A few days before Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu took sannyas, He was chanting «gopi, gopi, gopi!» Hearing this, a tantric brahman came to give some advice to the Lord. «Pandit,» he said, «You are a scholar; You know the scriptures. Still, You are chanting the name ‘gopi, gopi’. What benefit will You get from that? The scriptures say that if You chant the Name of Krishna, You may get some benefit. You will find this in many places in the scriptures, especially in the Puranas. Why then do You chant ‘gopi, gopi’?»
Angered at the brahman’s ignorance, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, in the mood of a follower of the gopis, picked up a stick and began to rebuke him. «You have come from the enemy camp to convert us into followers of Krishna?» He ran after the brahman to beat him with His stick. In this example, we find that Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was chanting «gopi, gopi» and neglecting the Name of Krishna. Apparently, He was advised to take the Name of Krishna and became enraged — but what is the underlying thought there?
If we are to understand the effect of someone’s chanting of the Holy Name, we must examine his underlying purpose. Sometimes his chanting may have some effect, but not always. Still, Jiva Goswami mentions the following example as evidence that the Holy Name may have some effect even if one is unaware of its full meaning. Once, a wild boar attacked a Mohammedan, and the Mohammedan cried, «Harama! Harama!» Harama means «that abominable hog!» On the other hand, Ha Rama means «the Lord», who has allowed a hog to attack me. Somehow, Lord Rama was invoked, and the Holy Name had a divine influence on the Mohammedan, who attained liberation.
Another example given in the scriptures is that of Valmiki. Before becoming a saint, the sage Valmiki was a dacoit. But the great saint Narad had a plan to benefit him. Narad thought, «This person is the most notorious and heinous dacoit I have ever seen. Let me experiment with him to see the potency of the Holy Name. I shall ask him to chant the Holy Name of Rama.» He tried, but Valmiki could not pronounce the Holy Name of Rama. Then, Narad told him to chant mara — the word for «murder» — instead. The dacoit said, «Yes, I can do this. This is just the opposite of the Name of Rama.» He began to chant «mara-mara-mara-mara-rama-rama-rama-rama.» In this way, after some time, mara became Rama. Valmiki began to chant the Name of Rama, and gradually his mental attitude changed. So, it is possible for the Name to have an effect on someone even if he has no proper conception of its meaning. This is called Namabhas: the shadow of the Name. It can effect liberation. But a real devotee is not interested in liberation. He wants to enter the domain of divine service.
The sound and its effect depend upon the attitude we accept and the quality we can conceive, because the actual Vaikuntha-nam is infinite. In that plane, the Divine Name is equal to the substance named. When the sound aspect is one and the same with the original aspect of the thing, that is Vaikuntha-nam. Here in this world, a blind man’s name may be Padmalochan — lotus-eyed — but really he may be blind. The name and the figure may be entirely different. But in Vaikuntha, in the infinite world, the name and the named are one and the same.
Yet to experience the Vaikuntha-nam, one must avoid both Namaparadha, offences to the Holy Name, and Namabhas, the shadow of the Holy Name. By Namabhas, we get some relief from this worldly bondage, and by Namaparadha, we become entangled in this mayik world. But the ordinary physical sound cannot represent the real Name, which is supernatural.
It is said that one Name of Krishna can remove more ignorance and sin than a man has the power to commit. But what is the quality of that one Name? We may chant the physical name of Krishna so many times without getting the result of even one real Name. There is a great difference between the ordinary sound of the name, the superficial mayik name, and the pure Name. The pure Name is one and the same with Krishna, but that descends down to our level only by His grace. We cannot vibrate it simply by dint of our moving our tongue and our lips. The pure Name of Krishna is not lip deep, but heart deep. And it ultimately goes beyond the heart and reaches the land of Krishna. When Krishna comes down, the Name Krishna comes through the heart and moves the lips and tongue. That vibration is the Holy Name of Krishna, Krishna-nam.