चेतोदर्पणमार्ज्जनं भवमहादावाग्निनिर्व्वापणं
श्रेयःकैरवचन्द्रिकावितरणं विद्यावधूजीवनम्।
आनन्दाम्बुधिवर्द्धनं प्रतिपदं पूर्णामृतास्वादनं
सर्व्वात्मस्नपनं परं विजयते श्रीकृष्णसङ्कीर्त्तनम् ॥१॥
cheto-darpana-marjanam bhava-maha-davagni-nirvapanam
sreyah-kairava-chandrika-vitaranam vidya-vadhu-jivanam
anandambudhi-vardhanam prati-padam purnamrtasvadanam
sarvatma-snapanam param vijayate sri-krsna-sankirtanam
«The Holy Name of Krishna
cleanses the mirror of the heart
and extinguishes the fire of misery
in the forest of birth and death.
«As the evening lotus blooms
in the moon’s cooling rays
the heart begins to blossom
in the nectar of the Name.
«And at last the soul awakens
to its real inner treasure
— a life of love with Krishna.
«Again and again tasting nectar
the soul dives and surfaces in
the ever-increasing ocean
of ecstatic joy.
«All phases of the self
of which we may conceive
are fully satisfied and purified
and at last conquered by
the all-auspicious influence
of the Holy Name of Krishna.»
Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is the pioneer of Sri Krishna-sankirtan. He said, «I have come to inaugurate the chanting of the Holy Name of Krishna, and that Name will reach every nook and corner of the universe (prthivite achhe yata nagaradi-grama, sarvatra prachara haibe Mora Nama).»
What is the meaning of sankirtan? Samyak means ‘full’, and kirtan means ‘chanting’. Together, these two words form the word sankirtan, which generally means ‘congregational chanting of the Holy Name of Krishna.’ But samyak means full not only in quantity but also in quality. Full quantity means extensive in number: congregational. Full quality means complete praise. Complete praise can only mean the glorification of Krishna, and not any other gods.
So sankirtan means complete kirtan, a song in praise of the complete whole, the Absolute Truth; anything else is only a partial representation and therefore defective to a certain extent. Therefore, Krishna should be praised. His glories should be chanted, for He is everything. He is the master, the dispenser of both good and bad, the Absolute Controller of everything. Everything is due to Him. The fulfilment of all life is reached in Him alone. Just as a horse may have reins to check his movements, but if let loose will run freely, praise which is unchecked by any mundane purpose will run straight towards the Supreme Cause, Krishna.
The word sri means Laksmi Devi: Krishna’s potency. This means that in sankirtan, Krishna is worshipped along with His potency, for Krishna’s potency is included within Him.
Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu says that Sri Krishna-sankirtan should thrive throughout the world; it should be victorious without any hindrance (param vijayate Sri Krsna-sankirtanam). It should be a spontaneous, unchecked, and natural flow. It should be exclusive, independent, and without reservation. And this praise of Krishna should be congregationally chanted — that vibration is beneficial for the whole world. Only by surrender and pure devotion can we take to Sri Krishna-sankirtan.
What are the different stages through which we will pass while chanting the Holy Name of Krishna? The first stage is that it cleanses the mirror of the mind. If the mirror of the mental system is covered with dust, we cannot see things clearly, and scriptural advice cannot be properly reflected there. What are the different kinds of dust covering the mirror of the mind? Our infinite, fleeting, and organised desires are considered dust, and our hearts and minds are covered with layers and layers of this dust. Therefore we cannot see things properly; they cannot properly reflect in our mind because it is covered with the infinite ordinary desires of this mundane world (bhukti-mukti-siddhi-kami — sakali ‘asanta’).
So the first effect of Sri Krishna-sankirtan is the cleansing of the mind. The Vedic social system (varnasram-dharma) has been formed for this purpose. If we discharge our social duties perfectly, without any attraction for the consequences, we achieve purification of our consciousness — but the first installment of Nam-sankirtan gives us the end result of varnasram-dharma: purification of the heart and mind. Then we can understand Vedic advice properly.
The next effect of chanting the Holy Name is that it extinguishes the fire of material existence in the forest of repeated birth and death. We are forced to come into creation and again die. The mundane wave catches the soul which mingles with that vibration in different stages. That is stopped by the second effect of Sri Krishna-sankirtan, and we become liberated.
