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It is an offense to consider the holy name to be an ordinary pious activity:
One who says that ten million asvamedha sacrifices are equal to the chanting of the holy name of Lord Krsna is undoubtedly an atheist. He is sure to be punished by Yamaraja.
In the list of the ten kinds of offenses in chanting the holy name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hare Krsna, the eighth offense is dharma-vrata-tyaga-hutadi-sarva-subha-kriya-samyam api pramadah. One should never consider the chanting of the holy name of Godhead equal to pious activities like giving charity to brahmanas or saintly persons, opening charitable educational institutions, distributing free foodstuffs and so on. The results of pious activities do not equal the results of chanting the holy name of Krsna.
The Vedic scriptures say:
go-koti-danam grahane khagasya
prayaga-gangodaka-kalpa-vasah
yajnayutam meru-survarna-danam
govinda-kirter na samamsatamsaih
"Even if one distributes ten million cows in charity during an eclipse of the sun, lives at the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna for millions of years, or gives a mountain of gold in sacrifice to the brahmanas, he does not earn one hundredth part of the merit derived from chanting Hare Krsna."
In other words, one who accepts the chanting of Hare Krsna to be some kind of pious activity is completely misled. Of course, it is pious; but the real fact is that Krsna and His name, being transcendental, are far above all mundane pious activity. Pious activity is on the material platform, but chanting of the holy name of Krsna is completely on the spiritual plane. Therefore, although pasandis do not understand this, pious activity can never compare to the chanting of the holy name.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Adi-lila 3.79
