Is God's name greater than God Himself?

Shri Hit Radha Keli Kunj, Vrindavan

An intimate conversation with Pujya Shri Hit Premanand Govind Sharan Ji Maharaj. Practitioners ask questions about their life and sadhana, and Maharaj Ji offers their resolution.

The Complete Discourse

The guru, through God's grace, has given the aspirant the name mantra for devotional singularity, which purifies the aspirant. It awakens devotional singularity in the heart. This devotional singularity is not found in the marketplace. The name contains all the opulence, consciousness, and knowledge of infinite universes - this is what has to be realized, this is the means, and this is life itself.

In infinite universes, whatever opulence exists, whatever consciousness exists, whatever knowledge exists, whatever love exists, whatever bhakti exists, whatever dispassion exists - all of that is merely a fraction of our beloved Shri Radha and Shyamsundar. Pay close attention: whatever exists is all merely a fraction.

Shri Radha and Shyamsundar are the ocean - the ocean of knowledge, ocean of love, ocean of opulence. Whatever you desire, the essence of such a radiant Lord is the naam. This is something to contemplate deeply. In infinite universes, whatever divine power, whatever bhakti, whatever knowledge, whatever dispassion exists - all of these are the ocean that is the Lord. And the essence of that ocean is the Lord's name, which is greatly powerful. Even though the Lord sits here, our degradation is not stopping. If the Lord's name settles here, degradation ends. If you listen carefully, you will understand that although the Lord and the Lord's name are non-different, the Lord's name is greater than the Lord.

When guru's grace flows, affection for the naam in its radiant form begins to arise. When the naam - Radha, Radha, Radha, Radha, Vallabh, Shri Harivansh - is accepted by our heart as the ultimate wealth, then interest awakens. Just as a poor miser constantly thinks about money and tries to earn and accumulate as much as possible, similarly one tries to chant the naam as much as possible. Thus you understand: the essence of infinite universes is the Lord, and the essence of the Lord is the Lord's name, and the guru has given it to us. Now our sadhana, our goal, and our life is this naam.

That is my means of practice. That is my goal. That is my life. This will immerse us in rasa. The naam is like a mirror placed here. Behind it, Shri Radha and Shyamsundar are seated. In the Gita, there is a teaching about how perfection came about. Just as fire is covered by smoke, just as a mirror is covered by dust, just as a womb is covered by a membrane - similarly, the Lord is covered here. Three processes of covering have been described: sattvaguna, rajoguna, tamoguna. If the veil of these three gunas is removed, then we will have the vision of Shri Radha and Shyamsundar.

The Lord is seated in the heart. The power to remove the dust from the mirror of consciousness belongs solely to the naam which the guru has given. That is the goal, the means, and the life. What will the naam do? When you chant the naam, it will destroy your sins, destroy sinful tendencies, and then, as soon as your heart's mirror becomes clean, the image of the divine couple Shri Radha and Shyamsundar reflected within will be seen. Within the mirror of consciousness itself, Krishna is seated as the presiding Lord. That is the vision of Shri Radha and Shyamsundar. Now our mirror is filled with dust. Who is capable of removing the dust from the mirror of consciousness? The naam, it says. This is the means, this is the goal, this is life.

The great fire of worldly existence cools and is extinguished. This is the flame of worldly existence that is burning us. The flames of this worldly fire have names: desire, anger, greed, attachment, pride, and jealousy. In these, everything is being reduced to ashes and burned. This great fire is extinguished. It is cooled. The supreme coolness.. Through the revelation of the feet of Shri Radha in the heart, the feet of Shyamsundar are bowed to. Those lotus feet are so great that even Lord Shiva and Sukhadeva meditate upon them. They are eternal, ever-perfect, most auspicious, and offer shelter. How will they be revealed? The naam says: The power to immediately extinguish the great fire of worldly existence lies in those lotus feet. The naam has the power to reveal those feet.

The naam has the power to remove the dust from the mirror of consciousness. The naam has the power to cool this worldly fire of existence. The moonlight of ultimate welfare distributes.. Ultimate welfare is called moksha, the highest abode, living liberation. Everything else generated by nature is called lower good. The naam is the wonderful moon that illuminates the lotus of supreme bliss in the heart - the ultimate welfare and supreme good. It spreads the rays of love-nectar. In the heart of one who chants the naam, there is the light of the moon of love. For one who desires the ultimate welfare, supreme good, the highest abode, and moksha, it blooms the lotus of bliss.

