SB 2.1.11 – Initiations—The Ten Offences to the Holy Names

Giriraj Swami: So, I will begin by singing the maṅgala-ācaraṇa prayers and leading a short kirtan.

Host: Okay.

Giriraj Swami: And then, as Srila Prabhupada would do at initiations, speak about the ten offenses, and then I will give the new initiates their beads and their new names.

Host: Okay.

Giriraj Swami: So, how do I mute them all?

Host: Gurudeva, we are seeing the temple president in charge, Padma Lochana Prabhu.

Giriraj Swami: Okay, beautiful.

Temple President: Daṇḍavat-praṇāmās, Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: Jaya!

Host: He held me to be here because I called him yesterday, last night, because the lecture was going on, today is the festival here of Jagat Guru Prabhu’s appearance day. So, he just had nicely handled this matter. So, that’s why, because it is not allowed here to be inside the temple and snapping the photos and taking the videos and all. So, he helped me here when I said that gurudeva is going to give initiation today. So, he is convenient with me.

Giriraj Swami: Okay, wonderful.

Host: Hare Krishna.

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna.

Temple President: Daṇḍavat-praṇāmās.

Giriraj Swami: So, where do I mute?

[Prayers]

So, we welcome you to this most auspicious occasion of the initiation of three devotees on the auspicious day of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura’s appearance.

On initiations, Srila Prabhupada would speak about the ten offenses because we are initiating devotees into the chanting of the holy names. And so, I will read one verse and purport that discusses the holy name and the ten offenses against the holy name. This is Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Two, Chapter One, Text Eleven.

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

TEXT 11

etan nirvidyamānānām

icchatām akuto-bhayam

yogināṁ nṛpa nirṇītaṁ

harer nāmānukīrtanam

TRANSLATION

O King, constant chanting of the holy name of the Lord after the ways of the great authorities is the doubtless and fearless way of success for all, including those who are free from all material desires, those who are desirous of all material enjoyment, and also those who are self-satisfied by dint of transcendental knowledge.

COMMENT

In other words, the constant chanting of the holy name is the doubtless and fearless way of success for everyone, in all categories.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

In the previous verse, the great necessity for attaining attachment to Mukunda has been accredited. There are different types of persons who desire to attain success in different varieties of pursuits. Generally the persons are materialists who desire to enjoy the fullest extent of material gratification. Next to them are the transcendentalists, who have attained perfect knowledge about the nature of material enjoyment and thus are aloof from such an illusory way of life. More or less, they are satisfied in themselves by self-realization. Above them are the devotees of the Lord, who neither aspire to enjoy the material world nor desire to get out of it. They are after the satisfaction of the Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. In other words, the devotees of the Lord do not want anything on their personal account. If the Lord desires, the devotees can accept all sorts of material facilities, and if the Lord does not desire this, the devotees can leave aside all sorts of facilities, even up to the limit of salvation. Nor are they self-satisfied, because they want the satisfaction of the Lord only. In this verse, Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī recommends the transcendental chanting of the holy name of the Lord. By offenseless chanting and hearing of the holy name of the Lord, one becomes acquainted with the transcendental form of the Lord, and then with the attributes of the Lord, and then with the transcendental nature of His pastimes, etc. Here it is mentioned that one should constantly chant the holy name of the Lord after hearing it from authorities. This means that hearing from the authorities is the first essential. Hearing of the holy name gradually promotes one to the stage of hearing about His form, His attributes, His pastimes, and so on, and thus the necessity of the chanting of His glories develops successively. This process is recommended not only for the successful execution of devotional service, but also even for those who are materially attached. According to Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī, this way of attaining success is an established fact, concluded not only by him but also by all other previous ācāryas. Therefore, there is no need of further evidence. The process is recommended not only for the progressive students in different departments of ideological success, but also for those who are already successful in their achievement as fruitive workers, as philosophers or as devotees of the Lord.

COMMENT

Now, please listen attentively.

PURPORT (continued)

Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī instructs that chanting of the holy name of the Lord should be loudly done, and it should be performed offenselessly as well, as recommended in the Padma Purāṇa. One can deliver himself from the effects of all sins by surrendering himself unto the Lord.

COMMENT

Yes, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ.

PURPORT (continued)

One can deliver himself from the effects of all sins by surrendering himself unto the Lord. One can deliver himself from all offenses at the feet of the Lord by taking shelter of His holy name. But one cannot protect himself if one commits an offense at the feet of the holy name of the Lord.

COMMENT

Did you know that the holy name has feet? It does, because it’s a person. So, my dear devotees, this Zoom has a time limit of forty minutes. We have ten minutes left. So, we will have to begin again after the ten minutes is over. The same link, everything will be the same. It’s just the way it is. So, coming back now to this most important point.

