10 Offenses to the Holy Name | Initiation Ceremony | Rus-Split | 11 May 1990 | Gopal Krishna Goswami

So now all the candidates who are getting initiated, they must understand the process of performing archanam. With the right hand, you take the spoon and put water 3 times. 1, 2, 3. In the left hand, then you throw this water away. Then you take this cup and put 3 drops of water. 1, 2, 3. And when you put this water, you put it in the mouth, you say Om Keshava Namaha, and you put a little bit in the mouth and a little bit you throw away. Then again 3 drops of water, you say Om Narayana Namaha, throw it. Then you say again 3 drops, you say Om Madhavaya Namaha. Throw it. Then 3 drops again, throw it. Now I will chant a mantra.

Om Apavitrova, Apavitrova, Apavitrova. Sarva Vastan, Sarva Vastan. Gato Pivan, Gato Pivan. Yahaa, Yahaa.

Smaret, Smaret. Pundarikshaksham, Pundarikshaksham.

Sa, Sa. Jñāntalā, Jñāntalā, Suci, Suci, Śrī Viśṇu, Śrī Viśṇu, Śrī Viśṇu, Śrī Viśṇu, Śrī Viśṇu.

Now again you do this archanam, okay?

Om Apavitrava, Om Apavitrava, Apavitrava, Sarvāvastām, Sarvāvastām, Once more.

Okay, once more, same thing.

Sa la bahaa vayantaaraa sloochi. Shri Vishnu. Shri Vishnu. Shri Vishnu.

