Kīrtana means describing about the glories of the Lord, kīrtanam. Just like Parīkṣit Mahārāja and Śukadeva Goswāmī. Śukadeva Goswāmī was chanting. He was describing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. And Parīkṣit Mahārāja was hearing. This is śravaṇaṁ kīrtanam. And śravaṇaṁ kīrtanam about whom? Viṣṇu, not others. Śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ. Harer nāma. The śāstra says, harer nāma harer nāma harer nāmaiva kevalam (CC Adi 17.21).
Of course, Hari, or Kṛṣṇa, or Viṣṇu, has got many thousands of names. Any name will be profitable. That doesn't matter. But because we have to follow the footsteps of great personalities, great devotees, therefore, as we are following the footsteps of Lord Caitanya, He chanted the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra: Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare.
So by this chanting, immediately, as soon as the chanting is offenseless, immediately we shall remember Kṛṣṇa. Mayy āsakta-manāḥ. It is so easy. You chant. There is no expenditure; there is no loss. But the gain is very great. You can gradually become attached to Kṛṣṇa.
So if we chant and hear, śravaṇaṁ kīrtanam, this is the first stage of sādhu-saṅgaḥ. Ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu-saṅgaḥ (CC Madhya 23.14-15). Or this can be taken as bhajana-kriyā. And as soon as it is perfectly done, this chanting process, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare, bhajana-kriyā, then anartha-nivṛttiḥ syāt, all unwanted things are rejected. Anartha-nivṛttiḥ syāt.
Just like these boys and girls, Europeans and Americans, they had many anarthas. We have forbidden them. They have forsaken altogether. Take, for example, drinking of intoxicants. They were trained up for drinking from the childhood. They were trained up for meat-eating from childhood.
(break) This is called anartha-nivṛtti. Nobody is dying without drinking. Nobody is dying without meat-eating. But we have made a habit of eating such things.
Similarly, we can give it up also. That is possible when there is right bhajana-kriyā. In this way, when anartha-nivṛtti is finished, perfect, then he becomes firmly stuck up in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Tato niṣṭhā tato ruciḥ. Then taste. The taste is so nice that one cannot give up Kṛṣṇa consciousness. One cannot give up chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa. It increases the transcendental taste. And after taste, there is āsakti.
Kṛṣṇa is speaking from that stage here. Mayy āsakta-manāḥ, āsakti, attachment. When there is attachment of Kṛṣṇa, that is the almost final stage of your perfectional life.
- mayy āsakta-manāḥ pārtha
- yogaṁ yuñjan mad-āśrayaḥ
- asaṁśayaṁ samagraṁ māṁ
- yathā jñāsyasi (tac chṛṇu)
- (BG 7.1)
"You will understand Me. If you follow this principle, then," Kṛṣṇa says to Arjuna, or anyone follows this principle, then "without any doubt one should understand Kṛṣṇa in fullness." Samagram. So Kṛṣṇa is recommending, next:
- jñānaṁ te 'haṁ sa-vijñānam
- idaṁ vakṣyāmy aśeṣataḥ
- yaj jñātvā neha bhūyo 'nyaj
- jñātavyam avaśiṣyate
- (BG 7.2)
This devotional service, or the understanding of Kṛṣṇa, is jñānam. First of all, we have to understand. Kṛṣṇa will explain how Kṛṣṇa is present before you in different features. Just like originally He is present before us as impersonal Brahman, localized Paramātmā and personally also, Supreme Personality of Godhead. They are all the same. There is no difference, Brahman, Paramātmā and Bhagavān. There is no difference. The same thing, but it is realized under different angle of vision.
Those who are trying to approach Kṛṣṇa by philosophical speculation, by theosophical understanding, they go up to the impersonal feature of Kṛṣṇa, brahma-jñāna. And those who are trying to understand Kṛṣṇa as the localized Supreme Soul within one's heart . . . dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ (SB 12.13.1). The yogīs, they are trying to find out Kṛṣṇa within his heart by meditation.
So these are the different features of Kṛṣṇa knowledge. Brahmeti bhagavān iti . . . brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate (SB 1.2.11). The Absolute Truth is one, but one who is trying to understand Him by the dint of his personal knowledge, he approaches up to impersonal Brahman; one who is trying to understand Him as the localized Paramātmā feature, by the yogīs, He is known to them as Paramātmā, or Antaryāmī—but those who are in direct contact with Kṛṣṇa, they are realizing as the most lovable object, the most beautiful personality, most opulent personality, Kṛṣṇa. But the object is the same.
The example is generally given: just like the sunshine, the sun globe and the sun god. The sunshine is all-pervading, all over the universe, and the sun globe is localized. But within the sun globe there is a person who is called Sūrya-nārāyaṇa, or the sun god. These are facts. Don't think that there is no living entity in the sun planet. There is. Their body is fiery body. That's all. Just like our body in this planet is earthly body, their body is fiery. Out of the five elements, the fire element is very prominent in the sun planet. But there are living entities.