With the first stride, the intelligence is purified. With the second stride, the Holy Name effects liberation from the great conflagration of threefold miseries. The threefold miseries are adhyatmik: miseries within the body and mind, such as disease and mental anxiety; adhibhautik: miseries from our neighbours: man, beasts, insects, and so many other living beings; and adhidaivik: natural catastrophes like famine, flood, and earthquake. We have to suffer from these three kinds of miseries which burn in our heart like fire. But everything is extinguished forever by the second stride of Nam-sankirtan which gives us relief.
The next stage is sreyah-kairava-chandrika-vitaranam: the Holy Name bestows upon us the supreme goal of life. After doing away with these two negative engagements, our positive engagement begins and ultimately takes us to reality, to the real truth, which is eternal, auspicious, and beautiful. It takes us to that auspiciousness which is above this world of difficulty, and in a general way we achieve the supreme goal, the highest auspiciousness, the greatest good from chanting the Holy Name of Krishna. If we analyse this scrutinisingly, we find that in this stage, the Holy Name takes us to an intimate personal relationship with Krishna which includes neutrality, servitude, friendship, and filial affection (santa, dasya, sakhya, and vatsalya rasa). Sreyah covers the grace of Nityananda Prabhu, for it is by His grace that we may be allowed to worship Radha and Krishna in Vrndavan (Nitaiyer karuna habe Vraje Radha Krishna pabe).
The next stage is vidya-vadhu-jivanam. The Holy Name prepares us for the wholesale surrender to Krishna that is found in conjugal love (madhura-rasa), where the devotees surrender themselves infinitely at the disposal of Krishna.
The next stage is anandambudhi-vardhanam. When we come to the proper level while chanting the Name of Krishna, we find the transcendental ocean that is above all sorts of experience. The Name comes to assert Himself over us according to the degree of our surrender, and when our surrender is complete, we feel a new type of ecstatic joy; we experience an infinite ocean of joy which is not static, but always dynamic. There we find new life and a new type of blissfulness. It never becomes stale or static, but at every moment gives us a taste of the infinite ocean of ecstasy.
The last effect is that our entire existence is purified. This kind of enjoyment does not pollute — it purifies. Enjoyment means exploitation. Mundane enjoyment creates a reaction and pollution attacks the enjoyer, but here, because Krishna is the aggressor, the result is purification. All enjoyment that comes from the centre, from the autocratic desire of Krishna, purifies us completely.
In this verse, the words sarvatma-snapanam mean that all different phases of the self which may be conceived are fully satisfied and purified at once by chanting the Holy Name of Krishna. And there is another meaning of sarvatma-snapanam. If we praise Krishna congregationally, we will be purified according to our capacity. Both the singer and the audience as well as anyone who comes in connection with the transcendental sound will be purified. Snapanam means ‘purifying’. That vibration purifies everyone and everything that comes in touch with it.
So Mahaprabhu says, «Go on with sankirtan, the congregational chanting of the Holy Name of Krishna.» Of course, sankirtan must be genuine, so association with saints is necessary. It is not an empirical attempt. We are attempting to have a connection with the higher, unconditioned realm which can descend to help us here. We must have that connection with higher reality, for that is all-important. The Holy Name of Krishna is not mere physical sound; it is not lip-deep only, but it has a greater and higher aspect (Namaksara bahiraya bate tabu Nama kabhu naya). It is all spiritual. We are in the marginal plane of existence, so some higher connection is necessary in order that the wave will descend from that higher realm and come to us and spread its influence outside as well.
Wherever it goes, the sankirtan of the Holy Name of Krishna will produce these sevenfold results. This is the purport of Mahaprabhu’s first verse. The first effect is that the Holy Name cleanses the soul which is attacked by the dirt of desires from the mundane world. By the second effect it gives mukti, liberation, perfect independence from material forces. The third effect brings real fortune: the opening of the soul’s treasure. The innate resources of the soul are gradually awakened by the Holy Name of Krishna. Here, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu includes the other forms of relationship with the Personal Absolute. In describing the next step, He takes the mood of conjugal devotion, where one is absolutely disposed for Krishna’s enjoyment, unconditionally surrendering everything for His maximum pleasure.
The next effect is the tasting of His ecstatic association. In Vrndavan, the realm of Krishna, one who can chant the Name of Krishna properly will express himself with a peculiar sort of ego:
tunde tandavini ratim vitanute tundavali-labdhaye
karna-kroda-kadambini ghatayate karnarbudebhyah sprham
chetah-prangana-sangini vijayate sarvendriyanam krtim
no jane janita kiyadbhir amrtaih krsneti varna-dvayi
«When the Holy Name of Krishna appears on the lips of a devotee, it begins madly dancing. Then the Name takes over and handles him as if the person to whom the lips belong loses all control over his lips, and the devotee says, ‘With one mouth, how much can I gather the ecstasy of the Holy Name? I need millions of mouths to taste its unlimited sweetness. I’ll never feel any satisfaction by chanting with only one mouth.’»
