View source for Ultimate religious principle for the living entity in human society

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[[Category:Ultimate]]
[[Category:Religious Principles]]
[[Category:Living Entities]]
[[Category:Human Society]]
[[Category:Religiousness - different aspects of - Umbrella Category]]
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<div id="Srimad-Bhagavatam" class="section" sec_index="1" parent="compilation" text="Srimad-Bhagavatam"><h2>Srimad-Bhagavatam</h2>
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<div id="SB_Canto_6" class="sub_section" sec_index="6" parent="Srimad-Bhagavatam" text="SB Canto 6"><h3>SB Canto 6</h3>
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<div id="SB6322_0" class="quote" parent="SB_Canto_6" book="SB" index="127" link="SB 6.3.22" link_text="SB 6.3.22">
<div class="heading">Devotional service, beginning with the chanting of the holy name of the Lord, is the ultimate religious principle for the living entity in human society.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:SB 6.3.22|SB 6.3.22, Translation and Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="trans text"><p style="display: inline;">Devotional service, beginning with the chanting of the holy name of the Lord, is the ultimate religious principle for the living entity in human society.</p>
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<div class="purport text"><p>As stated in the previous verse, dharmaṁ bhāgavatam, real religious principles, are bhāgavata-dharma, the principles described in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam itself or in Bhagavad-gītā, the preliminary study of the Bhāgavatam. What are these principles? The Bhāgavatam says, dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo 'tra: ([[Vanisource:SB 1.1.2|SB 1.1.2]]) in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam there are no cheating religious systems. Everything in the Bhāgavatam is directly connected with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Bhāgavatam further says, sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhokṣaje: ([[Vanisource:SB 1.2.6|SB 1.2.6]]) the supreme religion is that which teaches its followers how to love the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is beyond the reach of experimental knowledge. Such a religious system begins with tan-nāma-grahaṇa, chanting of the holy name of the Lord (śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam ([[Vanisource:SB 7.5.23-24|SB 7.5.23]])). After chanting the holy name of the Lord and dancing in ecstasy, one gradually sees the form of the Lord, the pastimes of the Lord and the transcendental qualities of the Lord. This way one fully understands the situation of the Personality of Godhead. One can come to this understanding of the Lord, how He descends into the material world, how He takes His births and what activities He performs, but one can know this only by executing devotional service. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā, bhaktyā mām abhijānāti: ([[Vanisource:BG 18.55 (1972)|BG 18.55]]) simply by devotional service one can understand everything about the Supreme Lord. If one fortunately understands the Supreme Lord in this way, the result is tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti: ([[Vanisource:BG 4.9 (1972)|BG 4.9]]) after giving up his material body, he no longer has to take birth in this material world. Instead, he returns home, back to Godhead. That is the ultimate perfection. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gītā (8.15):</p>
:mām upetya punar janma
:duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam
:nāpnuvanti mahātmānaḥ
:saṁsiddhiṁ paramāṁ gatāḥ
<p>"After attaining Me, the great souls, who are yogīs in devotion, never return to this temporary world, which is full of miseries, because they have attained the highest perfection."</p>
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<div id="Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta" class="section" sec_index="2" parent="compilation" text="Sri Caitanya-caritamrta"><h2>Sri Caitanya-caritamrta</h2>
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<div id="CC_Antya-lila" class="sub_section" sec_index="3" parent="Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta" text="CC Antya-lila"><h3>CC Antya-lila</h3>
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<div id="CCAntya471_0" class="quote" parent="CC_Antya-lila" book="CC" index="731" link="CC Antya 4.71" link_text="CC Antya 4.71">
