Why is chanting of thousand names of Visnu equivalent to once chanting Rama and three names of Rama equivalent to once chanting Krishna ?
From: Sarath
Transcript
This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
question from Sarath is there any reason why chanting a thousand names of Vishnu is equivalent to once chanting Ram and three names of Ram is equivalent to once chanting Krishna answer whenever such mathematical figures are given in the Vedic scriptures we have to understand them always in context bhakti is not a matter of mathematics and especially if we have the motive of mathematical material gain when we chant the holy names of the lord then we are completely missing the devotional essence ultimately bhakti is a matter of devotion and devotion is an expression of the heart not of the head so therefore it is to the extent we either have developed our love for Krishna or are sincerely desiring to develop that love for Krishna that we will make spiritual advancement so this is the foundational principle of bhakti now within that for specific contexts to highlight certain points certain statements are made so Rupa Goswami analyzes various avatars of the lord and says how actually the rasa that is manifested by the various avatars is not the same he says that Rama he calls Rama as a Paravastha avatar Paravastha is very lofty, transcendental situated because lord Ram manifests Svatsalya or something which lord Vishnu does not and lord Ram also manifests various other intimate leelas in a way that is not so much manifested by lord Vishnu so therefore because the intimacy is greater the possibility of developing devotion at higher realms is greater at higher realms means that a greater intensity variety and mellow of devotion can be experienced in relationship with lord Ram as compared with lord Vishnu and similarly lord Krishna has not just Vatsalya rasa but intimate Vatsalya rasa there is no record of Kaushalya ever binding lord Ram for anything or Dasaratha correcting or chastising or disciplining lord Ram but Yashodamayi does that to Krishna she binds Krishna and Nandamaharaja also sometimes mildly chastises Krishna although generally it is Yashodamayi who chastises and Nandamaharaja who takes Krishna’s side but still their relationship with Krishna is far more intimate in the relationship of Dasaratha Maharaja and Kaushalya with lord Ram so that greater intimacy is possible in the relationship with Krishna and therefore when the remembrance of Krishna is invoked in the heart there is greater potentiality for emotions being released in the heart and those emotions taking us towards Krishna with a greater momentum and that’s why because the more lofty rasas are revealed in the relationship with Krishna and because those rasas can attract our heart stronger that’s why it is said that certain names of lord are more effective than other names in terms of their potency for purifying us all names of god are equally holy all names of Krishna all names of the lord can purify us Krishna, Ram or Vishnu but in terms of purification means removing the negativity from the heart and all of them are Nam Namakari Bahudha Nijasarva Shaktis.
The lord has said that in your variety of names you have put all your energies at the same time when it comes to awakening our attraction to the lord so one is removing our false attraction to material things, all names of Krishna can do that but the other is awakening our attraction to Krishna or to the various manifestations of the supreme lord the name of Krishna can do that much more potently and that’s why these verses are given at the same time we should not think that oh then I will only chant Krishna’s name and I will not chant any other names no we have to chant the Hare Krishna Mahamantra because that is what is recommended by the Acharyas and what will make Krishna reveal himself and make us attracted to him is when he sees that we are submissively harmonizing ourselves with his will as is revealed through the parampara so the essential spiritual advancement comes not by some shrewd self-centered mathematical calculational expertise but by a sincere submissive devotional intent of the heart thank you