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Chanting Hare Krishna is the simplest way to attain salvation.
Chanting Hare Krishna develops bhakti and in Kali-yuga the most effective way to salvation is by developing bhakti through chanting Hare Krishna which is the simplest of all systems of self-realization.
One can meditate, perform jajnas, perform opulent deity worship, study relentlessly, follow one’s prescribed duties perfectly, but unless there is a touch of bhakti added, they will not be successful.
In previous yugas different means of salvation were practised. At those times the power, intellect and opulence of people was far higher than today, and they were able to achieve success through different methods. The life span was longer so they could sit and meditate for thousands of years. They could scrutinise and remember all the Vedas. (We have only about 6% of them today). The brahmanas had great power through their purity and perfection of chanting mantras. They had access to many kilos, (maybe tons) of gold to perform the most fabulous and opulent deity worship. Society was arranged so that everyone was nicely situated in their proper position and could perform their duties without undue disturbance.
And then comes Kali yuga where everything is a mess and disorganised. Irreligion flourishes and people are always disturbed. All the previous methods of salvation are off the table and out the window. In Kali yuga the only option is bhakti. It is the simplest but many find it difficult. Why is it difficult compared to the other paths that require great austerity and control of the mind and senses, plus all kinds of expertise that takes years to develop?
It’s because one has to acknowledge right from the start that one is a lowly servant, and is always going to be a lowly servant. There is no graduation from this position. It is not a case of humbly serving guru until we get what we want and then leaving his shelter and strike out on our own. It is not a question of ever thinking that we have some abilities and good qualities and they are what qualify us for salvation. We cannot even entertain the idea that we deserve salvation on the strength of our own merit and endeavours. This is bitter medicine for any conditioned soul in the material world because it touches on the very cause of us being here.
Although we talk about developing bhakti, it is actually a gift.
In Narada bhakti sutra we find the following verses.
Chapter 2: Defining Bhakti
15. Now the characteristics of devotional service will be described according to various authoritative opinions.
16. Srila Vyasadeva, the son of Parasara Muni, says that bhakti is fond attachment for worshiping the Lord in various ways.
17. Garga Muni says that bhakti is fondness for narrations about the Lord, by the Lord, and so on.
18. Sandilya says that bhakti results from one's removing all obstructions to taking pleasure in the Supreme Self.
19. Narada, however, says that bhakti consists of offering one's every act to the Supreme Lord and feeling extreme distress in forgetting Him.
20. Bhakti is, in fact, correctly described in each of these ways.
21. The cowherd women of Vraja are an example of pure bhakti.
22. Even in the case of the gopis, one cannot criticize them for forgetting the Lord's greatness.
23. On the other hand, displays of devotion without knowledge of God's greatness are no better than the affairs of illicit lovers.
24. In such false devotion one does not find pleasure exclusively in the Lord's pleasure.
25. Pure devotional service, on the other hand, is far superior to fruitive work, philosophical speculation, and mystic meditation.
26. After all, bhakti is the fruit of all endeavor.
27. Furthermore, the Lord dislikes the proud but is pleased with the humble.
28. Some say that knowledge is the means for developing devotion.
29. Others consider bhakti and knowledge interdependent.
30. But the son of Brahma says that bhakti is its own fruit.
31-32. This is illustrated by the examples of a royal palace, a meal, and so on. A king is not really satisfied just by seeing a palace, nor can someone placate his hunger just by looking at a meal.
33. Therefore seekers of liberation should take to devotional service alone.
34. Standard authorities have described the methods for achieving devotional service.
35. One achieves bhakti by giving up sense gratification and mundane association.
36. One achieves bhakti by worshiping the Lord ceaselessly.
37. One achieves bhakti by hearing and chanting about the Supreme Lord's special qualities, even while engaged in the ordinary activities of life in this world.
38. Primarily, however, one develops bhakti by the mercy of great souls, or by a small drop of the Lord's mercy.
39. The association of great souls is rarely obtained, difficult to understand, and infallible.
40. The association of great souls can be attained—but only by the Lord's mercy.
41. [One can attain bhakti either by the association of the Lord's pure devotees or directly by the Lord's mercy because] the Lord and His pure devotees are nondifferent.
42. Strive, strive only for the association of pure devotees.
43. One should give up all kinds of degrading association.
44. Material association is the cause of lust, anger, confusion, forgetfulness, loss of intelligence, and total calamity.
45. Rising like waves from material association, these bad effects mass into a great ocean of misery.
46. Who can cross beyond illusion? One who abandons material association, serves the sages, and becomes selfless.
47. [Who can cross beyond illusion?] That person who stays in a secluded place, cuts off at the root his attachment to mundane society, becomes free from the influence of the three modes of nature, and gives up hankering for material gain and security.
48. [Who can cross beyond illusion?] That person who renounces material duties and their profits, thus transcending duality.
49. That person who renounces even the Vedas obtains exclusive and uninterrupted attraction for God.
50. Such a person, indeed, is delivered, and he also delivers the rest of the world.
Chapter 4: Pure and Mixed Devotion
51. The true nature of pure love of God is beyond description.
52. [Trying to describe the experience of pure love of God] is like a mute's effort to describe what he tastes.
