harer nama harer nama
harer namaiva kevalam
kalau nasty eva nasty eva
nasty eva gatir anyatha

“In this age of quarrel and hypocrisy the only means of deliverance is chanting of the holy name of Lord Hari. There is no other way. There is no other way. There is no other way.”

We all start out with coming into contact with the most sublime gift mankind has ever received: The Holy Name of Krishna. The most powerful  “tool” self-realization has to offer.

We all start out with experiencing a unique taste of bliss and by sometimes diving deep into the ocean of nectar provided by chanting the Holy Name, either chanted as japa or sung lout in bhajan or kirtan.

We all start out by getting to know that our eternal nature as a spiritual soul is being an eternal servant of Krishna. So, with this “soul-consciousness” we start our journey through bhakti and the Holy Name is our most well-wishing friend.

Eventually, our chanting with the self-identification as being an eternal servant of Krishna will gradually develop into a chanting with a particular self-identification (tad-bhāva-lipsunā) according to one´s mood (as the Holy name is purifying our hearts).

How will this transformation happen?

By the grace of Sri Guru and the Vaishnavas.

tat tad bhavadi madhurye srute dhir yad apekshate |
natra sastram na yuktim ca tal lobhotpatti lakshanam ||
(BRS. 1.2.292)

“When one hears about the sweetness of their feelings and so forth, and a desire for attaining the same awakens in the consciousness without dependence on scripture and logic, this is a symptom of the awakening of greed (lobha).”

In the association of the Vaishnavas, we hear about the different kinds of love towards the Divine Couple. By their mercy, we can also start to desire to imbibe a certain mood in which we want to serve and love Sri Sri Radha and Krishna.

Srila Jiva Goswamipad writes in his tika to Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu (2.5.13) that devotee association acts as the seed of rati. Through association with various types of devotees, various types of sadhana which are like watering the seed will be performed.

bhavāpavargo bhramato yadā bhavej
janasya tarhy acyuta sat-samāgamaḥ
sat-saṅgamo yarhi tadaiva sad-gatau
parāvareśe tvayi jāyate matiḥ
(SB 10.51.53)

“When the material life of a wandering soul has ceased, O Acyuta, he may attain the association of Your devotees. And when he associates with them, then devotion unto You will start, You Who are the goal of the devotees and the Lord of all causes and their effects”.

So, the seed of RATI, our desired love towards the Divine Couple, is sown by sadhu-sanga.

By the mercy of sadhu-sanga and by our eagerness, we may attain the grace of our beloved Sri Gurudeva. He then will bestow upon us the most precious gift of the Holy Name and our diksha mantras.

My Gurudeva writes:

One should know that before accepting dīkṣā, the fruit of harināma-saṅkīrtana will be the taking of the shelter of a genuine guru and his instructions on dīkṣā, and after taking dīkṣā the fruit of nama saṅkīrtana will be prema.

So, by the mercy of Sri Guru and the Vaishnavas, we can develop our desire for a particular bhava (tad-bhāva-lipsunā).

As we travel further on our journey through bhakti, Sri Gurudeva may reveal to us our spiritual identity (our siddha deha). Or even the Holy Name Himself will do…or Radha or Krishna Themselves…

sādhaker jokhon rāganugā mārga lobha hoy,
tokhon sad-gurur nikaṭa prārthanā korile tini sādhaker
ruci parīkṣā koriyā tāhār bhajan nirṇoyer
saṅge saṅge siddha-deher paricaya koriyā diben

When the sadhaka’s lobha for raganuga bhakti is awakened, he approaches his gurudeva with great humility and ask for instruction.
If he does so, the bonafide guru first examines the disciple’s taste and then, along with devising the appropriate bhajan introduces him to his own siddha identity.
(Srila Thakur Bhaktivinod, Śrī Caitanya-śikṣāmṛta, Part 6, chapter 5)

In this scenario, this revelation is not a “fabrication” of Sri Gurudeva. He just acts as a “transmitter” of the information he received from Sri Krishna.

Now, when we chant

Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare
Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare

and have taken full shelter at the lotus feet of our Sri Gurudeva, we can chant with the self-identification of a PARTICULAR person who is rendering a PARTICULAR service in a PARICULAR mood (bhava).

In his commentary to Srila Rupa Goswami´s verse,

sevā sādhaka-rūpeṇa siddha-rūpeṇa cātra hi |
tad-bhāva-lipsunā kāryā vraja-lokānusārataḥ ||295||

Translation: Following after the inhabitants of Vraja, one should perform service in one’s physical body and in one’s siddha body, with a desire for a particular bhāva.

Srila Jiva Goswami writes and advices us:

sādhaka-rūpeṇa yathāvasthita-dehena | siddha-rūpeṇa antaś-cintitābhīṣṭa-tat-sevopayogi-dehena | tasya vrajasthasya nijābhīṣṭasya śrī-kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhasya yo bhāvo rati-viśeṣas tat-lipsunā | vraja-lokās tv atra kṛṣṇa-preṣṭha-janās tad-anugatāś ca tad-anusārataḥ

Sādhaka-rūpa refers to the physical body of the practitioner. Siddha-rūpa refers to the body which is suitable for one’s desired service, and which has been meditated upon by internal contemplation.
One serves with a desire for the particular bhāva or rati of an associate of Kṛṣṇa situated in Vraja (tad-bhāva-lipsunā). One should follow in the footsteps of the dear associates of Kṛṣṇa in Vraja (vraja-lokā) and others loyal to them.

Let us say that sadhaka Krishna das aspires to serve in the particular bhava of the maidservants of Srimati Radhika.
Let us also say that Sri Gurudeva mercifully revealed to him his eternal identity as a maidservant of Radhika.

This self-identification under the genuine guidance of Sri Gurudeva will make the chanting of the Holy Name extremely personal and thereby even more powerful.

By chanting the Holy Name, we pray to eternally serve the Divine Couple. And by chanting the Holy Name with a particular self-identification (tad-bhāva-lipsunā), we have a clear focus on our goal. We can then be one-focused, ekanta-bhava.
We can use all our love and energy in making this chanting with a particular self-identification more and more mature.
We are no longer focusing on “just” being an eternal servant of the Divine Couple.
We can now truly focus on our real relationship with Them, ESPECIALLY when we chant the Holy Name.

Srila Narottama das Thakur shines towards us a light of hope:

yugala carana sevi, nirantara ei bhavi,
anuragi thakibo sadaya.
sadhana bhavibo yaha, siddha-dehe pabo taha
raga pathera ei se upaya (55)

“I will always think of the devotional service of the lotus-feet of the Divine Pair,
and I will always remain attached to that. Whatever I think of during my spiritual practice,
I will attain in my siddha deha when I reach perfection. This is the means of raga bhakti.”

sadhane ye dhana cai, siddha dehe taha pai,
pakkapakka matra se vicara
apakke sadhana riti, pakile se prema-bhakti,
bhakati lakshana tattva sara (56)

“The treasure I desire as a practitioner I will get when I attain my spiritual body;
it’s just a question of being ripe or unripe. The ripe stage is the stage of pure loving devotion and the unripe stage is the stage of practice. That is the essential truth about devotional principles.”

May the Holy Name lead us to the attainment of perfection, svarupa-siddhi.

Let us all develop a personal relationship in a very personal mood (bhava) towards Sri Sri Radha and Krishna and dive deep into the ocean of nectar of the Holy Name.

– Tarun Govinda das

Thank you for inspiring me, Vraja Kishor das.