Bhagavan in the Gita said "tasmAt shAstram pramANamtE kAryAkAryavyavasthitau". Don't make the decision in your mind whether this is right or this is wrong - mind is prone to doubt and if mind involves with wrong doing, it will pick up the wrong samskArams. So mind cannot be the ultimate authority (pramAnam) in deciding good or bad, only sAstram can be pramAnam. sAstram is anantham, its ever full. You cannot just read all the sAstram and decide which is right and which is wrong. So if you want to be at peace with what is right or wrong, do follow the sampradAyam, the achArya and perform your duties without fail. The achArya would have done the same, he would have followed in the footsteps of his achArya. If we follow this method, we can, without any fear have no doubts about our rights and wrongs. We need not identify new ways of doing things and worry about right and wrong if we just follow the path laid by our periyaval. So yamadharmarAja said that ajAmila had done several bad deeds and so he has to be taken to yamaloka. The sAstram which claimed that if one does wrong deeds, he begets hell, one does good deed begets heaven, one does tapasya begets boons, one does upAsanam begets the appropriate worlds, the same sAstram has also said an other thing.
"WHOMSOEVER CHANTS BHAGAVANNAMAM ALL HIS SINS WILL BE WIPED OUT".
Chithragupta is the person in yamaloka who is responsible for taking stock of all bad deeds and good deeds and keeps exact note of that. He has a big and huge ledger book and in that he has jotted down very correctly the good and bad deeds of one from morning till night every day of his earthly life. He has written down the name of the person, his address, his identification all this is in the books of Chithragupta. But what happens is that if one even without his own knowledge says "NARAYANA" all the sins that are recorded in the book of Chithragupta vanishes in an instant.
When we store and load lots and lots of data in our hard drives or computer in the good feeling that everything is safe with us, just when we accidentally press the DELETE key all data is lost in an instant. Similarly if the word "Narayana" is said, all the bad deeds are washed away. Thus the same sAstram which dictated what are our good deeds and what are our bad deeds also dictated that with "Bhagavannamakeertanam" all our sins will be washed away completely.
WHY THEN DON'T WE BELIEVE THIS?
Is it because its so EASY? or
DO WE THINK THAT OUR SINS NEED NOT BE WASHED AWAY SIMPLY or
the WORRY LEST OUR SINS LEAVE US!
Whether your sins will be destroyed or not, its not for you to worry - "tasmAt shAstram pramANamtE", no need for us to have a second thought - the pramANam is sAstram. God is there, sAstram is the authority. Do we know Good or Bad? sAstram is the authority. Who has seen heaven or hell, sAstram is the authority. Only on the authority of the sAstram do we say that God is there, there is a world of devAs, devAs have the power to bless us, there is life after death all this has meaning for the asthikA (the believer). Who has seen? sAstram is for the asthikAs. The Maharishis without any discrimination, without any omissions or commissions have left all this entirely for us to follow as well as God has blessed us with this sAstram.
This sAstram tells you that, "IF YOU CHANT NAMA, ALL YOUR SINS WILL DISAPPEAR", WHY THEN DONT YOU HAVE BELIEF IN IT?
DONT JUST USE THE MIND AND CONFUSE YOURSELF!".
In a certain home,sudarshana Homa is performed. All the Homa ingredients are added into the fire, do we see the Sudarshana Azhwar come in person and take the offering? If a Homa is done in the method of purushasUktham, did we see the Lord Narayana himself come and accept the offering. Yet we still continue to perform these homas and beget benefits. Did we then have a disbelief in that homa that we did this according to the sAstram and nothing happened in front of our eyes. Likewise if we say the namasankeerthanam, will our mind get control, will this remove our sins, will our sushumnA nAdi come up - we dont need to worry about all this.
IF YOU DO NAMASANKEERTHANAM WITH BELIEF AND FIRM FAITH, ALL YOUR SINS WILL BE REMOVED.
ONE MAY ARGUE, OUR SINS ARE HUGE BUT THE NAMASANKEERTHANAM IS SMALL, WILL THIS NAMA REMOVE THESE HUGE SINS..."IT SURE WILL!".
