I wish to bring to your attention a great act of grace by Bhagavan. Due to the rule of Kali
Purusha in the fourth Yuga, there is the power of darkness. Krita Yuga is Golden Age, Treta Yuga is
Silver Age, Dvapara Yuga is Copper Age and Kali Yuga is Iron Age. An iron piece rusts very easily
and if it hurts you it becomes septic. In Krita Yuga, Treta Yuga and Dvapara Yuga spiritual
activities were easier and they got results because there was dominance of Sattva. After that
gradually more and more Rajo Guna came. Bhakti and Bhajan are very difficult in Kali Yuga as
there is dominance of more Tamo Guna and everywhere there is darkness, ignorance, Raga-Dvesha
and Asuri Sampad. You all know how the Srimad Bhagavata Mahapurana starts. It starts with the
Prasanga of Narada coming across a mother and son, Bhakti and Vairagya, in a state of great
oldness, dilapidated, weak and sick. When he asked them who they were and why they were
suffering, the mother answers, “I am Bhakti and he is Vairagya. Kali Yuga has come, therefore, we
have no strength. We have become helpless. We have been overcome by weakness.” So, what is the
way to revive? Hear the Mahima, the glory of Bhagavan; by listening to the Lila of Bhagavan you
will develop Prema, attachment and Bhakti for Bhagavan and then that will become a way of
release from the bondage of Kali Yuga. Even Bhakti became helpless and lost her strength. So did
Vairagya. There is no Bhakti, no Vairagya in Kali Yuga. There is a lack of Dharma. There is
Adharma everywhere and in the name of Dharma, Adharma is done, in the name of spirituality
unspiritual things are done. In the name of truth, man will swear, ‘I swear by God that I will speak
the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth’. And when he is swearing also, he knows that he
is going to tell lies. So the oath itself is a falsehood before a witness. Without blinking an eyelid
people come, take the witness stand and take the oath by God saying that they will speak the truth,
the whole truth and nothing but the truth, knowing full well that they have been told to lie and they
have agreed to lie and they are going to lie the next moment. It is a very difficult problem to know
who is telling the truth and who is not. The problem is not of who is telling a falsehood, but of who is
telling a lesser falsehood.
So that is the effect of Kali Yuga. Everywhere untruth, everywhere dishonesty, everywhere
hypocrisy, everywhere showing something outside, being something inside. People maintain three
account books, one for oneself, private, one for the business partner and one for the Income-tax
Officer. Son deceives the father, father deceives the son, husband deceives the wife, wife deceives
the husband, brother deceives brother, leaders deceive the public. Whenever I meet Gulzarilal
Nandaji he always says, “Swamiji, what has our nation come to? In the name of Dharma, in the
name of religion, people practise deceit, people tell falsehood, people are hypocrites, people dupe
the public and therefore all faith has been lost. People have lost belief in temples and religion, even
in spirituality and saints, because they have had bitter experiences. All appearances are made for
inner deceit and people have lost all faith and belief.” He speaks of bribery, corruption, dishonesty,
among all people. He is trying his best since many years to try to find a way to make people honest.
He has failed.
In this state of affairs, when instead of truth, nonviolence, chastity, only violence, bad
conduct and falsehood is being practised, what is the state of spiritual Sadhakas, really sincere
spiritual people, who want to move towards God, who want to progress spiritually? They are caught
in this situation where nine out of ten people are totally devoid of any sense of conscience or
Dharma-Adharma, good and bad, right and wrong. That is the situation. How can spiritual people
pull on in this atmosphere? As a great assurance, great message of hope, Srimad Bhagavata says
that in spite of it being Kali Yuga, in spite of the prevalence of Adharma, Atyachara, Asatya,
Durachara and all this Andhakara, Kali Yuga contains one redeeming feature, one very great
quality. Therefore, some even say that they are very fortunate to be born in Kali Yuga. What is that
redeeming feature of Kali Yuga? In Kali Yuga Bhagavan has so laid down, so arranged, that only by
the power of the ‘Japa’ of His Divine Name you can attain liberation, you can free yourself from the
clutches of Kali and become liberated. In this ocean of evil called Kali Yuga, there is one great good
quality. Merely through the chanting of the Divine Name of the Lord, human beings will become
liberated from all sin, from all bondage and impurity.
