syÄt kášášŁáša-nÄma-caritÄdi-sitÄpy avidyÄ-
pittopatapta-rasanasya na rocikÄ nu
kintv ÄdarÄd anudinaáš khalu saiva juᚣášÄ
svÄdvÄŤ kramÄd bhavati tad-gada-mĹŤla-hantrÄŤ
syÄt - is; kášášŁáša - of Lord KášášŁáša; nÄma - the holy name; carita-Ädi - character, pastimes and so forth; sitÄ - sugar candy; api - although; avidyÄ - of ignorance; pitta - by the bile; upatapta - afflicted; rasanasya - of the tongue; na - not; rocikÄ - palatable; nu - oh, how wonderful it is; kintu - but; ÄdarÄt - carefully; anudinam - every day, or twenty-four hours daily; khalu - naturally; sÄ - that (sugar candy of the holy name); eva - certainly; juᚣášÄ - taken or chanted; svÄdvÄŤ - relishable; kramÄt - gradually; bhavati - becomes; tat-gada - of that disease; mĹŤla - of the root; hantrÄŤ - the destroyer.
The holy name of Lord KášášŁáša, His quality, pastimes and so forth are all of the nature of absolute truth, beauty and bliss. Naturally they are very sweet, like sugar candy, which appeals to everyone. Nescience, however, is compared to the disease called jaundice, which is caused by bilious secretions. Attacked by jaundice, the tongue of a diseased person cannot palatably relish sugar candy. Rather, a person with jaundice considers something sweet to taste very bitter. AvidyÄ (ignorance) similarly perverts the ability to relish the transcendentally palatable name, quality, form and pastimes of KášášŁáša. Despite this disease, if one with great care and attention takes to KášášŁáša consciousness, chanting the holy name and hearing KášášŁášaâs transcendental pastimes, his ignorance will be destroyed and his tongue enabled to taste the sweetness of the transcendental nature of KášášŁáša and His paraphernalia. Such a recovery of spiritual health is possible only by the regular cultivation of KášášŁáša consciousness.
When a man in the material world takes more interest in the materialistic way of life than in KášášŁáša consciousness, he is considered to be in a diseased condition. The normal condition is to remain an eternal servant of the Lord (jÄŤvera âsvarĹŤpaâ haya – kášášŁášera ânitya-dÄsaâ). This healthy condition is lost when the living entity forgets KášášŁáša due to being attracted by the external features of KášášŁášaâs mÄyÄ energy. This world of mÄyÄ is called durÄĹraya, which means âfalse or bad shelter.â One who puts his faith in durÄĹraya becomes a candidate for hoping against hope. In the material world everyone is trying to become happy, and although their material attempts are bafďŹed in every way, due to their nescience they cannot understand their mistakes. People try to rectify one mistake by making another mistake. This is the way of the struggle for existence in the material world. If one in this condition is advised to take to KášášŁáša consciousness and be happy, he does not accept such instructions.
This KášášŁáša consciousness movement is being spread all over the world just to remedy this gross ignorance. People in general are misled by blind leaders. The leaders of human society – the politicians, philosophers and scientists – are blind because they are not KášášŁáša conscious. According to Bhagavad-gÄŤtÄ, because they are bereft of all factual knowledge due to their atheistic way of life, they are actually sinful rascals and are the lowest among men.
na mÄáš duᚣkáštino mĹŤá¸hÄḼ
prapadyante narÄdhamÄḼ
mÄyayÄpahášta jĂąÄnÄ
Äsuraáš bhÄvam ÄĹritÄḼ
âThose miscreants who are grossly foolish, lowest among mankind, whose knowledge is stolen by illusion, and who partake of the atheistic nature of demons, do not surrender unto Me.â (Bg. 7.15)
Such people never surrender to KášášŁáša, and they oppose the endeavor of those who wish to take KášášŁášaâs shelter. When such atheists become leaders of society, the entire atmosphere is surcharged with nescience. In such a condition, people do not become very enthusiastic to receive this KášášŁáša consciousness movement, just as a diseased person suffering from jaundice does not relish the taste of sugar candy. However, one must know that for jaundice, sugar candy is the only speciďŹc medicine. Similarly, in the present confused state of humanity, KášášŁáša consciousness, the chanting of the holy name of the Lord – Hare KášášŁáša, Hare KášášŁáša, KášášŁáša KášášŁáša, Hare Hare/ Hare RÄma, Hare RÄma, RÄma RÄma, Hare Hare – is the only remedy for setting the world aright. Although KášášŁáša consciousness may not be very palatable for a diseased person, ĹrÄŤla RĹŤpa GosvÄmÄŤ nonetheless advises that if one wants to be cured of the material disease, he must take to it with great care and attention. One begins his treatment by chanting the Hare KášášŁáša mahÄ-mantra because by chanting this holy name of the Lord a person in the material condition will be relieved from all misconceptions (ceto-darpaáša-mÄrjanam). AvidyÄ, a misconception about oneâs spiritual identity, provides the foundation for ahaáš kÄra, or false ego within the heart.