PURPORT (continued)

One can deliver himself from the effects of all sins by surrendering himself unto the Lord. One can deliver himself from all offenses at the feet of the Lord by taking shelter of His holy name. But one cannot protect himself if one commits an offense at the feet of the holy name of the Lord. Such offenses are mentioned in the Padma Purāṇa as being ten in number.

The first offense is to vilify the great devotees who have preached about the glories of the Lord.

COMMENT

Yes, this is sādhu-nindā, to blaspheme the devotees who have dedicated their life for propagating the holy name of the Lord.

PURPORT (continued)

The second offense is to see the holy names of the Lord in terms of worldly distinction. The Lord is the proprietor of all the universes, and therefore He may be known in different places by different names, but that does not in any way qualify the fullness of the Lord. Any nomenclature which is meant for the Supreme Lord is as holy as the others because they are all meant for the Lord. Such holy names are as powerful as the Lord, and there is no bar for anyone in any part of the creation to chant and glorify the Lord by the particular name of the Lord as it is locally understood. They are all auspicious, and one should not distinguish such names of the Lord as material commodities.

COMMENT

So, once, when Srila Prabhupada was visiting Iran, Atreya Rishi Prabhu, who was Prabhupada’s disciple in charge of the mission there, sort of waxed, eloquent, and told Srila Prabhupada that he was just waiting for the day when all the Muslims will chant Hare Krishna. And Srila Prabhupada replied, “They can also chant Allah-Allah. We are not sectarian.” And Srila Prabhupada was also practical. He might not have been very congenial to try to preach to the Muslims to chant Hare Krishna.

PURPORT (continued)

The third offense is to neglect the orders of the authorized ācāryas or spiritual masters.

COMMENT

Yes, this is guror avajñā, to disobey the orders of the spiritual minister.

PURPORT (continued)

The fourth offense is to vilify scriptures or Vedic knowledge.

The fifth offense is to define the holy name of the Lord in terms of one’s mundane calculation. The holy name of the Lord is identical with the Lord Himself, and one should understand the holy name of the Lord to be nondifferent from Him.

COMMENT

A very important point.

PURPORT (continued)

The sixth offense is to interpret the holy name. The Lord is not imaginary, nor is His holy name. There are persons with a poor fund of knowledge who think the Lord to be an imagination of the worshiper and therefore think His holy name to be imaginary. Such a chanter of the name of the Lord cannot achieve the desired success in the matter of chanting the holy name.

The seventh offense is to commit sins intentionally on the strength of the holy name. In the scriptures it is said that one can be liberated from the effects of all sinful actions simply by chanting the holy name of the Lord. One who takes advantage of this transcendental method and continues to commit sins on the expectation of neutralizing the effects of sins by chanting the holy name of the Lord is the greatest offender at the feet of the holy name. Such an offender cannot purify himself by any recommended method of purification. In other words, one may be a sinful man before chanting the holy name of the Lord, but after taking shelter in the holy name of the Lord and becoming immune, one should strictly restrain oneself from committing sinful acts with a hope that his method of chanting the holy name will give him protection.

COMMENT

It doesn’t work. Srila Visvanatha Chakravarti Thakura explains that even with a karma-kāṇḍa, if you deliberately commit sin and then try to neutralize the effect by some process of atonement, it doesn’t work. And on top of it, you are guilty of committing an offense against the holy name.

PURPORT (continued)

The eighth offense is to consider the holy name of the Lord and His chanting method to be equal to some material auspicious activity. There are various kinds of good works for material benefits, but the holy name and His chanting are not mere auspicious holy services. Undoubtedly the holy name is holy service, but He should never be utilized for such purposes. Since the holy name and the Lord are of one and the same identity, one should not try to bring the holy name into the service of mankind. The idea is that the Supreme Lord is the supreme enjoyer. He is no one’s servant or order supplier. Similarly, since the holy name of the Lord is identical with the Lord, one should not try to utilize the holy name for one’s personal service.

COMMENT

Once, there was a meeting at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in Bombay, and the topic was how Bhagavad-gītā can solve all problems. And before the conference began, Mrs. Leelavati Munshi, who was in charge of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, invited all the participants to her library to meet and speak. So, there was one man there, I don’t recall his name, he had a big beard, and he told Srila Prabhupada that he was having large gatherings of people and having them chant the holy names, and telling them that by chanting, their material diseases would be cured. So, he said to Srila Prabhupada, “You are gathering people and I’m gathering people, and you are getting them to chant the holy name and I’m getting them to chant the holy name.” [First live ends]

[Second live starts]

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna, welcome back. We have another forty minutes, which should be sufficient.

So, we were discussing a very important topic, especially for the new initiates but for all of us, and that is the ten offenses against the holy name. And we were just discussing the eighth offense, and so we’ll resume from there.

PURPORT (continued)

The eighth offense is to consider the holy name of the Lord and His chanting method to be equal to some material auspicious activity. There are various kinds of good works for material benefits, but the holy name and His chanting are not mere auspicious holy services. Undoubtedly the holy name is holy service, but He should never be utilized for such purposes. Since the holy name and the Lord are of one and the same identity, one should not try to bring the holy name into the service of mankind. The idea is that the Supreme Lord is the supreme enjoyer. He is no one’s servant or order supplier. Similarly, since the holy name of the Lord is identical with the Lord, one should not try to utilize the holy name for one’s personal service.

COMMENT

So, as I was saying, there was a gathering at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, and the head of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Srimati Leelavati Munshi, had invited the participants in the conference, which was to discuss how Bhagavad-gītā can solve all problems, she invited all the participants to her library to meet and speak before the actual program began.

So, there was one man with a big beard, I don’t recall his name, and he told Srila Prabhupada that he was having big gatherings of people and having them chant the holy names and telling them that by chanting, all of their material diseases and ailments could be cured. So, he said, “I’m gathering people and you are gathering people. I’m getting them to chant the holy name, and you are getting them to chant the holy names. We should cooperate.” And Srila Prabhupada said, “No, what you are doing is against our principles.” And then he made the exact same point, that the holy name is the Supreme Lord, and we are meant to serve Him. We are not meant to engage Him in our service, the service of our bodies. So, same point.

PURPORT (continued)

The ninth offense is to instruct those who are not interested in chanting the holy name of the Lord about the transcendental nature of the holy name. If such instruction is imparted to an unwilling audience, the act is considered to be an offense at the feet of the holy name.

COMMENT

Yes, to preach the glories of the Lord, the holy name to the faithless. Once, Srila Prabhupada was meeting with a Professor in Sweden, and one of the disciples started to speak about the glories of the holy name, and Srila Prabhupada stopped him. He said, “The Professor does not have faith yet. First, we have to establish faith by logic and reason and argument, then when he has faith, we can preach on the basis of the scripture about the glories of the holy name.”

PURPORT (continued)

The tenth offense is to become uninterested in the holy name of the Lord even after hearing of the transcendental nature of the holy name. The effect of chanting the holy name of the Lord is perceived by the chanter as liberation from the conception of false egoism. False egoism is exhibited by thinking oneself to be the enjoyer of the world and thinking everything in the world to be meant for the enjoyment of one’s self only. The whole materialistic world is moving under such false egoism of “I” and “mine,” but the factual effect of chanting the holy name is to become free from such misconceptions.

COMMENT

Or as stated in The Nectar of Devotion, not to have complete faith in the chanting of the holy name and to maintain material attachments even after understanding so many instructions on the matter. And there is a connection, and that is that. . . Well, first of all, it’s not an offense to have material attachments. It’s an anartha, but it’s not an offense. And by chanting, we are attempting to purify the heart, ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam, and become free from material attachments and transfer our attachment exclusively to Krishna and His devotees.

So, if we have faith in the chanting, then we won’t hold on to our material attachments because we’ll have faith that the holy name will be able to fulfill all of our desires, which it can and will, if we chant without offense.

And Srila Prabhupada did introduce the system in his temples that after maṅgala-ārati, the devotees should read the list of the ten offenses before they begin their japa. And reading the list, it reminds us of the offenses so we can be careful, and just the act of reciting the offenses is actually purifying.

So, generally, after reading that list of the ten offenses as they are briefly explained in The Nectar of Devotion, the devotee will add, “It is also an offense to be inattentive while chanting.” Now, Sanskrit is such a language that it can be divided in different ways, and in Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s discussion of the ten offenses, he takes the word pramāda from the Sanskrit, and he says that means inattention. And he says that if one is inattentive while chanting, all the other offenses can flourish, but if one is attentive while chanting, then all the other offenses will be destroyed. So, we should be very careful to chant attentively. Hare Krishna.

So now, we will proceed to the initiation of the three disciples.

[. . .]

Let us offer my respectful obeisances unto all the Vaishnava devotees of the Lord, who are just like desire trees who can fulfill the desires of everyone, and they are full of compassion for the fallen conditioned souls.

[Prayers]

Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!

Devotee: Giriraj Swami Maharaja ki jaya!