65
DIVINE NAME
So when that Name is there what is there to fear? Take shelter in the Divine Name. No
matter whether you are a Vedantin or a Raja Yogi or a Karma Yogi, don’t leave the practice of the
Divine Name. Let the practice of the Divine Name—Japa—be an integral part of your Sadhana. Do
Japa with faith, with devotion, with deceit-free nature, and feeling the presence of the Divine. ‘God
is here and now, He is all-pervading, therefore when I call Him, He immediately looks at me with a
glance of Grace, showering Grace upon me, because He is not far off. He is close to me.’ With this
great understanding, take to the practice of the Divine Name. Name is the great liberating force that
can help you cross the ocean of Samsara in Kali Yuga.
Hearing the message of hope, you need not despair. We need not think that in this age of
darkness, of Kali Yuga, how is it possible to attain liberation. The Lord says, ‘Yes, I have made it
very, very easy in this Kali yuga, knowing the condition of man, his helplessness and weakness’. He
has so made it, that in spite of all the drawbacks of Kali Yuga, He made Bhagavadsakshatkara easy,
simple, through a direct method. ‘Through the Name itself you can attain God’. Those who have
attained God through this method, ultimately discovered the great secret. They said Name and God
are one and the same. They are not different. They are identical. Nami and Nama are the same.
There is no difference. Appearing in two different forms, they are actually one and the same. A
silver Rupee has two sides, but these two sides are of one coin only. In as much as this side is Rupee,
that side is also as much the same Rupee. So they are obverse and reverse of the same coin.
I constantly tell people when they take the Mantra: “Mantra is Pragat-svarupa Paramatma.
Bhagavan assumes Mantrasvarupa and comes into the life of the Jiva in order to do Uddhara to the
Jiva.” So Mantra is a form assumed by the Lord Himself as Sabda or Nada. Parabrahma is Sakara
Saguna and Nirakara Saguna and Nirakara Nirguna. Sakara Saguna is Rama, Krishna, Vishnu,
Sankara and all that. Nirakara Nirguna is Parabrahma Tattva. But Nirakara Saguna is Nama. It has
no shape but it is all the Gunas, Santi, Satya, Jnana, Jyoti, Sakti filled with Divine potentiality. Each
Name is a powerful centre of Divine potentialities and it can take you to the highest blessedness.
God identified Himself with the practice of Nama-Sadhana in Bhagavad Gita. He said, ‘Among all
the ways of attaining spiritual beatitude, among all the ways of offering yourself unto Me, I am Japa
Yajna Yajnanam japayajnosmi.’
Yajna means offering yourself to God. He identifies Himself with the method of offering
yourself, your consciousness to the Divine, through the practice of the Divine Name and those who
base their Sadhana upon the practice of the Divine Name are very, very safe. Don’t think that only
the Bhaktas practise the Divine Name. Vedantins are expected to do Pranava Japa or the
Mahavakya Japa. They also do Japa. Sannyasins also do Pranava Japa. But they do it with Eka
Bhava. Between Bhakta and Bhagavan there is a relationship, either of Dasya or Sakhya or
Vatsalya or Madhurya or Santa Bhava—five Bhavas. They do it with this sentiment.
When you are engaged thus in doing Japa Sadhana, there are a few rules that you must
adhere to. You must have for yourself some irreducible minimum as your daily quota of your Japa
Sadhana; less than that you must never do. You can do more, the more you do, the more will be the
benefit. But you should not fail to do less than that prefixed minimum. It is very beneficial if you
can do it in the morning itself, so that in case due to any pressure or special work you are not able to
finish the required quota, then you can finish it that same night. If you keep it for the night and you
don’t finish it, saying I will add it to tomorrow’s quota then you will have a problem. So you should
not go to bed before you finish that day’s quota. That is the safest method. Minimum Japa for the
day should be fixed and adhered to, without fail.
