यथा सुजातया भक्त्या शुद्ध्येन्नात्मा व्रतादिभिः ॥३२॥
śṛṇvatÄá¹ gṛṇatÄá¹ vÄ«ryÄṇy
uddÄmÄni harer muhuḥ
yathÄ sujÄtayÄ bhaktyÄ
Å›uddhyen nÄtmÄ vratÄdibhiḥ
śṛṇvatÄm - of those hearing; gṛṇatÄm - and chanting; vÄ«ryÄṇi - the wonderful activities; uddÄmÄni - able to counteract sin; hareḥ - of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; muhuḥ - always; yathÄ - as; su-jÄtayÄ - easily brought forth; bhaktyÄ - by devotional service; Å›uddhyet - may be purified; na - not; ÄtmÄ - the heart and soul; vrata-Ädibhiḥ - by performing ritualistic ceremonies.
One who constantly hears and chants the holy name of the Lord and hears and chants about His activities can very easily attain the platform of pure devotional service, which can cleanse the dirt from one’s heart. One cannot achieve such purification merely by observing vows and performing Vedic ritualistic ceremonies.
One may very easily practice chanting and hearing the holy name of the Lord and thus become ecstatic in spiritual life. Padma PurÄṇa states:
nÄmÄparÄdha-yuktÄnÄá¹
nÄmÄny eva haranty agham
aviÅ›rÄnti-prayuktÄni
tÄny evÄrtha-karÄṇi ca
Even if one chants the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahÄ-mantra offensively, one can avoid offenses by continuously chanting without deviation. One who becomes accustomed to this practice will always remain in a pure transcendental position, untouchable by sinful reactions. Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« especially requested King ParÄ«ká¹£it to note this fact very carefully. There is no profit, however, in executing the Vedic ritualistic ceremonies. By performing such activities one may go to the higher planetary systems, but as stated in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (9.21), kṣīṇe puṇye martya-lokaá¹ viÅ›anti: when the period of one’s enjoyment in the heavenly planets is terminated because of the limited extent of the results of one’s pious activities, one must return to earth. Thus there is no use in endeavoring to travel up and down in the universe. It is better to chant the holy name of the Lord so that one may become fully purified and eligible to return home, back to Godhead. That is the aim of life, and that is the perfection of life.
