Narayana is Param (supreme) Brahma, Narayana is Param (greatest) Tapasya (penance), Narayana is the greatest of all, the whole universe is one with Narayana.

Sri Shankar has said —
From the sick body with nine apertures, excreta are constantly oozing out. Its medicine is Ganga water, and the only doctor is Hari Narayana.

Sri Poulastya has said —
Oh, tongue, the great discriminator of all tastes, you always like sweet tastes. Oh tongue, you please always drink the ‘Amrita’ whose name is ‘Narayana’. The ordinary sweet tastes of sugarcane, honey, etc., end but the ‘Amrita’ of ‘Narayana Naam’ is endless, limitless, measureless and you will never be able to finish it. This taste will never turn sour or distasteful.

You will be able to taste this ‘Amrita’ in new forms. As you go on drinking, you will realise that there is but only one ‘Rasa’ — there not two. That Param Purusha, who is the embodiment of all forms of ‘Rasa’, gets reflected at the doors of different ‘Indriyas’ in different forms. That Purusha, full of ‘Rasa’ can be felt by the tongue as taste, by the eye as beauty, by the ear as sound, by the skin as touch and by the nose as smell. The ‘Indriyas’ take the same Sat, Chit, Anandamaya Purusha who is the embodiment of limitless ‘Rasa’ in different ways. But the object to be taken is one only. If you go on repeating the ‘Narayana Naam’, you will be able to taste with all your senses that Sat-Chit-Anandamaya Purusha.

Narayana, Narayana, Narayana.

Sri Garga had said —
Even in spite of there being a ‘Mantra’ like ‘Narayana Naam’ and even having the tongue under control it is strange that people fall in terrible hell.

Q. It is strange that from our childhood since we develop intelligence, we make every effort possible to get ‘Ananda’ but what do we get as a result? We get only sorrow after sorrow and cry of distress. Yet we do not take to this easy straight and pleasant path of uttering the ‘Naam’ of Sri Narayana. What will happen to us? Oh, what will happen? What will be our destiny?

A. Please hear me; sing ‘Narayana Naam’; you will get the ‘Param Gati’ (the final liberation). This ‘Param Gati’ is very difficult for even the ‘Yogis’ to attain. The ‘Jnanis’ attain this after tireless ‘Sadhana’ spread over many lives. But if you can simply hold on with care the ‘Narayana Naam’, so that your tongue does not slip from it, then even if you run with your eyes short, you will reach Sri Vaikuntha itself. The companions of Sri Vishnu, holding ‘Sankha’ ‘Chakra’, ‘Gada’, and ‘Padma’ like Vishnu himself, will surround you and take you to Sri Bhagwan’s lotus feet singing Naam all the time. There is no doubt about it.

Narayana, Narayana, Narayana.

Q. Well you have told me about the nine types of ‘Bhakti’. Supposing one holds on to only one of them, will he get God’s bounty? For example. I love ‘Naam Kirtan’; if I hold on to ‘Naam Kirtan’, can I earn God’s ‘Kripa’?

A. Yes, of course, you can.
Raja Parikshit attained Sri Bhagwan by hearing of his ‘Leela’ and ‘Gunas’, Sukhdeva by ‘Kirtan’, Prahlad by remembering Him, Sri Lakshmi by worshipping His feet, Pruthuraj attained Him by doing Puja to Him, Akrura by ‘Vandana’, Hanuman by service, Arjuna by friendship and Bali attained Him by offering himself with everything he possessed to Him. If one can hold on to one form of Bhakti, the others come automatically.

Q. Has Bhakti got more signs or indications?

A. Yes, there are many.

Q. Will you tell me these?

A. To worship the Param Purusha is called ‘Bhakti’, discarding the desire for all results either in this world or the one to follow, to fix one’s mind on God is ‘Bhakti’ to think of and remember Him day and night is ‘Bhakti’.

Q. What is the meaning of the word ‘Bhajan’?

A. The dictionary says to pray or to serve and do ‘Puja’. To serve and do ‘Puja’ constantly by deed, mind and word, remaining always near Him is called real ‘Bhakti’.

Q. If one serves by deed but his mind roams about, will it not be counted as ‘Bhakti’?

A. It is also ‘Bhakti’ — but only partial. If in any work one can concentrate all the three: body, mind and word, then that work produces result quickly.

Q. Even if one does not get the result quickly, I hope the effort will not be entirely fruitless.

A. No, it will not be fruitless.

Q. Well, please tell me more indications of ‘Bhakti’. Do even the ‘Jnanis’ accept the greatness of ‘Bhakti’?

A. Acharya Shankara has said —
Among all the ‘Sadhanas’ which lead to ‘Moksha’, ‘Bhakti’ is the best.

To search for one’s real identity is called ‘Bhakti’.

Some call the search for ‘Atma-Tattwa’ (one’s own self) as Bhakti.

Please hear more indications of ‘Bhakti’ — With heart full of it and without any other thought, loving devotion to God with a feeling that He is mine is ‘Bhakti’.

The Vaishnava Acharyas say —
Bereft of any other desire, without the burden of ‘Jnana’ and ‘Karma’, to think of and reflect on Krishna again and again is called ‘Uttama’ (perfect) ‘Bhakti’.

Even this ‘Uttama Bhakti’ has six variations — Klesaghna, Subhada, ‘Moksha-laghuta-krit’, Sudurlava, Sandrananda Viseshatma and Sri Krishnakakarshini

Klesaghna Bhakti’ is that which destroys the ‘Avidya’ (ignorance) which makes men hanker after the result.

‘Subhada Bhakti’ is that which makes a person love all creatures in this world as a result of which a person finds pleasure in everything that is good.

‘Moksha-Laghuta-krit Bhakti’ is that which, even if it grows in a small quantity in the heart, makes a man treat the four ‘Purusharthas’ — i.e. ‘Dharm’, ‘Artha’, ‘Kama’ and ‘Moksha’ as a piece of straw.

‘Sandrananda Viseshatma’ is that type of ‘Bhakti’ which cannot be attained even by long ‘Sadhana’ and non-attachment but which Sri Hari himself bestows quickly out of kindness, ‘Brahmananda’ lasting for half a day is not equal to even one drop of this ‘Bhakti’ which is an ocean of ‘Ananda’.

‘Sri Krishnakarshini’ is that which brings Krishna under one’s control by making Krishna surrounded by all his beloved companions, the object of love.

Q. It is difficult to understand the meaning of what the Vaishnava Acharyas say. You please tell me about ‘Naam’.

A. Prabhu says in delight, Oh Rama Raj hear His real-self.
In ‘Kali Yuga’ ‘Naam Sankirtan’ is the best way.
He who worships Krishna in Kali Yuga by ‘Samkirtan Yagna’.
Only that person of right disposition gets Krishna’s lotus feet.
Jai, Jai Goura Hari.

Q. This is the best solution.

A. So say — Jai Narayana, Jai Narayana, Jai Narayana.