So what all of you are witnessing is an initiation ceremony. According to the Vedic scriptures, One must accept a bona fide spiritual master for making spiritual advancement. A person in the male body takes 4 births according to the Vedic shastras, and one in the female form takes 3 births. The first birth is from the womb of the mother, and this is common both to the human being and to the animals. The second birth is realized when one accepts initiation into the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. So for, so for those candidates who are being accepted into the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, today is their second birth or their first spiritual birth. So for those candidates who are accepting initiation into the chanting of the Holy Name, this is their second birth or their first spiritual birth. And the third birth is realized when one accepts initiation into the chanting of the Gayatri mantra. The fourth birth is realized when one accepts the sannyāsa order. In our Vaiṣṇava sampradāya, the men can go till the fourth order, but the women go only up till the third order. Tadvidi pani patena paripashyena sevaya upadvexāndhite gyanam gyaninas tatvadarśinā. The Bhāgavad-gītā in the fourth chapter very clearly states that one must approach a bona fide spiritual master seek guidance from Him and serve. So in our Kṛṣṇa conscious movement, initiation into the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra is awarded after one has chanted the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra for a period of time under the supervision of some spiritual authority. Chanting 16 rounds alone is not enough. What we have to endeavor for is to chant 16 rounds without offenses. In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Kṛṣṇa's Kavirāja states, bhāuv janmeya kāre yādi śravana-kṛṭṇa tabhūtana paya kṛṣṇa-padē prema-dhana. One may go on chanting the holy names of Kṛṣṇa birth after birth, but unless one chants the holy names without offenses, one is not of love of God. The great ācāryas have identified 10 offenses that one must avoid in chanting the holy names of Krishna. So we must be aware of these 10 offenses, because if we are aware of these 10 offenses, then we can try to avoid these offenses. If we chant our rounds attentively and at the same time avoid the offenses, then they will see the development of love of God. Very often people are chanting the holy names, but because they're not avoiding the 10 offenses, They are not able to renounce material desires and make spiritual advancement. So we have to chant the holy names. This is our first duty. But at the same time, we have to avoid the 10 offenses. The 10 offenses which we shall briefly discuss are as follows. One is to blaspheme those who have dedicated their lives for propagating the holy names of the Lord. The Vaishnava is able to give up his envy because of the desire to serve the Lord. But if we criticize those individuals who have given their lives for propagating the holy name of the Lord, then that is a great offense. If we have some constructive criticism or suggestion against an advanced Vaiṣṇava, we can do that in a proper Vaiṣṇava way. But just out of envy, we should not engage in fault-finding or criticizing Vaiṣṇavas. Caitanya Mahāprabhu has said that this is a mad elephant offense. That is, just like you may have a very beautiful garden, but if a mad elephant comes in the garden, then the beautiful garden will be spoiled. Similarly, by offending Vaiṣṇavas, especially advanced Vaiṣṇavas, whatever spiritual gain we may have realized by chanting will be uprooted. So we should be very careful in our Vaiṣṇava behavior. Also, we should not think, "Oh, this person is not a very advanced Vaiṣṇava. He looks an ordinary Vaiṣṇava, so I will just criticize him." We should not let envy influence our actions. The other offense is to consider the names of demigods like Lord Brahmā, Śiva, etc., to be equal to or independent of the holy names of Lord Viṣṇu. As I explained the other day, Fortunately, you devotees don't have this problem of confusing the demigods to be on the same level as the Supreme Lord. But those who come from Indian background have this problem very often, as in India they see, appear to think that the demigods and the Supreme Lord are all on the same level. Just like in your country you have the president and you have ministers who are in charge of different departments, similarly the Supreme Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa also has the heads of different departments, and these heads of departments are known as demigods. In most parts of the world, the cabinet of the Prime Minister or the King or the President may be about 100 ministers the most. Like, I do not think the President of your country has more than 100 ministers in his cabinet, but Krishna has 33 million ministers in his cabinet, and these are the demigods. So just see how big Krishna's cabinet is. 33 million ministers are reporting to him. So that is Krishna, the personality of Godhead. So the demigods are the assistants of the Supreme Lord, and whatever benediction the demigods are giving you, it is all coming from Krishna. But those who are less intelligent, they worship the demigods and they don't understand that actually even what the demigods give is coming from Krishna. Why do people approach the demigods? As the Bhagavad-gītā says, those who have material desires, in order to get them satisfied, they go to the demigods. Kṛṣṇa is only for pure devotional service. Now, just because we do not worship the demigods does not mean that we disrespect them. We acknowledge the demigods as very advanced devotees, but we give our love to Kṛṣṇa. Just like when you water the root of the tree, you automatically water all the branches. Similarly, by worshiping Kṛṣṇa, we automatically discharge our duty towards the demigods, etc. Prabhupāda used to give one example that the scorpion lays his eggs in the rice. Now, if some less intelligent person comes and says, "Oh, the rice has produced these eggs," then that would just be foolishness. The eggs were laid by the scorpion. Next is to disobey the orders of the spiritual master. The disciple should not think that the spiritual master is going to come and flatter me. It is the business of the spiritual master to always find faults in the disciple, because by pointing out the faults, the spiritual master can rectify the disciple. Thakur Bhakti Vinod has said that just like one cannot separate the body from the soul, the disciple cannot separate his life from the instructions of the spiritual master. And what are the instructions of the spiritual master? Give up Maya and be engaged in devotional service. Practical adjustments may be made, like a grihasta may have to live at home or do a job. A brahmachari maybe may have a different situation. And in your country, because we do not have brahmachari and brahmachari ashrams developed as yet, sometimes you people have to live at home. But there is no compromise on The principles of spiritual advancement. So the instructions of the spiritual master for making spiritual advancement should not be compromised. And in our Kṛṣṇa conscious movement, we all recognize the supreme position of Śrīla