How Can We Help?

Table of Contents

Question: In Bhakti Rrasamrita Sindu, it is explained that a devotee can obtain Prema through nine ascending steps of progression. Now is it possible for someone to return back to Godhead without achieving pure love of Godhead in this lifetime? Where he perfects sadhana stage, i.e. he attains aasakti,attachment platform. Also without attaining bhava stage, can one chant shudda nama?

You are here:
< All Topics

Jayapataka Swami: Krsna has said in the Bhagavad-gita that one who understands His appearance and karma are divine. Janma karma ca me divyam, so if one understands that then at the time of birth one does not have to take rebirth again. So it doesn’t say one has to have Krsna Prema or bhava first. If we have Krsna Prema or bhava in this lifetime, then our experience will be very transcendental, and even before we die we will have great transcendental ecstasy. But otherwise if we leave in Krsna consciousness, then we go back to the spiritual world. Even there is some story of how Garuda was carrying a dead snake and flying over the Ganges. Somehow the tail of the snake touched the Ganges and the snake was immediately liberated and went back to Godhead. So when someone gets Prema then they are already as good as back to Godhead. And if they get bhava, it is almost like that. So under normal circumstances, as advanced that you are, you get that much closer to Krsna. But to get back to Godhead, there is a guarantee or it depends. So if one reaches very high, then they are guaranteed, and there are some devotees like in the Bhagavatam there is history of Ajamila who was a brahmana who became very sinful. But he named his child, his youngest son Narayana. So he was constantly calling his son, ‘Narayana come here, Narayana sit down. Narayana eat your lunch with me, Narayana let us go for a walk, Narayana, Narayana, Narayana’ and chanting his son’s name and by that he gained the sukriti of chanting the name of Lord Narayana. At the time of his death, when Yamadutas came to take him to hell, he called his son Narayana and he remembered the Supreme Narayana. The Visnudutas came and freed him. So it is also in the Padma Purana, a lady who became practically a prostitute. Her husband died and she was entertaining different men. Somehow she bought a parrot and the parrot would chant two words ‘Rama Rama.’ All day long she would chant with the parrot, ‘Rama Rama’. And the parrot would answer ‘Rama Rama.’ And she would chant ‘Rama Rama’ and the parrot would answer ‘Rama Rama.’ So in this way lightning came and killed both of them and the Yamadutas came to take them away. But the Visnudutas came because she was chanting the names of Rama. So she was freed from all of her sins. So just by chanting the name of the Lord, one may also get delivered, but if one goes through the process of initiation, very good chanting, then why won’t they get delivered? So this process guarantees one deliverance, but even without this process someone may be very fortunate to get delivered. If they chant the name of the Lord, but somehow coming in contact with the devotees or they touch the Ganges water. So we request you all of you please, your relatives, even if they are non-devotees, bathe their head in Ganges water and put a dry Tulasi twig on their body when they are cremated, put a garland of the deity around their neck and chant Hare Krsna seven times around their body. They may get delivered. Hare Krsna.
26-JULY-2019 CHENNAI, INDIA