Hare Krishna Prabhus and Matajis,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
I would like to share a beautiful verse from Sri Upadeshamrita (The Nectar of Instruction), Verse 7. In this verse, Srila Rupa Goswami beautifully explains the essence of how chanting the Holy name transforms the heart and allows us to experience the sweetness of the Holy Name.
syāt kṛṣṇa-nāma-caritādi-sitāpy avidyā-
pittopatapta-rasanasya na rocikā nu
kintv ādarād anudinaṁ khalu saiva juṣṭā
svādvī kramād bhavati tad-gada-mūla-hantrī
“The holy name, character, pastimes and activities of Kṛṣṇa are all transcendentally sweet like sugar candy. Although the tongue of one afflicted by the jaundice of avidyā [ignorance] cannot taste anything sweet, it is wonderful that simply by carefully chanting these sweet names every day, a natural relish awakens within his tongue, and his disease is gradually destroyed at the root.”
Krishna’s Holy name are the sweetest nectar, but our tongues are coated with the thick dust of avidya (ignorance). So we are unable to taste that sweetness of the Holy name. Like honey covered by a bitter layer, the holy name feels tasteless to us because of our own impurities of the heart.
Srila Rupa Goswami reveals that when we chant the Holy name anudhinam (daily, without fail) and ādharād (with feelings for the Lord), only then can we begin to taste the transcendental sweetness that the holy name offers.
We have learned to chant regularly, but have we learned to chant with feelings—from the core of our hearts? The Holy name and Krishna are identical – abhinatvān nāma-nāminoḥ. There is no difference between the two. In the sacred syllables of the Holy name, everything resides—Krishna’s beautiful form, His wonderful pastimes, and His transcendental qualities.
But, without a genuine hankering to be with Sri Krishna and Srimati Radharani, and to serve Them with all our heart, how can we chant with true feelings?
It is only by Srimati Radharani’s causeless mercy that we are able to chant the holy name in the first place. When we realize the depth of Her mercy upon us, our hearts will naturally be filled with a genuine longing —to serve the Divine Couple, and only then will our chanting be infused with deep feelings.
The Holy name is like a seed planted within the soil of our hearts. So when we nurture this seed with unwavering devotion and water it each day with the tears of longing from our eyes, that tiny seed of nama begins to sprout.
Slowly, it grows into a beautiful tree and it will give sweetest fruits—the vision of Krishna’s beautiful form, His pastimes, and His qualities will manifest. It is not that the Holy name makes Krishna appear; the holy name is Krishna Himself. As we chant with sincerity and devotion, the Lord manifests from His own name.
The Holy name is Krishna, and Krishna is the holy name. All that is transcendental, all that is eternal, flows from this Holy name when chanted with a heart softened by love and eyes moistened with tears.
Your servant,
Satya Sara das