kali-yuge yuga-dharma — nÄmera pracÄra
tathi lÄgi' pÄ«ta-varṇa caitanyÄvatÄra
kali-yuge - in the Age of Kali; yuga-dharma - the religious practice for the age; nÄmera - of the holy name; pracÄra - propagation; tathi - this; lÄgi' - for; pÄ«ta-varṇa - having a yellow color; caitanya-avatÄra - the incarnation of Lord Caitanya.
The religious practice for the Age of Kali is to broadcast the glories of the holy name. Only for this purpose has the Lord, in a yellow color, descended as Lord Caitanya.
In this Age of Kali the practical system of religion for everyone is the chanting of the name of Godhead. This was introduced in this age by Lord Caitanya. Bhakti-yoga actually begins with the chanting of the holy name, as confirmed by MadhvÄcÄrya in his commentary on the Muṇá¸aka Upaniá¹£ad. He quotes this verse from the NÄrÄyaṇa-saá¹hitÄ:
dvÄparÄ«yair janair viṣṇuḥ pañcarÄtrais tu kevalaiḥ
kalau tu nÄma-mÄtreṇa pÅ«jyate bhagavÄn hariḥ
“In the DvÄpara-yuga people should worship Lord Viṣṇu only by the regulative principles of the NÄrada-pañcarÄtra and other such authorized books. In the Age of Kali, however, people should simply chant the holy names of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.†The Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra is specifically mentioned in many Upaniá¹£ads, such as the Kali-santaraṇa Upaniá¹£ad, where it is said:
hare kṛṣṇa hare kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa hare hare
hare rÄma hare rÄma rÄma rÄma hare hare
iti á¹£oá¸aÅ›akaá¹ nÄmnÄá¹ kali-kalmaá¹£a-nÄÅ›anaá¹
nÄtaḥ parataropÄyaḥ sarva-vedeá¹£u dṛśyate
“After searching through all the Vedic literature, one cannot find a method of religion more sublime for this age than the chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa.â€