Secondly, when you are doing Japa, you must also think of the Lord. Keep a picture of the
Lord in front of you, look at it, and go on doing the Japa. Then close your eyes and try to visualise
God inside. Thus you must go on doing Bhagavat-chintana and Japa both combined together.
Another way of doing it is by writing the same Mantra in a specially kept notebook, every day at a
time when you will not be disturbed. Pick up the notebook and with a very beautiful handwriting,
paying good attention, without haste, without hurry, with great Bhava and feeling, you must write,
with intense concentration, Once you take up that writing, you should not stop until you have
finished that one page or half page, whatever you have fixed for yourself. At that time you should
neither talk, nor look here and there. You should observe Mouna for the duration of writing. If the
telephone rings or someone knocks at the door, someone calls, do not respond. This Niyama should
be observed in Likhita-Mantra Japa and it will give you maximum benefit specially if you give it a
lot of concentration. It is advisable that you do the Japa at a fixed hour and the same time every day.
A certain power is thereby generated in that Asana. The moment you sit for Japa, the mind becomes
Antarmukti and Sattvic. There is no Vikshepa, no distraction due to the force of Samskaras and
vibrations of the Japa, day after day, at the same time, same place. The Asana also becomes very
holy by doing this practice regularly at the same place, on the same Asana.
Even though you may have Dhyana of Sakara Saguna Svarupa of your Ishtadeva, even
though you may be doing little Upasana, Mukti Upasana, during your Puja, yet you must
understand, your Ishtadeva also has got a Paratpara Svarupa. This Paratpara Svarupa is without
name, without form. It is Satchidananda—Sarvavyapi Satchidananda. Whether it is Narayana or
Siva or Saravanabhava or Kartikeya or Subramanya or Rama or Krishna or Devi. All these
Svarupas of your Ishtadeva have a Paratpara Svarupa in which it is unlimited. It is Pure
Consciousness and in that Paratpara Svarupa your Ishtadeva is not confined to that Akriti but
all-pervading. In that all-pervading, subtle, spiritual aspect, He is present everywhere. Wherever
you are, whatever you are engaged in doing, morning till night, He is present everywhere. He is also
present within you as your Antaryamin Bhagavan, thus making your body a holy place, a sacred
place, a temple of the living God.
Thus you must realise the sanctity of God, knowing that your Ishtadeva as Paratpara
Svarupa is seated in your heart, as your Antaryamin, Satchidananda Svarupa, Jyotirmaya
Paramjyoti Svarupa Bhagavan. He is seated in your heart and He is seated in the hearts of all beings.
He pervades everywhere. So, no matter what your Karyakshetra, you are doing it in the Sannidhya
of Bhagavan. Feel the presence of God, feel the presence of the Divine. This being the truth, that He
is Sarvatra, Sarvam Krishnamayam Jagat, Sarvam Vishnumayam Jagat, Sarvam Sivamayam Jagat,
Sarvam Saktimayam Jagat, whatever your Ishta, you must regard Jagat as being Ishtamayam Jagat.
Develop this vision and this Bhav. Therefore, when your entire life, all your Vyavahara, all your
Kartavya Karmas, all your Vyavaharic life is being lived in His presence, it should be lived
worshipfully. Whatever you do, do worshipfully and offer it at the feet of the Lord. Even in the
midst of your activity have a constant unbroken Bhagavat-smaran. You can repeat your Ishta-naam
or Mantra mentally during the Vyavaharic time. The repetition need not be confined only to that
time of Japa Sadhana. Repetition can go on even when you are in the midst of activity.