There is a banyan tree, 1000s of years old and if we need to fell that tree, we would need a big bulldozer, huge hacksaws, cut it with machines, stop the traffic as the tree may fall and injure passersby and we may need to put many days of effort to fell the banyan tree. But there is a simpler method to bring down the tree. If we just leave the "karayAn", the termites or white ants under the tree, it will slowly bore its way through the tree - the termite white ant is so small and will get crushed even if we softly press it, yet it has the power to bring the whole tree down. What then do we need machines or huge hacksaws for when the same job can be done easily by the "KarayAn".
Likewise with yogabhyAsam, vedAnta vichAra, sAnkya tattvam or any siddhAnta that one would follow to remove the sins, the same sins are so easily removed by chanting "NAMA", just like the little "karayAn", OUR SINS will be definitely be removed.
Thus the sAstram says "Namasankeerthanam yasya, sarva papa pranashanam" - Namasankeerthanam will destroy all your sins. Its not like for a small sin, you have a small act of atonement (PrAyaschittam) or for a bigger sin, you have a bigger act of atonement, the namsankeerthanam will remove big or small sins, all sins! Well its true that bhagavannamasankeerthanam will remove all sins but in the case of ajAmila, he did not think of the Lord and call out HIS name rather he called out only to his child Narayana only out of affection for his child. "Narayana, eh VaikuntapathE" was not what ajAmila called out as, thinking of his child playing far afield he called out. How come this is stated to remove his sins. "Sanketyam Parihasyamcha Stobam Helanamevava...Vaikunta Nama Grahanam Asesha Agha Aram Vidhuhu".
Sanketyam - some ruse (vyAjam). Lets say that a colleague in our office is named "Narayana" and we dont have any belief in the name of Narayana or Lord Narayana himself but we need to call him and do our business with him - Sanketyam. Narayanan, bring that file over here! Narayanan, why are you late today? Just calling Narayanan, you will attain liberation.
Parihastam - There is a bhajan happening on the streets, all the bhagavathars are in a procession chanting "Narayana", the children looking at them make fun of them clapping their hands and saying, 'Hey, look at them saying "Narayana", but the bhagavathars themselves will be happy. Even by making fun the word "Narayana" is coming out of their mouths. That will take these children to liberation.
Sanketyam Parihasyamcha Stobam - some alapana, a sangeetha vidwan is performing a concert, whilst performing the concert he sings melodiously "Narayana", it will take him to liberation.
Helanamevava - even with disrespect should one say - "That Narayanan, wait and see how I will treat him" - even this will take one to liberation
Vaikunta Nama Grahanam - this namasankeerthanam is - Asesha Agha Aram, Asesham means without leaving even one bit - vidhuhu, this namasakeerthanam will remove even the slightest bit of sins left in him. There is a child over there and nearby there is a candle, the child goes towards it not knowing that the candle will burn him and touches it but the candle doesnt think, oh this is only a child coming towards me and he is touching me and I should not scald him and the candle doesnt know as such. Just as fire whether we think it will burn us or we are ignorant of the fact that it will burn us, it will still burn regardless. Likewise what will happen is Nama Grahanam - Vaikunta Nama Grahanam. It is said "NamAucchAdanam" - what it means - Harer Nama, ucchAdanam means driving away.
"gurUnAm ca laghUnAm ca gurUni ca laghUni ca prAyascittAni pApAnAm jNAtvoktAni maharSibhih" - All his sins will be puMso dahidyEto yathAnalaHa - after having fallen into the fire, there is no distinction whether its a small log, big log, wet log and will burn any of these logs, likewise the sins will be burnt.
Immediately the yama dUtas let out the rope, ajAmilan left out from there and was surprised, why, as only after the rope was thrown out at him he listened to the conversations between the vishnu dUtas and the yama dUtas. "kvacAhA kitavahA pApo brahmaghno nirapatrapahA kva ca narayanaeti etad bhagavan-nAma mangalam" - we usually say, where am I, what is my capability - kvAcaham? I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN LIVING MY LIFE WITH SINS, kitavahA pApo brahmaghno nirapatrapahA - WITHOUT ANY LEAST SENSE OF SHAME THAT I NEED TO DO THIS OR DO THAT I HAVE BEEN DOING SINS THUS, WHERE IS THE PERUMAI (Greatness) of the Lord Narayana and where am I? eti etad bhagavan-nAma mangalam - BUT HIS NAMA HAS GRACED ME SO GREATLY AND GIVEN ME THE GOODNESS.
