चेतो दर्पण मार्जनं भव महा दावाग्नि निर्वापणं ।
श्रेयः कैरव चन्द्रिका वितरणं विद्या वधू जीवनम् ।
आनन्दाम्बुधि वर्धनं प्रतिपदं पूर्णामृतास्वादनं ।
सर्वात्म स्नपनं परं विजयते श्रीकृष्ण सङ्कीर्तनम् ॥Ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṇaṁ
śreyaḥ-kairava-candrikā-vitaraṇaṁ vidyā-vadhū-jīvanam
ānandāmbudhi-vardhanaṁ prati-padaṁ pūrṇāmṛtāsvādanaṁ
sarvātma-snapanaṁ paraṁ vijayate śrī-kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtanam.- Śikṣāṣṭaka 1; Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā 20.12
He (Mahaprabhu Ji) says that Shree Krishna’s name, the chanting of His name, which, of course, doesn’t mean just verbal chanting, but chanting the name while thinking of whose name it is. So remembering Krishna and chanting His name is such an effective Sadhana that there’s nothing comparable to it. There is no other spiritual practice that can compare with the chanting of Shree Krishna’s name.
It’s so powerful that if you are on the correct path with the correct guidance and a true Guru, this is what happens. Initially, Ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam. He refers to our heart as a mirror, and the mirror is dirty, just has a lot of filth plastered on there.
Chanting Shree Krishna’s name starts cleaning off the mirror. The heart starts to purify.
The next stage in Bhakti, dāvāgni. There is a big wildfire burning inside your heart. It’s the fire of material desires and it stresses us out. It agitates us. It burns our heart.
So these material desires and even the experience of material pleasure, it doesn’t pacify our heart. No, it agitates our heart. So as the devotee progresses in Bhakti, that fire of agitation of the material desires starts to subside.
In the third stage described by Mahaprabhu Ji, He says, Śreyaḥ-kairava-candrikā-vitaraṇam. There is a lotus called Kumudini. It blooms in the cool nectar-like light of the moon. It doesn’t bloom in the burning hot light of the sun. In other words, the feeling of peace, belonging, security, satisfaction, that doesn’t come from the worldly desires and the worldly pleasures. That’s more like the sun. The lotus stays shriveled up, closed up, this Kumudini, this night-blooming lotus. But in the cool light of Shree Krishna’s Bhakti, in the cool light of the bliss of Krishna’s name, this Kumudini, which we call our heart, that starts to bloom. It blossoms in that nectar-like cooling light of Shree Krishna’s name, which is being called the moon in this case.
The fourth stage, Vidyā-vadhū-jīvanam. So true knowledge, you have Apara Vidya, that means knowledge of material things, of gross things, temporary material things. Then you have Para Vidya, the knowledge of Akshar. Akshar Brahm means Shree Krishna.
All the theory that we find in Vedas, Upanishads, Darshan Shastras, Gita, all of the theory of what is God, who am I, what is the soul, how is soul related to God, all of that theory actually gets replaced by experience.
Simply by chanting Shree Krishna’s name, you start actually experiencing the fact that you are a Divine soul and you are eternally related to Shree Krishna. It becomes real for you.
It’s not just theory anymore.