Someone asked me if the Japa can go on in the bathroom or in the lavatory. If you are doing
with Nishkamya Bhav, only for the sake of propitiating God, only for His Darshan, only for
obtaining Bhagavad-darshan and Moksha, then there are no restrictions on Desa, Kaala or anything
else. At all times and anywhere you can do—lavatory, bathroom, urinal—everywhere. Before bath,
after bath, before eating, after eating, all time is time for Japa. All time is fit and suitable and sacred
because you are doing it in the presence of God. As a matter of fact, it has got the power of
transforming impure places into pure places. If you are sitting in the lavatory, if you utter the Name
of God, the lavatory becomes a holy place. Where there is God, where there is Nama, that place is a
holy place. It is a sacred place. There cannot be any impurity about it. It is an all-purifying agent and
has great power, universal power. How can impurity remain there?
When you bring in light, darkness must fly; no matter what darkness it is, it must fly. So that
is the power of light. You cannot pollute Ganga-jal. Ganga-jal is always purifying. It is just like
Ganga-jal. His Name is to be constantly remembered, constantly uttered, mentally, in the midst of
Vyavahara. It is the all-purifying Divine power. There is nothing in this universe to equal that
all-purifying Divine power. It is the Power of powers and has been given to us because we are
fortunate to be born in Kali Yuga. This has been made the Supreme Path to attain God. Nama itself
is enough to sustain us in Kali Yuga. The only thing is that under the cloak of the Name, you should
not do wrong things. ‘It is all-purifying, it will free me from all sins; therefore I can commit sin
today also and tomorrow I can be purified if I utter the Name.’ This mischievous attitude is not
good.
There are ten Nama-aparadhas. One of them is using the Divine Name for negative
purposes. Another great Aparadha is swearing by the Divine Name. You should never take the
Name for Sakshi; it is a great Aparadha. By bathing in the Ganga all sin is washed away. So, if you
are living by the banks of Ganga, you cannot think ‘every day I am taking bath, so every day I can
do what I want, every day I will be purified’. This should not be done. This is a Nama-aparadha.
You must be very, very careful. You must treat the Nama with sanctity, respect and reverence.
Nama, the sacred Name of God, must not be used for any wrong things. Use it only for getting
Bhagavat-anugraha, and Kaivalya Samrajya, Kaivalya Moksha. Keep the repetition of the Divine
Name secret and sacred. It is between you and God. Any third person is not concerned with it. So we
should not utter it in the presence of others. When you are alone you can utter it with full voice;
otherwise do Manas Japa, mentally and in silence. If the Guru says, you must repeat at least so many
Malas per day without fail, you should not stick to the minimum. The minimum number is
prescribed in the beginning of your Sadhana, so that you don’t neglect your Sadhana. It is your duty
to see that this minimum is gradually raised as you go on advancing in spiritual Sadhana.
Ultimately, I would like to tell you one other indispensable thing. Even though Name has
been declared to be the Supreme Power by which you can be liberated, you can overcome the
influence of Kali in this Iron Age, dark Iron Age, if you want to go beyond death. If you take a little
bit of , if you take a little bit of nectar or ambrosia you become deathless and immortal. But if
someone is prepared to give you Amritam and you go to him and he asks, “What have you brought?
Have you brought a little plate or a cup or a container?” and you say, “No, I have not brought
anything”, then how can you take it? If you have to take Amritam, you have to bring something to
hold it. In the same way to practice the Divine Name, you should have a Patra. Patra has two
meanings, vessel and also fitness Patratvam. So there should be something to contain it. What is that
in which the practice of the Divine Name becomes well-contained? Generally, as I told you, that
Container is called Dharma. If there is Dharma all our spiritual Sadhana becomes fruitful. It is in the
receptacle of Dharma that you can put the seed of spiritual Sadhana and the tree of spiritual life will
grow and give you the fruit of Moksha. It is in the frame-work of Dharma that all good works and all
Sadhana become successful.