<div class="heading">Devotional service, beginning with the chanting of the holy name of the Lord, is the ultimate religious principle for the living entity in human society.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:CC Antya 4.71|CC Antya 4.71, Translation and Purport]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="trans text"><p style="display: inline;">"Of the nine processes of devotional service, the most important is to always chant the holy name of the Lord. If one does so, avoiding the ten kinds of offenses, one very easily obtains the most valuable love of Godhead."</p>
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<div class="purport text"><p>Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī Prabhu gives the following directions in his Bhakti-sandarbha (270):</p>
<p>iyaṁ ca kīrtanākhyā bhaktir bhagavato dravya-jāti-guṇa-kriyābhir dīna-janaika-viṣayāpāra-karuṇā-mayīti śruti-purāṇādi-viśrutiḥ. ata eva kalau svabhāvata evāti-dīneṣu lokeṣu āvirbhūya tān anāyāsenaiva tat-tad-yuga-gata-mahā-sādhanānāṁ sarvam eva phalaṁ dadānā sā kṛtārthayati. yata eva tayaiva kalau bhagavato viśeṣataś ca santoṣo bhavati.</p>
<p>“Chanting the holy name is the chief means of attaining love of Godhead. This chanting or devotional service does not depend on any paraphernalia, nor on one's having taken birth in a good family. By humility and meekness one attracts the attention of Kṛṣṇa. That is the verdict of all the Vedas. Therefore if one becomes very humble and meek, he can easily attain the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa in this Age of Kali. That is the fulfillment of all great sacrifices, penances and austerities because when one achieves ecstatic love of Godhead, he attains the complete perfection of life. Therefore whatever one does in executing devotional service must be accompanied by the chanting of the holy name of the Lord.” The chanting of the holy name of Kṛṣṇa—Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare—has been praised by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī in his Nāmāṣṭaka (verse 1):</p>
:nikhila-śruti-mauli-ratna-mālā-
:dyuti-nīrājita-pāda-paṅkajānta
:ayi mukta-kulair upāsyamānaṁ
:paritas tvāṁ hari-nāma saṁśrayāmi
<p>"O Hari-nāma! The tips of the toes of Your lotus feet are constantly being worshiped by the glowing radiance emanating from the string of gems known as the Upaniṣads, the crown jewels of all the Vedas. You are eternally adored by liberated souls such as Nārada and Śukadeva. O Hari-nāma! I take complete shelter of You."</p>
<p>Similarly, Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī has praised the chanting of the holy name as follows in his Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta (1.1.9):</p>
:jayati jayati nāmānanda-rūpaṁ murārer
:viramita-nija-dharma-dhyāna-pūjādi-yatnam
:katham api sakṛd āttaṁ mukti-daṁ prāṇināṁ yat
:paramam amṛtam ekaṁ jīvanaṁ bhūṣaṇaṁ me
<p>"All glories, all glories to the all-blissful holy name of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, which causes the devotee to give up all conventional religious duties, meditation and worship. When somehow or other uttered even once by a living entity, the holy name awards him liberation. The holy name of Kṛṣṇa is the highest nectar. It is my very life and my only treasure."</p>
<p>In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (2.1.11) Śukadeva Gosvāmī says:</p>
:etan nirvidyamānānām icchatām akuto-bhayam
:yogināṁ nṛpa nirṇītaṁ harer nāmānukīrtanam
<p>"O King, constant chanting of the holy name of the Lord after the ways of the great authorities is the doubtless and fearless way of success for all, including those who are free from all material desires, those who are desirous of all material enjoyment, and those who are self-satisfied by dint of transcendental knowledge."</p>
<p>In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (6.3.22) Yamarāja says:</p>
:etāvān eva loke ‘smin
:puṁsāṁ dharmaḥ paraḥ smṛtaḥ
:bhakti-yogo bhagavati
:tan-nāma-grahaṇādibhiḥ
<p>"Devotional service, beginning with the chanting of the holy name of the Lord, is the ultimate religious principle for the living entity in human society."</p>
<p>Similarly, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu has said in His Śikṣāṣṭaka (3):</p>
:tṛṇād api su-nīcena taror iva sahiṣṇunā
:amāninā māna-dena kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ
:([[Vanisource:CC Adi 17.31|CC Adi 17.31]])
<p>"One should chant the holy name of the Lord in a humble state of mind, thinking oneself lower than the straw in the street. One should be more tolerant than a tree, devoid of all sense of false prestige and ready to offer all respect to others. In such a state of mind one can chant the holy name of the Lord constantly." Regarding the ten offenses in chanting the holy name, one may refer to Ādi-līlā, Chapter Eight, verse 24.</p>
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