Just out of the fact that I called out the name of my son as Narayana, such greatness has been bestowed unto me! the Narayana nama liberated ajAmila from the rope of death. But that did not just come as a great relief to ajAmila that both the yama dUtas and the vishnu dutAs now left him and he got some more years to live and can now enjoy his life with his child again. Instead as ajAmila had the glimpse of the vishnu dUtas - "kshana-sangena" - just a moment of time with them - "sadhushu ganga-dvaram upeyaya mukta-sarvanubandhanah" - immediately he went to the ganga dvaram - the door to ganga, even with just a moment of sadhu sangam. Then vishnu dUtas went back to vaikuntam, then as per the work of time ajAmila also attained vaikuntam. Just by the calling of the name of a son, ajAmila got the vaikuntam then what about the person who is chanting the bhagavannama with bhakthi, what will he not get?
The yama dUtas went back to yamaloka, the dutAs then ask the yamadharmarAja that is he the only head of this world or is there one above him as well. Leave all that, said yamadharmarAja, ' You went out to escort a person by name ajAmila, where is he?'. The yama dUtas replied that ajAmila called out and then they were unable to bring him here. yamadharmarAja became angry and said that it is true that when one is called out at the hour of death, they will naturally cry and also the people around them, how can you become afraid of his cry and all that. When the life is about to go out of a person, he will cry as well as those around him. Only if you dont fear all these, can you work under me. Somebody just cried out and you left him there are you not ashamed, he shouted at the yama dUtas. The yama dUtas replied that ajAmila did not cry as others normally cry out but the nature of his cry was different. What was the call that ajAmila made, asked yamadharmarAja? "NARAYANA" replied the yama dUtas. yama was immediately thrilled to hear this, ah-ha even in yamaloka there is the sound of NARAYANA. What happened then, asked yamadharmarAja. vishnu dUtas had come, did you see the vishnu dUtas inquired yama? yes, there were very handsome and beautiful to look at. we were all bewitched by their beauty and then they narrated the whole episode to yamadharmarAja. Immediately yamadharmarAja tells the yama dUtas, wherever and whomsoever says the bhagavannama we should not go there. Its not our duty to punish them whatsoever. They are dedicated to bhagavan and they are HIS children. Only the bhagavan is responsible to enquire about them and its none of our business. Whoever does the keerthanam of bhagavan or does seva to the bhagavan dont go to their places. This dharmam is called Bhagavatha dharmam and is a great dharmam. This dharmam is known to only 12 people and yamadharmarAja himself gives out the list of names - Brahma, Narada, Rudra, the Sanatkumara Kandhan, Manu, Prahlada, Janaka, Bhishma, Bali, Suka brahmam as well as yama himself.
"dwAdasha yetE vichAnimO dharmam bhAgavatham" - this great bhAgavatha dharmam is there and with bhagavannAmakeerthanam there is nothing that is not achievable, will remove all the sins, bring us the Lord before us, sankyEtam - parihAsyam any which way its being chanted will do its work and this secret is known only to the 12 people. Thats why this is guhyam, vishudHam and kept very sacred and with sanctity, durbyodhyam - very hard to get to know about this. ayam atma amrutham ashnute - one who gets to know this he begets amrutyatvam, mruthyu means death thus in getting to know the bhgavatha dharmam one gets amrutyatvam. What is most surprising is this in knowing this, we will usually look to someone who says this authoritatively and if he says so thats is the authority. Not Suka did namasiddhantam, nor vyasa, nor brahma each has their own duties. Brahma is responsible for creation, Kubera is having the treasury, Indra is responsible for the devas is what we have heard. Indraloka elephant is called airAvatam. Similarly Yama is the Lord of Naraka. Only Yama has the right to punish a life and that post and even that yama himself says, 'I wont punish those who are chanting namakeerthanam, neither my dUtas will touch those who chant namakeerthanam. I will not enquire about the jeevas who are chanting namakeerthanam and I am not their authority and I am not responsibly for them at all. Who else can challenge this? Because only Yama can investigate the sins of a jeevan.
Now that Yama himself said this, the beauty in the Srimad Bhagvatham is that the Yama himself did this namasiddhantam - the ONE sole authority that is responsible for one's sins, taking him to hell, he himself says that bhagavannama keerthanam whether knowingly or unknowingly one says, I will never ask about his sins or touch him at all.
With the same beauty as extolled in the Srimad Bhagavatham about this great significance, equally unparalleled has been similarly extolled in the Vishnu hharmam by the Azhwars in the TirumAlai.
Radhe Radhe
