Do Three Things and Get the Full Mercy

of the Lord
26th November 2014 • Illuminations on Bhakti
HH Candramauli Swami, Bhagavad-gita lecture, 9.14, September 2014, Croatia
History is being made right now, that this movement will be spread all over the world. How fast?
The more we become serious and fixed in our devotional service, the faster this movement will
spread. Taking part in Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s movement means becoming an instrument for the
mercy of the Lord and receiving the Lord’s benefit.
Just do three things: as Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura sings it, and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu
glorifies it – nama ruci, vaisnava seva and jiva doya. Chant the Holy Names, serve the Vaisnavas
and give this mercy to others. This is the mission of Mahaprabhu, which is the full mercy of the
Supreme Lord manifested in this Age as harinam sankirtan.
Nama Ruci
kali-kāle nāma-rūpe kṛṣṇa-avatāra
nāma haite haya sarva-jagat-nistāra
The Lord has come in His incarnation as His Holy Name.
A definition of great soul is the one who makes the Holy Name his main focus in life. Prabhuapda
says there is no requirement other than to glorify the Holy Name. Any person, in any position in
life, either a brahmacari, grhasta, vanaprastha or sannyasi, anyone, as long as he is always
glorifying the Lord’s Name or chanting the glories of the Lord, he is considered a great soul -
mahatma.
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is the Personified teacher of the principle of always glorifying the Holy
Name. But Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu wants to do something God has never done before. He is
out to do what seems to be the impossible. He wants to give love of God to the most
insignificant, unqualified creatures. He descended to this world in order to spread the Holy Name,
which is fundamentally an expression of Srimati Radharani’s pure bhakti for Sri Krishna.
Chanting of the Holy Name is coming down from the spiritual world goloka prema dhana
harinama sankirtana and it is an expression of Radharani’s pure love, as Sri Caitanya
Mahaprabhu is in the mood of Radha bhakti. So by taking shelter of the Holy Name we receive a
drop of that ocean of unlimited nectar - transcendental happiness. And Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu
demonstrated it, taught it, lived it and He showed the world that this is the ultimate principle of
loving expression for Sri Krishna.
Vaisnava Seva
What is another qualification to becoming a great soul? Mercy. One who knows how to get the
mercy will make fast progress in spiritual life. Where is the mercy? It is in the Holy Name. But
where else? It is in the service to Vaisnavas. This is where the mercy manifests, because one
who serves the Vaisnavas will get the mercy of the Holy Name. That is the key to getting the
mercy of the Holy Name. Become the servant of the Vaisnavas. Sri Krishna is too difficult to
approach. He is way beyond our ability to serve. But Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu has made it
simple through His teachings – vaisnava seva.
Jiva Doya
Jiva doya is giving that same mercy to the common folks, the mercy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu
in the form of the Holy Name. We should be grateful. What it means to be grateful? When you
get something for yourself, it is helping you and it has real value in your life, then you want to
share it. That is natural. You want someone else to experience the same happiness you are
experiencing. So by giving this mercy to others we are showing our gratefulness for what we
have received from our spiritual master, from Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. They say that if you are
not grateful you are a “great fool”. Therefore a devotee is by nature caring towards others and
wants to give what he has been fortune to receive. And that is Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s mercy.
Take it for yourself, get as much as you can and share it with others.
That is why He came, to show us what are real love and happiness – harinama sankirtana –
glorification of the Lord in the association of others who are doing the same. That is the essence
of this verse – to glorify the Lord by chanting His name and by speaking His glories and by
teaching others to do the same.