Harinama Cintamani, Verses 11.53-57

"O Lord! Be merciful and appear on my tongue in Your holy name; dance there constantly, O Lord! I fall at Your lotus feet and beg You. You may keep me in this world or take me to Your abode, as You please, but whatever You do with me, feed me the divine nectar of Your names. You have descended into this world to distribute the Holy Name, so kindly also consider me one of those You intended to bless. I am the most lowly, whereas You are committed to the uplift of the lowest; this is our eternal relationship, O Savior of the fallen! On the strength of this unbreakable connection between us, O Lord, I beg You to shower me with the nectar of the Holy Name."

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

Dear devotees, a suggestion would be to read these verses before chanting or engaging in kirtan. Sacinandana Swami read this out before conducting a kirtan in Radhadesh [Belgium] which you can watch at www.mayapur.tv, and it just set the mood brilliantly! A devotee also told me long ago to read writings by other pure devotees, to set the mood for chanting. I have fallen in love with these verses now. It's just beautiful devotion. Nothing more, nothing less. Just loving devotion to Krishna!

Kirtaniya Sada Hari

Kirtaniya Sada Hari: Always chant the name of Lord Hari

I just watched a few minutes of a beautiful Kirtan on television. I cannot believe just how energized, spiritually charged, and filled-to-the-brim with Krishna's love I am feeling! I feel literally ecstatic. I want to scream and jump for joy, all in praise of Krishna!

The glories of kirtan, the glories of Krishna's beautiful names... oh, I wish they would just take over us!

Krishna's Holy Name is just so merciful and so beautiful. The Holy Name is freely available to all. The Holy Name loves you. You may have noticed that once you hear it, once you are part of a kirtan, and if you listen closely, giving just a little bit of attention to the Holy Name, it overflows with love for you and doesn't leave you. It stays there in your minds and in your hearts, on your tongues, and you can't resist singing along, even after the kirtan has stopped! Please do not stop the kirtan going on in your heart. Let it go on forever! It is the only way for your soul to express itself and to feel happiness. It is how Krishna makes Himself present in your life. He has freely given us His Holy Name to sing and chant and to express ourselves. So as He has given it to us, we must also give it to others. Sing so that others may hear, and sing so that you may hear. Just sing! Chant the Holy Name. It will help you to always remember Krishna. Sing His praises, sing His glories, and please the Lord by always remembering Him. Do you not feel happy when you find that someone whom you love dearly remembers you? This is how Krishna feels. We have gone far away from Him, and He is waiting for us to return. He is still loving us; He never stops loving us. And when we remember Him, it gives Him great joy. The Lord is unconquerable but He agrees to be bound by our love. Think of Him always. Glorify Him, for there is no one else who deserves our worship! Fall in love with the Holy Name - it is your gateway to Krishna.

Kirtaniya sada hari!

Krishna's Holy Names

What's so special about Krishna's names? Why do we need to build our love and faith in Krishna's names? Why is chanting Krishna's holy names so important? What's so special about the names of God? Let's look at what great saints and our religious scriptures say about Krishna's names:

1. The way to self-realization

harer nama harer nama harer namaiva kevalam

kalau nasty eva nasty eva nasty eva gatir anyatha

“In this Age of Kali there is no other means, no other means, no other means for self-realization than chanting the holy name, chanting the holy name, chanting the holy name of Lord Hari.”

- Adi 17.22 - Chaitanya Mahaprabhu

2. It is Krishna Himself

nama chintaminih krishnash
chaitanya-rasa-vigrahah
pumah shuddho nitya-mukto
'bhinnatvan nama-naminoh

The holy name of Krishna is like a transcendental touchstone, for it is Krishna Himself, the reservoir of all pleasure. Krishna's name is complete, and it is the form of transcendental mellows. It is always pure and liberated from all material contamination. This is because the name of Krishna and Krishna Himself are identical.