53. Nonetheless, from time to time pure love of God is revealed to those who are qualified.
54. Pure love of God manifests as the most subtle consciousness, devoid of material qualities and material desires, increasing at every moment, and never interrupted.
55. Having obtained pure love of God, one looks only at the Lord, hears only about Him, speaks only of Him, and thinks only of Him.
56. Secondary devotional service is of three kinds, according to which of the three material modes predominates, or according to which material motivation—distress and so on—brings one to bhakti.
57. Each earlier stage should be considered better than the one following it.
58. Success is easier to attain by devotional service than by any other process.
59. The reason devotional service is the easiest of all spiritual processes is that it does not depend on any other authority for its validity, being itself the standard of authority.
60. Furthermore, bhakti is the embodiment of peace and supreme ecstasy.
61. After consigning to the Lord all one's mundane and Vedic duties, one no longer need worry about worldly loss.
62. Even after one has achieved devotional service, one should not abandon one's responsibilities in this world but should rather continue surrendering the results of one's work to the Lord. And while still trying to reach the stage of pure devotion, one must certainly continue executing prescribed duties.
63. One should not find entertainment in news of women, money, and atheists.
64. One should put aside false pride, hypocrisy, and other vices.
65. Offering all one's activities to the Lord, one should feel desire, anger, and pride only with regard to Him.
66. After breaking through the aforementioned coverings of the three modes of nature, one should act only in pure love of God, remaining perpetually in the mood of a servant serving his master, or a lover serving her beloved.
Here then is our goal, but how to achieve it? How to come to this position of loving Krishna? How to feel emotions towards a person we haven’t met yet? That problem was solved by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu 500 years ago.
namo maha-vadanyaya krsna-prema-pradaya te
krsnaya krsna-caitanya-namne gaura-tvise namah
"I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Lord Sri Krsna Caitanya, who is more magnanimous than any other avatara, even Krsna Himself, because He is bestowing freely what no one else has ever given -- pure love of Krsna." [Cc. Madhya 19.53]
Lord Caitanya's teachings begin from the point of surrender to Krsna. He does not pursue the paths of karma-yoga or jnana-yoga or hatha-yoga but begins at the end of material existence, at the point where one gives up all material attachment. In the Bhagavad-gita Krsna begins His teachings by distinguishing the soul from matter, and in the Eighteenth Chapter He concludes at the point where the soul surrenders to Him in devotion.
Rupa Gosvami thus praises Lord Caitanya as the most munificent incarnation of all. Cc Adi Introduction
Bhakti and pure love for Krishna are one and the same. Lord Chaitanya has taught us that all Krishna’s potencies are in His name and He has given us the holy name in the Hare Krishna Mahamantra. There are many volumes describing the glories and the potency of the holy name, and Gauranga has declared that by chanting this mantra offencelessly, one will quickly attain attraction for Krishna which will mature into pure bhakti in time.
If one chants the exalted holy name of the Lord again and again and yet his love for the Supreme Lord does not develop and tears do not appear in his eyes, it is evident that because of his offences in chanting, the seed of the holy name of Krsna does not sprout.
But if one only chants, with some slight faith, the holy names of Lord Caitanya and Nityananda, very quickly he is cleansed of all offences. Thus as soon as he chants the Hare Krsna maha-mantra, he feels the ecstasy of love for God. Adi 8. 8.29–30
Krsna says that you have to develop your attachment for Him. Begin at the beginning, but you can do it; it is not artificial. I have a few sincere students here, just developing; they are not complete, but they are developing Krsna -- attachment. Otherwise, why should they waste their time chanting Hare Krsna? They are doing it, and it can be done. You can develop love for anything if you try for it. But Krsna development is very natural. Because Krsna is not a thing belonging to a particular type of religion or sect. Krsna claims, "I belong to everyone." Therefore originally, we are all connected with Krsna; but we have simply forgotten. This process of chanting is to evoke your remembrance of Krsna. It is not that we are inducting something artificially into you. No, Krsna is already connected with you, but you have forgotten. And we are trying to give you the process for reviving your original consciousness. So you can come to our temple; that is the beginning. You can see Krsna or Krsna's devotees, and you can chant Hare Krsna.
Krsna is not different from His name because He is absolute. He is nondifferent from His words. The name Krsna and the person Krsna are not different. Because everything is Krsna. Chapter 4: The Goal of Yoga
So chanting Hare Krishna, bhakti, and salvation are all inextricably interconnected in Kali yuga.
“hare krsna hare krsna krsna krsna hare hare
hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare
This mantra, consisting of 16 words and 32 syllables, is the only means against evil in this age. After searching through all the Vedic literature, one cannot find a method of religion more sublime for the age of Kali than the chanting of Hare Krsna."
--- Kali-santarana Upanishad
Author
Murari Das is supporter of ISKCON and Srila Prabhupada. He is preaching about Krishna consciousness and message of Bhagavad Gita.
You can visit his blog to know about Gita.
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