Mahāprabhu and Kṛṣṇa Nāma
By Swāmī Śrī Bhaktivedānta Tripurāri, excerpted from Śikṣāṣṭakam of Śrī Caitanya.
nāmnām akāri bahudhā nija-sarva-śaktis
tatrārpitā niyamitaḥ smaraṇe na kālaḥ
etādṛśī tava kṛpā bhagavan mamāpi
durdaivam īdṛśam ihājani nānurāgaḥSo many names you’ve manifested,
and in them invested all your power.
There is no hour, no rule to recall them.
O Bhagavån, your mercy is so great!
But just see my fate, my misfortune:
for your name, I have no attraction.
In the opinion of Mahāprabhu, magnanimous dispensation reaches its zenith with the appearance of Kṛṣṇa nāma. Kṛṣṇa nāma is so high, so great, yet he nonetheless makes himself so readily available. Although nondifferent from Kṛṣṇa himself, Kṛṣṇa nāma is more merciful.
After reciting this second verse of his Śikṣāṣṭakam, Gaura Kṛṣṇa began to discuss its significance by explaining to Rāma Rāya and Svarūpa Dāmodara that God has many names because people have many desires.1
By this we learn that there is a relationship between the desires of the jīvas and Bhagavān’s names, just as there is between the condition of the jīvas’ hearts and Bhagavān himself. He reciprocates with the jīvas in consideration of their desires. In the Bhagavad-gītā, Śrī Kṛṣṇa tells Arjuna, “As people surrender to me, I reciprocate accordingly. Everyone follows my path in all respects, O Pārtha.”2
How many names does Bhagavān have? He has as many names as there are desires in the hearts of jīva souls! For that matter, Vedānta-sūtra informs us that every word indicating an object or power is first and foremost a name for God:
Words primarily denote God
for he resides in all things,
both the mobile and immobile.
But that words refer to God
is only known with time
after hearing from scripture.3
Mahāprabhu personally realized this sūtra’s import that all words are names of God. In his youth, he was renowned for his scholarship and had many students. After he received Vaiṣṇava dīkṣā from Śrī Īśvara Purīpāda and learned the conclusions of the bhakti-śāstra under his guidance, he began to explain all Sanskrit words designating material objects as primarily referring to Kṛṣṇa and only secondarily to the objects themselves. He identified the particular aspect of Kṛṣṇa residing in each material object that caused it to be called by a particular word. He realized that all words denoting power or energy also refer by extension to their underlying energetic source and that what is desirable in any object is so because of God’s presence therein. Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa asserts that such realization is the goal of Vedānta—vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti. Commenting in his Govinda-bhāṣya on the above sūtra he writes, “The object of Vedānta is to give rise to the knowledge that every word is really the name of God.”4
Although all words are names of God, Gaura emphasizes in this stanza of Śikṣāṣṭakam names of Kṛṣṇa that directly refer to Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s person, form, qualities, and līlā. Mahāprabhu says that Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa has manifested many names in this world (on the tongues of his devotees) and that these names are filled with all of Kṛṣṇa’s personal śakti. These names are those that identify him in līlā with his devotees—his primary names chanted by his unalloyed devotees. They are names that each of his devotees holds most dear to his or her heart because they correspond with a particular sentiment of love for Bhagavān. Names such as Brahman and Paramātmā, on the other hand, are secondary names of God and do not refer to him in divine play energized by his internal śakti.
Kṛṣṇa’s unalloyed devotees are embodiments of his svarūpa-śakti, in reciprocation with which Kṛṣṇa makes his appearance. Their love—Kṛṣṇa’s svarūpa-śakti invested into their hearts—causes Kṛṣṇa to appear in a form that corresponds with their purified hearts. Where then does Kṛṣṇa reside? He resides in the hearts of his devotees. What is his name but that by which they refer to him out of love? It should come as no surprise, therefore, when we hear that Kṛṣṇa nāma is invested with Kṛṣṇa śakti, for Kṛṣṇa is completely invested in his devotees, causing them to address him affectionately. This is the Vedānta of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya: the supreme energetic (śaktimān) is simultaneously one and different from his energy (śakti), acintya-bhedābheda-tattva.
- Caitanya-caritāmṛta 3.20.17: aneka-lokera vāñchā — aneka-prakāra kṛpāte karila aneka-nāmera pracāra [↩]
- Bhagavad-gītā 4.11: ye yathā māṁ prapadyante tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham mama vartmānuvartante manuṣyāḥ pārtha sarvaśaḥ [↩]
- Vedānta-sūtra 2.3.15: carācara-vyapāśrayas tu syāt tad-vyapadeśo ‘bhāktas tad- bhāva-bhāvitvāt [↩]
- Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa appears to make this point in relation to Sanskrit. [↩]
Discover more from Harmonist
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Related Posts
All Rests on Balarama →
Sri Rupa’s Lotus Feet →
Love is Independent →
