Divine words of His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Rakshak Sridhar Dev Goswami
‘ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi
na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ
sevonmukhe hi jihvādau
svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ’
—-Srila Rupa Goswami
There are many sayings in the scriptures to encourage our realisation of the Holy Name in different ways, but Śrīla Rūpa Goswāmī has given us a central thought. He quotes from the Padma Purāṇa: ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ. Our senses, physical or mental, are ineligible to come in touch with the transcendental. The Name is nonmaterial (aprakṛta), without mundane limitation (vaikuṇṭha). It belongs to another plane. So, nothing about Kṛṣṇa, His Name, Form, Qualities, or Pastimes can be touched by our physical or mental senses. But when we have a serving attitude, He comes down to us of His own accord. Only then can our tongue really pronounce the Name of Kṛṣṇa. Otherwise, only the physical sound of the letters of the Name can be produced. Our tongue, our hands, physical sound, all these mundane things cannot come in touch with Kṛṣṇa. Some intervening medium is necessary to connect this body with the supramundane. And that connection is our earnest desire to serve Kṛṣṇa, to satisfy Him. A bulb won’t light if there is no electricity. Only when the electrical current is there will the bulb be illumined. So, the name may appear on the tongue and in the ear, in the mind, or in writing, but we must have a connection from Vaikuṇṭha to this mundane world. And that connection is devotional service, a functional serving attitude. That alone can connect the physical realm with Vaikuṇṭha and Vṛndāvana.
Kṛṣṇa will appear of His own accord. He will descend upon your tongue, and then your tongue will be able to chant the Name of Kṛṣṇa. A gun that has no bullet, but only a blank, may make some sound, but no bullet is actually fired. Similarly, chanting the Name of Kṛṣṇa without an attitude of service produces a sound, but that is only tongue deep. It is like firing a gun with blanks instead of bullets. Our chanting of the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa must be surcharged with a serving temperament, the tendency to satisfy Kṛṣṇa.
Otherwise the sound we produce is bogus. It is only an imitation, or a permutation. The Holy Name cannot be experienced by our senses. It is supramental and transcendental. An ordinary sound of this mundane world cannot be the Name of Kṛṣṇa. Our ear cannot even hear the Name if that mediator, the serving attitude, is not there. The earnestness to satisfy Kṛṣṇa’s will must mediate between Kṛṣṇa and the ear, through the mind. Then only will Kṛṣṇa’s Name enter our ear and reveal to us His Form, Qualities, and Pastimes. The Holy Name is not physical, it is aprakṛta, transcendental, supramundane. Only through our service attitude will it come down to this mundane world.
Our guru mahārāja laid the highest stress on developing a serving attitude. Otherwise it is all bogus, all imitation. And people will say: “Oh, there is no Kṛṣṇa there. These men are all hypocrites. They are only dancing and making noise, they are not surcharged with a serving spirit.” Only through service can we directly come in contact with Kṛṣṇa. The real point is to practice how to attain the spirit of service, vaiṣṇava sevā. The Vaiṣṇava is doing service, and we must imbibe from him, or her, the methods of attaining this serving attitude.
Under the order of a devotee we must practice to give ourselves. Self-abnegation and self-dedication are necessary. And that positive thing we will receive from a devotee. If children are given pen and paper in the beginning, it will not be fruitful, so a stone is given, and on the earth they practice writing. So, in the beginning, we must try to practice how we can develop a serving attitude, dedicating habit. It is our innate wealth, and that is our solace.
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