Re: Nityananda Gauranga Naam and important aspects of Naam Tattva

Nityaananda! Gauraanga! Hare Krishna!  This is one of the best questions which has been asked in a long time. Thank you Matus. Thanks to Hadai and Srinath for their nice and thoughtful replies. To understand the answer of this question, one has first comprehend the difference between Naama Aparaadha and Naama Aabhaasa. Jaiva Dharma explains it very beauitfully in Chp 25:

"When there is no suddha-nama (pure name), the holy name is called namabhasa. That namabhasa is called namabhasa at one stage, and namaparadha at another stage. It is called namabhasa when the name that is chanted is impure because one is in ignorance; that is to say, one is under the control of illusion and inattentiveness. However, when the name is chanted impurely with a deliberate desire for sense enjoyment (bhoga) (or offensive mentality) or liberation (moksa), and based on a Mayavada conception, that is known as nama-aparadha. If the other kinds of aparadhas (the ten offenses) are present because of simple ignorance, the asuddha-nama (impure name) taken in that situation is not nama-aparadha, but namabhasa. You should remember that, as long as one does not commit nama-aparadha when one is chanting namabhasa, there is hope that the namabhasa will go away, and that suddha-nama will arise. If there is nama-aparadha, however, the rising of nama in the heart can only take place with great difficulty." (Jaiva Dharma ch.25)

So the whole thing boils down to the type of offensive mentality since the ten offenses are present both in the Naamaaparaadha and Naamaabhaasa stages. In the Naama Aparaadha stage, one commits the ten offenses with an actual offensive mentality which is deliberate, planned, envious, pre-mediated and performed even though one possesses the proper knowledge and understanding that it is wrong. In the Naama Aabhaasa stage, the ten offenses are committed out of gross ignorance, illusion and inattentiveness. There is no deceitful or deliberately cheating mentality in Naama Aabhaasa.

(1) Chanting in Ignorance With Faith (Shradhaa Chaayaa Naamaabhaasa)
(2) Chanting in Ignorance Without Faith (Ashradhaa Chaayaa Naamaabhaasa)
(3) Chanting with the Deliberately Offensive Mentality (Naama Aparaadha)
(4) Chanting with the Mentality to Become God (Pratibimba Naamaabhaasa)

One can have mixtures of the above stages also. Now, let us consider the chanting of Hari Naama or the Hare Krishna Mahaamantra. The only way to progress is that case is to reach stage (1) in all cases by gradually developing sambandha gyaana by constant chanting and pure association. And that is also the only way to cross stage (1) and advance further to the pure Name. And if one continues to chant Hari Naama with the stage (3) and (4) mentality even for millions of lives (bahu janme kari yadi shravana kirtana, koti koti varshe kari shri krishna bhajana...), there is no hope for that person to advance further because Hari Naama considers the wrong mentality of the chanter and withdraws the mercy. The only solution for those at stage (3) and (4) would be to chant Hari Naama constantly to slowly eradicate their wrong mentalities but it is very difficult to do so while remaining in those stages because the Name withdraws all the spiritual taste due to the offensive mentality. If one chants more with the offensive mentality, then one ends up committing more of the ten offenses towards Hari Naama also. So it becomes a never-ending cycle. If someone chants Hari Naama at the unmixed stage (2) , then that soul can progress to (1) with the right association.

The chanting of Nityaananda Gauraanga Naama however is more merciful since there is no consideration of the offenses (naahi esaba vichaara). Even if one chants Nityaananda Gauranga Naama at stage (3) and (4), Nityaananda Gauraanga Naama will destroy the very offensive mentality which is the root of our unfavorable (vimukha) position with respect to the Lord. Thus, Nityaananda Gauraanga Naama is the only hope for all the hopeless souls of Kali Yuga to make us qualified to chant Hari Naama and attain Prema Bhakti. One needs to chant Nityaananda Gauraanga Naama in adequate proportions (quantity) if one wants to quickly eradicate this deep-rooted offensive and/or mayavada mentality. Just like one accepts a dose of a medicine, according to the severity of one's disease. That is why, my only advise to those who have been afflicted by the extreme contamination of the Mayavada philosophy which states that everyone is God and everyone can become God, is to take full shelter of the Holy Names, Abodes, Pastimes and Devotees of Lords Nityaananda and Gauraanga.

Now let us consider what happens when one chants Nityaananda Gauraanga Naama in Naama Aabhaasa like in stages (2) and (1). That can be easily understood. If Nityaananda Gauraanga Naama is capable of eradicating the deep-rooted enviously offensive mentalities of the Naamaaparaadha stage, then it should be very easy for Nityaananda Gauraanga Naama to remove the ignorance and inattentiveness of the Naamaabhaasa stage since there is no deceitful enviousness in the Shradhaa Naamaabhaasa stage.  And it is! Thus, the chanting of Nityaananda Gauraanga Naama will very quickly bring us to the stage of Shuddha Naama and raise us to the platform of chanting the Hare Krishna Mahaamantra purely in love of God.

So when the scriptures states that Nityaananda Gauraanga Naama grant us love of God instantly, the time period of "instantly" differs for different souls. First Nityaananda Gauraanga Naama works on destroying our deep-rooted offensive and envious mentalities which we have harbored for millions of past lives. The more deep-rooted they are, the more time it will take. The material sinful reactions are destroyed almost instantly but deep-rooted the offensive, envious and egoistic mentality which is root cause of our falldown in this material world, takes some time. It also depends on our intensity of chanting Nityaananda Gauraanga Naama.  And in the course of chanting Nityaananda Gauraanga Naama, if we enviously commit offenses towards other devotees chanting the Name, then it delays it even further. The perfect and fastest combination would be to take shelter of the Holy Names, Abode (or Tulasi), Pastimes and Devotees of Lords Nityaananda Gauraanga simultaneously to attack the offensive mentality from all directions. I hope this helps.

Daaso'smi, BR Sadhu Swami Gaurangapada.

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