Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Mukunda-mālā-stotra 51

alam alam alam ekā prāṇināḿ pātakānāḿ

nirasana-viṣaye yā kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇeti vāṇī

yadi bhavati mukunde bhaktir ānanda-sāndrā

karatala-kalitā sā mokṣa-sāmrājya-lakṣmīḥ

SYNONYMS

alam alam alam — enough, enough, enough; ekā — by itself; prāṇinām — of living beings; pātakānām — of the sins; nirasana — driving away; viṣaye — in the matter of; yā — which; kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa — "Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa"; iti — thus; vāṇī — words; yadi — if; bhavati — there is; mukunde — for Lord Mukunda; bhaktiḥ — devotion; ānanda — with ecstasy; sāndrā — dense; kara-tala — in the palms of one's hands; kalitāḥ — available; sā — she (devotion); mokṣa — liberation; sāmrājya — influence; lakṣmīḥ — and opulence.

TRANSLATION

By themselves the words "Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa" are sufficient to drive away the sins of all living beings. Anyone who possesses devotion for Lord Mukunda that is densely imbued with ecstasy holds in the palms of his hands the gifts of liberation, worldly influence, and wealth.

PURPORT

King Kulaśekhara's declaration that the holy name drives away sins brings to mind a similar statement spoken by Nāmācārya Haridāsa Ṭhākura. First he quoted a verse that makes use of the analogy of the rising sun:

aḿhaḥ saḿharad akhilaḿ

sakṛd udayād eva sakala-lokasya

taranir iva timira-jaladhiḿ

jayati jagan-mańgalaḿ harer nāma

"As the rising sun immediately dissipates all the world's darkness, which is deep like an ocean, so the holy name of Lord Hari, if chanted once without offenses, dissipates all the reactions of a living being's sinful life. All glories to that holy name of the Lord, which is auspicious for the entire world" (Cc. Antya 3.181).

Next Haridāsa Ṭhākura explained the verse as follows: As the first glimpse of sunlight dissipates one's fear of thieves and ghosts, so with the first hint of offenseless chanting of the Lord's names, reactions of sinful life immediately disappear. If a devotee can continue to chant without offenses, he goes on to awaken ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa.

Then Haridāsa Ṭhākura stated, "Liberation is the insignificant result derived from a glimpse of the awakening of offenseless chanting of the holy name." When Haridāsa made this claim, a ritualistic brāhmaṇa challenged him, saying that he had exaggerated the powers of the holy name. But Haridāsa Ṭhākura replied with śāstric proof. He gave the example of Ajāmila, who chanted the Lord's holy name with the intention of calling his son Nārāyaṇa, yet who was thereby immediately freed of his sinful reactions and who ultimately attained to the spiritual world. Haridāsa also quoted a verse from the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam proving that pure devotees prefer serving the Lord to being liberated without such service.

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura elaborately describes the stages of chanting the holy name in his Hari-nāma-cintāmaṇi: Chanting that is full of ignorance and offenses is known as nāma-aparādha. The next stage, which still contains imperfections, is known as nāma-ābhāsa, or the shadow of the holy name. This is the stage in which one can attain freedom from sins and even liberation. But one can attain pure kṛṣṇa-prema only by chanting without offense, a stage known as śuddha-nāma, or the pure chanting of the holy name.

King Kulaśekhara says that one who has attained love of Kṛṣṇa has all other benedictions easily within his grip, including mukti and the gifts of Lakṣmī, the goddess of fortune. The bhakta's indifference toward liberation is further expressed by Bilvamańgala Ṭhākura in his Śrī Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta (107):

bhaktis tvayi sthiratarā bhagavan yadi syād

daivena naḥ phalati divya-kiśora-mūrtiḥ

muktiḥ svayaḿ mukulitāñjali sevate 'smān

dharmārtha-kāma-gatayaḥ samaya-pratīkṣāḥ

"My dear Lord, if I am engaged in firm devotional service unto You, then I can very easily perceive Your transcendental youthful form. And as far as liberation is concerned, she stands at my door with folded hands, waiting to serve me, and all material conveniences of religiosity, economic development, and sense gratification stand with her."

A pure devotee easily attains wealth and liberation, but he is not interested in them. As Śrīla Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī writes in his Śrī Caitanya-candrāmṛta (5), "[For a pure devotee] impersonal liberation is as palatable as going to hell, and the heavenly cities of the demigods are as real as flowers imagined to float in the sky." The devotee is ātmārāma, self-satisfied, because he knows that devotional service to Kṛṣṇa brings everything.

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