Bhakti Ras

God Resides in His Names

The supreme quality of God is bhakta vatsaltā (i.e., his love for his devotees). When a devotee chants the holy names, the Lord responds much like a mother responding to the cries of her infant. His holy names are so potent that by chanting even a single name with devotion, one can experience His presence and love. There is nothing as powerful as the name of the Lord, states Saint Tulsidas:

समुझत सरिस नाम अरु नामी। प्रीति परसपर प्रभु अनुगामी।।

Samujhat saris nām aru nāmī, prīti parasapar prabhu anugāmī
                                                             (Shree Ramcharitmanas)

Although God and his name are similar in significance, God follows his name as a servant follows his master. Hence, He appears in person at the very mention of his name.

Numerous saints have attained God’s love by chanting the holy name. Namdev, the 14th century bhakti saint of Pandarpur, once went to Aundha Nagnath temple for the darshan of Lord Shiv along with a group of devotees. When Saint Namdev was doing Hari nāma sankirtan in an ecstasy of devotion, the priest asked them to leave the temple.

Saint Namdev humbly left the inner shrine, went to the rear of the temple. Seated there, he began to chant, “Jai Jai Vittala Panduranga, Jai Hari Vittala Panduranga …” while pleading with the Lord not to forsake him. As he was fervently chanting the Lord’s name, the temple itself rotated until the entryway and the mūrti (i.e., the deity or idol) faced Namdev ji.

Such is the efficacy of the holy names! Chanting holy names incessantly is called japa yajña, which is a powerful sādhana. This yajña or austerity is of a three-step process:

1. उच्चारण or Uchchāraṇa – Uttering the holy name
2. विचारण or Vichāraṇa – Pondering the meaning of the holy name
3. स्मरण​ or Smaraṇ – Remembering or recollecting the holy name

How do we perform this yajña?

Japa Yajña Can Be Done Anywhere at Any Time (Uchchāraṇa)

“Yajña is the act of dedicating ourselves to the Supreme. The simplest of all yajñas is the chanting of the holy names of God,” says Swami Mukundananda while emphasizing the sublimity of divine names.

There are neither rules, rituals, nor a need for sacrificial fire or oblations to perform japa yajña. Irrespective of whatever we are doing and wherever we are, we can chant God’s names. Chanting God’s illuminating names is the best means to spiritualize every thought and activity of our mundane life, as the Lord Himself is japa yajna. As Shree Krishna proclaims:

यज्ञानां जपयज्ञोऽस्मि

Yajñānāṁ japa-yajño ’smi (Bhagavad Gita 10.25)

Amongst chants, know Me to be the repetition of the Holy Name.

However, sheer mindless chanting does not consecrate our lives. There is one mandate we need to follow when we chant the holy names, either to ourselves or in the satsang. What is that?

Understand the Meaning of the Holy Name, Ponder, and Nourish the Faith (Vichāraṇa)

The holy names are the essence of God’s glorious attributes and pastimes. When we understand the meaning, and chant with the right knowledge, it rids us of all fear and secures enduring bliss here and beyond.

The Vishnu Puran states that when Prahalad, the child devotee, was given poisonous food, he accepted it fearlessly. He ingested it with great devotion as if it were prasād, while chanting:

अच्युत, अनंता, गोविन्दा

Achyuta, Anantā, Govindā

Prahlad knew God’s attributes as expressed by His names. He had immense faith that Lord Narayan was infallible (i.e., Achyuta), eternal and infinite (i.e., Anantā), and the source of joy (i.e., Govindā). He called upon the name of his beloved Lord with such conviction and belief that the Lord descended as Narsinha to protect His devotee.

All forms of the Supreme Lord have innumerable names. Each name is imbued with knowledge and His pastimes. If we understand the meaning of the name we chant, every time the name flashes in the mind, His form and pastimes will automatically radiate our heart, and ignite love for Him. For example, when we utter, “O, Damodar!” the sweet pastime of the all-pervading Lord letting Mother Yashoda bind Him with her love to a wooden mortar will livestream in our hearts.

Therefore, when we chant His glorious names, our minds naturally will be enraptured by His sublime virtues, delightful pastimes, magnificent abodes, and His benevolent saints. Besides, God’s names purify our thoughts.

Constant Remembrance of God’s Names Cleanses the Mind (Smaraṇ)

God is all-pure and when we attach our mind to Him, the mind will also become pure. The more we remember God, the purer our mind will become. The easiest way to remember God is by invariably summoning His name into our minds, which sanctifies both our internal and the external worlds. Hence, Saint Tulsidas states:

राम नाम मनिदीप धरु जीह देहरी द्वार।
तुलसी भीतर बाहेरहुँ जौं चाहसि उजिआर।।

Rāma nāma manidīpa dharu jīh deharī dvāra
Tulasī bhītara bāherahu  jau chāhasi ujiāra

(Shree Ramcharitmanas)

“Install the luminous gem in the shape of the divine name ‘Rama’ on the threshold of the tongue at the doorway of your mouth, so that you will have light both inside and outside.”

When our mind is drenched in the melody of holy names, then pristine and elated thoughts, words, and actions spring forth from the heart. Remembering God’s name constantly not only irradiates this life but beyond, as this becomes our sanskār (i.e., tendencies we carry forward from previous lifetimes). Therefore, we must practice remembering God at every moment of our life if we desire to nurture God-conscious nature, and to gravitate our minds naturally towards God, especially at the time of death. This sādhana alone helps us to believe in Shree Krishna’s stipulation that those who remember Him at the time of death will attain Him and become God-like in character (Bhagavad Gita 8.6 ). If Arjun could remember the Lord on the battlefield, we too – be it physicians, engineers, lawyers, teachers, homemakers, students, or of any other occupation – can certainly do it too through repeated practice.

The boulders of Ramsetu Bridge started to float on the ocean surface only after Lord Ram’s name was inscribed on them by Hanuman ji. We too can cross the bhavasāgar (i.e., the ocean of material life) with God’s name on our lips, His form in our eyes, and His attributes and pastimes in our hearts if we have perfected our sadhana when alive.