Question & Answers

Apr 07, 2017

Chanting of the Holy Names

A question answered:

Pranam Sir,
After listening to the Bhagavad Gita sessions I have some questions—is it necessary to chant mahamantra? From the age of 15 -16 years I am practicing 'Om shree krishna shree krishnaya namaha', it is part of my breath now. Nobody has given this mantra to me. I don't know how it came. I have been meditating on Krishna since my childhood. Should I start afresh chanting mahamantra or continue the one I have been practicing? Lots of gratitude. Sir please guide me.—I.R.

Chanting of Krishna's names (japa yagya) is recommended in the Bhagavad Gita as being the highest of yagyas (sacrifices).

The Mahamantra is a specific chant meant for liberation of the soul from material bondage. The Mahamantra has been specially blessed for this purpose 500 years ago by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu who is directly Krishna Himself.

He removed the 'Om' from the mantra and turned it around to begin with 'Hare Krishna' so that anyone, including non-brahmins, could freely chant this without side-effects. (The Om mantras are vedic mantras meant for chanting by initiated brahmins.)

The Mahamantra is the most powerful chant for liberation and can be chanted unconditionally by anyone.

Nalin Nirula

Oct 19, 2015

"How not to create rich, ungrateful, helpless beggars"

"When children get benefits without working for them, it makes for rich, ungrateful and helplessly dependent beggars!"

Q: Sir, in life if we are in a better (financial) position, we try and do more for our nears and dears…how do we know what is our duty towards them. For example we know that our child should get his education, but should he do this in India or abroad or in some premium institute and should we over-burden and overstretch ourselves?

A: You are right. You should not overstretch yourself. If somebody doesn’t earn something or work for it they have no true appreciation for what they are getting they can’t respect or value it.

• If everything is served on platter in this way, the receiving person is like a very rich beggar, there is no discrimination of value as to what is the difference between one thing and another.

This is like the example of the beggars in Dr. Mikao Usui’s life—the beggars did not appreciate the difference between money, Reiki, or food they got—they were used to getting everything for free with no effort no work for it. They can’t value it properly. Working for something is very important.

• Either they are ungrateful or don’t give it enough importance, but the person who is giving it after working for it knows what it is worth—he has respect for it. This is a mismatch. There are no 'unlimited rights' your dependents have.

So don’t kill your retirement fund for this because in your old age these people are not going to be around necessarily looking after you.

• The first order of business is—you save yourself.

Carry your dependents with you but remember that your dependents will turn around and let you down if you have this unlimited faith in their goodwill. You must protect your future and yourself because everything is changeable and temporary.

The Bhagavad Gita tells you that—family connections, relationships—all are changeable and temporary. There is nothing permanent. Why do you think in your family it will be different?

• You need to make your children independent otherwise you will be looking after them for the rest of your life. Allow the child to develop his own talents in a competitive environment so that he can look after himself in every way. That is your duty.

Conclusion:
Acting with this knowledge is extremely liberating. It frees you to be flexible and progress on your path in life without being held back by the false idea that you need to endlessly sacrifice for others without looking out for your future and your interest.