Prabhupāda. We, the spiritual master, give the instructions based on what he has heard from Prabhupāda. Just like when we talk of Vedic knowledge, we talk of knowledge given by Vyāsadeva. Similarly, in ISKCON, when we talk about instructions, we talk of instructions that were first given by Prabhupāda. So one should follow the instruction of the spiritual master. One should not speculate and think that, "Oh, my spiritual master does not understand me." But one should not— rather, one should accept the basic instructions for spiritual advancement and without speculating, execute these instructions. One must chant 1/16 rounds every day without fail. On Ekātāsīs and other auspicious days, one should chant more rounds, 25 if possible. One should follow the 4 regulative principles. One should work with Vaiṣṇavas, and one should also work with bona fide ISKCON authorities. The spiritual authorities must be respected and followed. There is no room for independence in spiritual life. The very reason that we are rotting in the material world is due to our desire to be independent. Sometimes devotees have a habit of wanting complete independence. They think, "Oh, I'm chanting my 16 rounds, I'm following the regulative principles." But this independence is not helpful for expanding Lord Caitanya's movement. So all devotees must work under the authorized ISKCON authorities, because by taking the assistance of these ISKCON authorities, one will be able to recognize one's weaknesses and at the same time make maximum contribution to the preaching expansion. Next is the blasphemy of the Vedic literature or literature in persons of the Vedic version. The Vedic scriptures were compiled by Krishna in the form of Vyasa Dev. Vyasa Dev was a great sage who had a great vision. Just like, I am sure in your country also, people sometimes go to astrologers. They go to astrologers and they say, "Please tell me what is going to happen?" And the astrologer has this special knack of being able to tell you what is going to happen in the future. So similarly, Vyāsadeva, he had the ability to predict what was going to happen in Kali Yuga. So in order to save people from the evil influence of Kali Yuga, Vyāsadeva compiled the vast Vedic literature. Prior to Kali Yuga, there was no need for Vedic literature. People would remember everything just by oral reception. Veda śāsla ke sambhanda avidaya prayojana. All the Vedic scriptures tell us how to establish a relationship with God. So we must accept the words of— the word Veda means knowledge. We must accept the Vedic knowledge as compiled by God and not falsifying the Vedic knowledge. And we should accept the Puranas as also compilations of the Supreme Lord. And of all the Puranas, the most perfect Purana is the Bhagavad Purana, which Caitanya Mahāprabhu described as a spotless Purana. So the Vedic scriptures should be accepted as non-different from the Supreme Lord. Next offense is to consider the glories of chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa to be imagination. It is said in the scriptures, Kali-kali-nama-rūpa-kṛṣṇa-avatār. Kṛṣṇa descends in Kali-yuga in His holy name. So just by chanting the holy names of Kṛṣṇa, one can achieve the goal of life. One should not underestimate the value of the holy name. One should not think, "Oh, the holy name is not so powerful," or, "In addition to the chanting of the holy name, I need some other mantra also." Bhinnātvaṁ nāma-nāmināḥ. The holy name is non-different from Kṛṣṇa. So when we chant the holy names, we are actually crying to the Supreme Lord for help and engagement in devotional service. So we must acknowledge the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra is the mahā-mantra. Mantra means a chant that can give you peace of mind. Mahā means bolshoi, means the biggest. So mahā, there in the Vedas there are thousands of mantras mentioned. But only one mantra is described as the mahā-mantra, and that is the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. It is said in the śāstras, kṛṭaya dhyāyato viṣṇuṁ kṛṭayo yajyato mākhe dṛḥ-apare parīcchayāram kalaḥ uttad-dhārī-kīrtanāt. In this Kali-yuga, just by chanting the holy names of Kṛṣṇa, one can get the same benefit that one was obtained, one could have obtained in satya-yuga by meditation. In Treta Yuga by yagyas, and in Dwarpa Yuga by elaborate sacrifices. So without doubt, the holy name is the most powerful medium for developing love of God. We can also practically see how all over the world, including in your country, people have had no introduction to Vedic way of life before, but just by chanting the Hare Krishna mantra, they've been able to develop a higher taste taste of love of God, and as a result of that taste, they've been able to give up taste for illicit activities. The Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra must always be tied to our tongue. If the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra is always tied to our tongue, then the devotee will never talk about māyā. Next offense is to give some mundane interpretation to the chanting of the holy name. The holy name of Kṛṣṇa consists of 16 words. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare. Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma Hare Hare. By Hare, we are addressing the energy of the Lord, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. Kṛṣṇa and Rāma are the names of the Lord. Then word Rāma also means pleasure. Rāma is also associated with Bāla Rāma, the source of spiritual strength. And Rāma is also associated with Lord Rāma, the personality of Godhead. Krishna means all attractive. Krishna is a reservoir of pleasure. Krishna means that which frees you from the cycle of birth and death. And there are many more meanings to these words. So by chanting, by chanting the Hare Krishna mantra, we are actually appealing to the Supreme Lord. We are appealing to Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, please recommend my case to be engaged in devotional service to the Lord. And when we sincerely pray to the Lord for devotional service, then the Lord reciprocates and gives us the opportunity to serve Him. Just like when the child cries, the mother picks up the child. Similarly, when the devotee cries to Kṛṣṇa for service, then Kṛṣṇa will give him service. But if you don't cry to Kṛṣṇa for service, then you're not going to get service. Therefore we tell everyone, please stand your 16 rounds every day attentively. We must understand that Kṛṣṇa is not obliged to give us service. He will give us service, however, if we pray to Him. So we should sincerely chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, and we should not give this prayer some mundane interpretation. Next offense is to give, to commit sins on the strength of chanting. Prabhupāda used to say in every initiation ceremony that this is the most serious of all the offenses. This offense is as follows. Sometimes the devotee thinks I'm chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, and because of this chanting, so many of my sinful reactions have been reduced now. Or the devotee thinks, now I'm chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, so even if I do some dirty deals, I do something illegal, it doesn't