the effect of chanting the holy name of the Lord.

keha bale — 'nāma haite haya pāpa-kshaya'

keha bale — 'nāma haite jīvera moksha haya'

Some say that by chanting the holy name of the Lord one is freed from all the reactions of sinful life, and others say that by chanting the holy name of the Lord one attains liberation from material bondage.

haridāsa kahena, — "nāmera ei dui phala naya

nāmera phale krishna-pade prema upajaya

Haridāsa Thākura, however, said that the desired result of chanting the holy name of the Lord is not that one is liberated from material bondage or freed from the reactions of sinful life. The actual result of chanting the holy name of the Lord is that one awakens his dormant Krishna consciousness, his loving service to the Lord.

ānushańgika phala nāmera — 'mukti', 'pāpa-nāśa'

tāhāra drishtānta yaiche sūryera prakāśa

Haridāsa Thākura said that liberation and freedom from the reactions of sinful activities are only by-products of chanting the holy name of the Lord. If one chants the holy name of the Lord purely, he attains the platform of loving service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In this regard Haridāsa Thākura gave an example comparing the power of the holy name to sunshine.

ei ślokera artha kara panditera gana"

sabe kahe, — 'tumi kaha artha-vivarana'

He placed a verse before all the learned scholars present, but the learned scholars asked him to state the purport of the verse.

haridāsa kahena, — "yaiche sūryera udaya

udaya nā haite ārambhe tamera haya kshaya

Haridāsa Thākura said that as the sun begins to rise, it dissipates the darkness of night, even before the sunshine is visible.

caura-preta-rākshasādira bhaya haya nāśa

udaya haile dharma-karma-ādi parakāśa

Before the sunrise even takes place, the light of dawn destroys the fear of the dangers of the night, such as disturbances by thieves, ghosts and Rākshasas, and when the sunshine actually appears, one engages in his duties.

aiche nāmodayārambhe pāpa-ādira kshaya

udaya kaile krishna-pade haya premodaya

Similarly, even before one's chanting of the holy name is pure, one is freed from all sinful reactions, and when he chants purely he becomes a lover of Krishna.

'mukti' tuccha-phala haya nāmābhāsa haite

ye mukti bhakta nā laya, se krishna cāhe dite"

A devotee never accepts mukti, even if Krishna offers it. Mukti, freedom from all sinful reactions, is obtained even by nāmābhāsa, or a glimpse of the light of the holy name before its full light is perfectly visible.

The nāmābhāsa stage is between that of nāma-aparādha, or chanting of the holy name with offenses, and pure chanting. There are three stages in chanting the holy name of the Lord. In the first stage, one commits ten kinds of offenses while chanting. In the next stage, nāmābhāsa, the offenses have almost stopped, and one is coming to the platform of pure chanting. In the third stage, when one chants the Hare Krishna mantra without offenses, his dormant love for Krishna immediately awakens. This is the perfection.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness