If offensive chanting is ineffective, then how was Ajamila’s chanting effective?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

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So if there is Aparaj chanting the holy names, Ajami chanted once, how was he so much benefited? Gajendra also.
Now there are different contexts for different statements. And in certain context when a particular statement is made, that statement is best understood in that context. The story of Ajami has a particular intent.
That intent is to stress the magnitude of the mercy of the Lord coming through his holy name. That even a person who is so degraded can get saved by the chanting of the holy names. And when scripture wants to draw some principle, illustrate some principle, it often does it through extremes.
Like this is the 6th canto, the Ajami story. In the 5th canto there is a story of Jadbharat or Bharat Maharaj. Now a person who is so elevated is renounced a kingdom and then goes into a forest and gets attached to a deer.
How absurd? How is it possible? But whether it is a positive thing or a negative thing, the negative thing is even a small attachment can divert us so much. That is illustrated in a very extreme way. And the positive is also illustrated in a very extreme way.
So now the extreme, by the word extreme I mean extraordinary. Not extreme in the sense of extremist. Just exceptional.
So the extraordinary or the exceptional is not the standard. It is meant to inspire us to follow the standard process with greater caution and greater attention. So there is such a great danger of attachment and diversion.
Let me not get attached to other things. Similarly, if you look at the Bhagavatam itself, what is the conclusion over there? The conclusion of the Ajamil section is not that all of you also do whatever you want, be sensual and at the end of your life when you are about to die, take a gun, put it on your forehead and Hare Krishna! And shoot the gun. Now that is not the conclusion of the Bhagavatam over there.
The Bhagavatam’s conclusion is that if Ajamil chanted once even unintentionally and was delivered and if we chant regularly unintentionally, would we be delivered? So extraordinary examples of mercy are not the standard. They indicate the magnitude of the compassion of the Lord. And by seeing those extraordinary examples of mercy, we can feel inspired to follow more diligently the standard process.
So Ajamil is not the standard Ajamil is the example of mercy. Now the standard process of Sadhana Bhakti is given in the Puranas and Bhaktivinoda Thakur has elaborated it and then the offences are there. So now when there are offences in chanting, that doesn’t mean the chanting is not beneficial.
Even then it is beneficial, but it is not fully beneficial. The idea is, it is not just a matter of uttering some mantras. It is a matter of developing a personal connection with the Lord.
So if we have a personal connection, naturally we will chant the name also attentively. If we are calling someone, then we will call them and pay attention to them. So the idea is we don’t have to be very calculative or very apprehensive.
Calculative means, like Ajamil chanted once, he got so much. If I chant once, I am not getting that much. Bhakti is not mathematical.
Bhakti is interpersonal. And we want to connect our heart with Krishna’s heart. So we don’t have to be calculative, but at the same time we don’t also have to be apprehensive, fearful.
Oh, you know, if I commit an offence, what will happen? If I commit an offence, what will happen? Just try your best to serve Krishna. It is a personal relationship. The aparajas, they are not meant to create fear within us.
The aparajas are primarily meant to help us understand that the holy name is not ordinary. The holy name is sacred. And let’s try to approach it as a sacred sound and chant it.
So then is it that somebody who is chanting a naam aparaj will not get purified? Well, many of us who will chant it have experienced purification. At least to some extent. Then however, is it that all of us chanting chuddha naam or naam aparaj, we may or may not be.
So technical systems of classification are primarily meant to help us act as a sure map along the way. So there is no need to become apprehensive. Just keep chanting as well as you can and bhakti, the process of bhakti will apply and you will become purified.