matter. Chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa will protect me. So taking shelter of the strength of the holy name, we commit offenses knowingly. Or even after initiation, one continues with a sinful life. But he says, "I'm chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, so that chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa is going to take care of the sinful reactions." As I explained to you all yesterday, a devotee does not want to take service from the Lord. A devotee doesn't think, "Now I'm chanting, so Kṛṣṇa is going to work for me, and He's going to work for me by nullifying my sinful reactions." When Jadbārta was requested to carry King Rahogana, he walked so carefully that he would not even step over one ant. So similarly, we have to proceed very carefully on the spiritual path so that we do not commit sins, especially knowingly. Then next is to consider the chanting of the Hare Krishna one of the auspicious ritualistic activities which are offered in the Vedas as fruitive activities or karma kanda. Karma kanda is a business transaction. We do some sacrifices or we call the brahmins at home, we do some sacrifices. But in exchange for that, I want to have more money or a beautiful wife or good children or whatever. So initiated devotees should not consider the chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa as one of the karma-kanda activities. As explained earlier, the chanting is an appeal to the Lord to please deliver us from the cycle of birth and death and engage us in devotional service. Next is to instruct a faithless person about the glories of the holy name. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu's instruction is, jāre dākhok tahai kāho Kṛṣṇa-upadesa. Whoever you see, please instruct him about Kṛṣṇa. So you may be confused. You may say, on the one hand Caitanya Mahāprabhu has told us to tell everyone about Kṛṣṇa, and on the other hand now you are saying that it is an offense to preach the glories of the holy name to the faithless. Obviously when you go on the streets, You have no idea whether the person you are talking to is faithless or faithful. So the solution is that you tell everyone to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, but the confidential meaning of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra may only be revealed when the person has developed some faith. Just like you may meet somebody on the road and he may ask you, "What is your name?" And you may say, "My name is Alexander so-and-so." But you don't tell him What is your bank balance and how many children you have and what your business is. So similarly, when you meet somebody on the road, when you, you may tell the person, "Please chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra," but the glories of the holy name, the reference of the Hare word to Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, all that can be revealed after the person has had some association, after you've been able to establish that he has some element of faith. Faith is such a thing that increases with spiritual association. So we should be anxious to give our association to the conditioned souls, because by giving our association to the conditioned souls, we can inspire them to increase their faith in the chanting. And the best sort of preaching that devotees can engage in is book distribution. By book distribution, we are giving the whole disciplic succession the opportunity to preach. And by book distribution, we are giving the entire disciplic succession to preach to these individuals on a regular basis. So we should take part in this preaching activity. Just like when there's a flood, the seeds are not allowed to sprout and the crops get destroyed. Similarly, when there's a flood of love of God, the sinful seeds will not be allowed to grow. So the devotees of this Krishna Consciousness movement have to help create a flood of love of God. So that the sinful seeds are drowned out and society become— can become happy based on a spiritual platform. The last offense is to not have complete faith in the chanting of the Holy Name and to maintain material attachment even after chanting the Holy Names. To not have complete faith means that I am thinking that besides the Holy Name, I need something else also for my spiritual— for my happiness. We come to spiritual life to give up our material attachments. Otherwise, there's no point in coming to, uh, spiritual life. Just like you go to a doctor to free yourself from the disease, otherwise there's no point in going to the doctor. We must understand that material attachment is like carrying a heavy burden. If you're traveling with a lot of extra burden, lot of heavy burden, then your journey is spoiled. Material desires can never satisfy the living entity. Everybody thinks that if I'm able to change my position, if I'm able to improve my economic condition, then I will become happy. In English, there's a saying, the grass is greener on the other side. Actually, the Bhagavad Gita says the grass is not green anywhere. Dukhalayam ashashatam. These are two principal characteristics of material existence. There is misery and everything is temporary. Rupert Goswami has stated Kamādhīnam kathīnapalītā dūṇī-deṣa. I have been trying to satisfy my senses since time immemorial, but still there is no satisfaction at all. So as long as we are keeping material desires, we must understand our spiritual progress will be retarded. Just like very soon we are going to be lighting fire over here. So if we are lighting fire and pouring water at the same time, then the fire will not be lit. —And if we are trying to put off the fire and pour butter at the same time, the fire will not be put off. So similarly, if we are trying to light the fire of devotional service, then material attachments have to be sacrificed. The facility for sense enjoyment is also available in hell, so to use this human life specially for this is not very intelligent. Therefore, recognizing material attachment to be a burden One should sacrifice his material attachments for a higher pleasure purpose, that is to develop love of God. So these are briefly the 10 offenses which we have described. Um, these 10 offenses are very important. Sometimes devotees tend to think that these 10 offenses are only for the new bhaktas, but these 10 offenses are for everyone, right from the new bhakta to the sannyasi. And we should meditate on these 10 offenses constantly so that we can purify our chanting. And with purified chanting, we will get the real taste. Just like these days, everybody wants the real thing. Now the materialists are discovering that the air they breathe is very polluted, so they want the real air. So they are saying, close the chemical factories, take the trucks out of the road, and so on. So just like we want the real thing in everything, we should also desire real happiness. And real happiness means Krishna consciousness. So we should accept the Kṛṣṇa consciousness process which is coming down from the guru-parampara, and if we accept it wholeheartedly, then the medicine is guaranteed to work. This is Kṛṣṇa's guarantee. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Krishna Krishna, hale hale. Halleloha hale.

Lama lama, hale hale.