The real disease is in the heart. If the mind is cleansed, however, if consciousness is cleansed, a person cannot be harmed by the material disease. To cleanse the mind and heart from all misconceptions, one should take to this chanting of the Hare KášášŁáša mahÄ-mantra. This is both easy and beneďŹcial. By chanting the holy name of the Lord, one is immediately freed from the blazing ďŹre of material existence.
There are three stages in chanting the holy name of the Lord – the offensive stage, the stage of lessening offenses, and the pure stage. When a neophyte takes to the chanting of the Hare KášášŁáša mantra, he generally commits many offenses. There are ten basic offenses, and if the devotee avoids these, he can glimpse the next stage, which is situated between offensive chanting and pure chanting. When one attains the pure stage, he is immediately liberated. This is called bhava-mahÄ-dÄvÄgni-nirvÄpanam. As soon as one is liberated from the blazing ďŹre of material existence, he can relish the taste of transcendental life.
The conclusion is that in order to get freed from the material disease, one must take to the chanting of the Hare KášášŁáša mantra. The KášášŁáša consciousness movement is especially meant for creating an atmosphere in which people can take to the chanting of the Hare KášášŁáša mantra. One must begin with faith, and when this faith is increased by chanting, a person can become a member of the Society. We are sending saáš kÄŤrtana parties all over the world, and they are experiencing that even in the remotest part of the world, where there is no knowledge of KášášŁáša, the Hare KášášŁáša mahÄ-mantra attracts thousands of men to our camp. In some areas, people begin to imitate the devotees by shaving their heads and chanting the Hare KášášŁáša mahÄ-mantra, only a few days after hearing the mantra. This may be imitative, but imitation of a good thing is desired. Some imitators gradually become interested in being initiated by the spiritual master and offer themselves for initiation.
If one is sincere, he is initiated, and this stage is called bhajana-kriyÄ. One then actually engages in the service of the Lord by regularly chanting the Hare KášášŁáša mahÄ-mantra, sixteen rounds daily, and refraining from illicit sex, intoxicants, meat-eating and gambling. By bhajana-kriyÄ one attains freedom from the contamination of materialistic life. He no longer goes to a restaurant or hotel to taste so-called palatable dishes made with meat and onions, nor does he care to smoke or drink tea or coffee. He not only refrains from illicit sex, but avoids sex life entirely. Nor is he interested in wasting his time in speculating or gambling. In this way it is to be understood that one is becoming cleansed of unwanted things (anartha-niváštti). The word anartha refers to unwanted things. Anarthas are vanquished when one becomes attached to the KášášŁáša consciousness movement.
When a person is relieved from unwanted things, he becomes ďŹxed in executing his KášášŁáša activities. Indeed, he becomes attached to such activities and experiences ecstasy in executing devotional service. This is called bhÄva, the preliminary awakening of dormant love of Godhead. Thus the conditioned soul becomes free from material existence and loses interest in the bodily conception of life, including material opulence, material knowledge and material attraction of all variety. At such a time one can understand who the Supreme Personality of Godhead is and what His mÄyÄ is.
Although mÄyÄ may be present, it cannot disturb a devotee once he attains the bhÄva stage. This is because the devotee can see the real position of mÄyÄ. MÄyÄ means forgetfulness of KášášŁáša, and forgetfulness of KášášŁáša and KášášŁáša consciousness stand side by side like light and shadow. If one remains in shadow, he cannot enjoy the facilities offered by light, and if one remains in light, he cannot be disturbed by the darkness of shadow. By taking to KášášŁáša consciousness, one gradually becomes liberated and remains in light. Indeed, he does not even touch the darkness. As conďŹrmed in the Caitanya-caritÄmášta (Madhya 22.31):
kášášŁáša – sĹŤrya-sama; mÄyÄ haya andhakÄra
yÄhÄáš kášášŁáša, tÄhÄáš nÄhi mÄyÄra adhikÄra
âKášášŁáša is compared to sunshine, and mÄyÄ is compared to darkness. Wherever there is sunshine, there cannot be darkness. As soon as one takes to KášášŁáša consciousness, the darkness of illusion, the inďŹuence of the external energy, will immediately vanish.âÂ