"eka kṛṣṇa-nÄme kare sarva-pÄpa ká¹£aya
nava-vidhÄ bhakti pÅ«rṇa nÄma haite haya

 eka kṛṣṇa-nÄme - one holy name of Kṛṣṇa; kare - can do; sarva-pÄpa - of all sinful reactions; ká¹£aya - destruction; nava-vidhÄ - nine processes; bhakti - of devotional service; pÅ«rṇa - complete; nÄma haite - simply by chanting the holy name; haya - are.


Text

“Simply by chanting the holy name of Kṛṣṇa once, a person is relieved from all the reactions of a sinful life. One can complete the nine processes of devotional service simply by chanting the holy name.

Purport

The nine types of devotional service are mentioned in ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam (7.5.23):

Å›ravaṇaá¹ kÄ«rtanaá¹ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaá¹ pÄda-sevanam
arcanaá¹ vandanaá¹ dÄsyaá¹ sakhyam Ätma-nivedanam
iti puá¹sÄrpitÄ viṣṇau bhaktiÅ› cen nava-laká¹£aṇÄ
kriyeta bhagavaty addhÄ tan manye ’dhÄ«tam uttamam

“The process of devotional service entails hearing, chanting and remembering the holy name, form, pastimes, qualities and entourage of the Lord, offering service according to the time, place and performer, worshiping the Deity, offering prayers, always considering oneself the eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa, making friends with Him and dedicating everything unto Him. These nine items of devotional service, when directly offered to Kṛṣṇa, constitute the highest attainment of life. This is the verdict of the revealed scriptures.â€

As for being freed from all sinful reactions by chanting the holy name of Kṛṣṇa only once, one must chant the holy name without committing any offenses. Then chanting one name is sufficient to rescue a living being from all sinful reactions. Such a person who chants the holy name of the Lord offenselessly is very important and woshipable. Indeed, the nine devotional processes, beginning with śravaṇa and kīrtana, can all be attained at once if one simply chants the holy name of the Lord offenselessly.

In this regard, ÅšrÄ«la JÄ«va GosvÄmÄ« states in his book Bhakti-sandarbha (173): yadyapi anyÄ bhaktiḥ kalau kartavyÄ, tadÄ; kÄ«rtanÄkhya-bhakti-saá¹yogenaiva. Out of the nine processes of devotional service, kÄ«rtana is very important. ÅšrÄ«la JÄ«va GosvÄmÄ« therefore instructs that the other processes, such as arcana, vandana, dÄsya and sakhya, should be executed, but they must be preceded and followed by kÄ«rtana, the chanting of the holy name. We have therefore introduced this system in all of our centers. Arcana, Ärati, bhoga offering, Deity dressing and decoration are all preceded and followed by the chanting of the holy name of the Lord — Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare RÄma, Hare RÄma, RÄma RÄma, Hare Hare.