Knowledge is that which removes ignorance and establishes one in one's true nature. Knowledge is that which removes ignorance and establishes one in love. The servant of the Lord - knowledge is Harivansh, the four-syllable mantra - chanting it brings perfection and liberation. Glory to the lamp of Brahma's lineage, Shri Harivansh! We take shelter at His feet. What is knowledge? Knowledge is Radha, Krishna, Vrindavan, the wanderer in Braj. When one chants the naam mantra given by the guru, that knowledge is revealed which destroys ignorance and immerses [one] in supreme bliss. With each step, there is the taste of completeness. Moment by moment, a flood of the ocean of bliss comes. The aspirant begins to drown in the nectar of love.

O naam-chanter, see, see! How wonderful is the fruition of the naam! With each step, there is the taste of completeness. The taste of Radha's naam-nectar has not yet come because there is still sinful tendency within us, sinful conduct, and sins accumulated from the past.

When naam jap removes all these obstacles, such bliss will come that you cannot imagine, it is not within your thinking. In each moment there is fresh divine love, complete nectar taste. Radha's name, the nectar, the taste of nectar—[pratipādam pūrṇatā svādanam]. That taste will be attained. If you don't want to waste this life in worldly and otherworldly pleasures, my prayer is: close your eyes and hold onto the name. Closing your eyes means don't let your intellect run—hold onto the name.

sarvatma snapnam param vijayate shri Krishna sankirtan
Through the divine chanting of Sri Krishna, all are purified both within and without.

May it purify both the inner and outer world, make it illuminated and blissful. The chanting of God's name and the jap of God's name is everything.

There is no need to touch any other sadhana. Let it purify the inner mind and the outer senses both. Let it immerse both body and mind in love. This is the power of the name. This is why [avibhutam tan maha Krishna naam tanmay sadhyam sadhnam jeevanam cha]. Through guru's grace, the name manifests on the tongue. See how Mahaprabhu says:

tachchha parmadhma pran ho garma y naam smriti mahima haresh vrindavnas
By the grace of Vrindavan, this tongue of mine chants Radha, Radha continuously.

shiv siddh suresh mukh japat rahat nishi ja badha jan ki harat hai Radha Radha naam
Even Lord Shiva japs this name day and night, which destroys all obstacles of devotees—the name Radha, Radha.

Even in solitude, Lord Shiva japs this name. Brahma japs it. Great sages jap it. Day and night, that which destroys the obstacles of all sadhanas and grants wonderful happiness is Radha, Radha, Radha name.

Radha Radha je kahe te na pare bhav fand ja sukand par kamal kar dhare rahit braj chand
Whoever chants Radha, Radha never becomes bound by the noose of the world; with lotus feet resting in the fragrant place, Braj Chand remains.

Those whose tongue constantly chants Radha, Radha never get trapped in the wheel of the world. Because under the command of Sri Lal, the Maharaj, [akhil koti brahmand nayak galabhiya diye ishare par jinke dolte hain wo hai Radha]. That is Radha, and that Radha name whose tongue contains the Radha, Radha.

Radha Radha kahat hain je nar aatho yam te bhav sindhu ulagh ke basat sada braj dham
Those humans who chant Radha, Radha at all eight times cross the ocean of the world and dwell forever in Braj Dham.

Those whose tongue continuously chants Radha, Radha, Radha—they cross the ocean of the world and come into the divine leelas in the eighty-four kos of Braj.

They attain eternal dwelling, dwelling for infinite time in this eighty-four kos of Braj, in the Vrindavan dham. If there is no naam jap, then such conduct develops that you wander like a ghost. Hunger, thirst, cold, heat, rain—enduring all kinds of species of birth by force. You are in human form, so there is rescue possible. In other forms of life, there is no rescue possible.

bhajan bin nar mar ghat ko bhut
Without bhajan, the body becomes a ghost.

