In the first verse of his Manah-Siksha, Śrīpāda Raghunātha Das declares his wonderful love for his own initiation-mantra.

In the Brahma Purāṇa the following definition is given of a mantra:

oṁkārādi samāyuktaṁ namaskārānta kīrtitam
sva nāma sarva sattvānāṁ mantra ityabhidhīyate 

            “A mantra is given by the Lord and the great sages, it starts with an invocatory syllable like ‘OṀ’, and it ends with a sign of obeisance, which is decorated with bījas (root-syllables such as namaḥ or svāhā).”

Furthermore it contains the names of the Lord and the special power to establish a certain relationship between the practitioner and the Lord: It blesses the practitioner in freeing him or her from the bondage of physical life and bestows a spiritual body which is suitable for serving the Lord.

            As the mantra-dīkṣā emanates from the mouth of the sad-guru, a special divine mantra-power is then infused into the heart of the aspirant devotee which gives him the ability to do bhajana.  

dīkṣā kāle bhakta kore ātma samarpaṇa;
sei kāle kṛṣṇa tāre kore ātma sama
sei deha tāra kore cid-ānanda-maya;
aprākṛta dehe tāra caraṇa bhajaya
(Caitanya Caritāmṛta Antya ch.4)

            “At the time of initiation the devotee surrenders himself, and at that time Kṛṣṇa makes him equal to Himself, giving him a transcendental body, in which the devotee can worship His lotus feet.”

            Of all the mantras, which are discussed in the scriptures in connection with initiation, the Śrī-Kṛṣṇa-mantra is most prominent. And again of all these the king of mantras, the 18-syllable or 10-syllable ‘gopī-jana-vallabha’-mantra which contains all the pastimes within madhura-rasa, is the crown jewel of all mantras.

            The wonderful result of practicing this mantra will be experienced by someone who practices it with the greatest love and who learns its meaning from his initiating guru.

Only a reader of Sanātana Gosvāmī’s Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta knows how the hero, Gopa Kumāra, was able to travel through the entire spiritual sky by devoutly practicing this mantra.

            Then Śrī Raghunātha dāsa prays for wonderful attachment to the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa.

The chanting of the Holy Name by a devotee who is genuinely attached to the Lord brings all perfection.

The chanting of the Holy Name is both the means and the goal of a devotee’s life, for there’s no difference between the Name and the Named:

nāmaś cintāmani kṛṣṇaś caitanya rasa vigrahaḥ
pūrṇa śuddho nitya mukto’bhinnatvān nāma nāmino
(Padma Purāṇa) 

            “The Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa is a Cintāmaṇi-jewel and is the very form of consciousness and transcendental flavour. It is completely pure and eternally liberated, and there is no difference between the name and the named.”

            Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī writes the following commentary to this verse:

nāmaiva cintāmaṇiḥ sarvārtha dātṛtvāt. na kevalaṁ tādṛśam eva api tu caitanya lakṣaṇo yaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sa eva sākṣāt. tatra hetur abhinnatvāditīti.

            “The Holy Name is like Cintāmaṇi, a touchstone which is able to bestow all which is desired. It is not just able to bestow everything because it is equal to the Lord, but it is Kṛṣṇa Himself, who is endowed with the characteristics of caitanya, or consciousness.  This is the meaning of the nondifference between the name and the named.”

            In other words, it is not that the Holy Name has been emancipated with the Lord because it has equal potency, but the Holy Name is Kṛṣṇa Himself. Not only that, but according to Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī the Holy Name shows qualities like mercy even more than Kṛṣṇa Himself! 

vācyaṁ vācakam ityudeti bhavato nāma-svarāpa-dvayam
pūrvasmāt param eva hanta karuṇaṁ tatrāpi jānīmahe
yas tasmin vihitāparādha nivahah prāṇī samantād bhaved
āsyenedam upāsya so’pi hi sadānandāmbudhau majjati 

            “O Holy Name! We know that you have appeared as the transcendental form of Kṛṣṇa (vācya) and as His Holy Name (vācaka), but of the two I consider the Holy Name to be more merciful, for if one offends the Lord one can be delivered from the reaction by loudly calling out His name and thus be immersed in an ocean of transcendental loving bliss!”

            In this way it is known that all the means and all the goals of human perfection lie in the Holy Name of Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

The chanting of the Holy Name is the primary item (aṅgī) of devotional practice, and all the other items are secondary (aṅga).

Remembering this, the practicing devotees should chant the Holy Name with even more devotional attachment. In this way they will become swiftly blessed.
(Śrī Rādhākuṇḍa Mahānta Paṇḍita Śrī Ananta Dās Bābājī Mahārāja)