- Padma Purana

3. The way to approach Krishna

namnam akari bahudha nija-sarva-saktis
tatrarpita niyamitah smarane na kalah
etadrsi tava krpa bhagavan mamapi
durdaivam idrsam ihajani nanuragah

O my Lord, Your holy name alone can render all benediction to living beings, and thus You have hundreds and millions of names, like Krsna and Govinda. In these transcendental names You have invested all Your transcendental energies. There are not even hard and fast rules for chanting these names. O my Lord, out of kindness You enable us to easily approach You by Your holy names, but I am so unfortunate that I have no attraction for them.

- Siksashtakam Verse 2

4. Krishna's Holy Name can save us

jaya namadheya muni-vrinda-geya he
jana-ranjanaya param aksarakrite
tvam anadarad api manag udiritam
nikhilogra-tapa-patalim vilumpasi

O Harinama, who are sung by the sages! O You who have assumed the form of transcendental syllables that bring great happiness to all people! Even if You are spoken only once, and even if You are spoken disrespectfully or in jest, You at once remove the many terrible sufferings of everyone.

- Sri Krishna Namastakam Verse 2 by Srila Rupa Goswami

5. It is everything

kalyananam nidhanam kali-mala-mathanam pavanam pavananam

patheyam yan mumuksoh sapadi para-pada-praptaye procyamanam

visrama-sthanam ekam kavi-vara-vacasam jivanam saj-jananam

bijam dharma-drumasya prabhavatu bhavatam bhutaye krsna-nama

May Krsna's holy name, which is

(1) A reservoir of all transcendental happiness,

(2) The destruction of Kali-yuga's sins,

(3) The most purifying of all purifying things,

(4) The saintly person's food (or lunch) as he traverses the path to the spiritual world,

(5) The pleasure-garden where the voices of the greatest saints, philosophers, and poets play,

(6) The life of the righteous, and

(7) The seed of the tree of religion, bring transcendental auspiciousness to you all.

- Author unknown - Padyavali Text 19 by Srila Rupa Goswami

*****

So based on this, many beautiful things about Krishna's names can be understood. In this age of Kali-yuga, Krishna's name is His incarnation. When we call out His name, when we chant, our beloved Krishna is actually present with us, in the form of His Holy Name. They say that the Holy Name is a person - the Holy Name is in fact the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Radhanath Swami explains that Krishna is pure, and Krishna's name is absolute. It is non-different from Krishna Himself. Therefore His name is pure. So with Krishna's name, we can drive out all impurity and inauspiciousness. Nothing inauspicious can reside where there is the purity and presence of Krishna. Glories to Krishna!

Chanting of Krishna's name can help us develop Krishna prema or love for God. It can help us fall madly in love with Krishna. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu teaches that in this age of quarrel and hypocrisy, in this Kaliyuga, there is no other way of self-realization. Krishna's Holy Name is our only refuge. God has so mercifully given us this gift of chanting, of pronouncing and saying His Holy Name, in which He has vested innumerable potencies. He has vested Himself in His holy names. Why don't we say it as much? He has made it so incredibly easy for us to approach Him just by calling out His name! It can purify us, cleanse our hearts, give us peace, and most importantly, it can bring us closer to Krishna and help us reawaken our dormant love for Krishna. His names are always with us, dancing on our tongues.

Rather than us running after Krishna, the Holy Name is at our beck and call, for God is so merciful that He has given us this gift of chanting at any time, any place, and in any circumstance. God is so merciful that He has let go of all rules and regulations, and permitted us to say His holy names, to taste ecstasy and bliss, to sing and dance, all in love of His holy names. His names will help us to always remember Him. They are on our tongues. Soon, with the process of chanting, they will become etched in our hearts. It will el

iminate our forgetfulness of Krishna, and help us to remember Him at all times. Through His names, Krishna becomes manifest wherever we are, wherever we go. It is up to us where we want Him to be, and whether we want Him to be around us at all.

His name is there. It's always there, waiting to dance on your tongues.

Let it dance.