Nine Verses To Improve Our Faith In Chanting

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva.

1. etaavataalam agha-nirharanaaya pumsaam
sankirtanam bhagavato guna-karma-naamnaam
vikrusya putram aghavaan yad ajaamilo 'pi
naaraayaneti mriyaamana iyaaya muktim

Therefore it should be understood that one is easily relieved from all sinful reactions by chanting the holy name of the Lord and chanting of His qualities and activities. This is the only process recommended for relief from sinful reactions. Even if one chants the holy name of the Lord with improper pronunciation, he will achieve relief from material bondage if he chants without offenses. Ajamila, for example, was extremely sinful, but while dying he merely chanted the holy name, and although calling his son, he achieved complete liberation because he remembered the name of Narayana. (Shrimad Bhaagavatam- SB-6.3.24)

2. saayam praatar grnan bhaktyaa / duhkha-graamaad vimucyate

If one always chants the holy name of the Lord with great devotion in the evening and in the morning, one can become free from all material miseries. (SB 1.3.29)

3. anudinam idam aadarena shrnvan

One can achieve liberation if one hears the holy name of the Lord constantly, every day with great respect. (SB 4.23.39)

4. shravanam kirtanam dhyaanam / harer adbhuta-karmanah
janma-karma- gunaanaam ca / tad-arthe 'khila-ceshtitam

One should always chant and hear about the extraordinarily wonderful activities of the Lord, one should meditate upon these activities, and one should endeavor to please the Lord. (SB 11.3.27)

5. paapa-kshayas ca bhavati smarataam tam ahar-nisam

One can become free from all sinful reactions simply by remembering the lotus feet of the Lord day and night [ahar-nisam] . (Vishnu Purana 1.17.78)


6. tasmaat sankirtanam vishnor / jagan-mangalam amhasaam
mahataam api kauravya / viddhy aikaantika-nishkrta m

Sukadeva Gosvami continued: My dear King, the chanting of the holy name of the Lord is able to uproot even the reactions of the greatest sins. Therefore the chanting of the sankirtana movement is the most auspicious activity in the entire universe. Please try to understand this so that others will take it seriously. (SB 6.3.24)


7. naamaaparaadha- yuktaanaam / naamaany eva haranty agham
avishraanti- prayuktaani / taany evaartha-karaani ca

Even if in the beginning one chants the Hare Krsna mantra with offenses, one will become free from such offenses by chanting again and again. (Padma Purana)


8. harer nama harer nama / harer namaiva kevalam
kalau nasty eva nasty eva / nasty eva gatir anyathaa

In this age of quarrel and hypocrisy the only means of deliverance is chanting the holy name of the Lord. There is no other way. There is no other way. There is no other way. (Brhan-naradiya Purana 38.126)

9. jihvaa na vakti bhagavad guna-naamadheyam
cetas ca na smarati tac-caranaar avindam
krsnaaya no namati yac-cira ekadaapi
taan aanayadhvam asato ‘krta-vishnu- krtyaan

My dear servants, please bring to me only those sinful persons who do not use their tongues to chant the holy names and qualities of Krishna, whose hearts do not remember the lotus feet of Krishna even once, and whose heads do not bow down even once before Lord Krishna. Send me those who do not perform their duties toward Vishnu, which are the only duties in human life. Please bring me all such fools and rascals. (SB 6.3.29)



At the present moment our minds are polluted with the dirt accumulated over millions and millions of lifetimes of sense gratification. Even though our original pure nature is eternal, full of knowledge, and full of bliss, due to our mental contamination we are presently suffering in the realm of temporality, ignorance, and misery. By the purificatory process of chanting the holy names of God we can revive our original, pure nature and thus relish the sweetest happiness at every minute.
Chant:
Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare

Answers to the Questions on Vedic Faith

1) One must not waste too much time in repeating the names of Gods and instead direct his energies towards some useful work.

Answer: Chanting Krishna’s (The Supreme God's) names is the ultimate useful work because it uplifts the chanter and it uplifts the world atmosphere.

2) One should drink tea and coffee to keep the body warm in cold conditions. Also tea and coffee are required to cure headaches and body pain.

Answer: Hot herbal tea is okay. Caffeine is injurious to the health because it artificially stimulates the adrenal gland and wears it out.

3) Not eating meat in youth to keep the body strong will have adverse affect in old age, as the body requires good nutrition.

Answer: The human body is not designed by nature to eat meat. Thus meat eating causes so many health problems. All nutritional values can easily be derived from a healthy, delicious, uplifting diet of fruits, vegetables, milk products, and grains. The karma from eating the flesh of innocent creatures obliges the meat eater to become an animal in his next birth so that the very animals he ate in this lifetime can take human forms and eat him. Thus meat eating is the activity of those are in ignorance and it keeps them bound up in ignorance.

4) Onions and garlic are very much required for body as they are helpful in building immune system against diseases.

Answer: The Manu Smriti enjoins that onions and garlic are not to be eaten. Milk is the miracle food for making the body strong.

5) Fasting may cause serious health problems like gas formation, headache, and weakness in the body. And one should not punish himself in the name of God.

Answer: Overeating and obesity and major health problems in the world today. Vaisnavas do not punish their bodies by severe fasting. We moderately fast on certain holy days to honor the scriptural injunctions, to reduce unnecessary and unhealthy bodily fat, and to make more food available for those who are going hungry.

6) If a person is too religious, he may lose importance in society and people will not respect him.

Answer: If a person is pseudo religious, he becomes a disturbance. But those who are properly religious are recognized throughout history as the greatest leaders of humanity.

7) One should take up devotional service only when he has completed his duty of serving his family. i.e. he should take it only when he is 50 years old.

Answer: The family will always demand more and more service. The train runs on two tracks. Therefore along with our worldly duties we must faithfully perform our spiritual duties. We have served millions of families in millions of lifetimes and we are still caught up in samsara. If we continue to do what we've always done, we will continue to get what we've always gotten: a material body that is subject to birth, death, old age, and disease. Is it enough? A thoughtful person does not think so. He wants eternity, knowledge, and bliss, and therefore must break away from the bonds of material service by coming to the higher platform of spiritual service. One who serves on the spiritual platform renders the highest service to all living beings. He is not deficient in any way.

8) Too many restrictions on eating and drinking habits would make life miserable and such a person cannot lead a normal life.

Answer: Unrestricted eating and drinking creates in a person a miserable animalistic mentality and obliges him to become an animal in his next birth. Extreme restrictions are also not favorable. Moderate restrictions are enjoined in the Bhagavad-gita in order to free one from all material miseries.

9) One must always work hard to catch up with others in this competitive world or else he will be left behind.

Answer: Transcendentalists work with more energy than materialists because their work is unlimitedly enlivening.
It is not like the drudgery of the materialists, who struggle through their work week.

10) Hard work will bestow success and success will bring happiness.

Answer: Have you ever met a happy ass?

11) One must worship God in the morning for few minutes and carry on his day to day work. Too much spending time on it would affect productivity and cannot find time for self, family and friends.

Answer: If you consider self, family, and friends more important than God, kindly do not mind if we have to speak the truth, but you are a blind fool. You have been serving self, family, and friends through millions of lifetimes and you are still suffering in this material existence. Read again the answer to number 7. When you water the root of the tree, all the leaves and branches are nourished. When you surrender fully to Krishna, you render the best possible service to everyone. No one is neglected.