Q. Even a great sinner can gain Param Pada by simply singing Naam? 

A. Certainly, he can. He does not have to do any other sadhana. Simply by singing Naam, he can go to Param Pada by way of the Deva-Jana. The singer of Naam can gain all the four desirables — i.e. Dharma, Artha (riches), Kama (desires), Moksha (liberation). Kali, which is like the ocean of faults, has this one great virtue i.e. by simply doing Naam-kirtan, a man may gain all the four vargas (desirables)”. Anyone who takes shelter with this Naam, which has infinite power, himself becomes equally powerful. He, who meditates on Purushottama or sings his Naam or does obeisance to him, becomes so meritorious that anyone who touches him or sees him is released from all sins”. Therefore, people go to see sadhus. Sadhus sing God’s Naam. Hence, simply by seeing a sadhu and without doing any sadhana, a sinner is relieved of his sins. 

Q. Then Sadhu Darshan is an easier way to achieve salvation than singing Naam? 

A. Certainly. ‘Brahmavid Brahmaiva Bhavati’— The knower of Brahma himself becomes Brahma. “By reading the slokas of the Bhagavad Gita, by meditating on or singing Govinda’s Naam or having darshan of sadhus, a man gets the fruit of visiting ten million places of pilgrimage.” 

Q. Then why people do not adopt such an easy course? 

A. A real sadhu is rare. And a sinful person does not have a desire to see a sadhu; rather he abuses the sadhu from a distance and thus increases his load of sins. 

Q. But one cannot live forever with Naam alone; his mind craves for other things as well. 

A. Write Naam in your heart and then meditate on it. Sadhus say “Naam is the real image of God.” God comes down as an Avatara in many forms like fish, tortoise, boar etc. to save sadhus and destroy sin and evil. Naam is also one of his Avataras. In the assembly of Kurus, God  came as the Avatara of cloth to protect Draupadi from being dishonoured; in Gokul as the calf and the child of a cowherd to please the world; and as the Kurma to hold the Mandara Hill on his back at the time of the churning of the sea. In the same way He has come as the Naam-Avatara to lift the entire humanity from sin. “God Narayana himself appears in the form of letters of the name Krishna and dances on the tongue of the Bhakta.” 

Q. I want to sing Naam sweetly; if there is any particular way of doing it, please tell me. 

A. Worship can be done in four ways — (1) Naam, (2) Rupa (form); (3) Leela (activities); (4) Dham (feet). Each of these has infinite power, each is God Himself. If a man can develop faith and concentration in any one of these four, he will be able to cross this sea of life as easily as a man crosses holes made by cow’s feet. Each is related to the other. If one holds on to one of them, the rest will also gradually appear. 
Sadhus have prescribed the easy way of gaining salvation in the Kali Yuga by chanting Naam and thinking of God’s leela. Thinking of God’s leela sweetens the heart. By thinking of God’s leela, a person can very easily gain Paramananda (great bliss) and gain a good life in the next world. 

Q. What do you mean by ‘thinking of God’s leela’? 

A. If one hears the story of any act of God and then thinks about it, he is thinking of God’s leela. I shall tell you a story which will explain the unlimited power of the thought of His leela: 
There was a Brahmin physician who had the deities of Radha and Krishna in his house. He never did any sadhana or bhajan except serving the deities. He used to write scripts of open-air dramas. When he began writing a script, he used to be engrossed in it till he could finish it. Even when walking on the streets he used to make gestures by his arms and face as if he was acting in the drama; the thought of the drama occupied his mind even when he was eating or lying down. Throughout the whole period of his writing the drama, he would remain engrossed in the thought of God’s leela. 
He fell sick of blood-dysentery. He realised that this would result in his death and he told people so. He continued to suffer for something and on the day of his death, in the morning, he told his attendants that his pulse was not beating. A local physician came and found that his pulse-beat had stopped. Then the Brahmin told his relatives to take him to the Ganga. As it was winter and they would have to face many difficulties in doing so, the relatives dissuaded him from going to the Ganga. Then he told them to do his expiation ceremony and bring the deities from the puja room to the sick room. This was done. Later he asked them to take their meals which also they did reluctantly in order to please him. At about noontime, he said that his breath was deep (as happens when a person is about to die). He asked some relations to sing Naam. 

In the evening, he had difficulty in breathing. He asked his youngest son to bring some hydrocyanic. The son protested saying that it was a poison. He then said he wanted homeopathic hydrocyanic. Even at this he remembered the proper medicine applicable to his condition. But this medicine could not be obtained. He asked about the time and was told that it was 8 P.M. He then remarked that he would depart from this life before 10 P.M. His relations sat surrounding him and he remained lying quietly. Even before the clock had struck ten, he changed his side in the bed, his eyes become dilated and the relations went on singing Naam. In the midst of Naam, the life of this great man left his body through the way of his eyes and he gained a higher life. 

Q. How could it be made out that he had gained a higher life? 

A. If one’s life leaves his body by the upper apertures like the eyes, he gets a higher life, this is what the shastras say. This Brahmin gained a higher life simply by thinking of God’s leela at the time of writing dramas. 

Q. By which way do such people leave their bodies to get the Param Dham? 

A. He, whose life leaves the body by way of the invisible aperture at the top of head (Brahma-Randhra), is not born again. He travels by the ‘Deva Jana’via ‘Archi’, ‘Divasaviman’ ‘Suklaviman’ and ‘Sambatsara’ ‘Devatas’ and gradually goes to the world of sun, the world of moon and finally the world of thunder. Here a spirit comes from the Brahmaloka, and takes him to the heaven. 

Q. If one sings Naam, does he go by the Deva-Jana? 

A. Of course, he does. “At the time of death, he, who remembers ‘Rama Naam’ even once, pierces through the Surya-loka (world of Sun) and goes to Param Dham (Vishnu Param Pada).” 

Q. Then I need only sing ‘Ram Ram Ram’. 

A. Yes, sing only ‘Ram Ram Ram, Ram Ram Ram’. 

Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare,