11 Great souls chant the holy name

11 Great Souls Chant The Holy Name

A real mahatma is always engaged in chanting the glories of Krsna, praising His holy name:

[Lord Krsna to Arjuna]: Always chanting My glories, endeavoring with great determination, bowing down before Me, these great souls perpetually worship Me with devotion.The mahatma cannot be manufactured by rubber stamping an ordinary man. His symptoms are described here: a mahatma is always engaged in chanting the glories of the Supreme Lord Krsna, the Personality of Godhead. He has no other business. He is always engaged in the glorification of the Lord. In other words, he is not an impersonalist. When the question of glorification is there, one has to glorify the Supreme Lord, praising His holy name, His eternal form, His transcendental qualities and His uncommon pastimes. One has to glorify all these things; therefore a mahatma is attached to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

– Bhagavad gita As It Is 9.14


Understanding Krsna to be the primal source of everything, great souls glorify Him by chanting Hare Krsna:

Understanding Krsna to be the primal source of everything, how do the great souls act? Krsna Himself characterizes them in this way:

satatam kirtayanto mam yatantas ca drdha−vratah
namasyantas ca mam bhaktya nitya−yukta upasate

"Always chanting My glories, endeavoring with great determination, bowing down before Me, these great souls perpetually worship Me with devotion." (Bg. 9.14)

That glorification is this process of bhakti yoga, the chanting of Hare Krsna.

– Raja vidya: The King of Knowledge


A mahatma chants the glories of the Lord via the maha mantra:

This process of kirtana (kirtayantah), always chanting the glories of the Lord, is the beginning of mahatma. That process is simplified by Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who imparted to mankind this chanting of

Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

– Raja vidya: The King of Knowledge


Out of compassion for the people in general, saintly persons take to the chanting of the Hare Krsna mantra:

Even though saintly persons have no business in political affairs, they are always compassionate upon the people in general. Thus even though they are always aloof from society, out of mercy and compassion they consider how the citizens can peacefully execute their rituals and follow the rules and regulations of varnasrama dharma. In this age of Kali, everything is disturbed. Therefore saintly persons should take to the chanting of the Hare Krsna mantra, as recommended in the sastras:

harer nama harer nama harer namaiva kevalam
kalau nasty eva nasty eva nasty eva gatir anyatha
[Adi 17.21]

– Srimad Bhagavatam 4.14.37


Author: ISKCON Desire Tree

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