If you don't do bhajan, you will become a ghost of the cremation ground. Nothing to eat, nothing to drink. A river flows nearby. You cannot drink the water. You can only drink water when it is given to you, otherwise not. A pret cannot freely drink water. That is why it attacks those with unclean hearts and then obtains food and drink there.

shyama Shyam rate rasna se tinko jaan saput
Those who chant Shyama, Shyam with their tongue, know them to be virtuous.

bhajan bin nar mar ghat ko bhut
Without bhajan, the body becomes a ghost.

Those whose tongue chants Shyama, Shyam, Shyama, Shyam, Radha Vallabh, Shri Harivansh, Radha, Radha—such utterance is flowing. They say such a person is virtuous, blessed is their mother.

naam prasang kahet updesh jahan ya dharm dhanya so desh dhanya su kul jeh janm bhyo dhanya su tat dhanya so may
In the teaching of the naam matter, that dharma is blessed, that land is blessed, that family is blessed in which such a birth has occurred, blessed is the father, blessed is the mother.

santat sakal suno chitlae shri Harivansh pratap jas naam prasang mein
Always listen with collected mind to the glory and fame of Shri Harivansh in the matter of the name.

Those whose life has been devoted to the matter of the name—their mother is blessed, their father is blessed, their family is blessed, their city is blessed, their country is blessed. The land is blessed where a naam-chanting Mahatma has appeared.

binu hari bhajan kar sab akram aatho ganth kaput
Without Hari's bhajan, all deeds are fruitless, the eights are tied in foolishness.

ek anannya bhakti bin kiye dhag karni kar tu bhajan bin nar mar ghat ko bhut
Without exclusive bhakti, all your deeds are wasted; without bhajan, the body becomes a ghost.

No matter how many deeds you perform, if yoga is not attained, your downfall cannot be stopped. Downfall is not stopped by deeds. There are two types of deeds: auspicious and inauspicious. Both must be experienced. [avdhi mein bhoktuvi kritam karm shubh shubham ashubh]. Auspicious deeds bring auspicious fruits and inauspicious deeds bring inauspicious fruits. You will have to experience both. You cannot escape the wheel of birth and death by this alone. So there must be yoga. What is yoga?

satat yukt naam bhajta priti purvkm dadam buddhi yogam tam en mam pantte
To him who constantly worships My name with devotion, I give the yoga of wisdom; thus he attains Me.

Whoever constantly japs my name, I grant them the yoga of wisdom. Through karma yoga, liberation is attained, not through karma alone. Only if exclusive bhakti yoga awakens will all your doing bear fruit; otherwise all your efforts will be futile. You don't understand this.

tumhari nishdin karat kapt chhal baji
Your day and night deceptions and deceits.

Therefore at the end time the messengers of death will strike.

bhajan bin nar mar ghat ko bhut
Without bhajan, the body becomes a ghost.

Whatever your mind desires, you are committing sinful deeds. Stop! Let the fruits of deeds come. Then you will know there is no friend to save you, no hero savior. The messengers of death will beat you and then make you wander through species of birth. That is why the only means is the name of the Lord. Whoever has held onto the name—the Lord says:

Vishnu naam push shamalpan punya brahmasthan bhoga guru shri pad bhakti tatv gyanam Vishnu mri janan bhraant beejam chaddha sampurn bodhe mah pursham sthaapit nivattam
The name of Vishnu grants all merits; the guru's grace bestows devotion and the knowledge of truth; the name of Vishnu destroys all confusion and establishes the soul in complete consciousness.

Oh, what wonderful glory! When someone receives the guru-given name and makes the vow that "Today I heard the glory of the name; today in my life I will make this name dwell in my breath," at that very moment Brahma Ji comes with the materials of worship and offers mental worship to that devotee who has taken the vow of naam jap.

Why? Brahma knows that now this being will transcend even our Brahma loka and become a traveler to the supreme abode. Therefore I must worship this one. This one will jap the name of our Lord, will transcend our dham and go higher. He bows to both their feet.

Brahma japs when someone takes the vow of naam jap. Not name-perfected, but the vow to jap the name. As soon as that name-chanter begins the chanting of the name, there is an uproar. Within the mind there is an uproar. Then that sadhak says, "Many sinful tendencies are coming, dirty thoughts are coming." These are not coming—the name has created an uproar. Now all must exit. Come out! For many births you have dwelt in our mind and intellect and made us commit all kinds of evil deeds.