When the sound ‘Krishna’ enters the ear, he feels that transcendental sound awakens in his heart. «What are two ears?» he thinks. «This is the greatest injustice of the creator — I need millions of ears! Then, if I could hear the sweet Name of Krishna, my heart might be a little satisfied. I want millions and millions of ears to hear the sweet Name of Krishna.» This is the temperament of a devotee when his attention is drawn towards the Holy Name. Then he faints; he loses himself, merging in an ocean of ecstasy and joy. And in great disappointment he says, «I failed to understand the quality and quantity of the substance of Krishna’s Name. I am perplexed. What sort of honey sweetness does this Name contain?» In this way, the chanter of the Name wonders.
This has been taught to us by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who said, «Properly chant the Holy Name, the sound representation of absolute sweetness.» That sweetness is also to be found in the flute-song of the Lord. The sound of Krishna’s flute has the great mystic power of capturing and pleasing everyone and everything. Upon hearing the sound of Krishna’s flute, the Yamuna’s current is paralysed. The sweet sound of Krishna’s flute attracts the trees, the birds, and the beasts. Everything is astounded by contacting the sweet vibration from Krishna’s flute.
Sound vibration can work miracles; sound has the highest capturing potency. Sound can make or mar. It can do anything; it has such intrinsic capacity. It comes from the subtlemost plane, beyond the ether. That universal sound is absolute sweetness and goodness. How much power is there — how it can capture us! Like a blade of grass, we may be played by the current of that sweet sound in such a way that we cannot even trace out our own personality. We may lose ourselves there, but we do not die; the soul is eternal. Diving, up and down, we are played by the current of the sweet sound. We are less qualified than a straw, a blade of grass, and the Krishna sound is so big and so sweet that it can play us in any way it likes. We cannot begin to conceive how much power is in the Name, the sound which is identical with absolute goodness and sweetness.
Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu says, «Don’t neglect the sound which is one and the same with Krishna.» Absolute sweetness and goodness — everything is there within the Holy Name. And the Holy Name is representing itself to us in a very cheap way: nothing is required to purchase it — no money, no physical energy. All these things are unnecessary. What is required? Sincerity.
One who simply takes this divine sound sincerely will be so enriched that no one will be able to conceive of so much goodness and development. And anyone may have it very cheaply, but one must chant sincerely with his whole heart. Of course, wholehearted sincerity presupposes going to a proper agent, a saint, and getting the Holy Name from him.
Sri Krishna-sankirtan is praised by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the inaugurator of the sankirtan movement who came as Radha-Govinda combined. His advice is most valuable and necessary to tell us that with a sincere spirit we must come to join this Sri Krishna-sankirtan, the most purifying transcendental sound, which effects liberation, gives all fulfilment, and grants us such a positive attainment that we lose ourselves in the ocean of joy and inconceivable sweetness.
This is Sriman Mahaprabhu’s grace, and He proclaims, «Let Sri Krishna-sankirtan be expanded into this mortal world, that it may benefit everyone infinitely, for this is the highest and greatest benefit for the whole world. It is all-comprehensive. It releases us from all sorts of troubles, establishing us in the highest position of attainment.»
And in this present degraded Age of Kali, only Nam-sankirtan can help us. Of course, Nam-sankirtan is beneficial in all ages, but it is especially recommended in Kali-yuga, because in this age all other attempts will be opposed by many forces. Nam-sankirtan cannot be opposed by the troubles and waves of this material world, so one must adopt it. If we exclusively give ourselves to this, we will gain the highest fulfilment of life. There is no necessity of any other campaign, for they are all defective and partial. But the most universal, captivating, and beneficial thing is Nam-sankirtan, which takes us to the highest goal. That alone can satisfy everyone.
All souls that are now disconnected from Krishna may be helped in this way. No other movement is necessary. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu tells us, «Exclusively devote yourself to this. It is all-embracing and all-fulfilling. And you can achieve it with the least trouble and least energy. Let it flourish in this Kali-yuga — let it flourish for the welfare of the whole universe, to re-establish all souls in their normal position.»
