03 Nama diksa, Brahminical Initiation, and the Holy Name
Sincere eagerness to chant the holy name is the main qualification to be initiated according to the pancaratrika process:
The following injunction is given in the Hari−bhakti−vilasa (1.194):
tantrikesu ca mant diksayam yositam api
sadhvinam adhikaro 'sti sudradinam ca sad−dhiyam
"Sudras and women who are chaste and sincerely interested in understanding the Absolute Truth are qualified to be initiated with the pancaratrika−mantras."
This is also confirmed in Bhagavad−gita (9.32):
mam hi partha vyapasr ye 'pi syuh papa−yonayah
striyo vaisyas tatha sudras te 'pi yanti param gatim
"O son of Prtha, those who take shelter in Me, though they be of lower birth−women, vaisyas [merchants], as well as sudras [workers]−can approach the supreme destination."
If one actually wants to serve Krsna, it doesn't maner whether one is a sudra, vaisya, or even a woman. If one is sincerely eager to chant the Hare Krsna mantra or diksa−mantra, he is qualified to be initiated according to the pancaratrika process. According to Vedic principles, only a brahmana who is fully engaged in his occupational duties can be initiated. Sudras and women are not admitted to a vaidika initiation. Unless one is fit according to the estimation of the spiritual master, one cannot accept a mantra from the pancaratrika−vidhi or the vaidika−vidhi. When one is fit to accept the mantra, he is initiated by the pancaratrika−vidhi or the vaidika−vidhi. In any case, the result is the same.
– Sri Caitanya caritamrta Madhya lila 24.331
When the disciple has become competent and purified by chanting, the spiritual master offers him the sacred thread:
Usually, initiation depends on the bona fide spiritual master, who directs the disciple. If he sees that a disciple has become competent and purified by the process of chanting, he offers the sacred thread to the disciple… By the process of initiation by the spiritual master, a person is accepted as a brahmana in his purified state of chanting the holy name of the Lord.
– Srimad Bhagavatam 3.33.6
Even without recitation of kama−gayatri, the chanting of Hare Krsna is sufficient to elevate one to the highest spiritual platform:
Lord Krsna is worshiped by the Gayatri mantra, and the specific mantra by which He is worshiped is called kama gayatri. Vedic literatures explain that that sound vibration which can elevate one from mental concoction is called gayatri. The kama gayatri mantra is composed of 24 ½ syllables thus:
klim kama−devaya vidmahe
puspa−banaya dhimahi
tan no 'nangah pracodayat
This kama−gayatri is received from the spiritual master when the disciple is advanced in chanting
Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
In other words, this kama gayatri mantra and samskara, or reformation of a perfect brahmana, are offered by the spiritual master when he sees that his disciple is advanced in spiritual knowledge. Even then, the kama gayatri is not uttered under certain circumstances. In any case the chanting of Hare Krsna is sufficient to elevate one to the highest spiritual platform.
– Teachings of Lord Caitanya
Haridasa thakura formally initiated Maya by asking her to chant the Hare Krsna maha mantra:
After speaking in this way, Maya worshiped the lotus feet of Haridasa thakura, who initiated her by saying, "Just perform chanting of the Hare Krsna maha−mantra."
Now even Maya wanted to be favored by Haridasa thakura. Therefore Haridasa thakura formally initiated her by asking her to chant the Hare Krsna maha mantra.
– Sri Caitanya caritamrta Antya lila 3.259
When one situated on the platform of love of God chants the holy name loudly, everyone becomes initiated in the chanting of the holy name:
When a devotee is perfectly qualified in chanting the transcendental vibration of the holy name, he is quite fit to become a spiritual master and to deliver all the people of the world. The chanting of the holy name is so powerful that it gradually establishes its supremacy above everything in the world. The devotee who chants it becomes transcendentally situated in ecstasy and sometimes laughs, cries and dances in his ecstasy. Sometimes the unintelligent put hindrances in the path of chanting this maha−mantra, but one who is situated on the platform of love of Godhead chants the holy name loudly for all concerned. As a result, everyone becomes initiated in the chanting of the holy names
Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
– Teachings of Lord Caitanya