Now when the stick of naam is lit, all flee from within, and whoever is not a sadhak in satsang becomes afraid. Oh, it was better before this. There was great joy and playfulness. Now there is great burning. Very impure thoughts are arising. They are not coming. Now the fire has caught. Now the mind will become pure and clean. Naam has the power to grant detachment from all enjoyments up to Brahmalok.

Now when naam has begun, sinful conduct and sinful tendencies are destroyed, great merit arises, detachment from enjoyments comes—from the enjoyments up to Brahmalok, forget about the enjoyments of the mortal world. The naam-chanter has this attachment to attaining the Lord. Even the enjoyments of Brahma seem bitter. Narayan, Braj, the divine moon—one's attachment goes there. Whoever is a naam-chanter gets detachment from the enjoyments up to Brahmalok, then the guru creates direct God-consciousness in them.

Naam creates this realization. This is not merely a matter of creating feeling. There is a state, and when one looks toward the guru, one sees the Supreme Brahman directly. Naam creates this realization. Knowledge of the essence regarding the Lord illuminates their heart. When there is direct God-consciousness in the guru's feet, then the light of essential knowledge has appeared. All of this happens through naam—as soon as the light of essential knowledge appears, the ignorance that was the cause of the illusion of birth and death burns and becomes ash, and they become a liberated soul even while living. Now the awareness or love of the undivided, eternal consciousness of the Lord will be as the sadhak is.

The knowledge-seeker dominated by knowledge-consciousness becomes established in undivided awareness. If they are dominated by devotion, they attain undivided love. Such is the work this naam does. Naam works. Essential knowledge and divine love—in the guru, direct God-consciousness, and even Brahma bows. Such is their greatness, and detachment from the enjoyments up to Brahmalok—all this becomes illuminated in the heart of the naam-chanter.

When the naam-chanter begins to chant naam, like the sun rises—gradually the darkness is destroyed, even the inner chamber becomes illuminated.

Just so does naam produce such light of knowledge throughout the entire heart that the darkness of ignorance is destroyed. Just as all the darkness of the entire world is destroyed merely by the rising of the sun, so too by merely uttering the naam, all sins and ignorance of all beings are destroyed. Hold this. There is no need to doubt or wander. Therefore, victory to Sri Hari naam, the bringer of welfare to the world. This naam has such wonderful, powerful, easy power—by the mere touch of the tongue, attainment of the Lord. By the mere touch of the tongue, Radhe Radhe, Krishna Krishna—attainment of the Lord.

It will make you self-satisfied. It will make you accomplished. It will make you completely fulfilled. It will purify the mind. It will attract Sri Krishna and illuminate them in the heart. You don't have to do anything. Just chant naam. Sacrifice, yoga, austerity, charity—all these are perishable. Some karma becomes destroyed. But naam is infallible, imperishable—it destroys all these sins and itself becomes victorious. It attains victory.

Sevak Ji Maharaj says: for the naam-chanter, Ganesh becomes victorious, no obstacle shall come, no evil shall befall. Kali Yuga's suffering and fear are removed, all sorrows are removed by chanting Sri Hari naam. All the defects of Kali Yuga are destroyed. No deity, no planet or star can cause obstacles to one whose tongue is moving in naam, no matter how low one's nature is, no matter how great a sinner one has been.

If they have started to chant naam, then by causeless grace, they will become the bringer of welfare to the world. Pay attention: whoever has grasped the naam—Sri Chitragupta's work is of great glory.

When a sadhak has begun guru-given naam-chanting, sins tremble, become ash. Son, grandson, relatives—attachments and delusions burn to ash. Each word of this is nectar—hold it. There is no need to understand anything else. Whichever sadhak has shown interest in guru-given naam-chanting, sins tremble, the attachment and delusion to son, grandson, and relatives—naam's power burns this all to ash.

By chanting naam, even the record-keepers of the sins and merits of all living beings, the chief minister and chief judge of Yamraj, Chitragupta Ji, trembles and immediately raises their pen and immediately wipes their record clean from the register of Yama's realm.

"No, brother, no—this one has started chanting naam." Trembling greatly, with a frightened pen—Sri Chitragupta's work. Who is this? The chief judge of Yama's realm, and they sit there constantly writing rapidly, recording everything you think and do—not even a second's mistake will be missed. No witnesses are needed there. Whoever chants the naam given by the guru, begin chanting. Sins tremble and burn to ash. Family, body, delusions, attachments, connections—naam burned all of this and Chitragupta trembled. With great fear, trembling with fear of naam, they raised the pen and struck the record from the register.