In the last verse of Srimad Bhagavatam the conclusion of the book is given as follows:
nama-sankirtanam yasya sarva-papa-pranasanam
pranamo duhkha-samanas tam namami harim param
Papa means all anomalies, all undesirable things: sin. Material enjoyment and liberation are also included as anomalies, sinful activities. Why is liberation considered sinful? Because it is an abnormal condition; our natural function is to serve Krishna, but we do not do that in salvation. Mere salvation does not include service to Krishna, so that is an abnormal position and therefore it is also a sin. To ignore our natural duty and stand aloof cannot but be sinful.
The concluding verse of the Srimad Bhagavatam says, «Krishna’s Holy Name can relieve us from all undesirable sinfulness, all filthy characteristics, and all miseries. Let us all bow down to Him.» Uttering this verse, the Srimad Bhagavatam stops; that great treatise becomes silent. The last word in the Bhagavatam is Nam-sankirtan. The Bhagavatam has given such great importance to chanting the Holy Name of Krishna, and Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu developed it from there. The last publication of the compiler of Vedic literatures, Srila Vyasadev, took theism to that stage, and gave it to the public announcing, «Chant the Name of Krishna! Do this; nothing more is necessary. Take this!» This is the very conclusion of Srimad Bhagavatam, the greatest spiritual gift of Vyasadev: «Chant the Holy Name of Krishna and begin your life in this dark age with the most broad and wide theistic conception.»
We may consider ourselves fortunate that we have come to the verge of this most generous and useful thought, that we have come close enough to touch it, to accept it, and float ourselves in its waves according to our capacity. After passing through so many conceptions and the charm of different prospects, we have left them all behind and have come to the shore of the ocean of Nam-sankirtan. Now we may throw our bodies in this ocean and begin to swim in the waves of Nam-sankirtan, the nectar of the nectarean, by the grace of our Guru and the mercy of the Vaisnavas.
It is their property, and we are their slaves. We have such audacity to throw our body into this ocean of Nam-sankirtan and swim in that nectarean ocean! Swimming in Radha Kunda, the highest conception of spiritual attainment, can also be found in the highest form of Nam-sankirtan. This verse represents the positive side of the unlimited ocean of Sri Krishna-sankirtan. The next verse explains the negative possibilities.
Bhakti Vinod Thakur has given his Sanskrit commentary on the Siksastakam, as well as his Bengali translation, and his is a most original presentation. Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupad has also given his commentary on the Siksastakam. They should be carefully studied in order to understand these points more completely. In these talks, however, I am simply coming out with whatever I feel in my heart. Whatever comes to my mind on these verses, I am expressing, and that is the outcome of what I have collected from Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur, Bhakti Vinod Thakur, Rupa Goswami, Sanatan Goswami, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and all the predecessor Acharyas. By their grace that is gathered in my storehouse, and I am trying to give the gist of these things.
By accepting the path of devotion, a wholesale transformation of our internal system begins, and gradually our charm for the outside world vanishes. There is a war within, and when the Krishna conception enters into the heart of a devotee, all other thoughts and ideas gradually have to retire. This is explained in Srimad Bhagavatam (2.8.5):
pravistah karna-randhrena svanam bhava-saroruham
dhunoti samalam krsnah salilasya yatha sarat
When the autumn season appears, the mud within the water vanishes. In the same way, when the Krishna conception enters into one’s heart, all other conceptions and aspirations will gradually have to retire, leaving Krishna in possession of everything. When a real drop of Krishna consciousness enters the heart, all opposing forces must leave and Krishna will conquer and take possession of the whole.
That is the nature of Krishna consciousness: nothing can stand in competition with it, not even the so-called devotion to the demigods or faith in creeds like Christianity, Islam, and others. All other conceptions of theism have to retire, leaving the field to the Krishna conception. No aggressors can stand in the fight with Krishna consciousness, the absolute, sweet beauty.
Beauty, sweetness, and charm can capture and defeat power. We are really aspiring after beauty and sweetness, mercy, affection, divine love (prema). Self-dissipation — to compensate others with one’s own energy and generosity — ultimately conquers everyone. It is more rewarding to give than to take. Divine love means die to live: not to live for yourself, but to live for others. The most generous form of life — self-forgetfulness to the extreme — is found in Krishna consciousness.
Krishna consciousness is so beautiful that one who develops it loses his own identification and existence also. He becomes totally self-forgetful. Such a charm is there. Who will stand to fight against Krishna? Everyone who comes to fight against Him is disarmed. If in any way Krishna enters the heart, there can be no other consequence but that He takes possession of everything. Such a benevolent, generous, and sweet person is Krishna: Reality the Beautiful.