What is the secret of hearing and chanting?

Lord Kapila says, “My dear mother, when a person is actually in association with pure devotees, the sublime potency of My devotional service can be experienced.” In other words, when a pure devotee speaks, his words act upon the hearts of the audience. What is the secret of hearing and chanting? A professional speaker cannot impress transcendental ecstasy within the hearts of the listeners. However, when a realized soul who is engaged in the service of the Lord is speaking, he has the potency to inject spiritual life within the audience. One should, therefore, seek the association of such pure, unalloyed devotees, and by such association and service a neophyte devotee will certainly develop attachment, love and devotion for the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

In the Padma Purana there is the story of a neophyte devotee who, in order to raise herself to the ecstatic platform, danced all night to invoke the Lord’s grace upon her.

Sometimes, however, it is found that without undergoing any devotional process, one all of a sudden develops devotion for Lord Krishna. This sudden development of the devotional attitude in a person must be understood as a special mercy of Krishna or of His devotee. This apparently accidental development of ecstatic feelings through the causeless mercy of Krishna can be divided into three groups: simply by speaking, simply by glancing and simply by good wishes.

In the Naradiya Purana there is a statement about development of ecstatic love simply by speaking. Lord Krishna said to Narada, “O best of the brahmanas, I wish that you may develop unalloyed devotional service to Me, which is full of transcendental bliss and all auspiciousness.”

In the Skanda Purana there is a statement about developing ecstatic love toward Krishna simply by glancing. It is stated there, “When the inhabitants of Jangala Province saw the Personality of Godhead, Krishna, they were so stricken with feeling that they could not withdraw their glance from Him.”

As far as heartfelt wishes are concerned, there is a statement in the Suka-samhita where Narada tells Srila Vyasadeva, “You have a son who is the greatest devotee of the Personality of Godhead, and I can observe that without any following of the regulative principles of devotional service, he is already enriched with many of the symptoms achieved by the execution of devotional service after many, many births.”

As for ecstatic love of Krishna, there is a statement in the Seventh Canto, Fourth Chapter, verse 36, of Srimad-Bhagavatam, in which Narada addresses King Yudhishthira, “My dear King, it is very difficult to describe the character of Prahlada. He developed a natural attraction for Krishna, and whatever I can explain about his character will simply be an arrangement of words; his actual character is impossible to describe.” This means that Narada himself admitted that the natural development of Prahlada’s ecstatic love was by the grace of Lord Krishna.” ~

Nectar of Devotion or Bhakti-Rasamrta-Sindhu, Ch 17, Ecstatic Love

Comments

  1. By dint of his pure unalloyed love and devotion for Lord Krishna, Srila Prabhupada has ignited the fire of devotional service in the hearts of millions around the world. It’s only because of his mercy that any of us has developed a taste for Krishna consciousness.

    “Pure devotees chant the Hare Krishna mantra, and simply by hearing this chanting from a purified transcendental person, one is purified of all sinful activities, no matter how lowborn or fallen one may be.”

    (Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Antya-lila, 3.126 Purport)

    All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

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