"If we keep it written in our register, I will become guilty before Hari, because this one has started chanting naam. This naam-chanter has not yet become perfected. They have just started chanting naam." The one who knows the special knowledge of Sri Nama Mahatma, the Lord Brahma, brings honey-offering and places it at their feet, in that direction toward their feet—from Brahmalok. Why? This one is going to transcend our universe and become the beloved of Hari and go to the divine abode. Because they have started chanting naam. With joy, honey-offering—the Vedas perform it. Lord Brahma, bringing the honey-offering, creates the ritual and bows at their feet.

These nama jaapakas will now pierce through our universe and attain the abode of Hari. Therefore, after hearing the glory of this name, if love for the name has not arisen, it is certainly very severe misfortune.

Although the name is very sacred and supremely glorious, without qualities, without cause, the form of Brahm, yet it is supremely glorious and compassionate. Therefore, even the most sinful person's tongue can utter the name. But the Lord whose name this is dwells everywhere.

He was not removing anyone's suffering. This is a matter to pay attention to. The supreme form of God is established in everyone's heart, yet all creatures in the world are poor and suffering, their hearts full of defects. Goswami Ji writes: Yet all creatures in the world are poor and suffering—why is it so? The cause is established through bhajan and the grace of the saints, as the Vedas teach. Even though God exists, misfortune has not ceased. But when the Guru gives you the name, good fortune cannot be withheld. Lord, we have seen this: even beyond you—your glory, your qualities, your ocean of love, your very form—the name is greater still.

But this is only through your grace that your name has come upon our tongue. You have become our guru. Now this name, which clothed the entire world in ignorance, will destroy that ignorance from its very roots. Therefore, Lord, we have determined, and the great sages have determined: beyond your form, glory, qualities and compassion is the name. Because even though you exist, misfortune has not ceased. But when the name came upon our tongue, everything was accomplished.

The creature is caught in the cycle of birth and death, experiencing terrible suffering. In this situation, the great sages have decided there is one supreme means and goal: the Lord's auspicious name. Whoever begins to utter the name becomes liberated themselves. Fear flees from those devoted to chanting the Lord's name, becoming fearless themselves.

Those who in this world or the next desire supreme auspiciousness, supreme happiness, and supreme progress; who wish to remove the sorrows of the world and become immersed in great bliss; who desire fearless liberation; who desire yogic powers and accomplishments; who desire the supreme knowledge of the scriptures—whoever desires anything, let them begin to chant the name; everything will be attained.

Whoever has accepted the name will awaken everything.

Those who began to chant the name—through the glory of the Lord's name manifested—conquer all corruptions of the body. Not through words, but through naam jap. Hunger, thirst, sorrow, delusion, age, death—these six the name brings under control. Passion, anger, greed, delusion, pride, envy—these six are destroyed, annihilated. The mind, the five knowledge-senses—these six. The six passions. Hunger, thirst, sorrow, delusion, age, death.

The naam jaapakas conquer all these six. The five knowledge-senses are in their control, the mind is in their control. Hunger, thirst, sorrow, delusion, age, death—no fear for them. Passion, anger, greed, delusion, pride, envy—victory over these: through what? Through the name. Through the name, through bhajan.

Without the Lord's bhajan, the world-boat does not cross. This principle is established. No other attainment is greater than this: your name coming upon our tongue. Whether cast out from the world, absolutely lowly, grossly sinful—if such a one begins to chant the Lord's name, they will become worthy of worship by the world. Even an outcaste, when the Lord's name is established on the tip of their tongue, becomes the highest, worthy of worship by the world.

Having begun to chant the name, they have accomplished austerities, performed sacrifices, bathed at tirthas, observed right conduct, obtained the fruit of studying all the Vedas. All this is accomplished by beginning to chant the name. Therefore, the great sages, the scriptures, the devotees—all together hold one view: constant naam jap is the supreme means and the supreme goal.

This text is taken from the video's auto-generated captions—there may be errors in the words. Please listen to the video for the authentic teaching.

Original video: Bhajan Marg (YouTube)