Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: We say that God's name is special, whatever name it is. Not that we eliminate God, saying He's not special. He is special. Whether you call Him by this authorized name or that authorized name, His name is special because it's nondifferent from Him. So not that we should just overlook the name of God because we're overlooking God. We do that, so we have to...
Prabhupāda: Harer nāma (CC Adi 17.21). Harer nāma means God's name.
Priest: You see, for instance, in Christianity for a long time there was a bhakti, and this bhakti was devoted to the name of Jesus. So for a very long time you had that Jesus bhakti. And in your country, in America today, like you have got the Hare Kṛṣṇa, you have got also the Jesus devotees. Now, this is also present in many places. And the name does not matter. There is no name who has got the... Because then you find again what...
Prabhupāda: No. If Jesus is the name of God, then you can chant. If Jesus is the name of God. But Jesus, Lord Jesus Christ, says that he is son of God. Of course, there is no difference between son and the father. That is another thing. But still, if I want the father, how by calling the name of son I can get the father? That is also another thing.
Priest: Yeah, but I mean, this is another point.
Prabhupāda: But if you have got the father's name, why should you call Him by the son's name?
Priest: Yeah, but this is another discussion (indistinct). What we mean by father and son, you know, we don't mean it...
Prabhupāda: That everyone's father and son is the same. If father says something and the son says... Just like in a big family, if the son orders something, it is as good as the father's order. That is our experience. But still, if you want to call the father, you will not get the father's response by calling the name of the son.
Priest: Jesus told us, "If you see me, you see the Father, because the Father cannot be seen." It was a common name. Yoshua was a common Jewish name.
Prabhupāda: Yes. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Now, one thing is that if we are interested in chanting the name of God, if it is available, then why should I chant the name of the son?
Priest: No, it is not that question. The question is...
Devotee: Excuse me for interrupting, but one thing was that you suggested that the name of Kṛṣṇa is a very common name...
Priest: Yeah.
Devotee: ...in the sense that many people may be called Kṛṣṇa. But the Supreme God is also called Kṛṣṇa. So if you chant His name, you derive the benefit even if you're not thinking of Him as the Supreme.
Priest: Yeah, but for the Christian the same. Jesus is a very common name.
Devotee: That's all right. We're saying chant. Our spiritual master is teaching "You chant the name of God." That's the important thing.
Prabhupāda: If you think that Jesus Christ's name is also, you can chant, we have no objection. We say that you chant the holy name of God, whatever you have got. That's all right.
Priest: And for a Muslim you mean to chant Allah.
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Priest: Name Kṛṣṇa, Allah, Jesus, (indistinct), what is the...
Prabhupāda: Allah is not name. That is... It is not the name. It is just like the idea of God.
Priest: Yeah.
Prabhupāda: Allah means God, īśvara.
Priest: Allah means also (indistinct).
Prabhupāda: But that is not the name. That is... Just like the President and Mr. Nixon. The President may be another person. Not only Nixon, but another person also may be. So President is the general understanding of the post. But still, one who occupies the post, he has got a name.
Priest: Do you know the Sufi?
Prabhupāda: Huh?
Priest: Do you know the Sufis are Muslims (indistinct).
Prabhupāda: No.
Priest: They are the great mystics of Islam, and they always address God as Allah. As we say...
Prabhupāda: Allah means God.
Priest: Yes. It is the name of God for them. "Allah the all-knowing is great." Anybody who knows Islam knows that.
Prabhupāda: Anyway, if one chants Allah or Jesus Christ, we have no objection. We don't say that you stop it. We say that you chant the holy name of God. If that name is of God, you chant.
Yogeśvara: Yesterday, Srila Prabhupāda, you gave the story, I think you said it was from the Padma Purāṇa, about a Muslim who was attacked by a wild boar.
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Yogeśvara: He was attacked by a wild boar, and the boars for the Muslims are untouchable. So he was saying haram, haram, which means untouchable. And he was killed by that boar, but it was taken by higher authority that he was chanting "ha rāma," which means "where is Lord Rāma," so he derived liberation. Even unconsciously he was chanting and derived liberation.
Prabhupāda: Although he did not mean Rāma, he condemned the boar as haram, condemned. But the...
Priest: Same story is said in the bhakti tradition of Maharastra of the hunter.
Prabhupāda: Yes, may be the same story.
Priest: Untouchable hunter who was chased by a boar and went to a tree, and then... It is a common story.
Prabhupāda: Anyway, we are recommending "Chant the holy name of God."