How is chanting in the washroom not an offense to the holy name?

I have heard the story of Gopal Guru Goswami and Lord Chaitanya, but I don’t find it philosophically convincing. When we don’t take the Deity to the washroom, how can we take the namavatar to the washroom?

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Hare Krishna question, when we won’t take Krishna’s deity into the toilet how can we take Krishna’s holy name in the toilet isn’t it offensive if we say the holy name is the deity of Krishna in sound, then certainly we shouldn’t be chanting it in the toilet, I’ve heard the story of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Gopal Guru Goswami but I don’t find that very convincing answer yes, the holy name is extremely sacred it is a manifestation of Krishna just like a deity is a manifestation of Krishna at the same time the difference is that Krishna is a the holy name Nama Avatar is a far more accessible and merciful manifestation of Krishna than the deity so the deity manifestation has to be worshipped with strict rules and regulations and although both are avatar of Krishna, Archa Avatar and Nama Avatar there are differences in approach and this is evident for example say that in most Indian traditions, most devotional traditions, the chanting of the names of God is a process that is open for everyone but even in liberal traditions it is not the deity can be worshipped by anyone the deity is especially going and dressing and touching the deity that requires a lot of training lot of purity and generally those who are brahmanas, those who are initiated brahmanas, they alone can actually do the deity worship but there is no such restriction for the chanting of the holy names so yes, both of them are avatars but there is a difference in their accessibility the Nama Avatar is far more universally accessible now is it a disrespect for the holy name no, it is we have to understand that there is a concept of mercy and there is the concept of respect, these two are two different things and we shouldn’t mix the two when Krishna manifests in the merciful form then we need to recognize that as Krishna’s mercy and accept that mercy gratefully so the way we respect a particular manifestation of Krishna will vary according to what the nature of that manifestation is, so for example we may say that now we will never for example say we will not when Krishna manifests as Prasad at that time what do we do we touch our mouth to it, not only we touch our mouth we take it in our mouth, we chew it and one says we crush it now Prasad is also a manifestation of Krishna and DT is also a manifestation of Krishna, but will we do that to the DT, never but then is it offensive to do that to take Prasad and chew it, no that is the way actually we serve Krishna manifesting as the Prasad so that is why we say that we are honoring Prasad so the point is when Krishna manifests as Prasad the way we serve him is different from the way we serve the DT manifestation so the way we render service to Krishna will depend on what particular manifestation that is Tulsi Devi is also a manifestation of Krishna but then what do we do yeah we may offer obeisances, we offer water and then somebody may say first you offer water first you offer obeisances and then like a Rakshasa you consume the same thing what nonsense is this what kind of worship is this that that which you are worshipping then you are consuming that, no the point here is that Krishna’s great devotee has manifested in a particular way over there so we worship that manifestation in the way that is appropriate for that manifestation worship Krishna or his devotee in a way that is appropriate to that manifestation and the appropriateness over here is that Tulsi is what infuses, Tulsi is the reservoir of devotion, the abode of devotion and then when we put Tulsi in our meals and then offer to Krishna then her bhakti enhances whatever little bhakti we have enriches, the bhoga becomes enriched not with our little bhakti but her profuse bhakti and then Krishna very happily accepts that and then the whole bhoga along with the Tulsi becomes Prasad and we honour that so Tulsi Devi has manifested in a way which we can serve even by honouring with the tamarind so therefore we take Prasad, we take Tulsi and that is not at all considered offensive, of course we respectfully chew Tulsi when we are and when we eat it but the point is still that that is the way we serve, so every manifestation of Krishna has to be served in the accordance with the way that person manifestation has come and in accordance with the example that has been said by Priyosacharya as with the guidelines that have been given in scripture so now when Krishna manifests as the holy name, the way we show respect to the holy name is not by reserving the chanting of the holy name to some sacred places but rather by reserving our consciousness for the holy name whenever the holy name manifests, that means by offering attention to the holy name by being receptive, attentive and absorbed while chanting the holy name so that is the primary way in which we offer respect to the holy name now along with that we may say that so even if we are chanting the holy names while we are in the temple hall but we are not concentrating then that is a form of disrespect so now we may say that okay if I am in the toilet and if I am chanting at that time then I am not necessarily attentive, yes but there is another principle over here, the principle is that the purpose of all rules and regulations is to fix the mind on Krishna so … … … … … … so all rules and regulations are meant to help us remember Krishna so now when we are doing our prescribed rounds at that time we keep the holy name at the center of our consciousness and keep our full consciousness focused on Krishna now at other times also we would like to think of Krishna but we also have practical activities to do so while we are doing practical activities at that time it is better to have some remembrance of Krishna than to have no remembrance of Krishna so Krishna when he manifests as the Mahamantra as the holy name, as the Namavatar, we can be chanting the Mahamantra in the mind or just the name softly, whatever and then that enables us … to have some remembrance of Krishna some connection of Krishna and that is that sort of semi-attentive chanting of the holy names disrespectful to Namavatar? No, that even that semi-attentive chanting is respecting the instruction of Krishna of scripture that we should always remember Krishna somehow or the other so when we have to do other activities then we also have to offer some of our concentration, maybe a major part of our concentration to doing those activities but even at those times we would like to remember Krishna and the holy name helps us to remember so we are actually offering respect to Krishna by recognizing that we are meant to by remembering that while doing all activities while doing all activities we are actually serving Krishna, we are his servants and we are serving him by remembering him so of course another important point is to say that remember the holy name is not material and that because it is transcendental the holy name does not get contaminated even when we take that holy name in a contaminated place like a washroom so now the the essence of offence to the holy name is to mistake that which is spiritual to be material for example to give some mundane interpretation of the holy name what does that mean? somebody may say that oh actually when you chant certain chemicals are secreted in the brain that’s why you feel peaceful now that may well happen but chanting the holy name is a spiritual activity, it connects our consciousness with Krishna and that is the primary reason for its potency secondarily to reduce the spiritual down to the material that is the essence of offence and that’s how we can analyze all that and offences to the holy name now if we restrict the chanting of the holy names to only pure places then we are actually committing offence to the holy name because we are mistaking the spiritual holy name to be material because we are thinking by taking the holy name to an impure place it will become impure, no it will never become impure, it will always remain pure and it will purify our consciousness even in that place and ultimately we want to remember Krishna at all times so we can chant the holy names and death can come at any moment, so anywhere death can come and we need to be remembering Krishna now again going back to the Archa avatar and Nama avatar contrast now it is not that actually when we are going to die we can expect the deities to be in front of us, yes a devotee who is going to die may take one last darshan of the deities but the last moments it’s not that they will be in front of the deities in the temple hall, they will be somewhere else so we cannot entirely equate the Archa avatar and the Nama avatar but wherever we are we can pray that the Nama avatar will be there with us when the devotees around us chanting or we will be chanting or some Prabhupada dhool will be going on so Nama avatar Archa avatar may not be there for us when we are about to leave our body but Nama avatar will be there and because we may leave the body at any time so therefore we need to learn to take shelter of the Nama avatar anywhere and everywhere and that’s why chanting the holy names at all places including the washroom is not at all an offence it’s a way we acknowledge gratefully the extraordinary mercifulness of the Nama avatar and it’s the way we respect Krishna’s instruction to always think of him and it’s the way we prepare for the final exam of death, an exam that can come at any time, an exam in which most likely we will need to take shelter of the holy name in order to remember Krishna.
Thank you.