500 years ago, Lord Krishna descended himself in the form of Gauranga Mahaprabhu in the holy land of Navadweep, Bengal to preach Naam Sankirtan.
Why should we do Sankirtan? This question has been answered by Ved Vyas in the Bhagwat Purana. There are antly two realms- This world and the realm of God. What is the purpose of this world? The purpose of this material world is to sustain the body. However, the subject of individual souls is Supreme God.
In Satyug, in order to attach one's mind to God, a spiritual seeker practiced meditation or Samadhi. At that time, people had long lives as well as a suitable environment. So, they could easily enter into the state of Samadhi with just a little bit of practice. With time, the society degraded, and there was a necessity of a gross thing to attach one's mind to God, such as yajna. Hence, people performed yajnas during Treta Yug. In the Dwaper Age, people's mind became grosser and they had to perform pooja for their spiritual upliftment. And for the age of Kali, the only remedy is Naam Sankirtan.
Ved Vyas has even reiterated it in the following verse:
"हरेर्नाम हरेर्नाम हरेर्नामैव केवलम्।
कलौ नास्त्येव नास्त्येव नास्त्येव गतिरन्यथा।।"
There is only one path for spiritual progres; and that is chanting the holy name of Lord Hari. Some people argue– "Oh! This Naam Sankirtan thing is for the unemployed or old men. We are young. We don't need to practice it!"
This is sheer folly. In response, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu gives reasons for chanting the Name of Lord....
Why God has so many names? Does God has a hobby of keeping so many names? No, this is not the case. He says– "Actually, I am sitting inside you all. But you don't realize me within– "य आत्मनि तिष्ठति"
That's why you keep privacy all the time. Privacy in passwords, privacy in phones.... I am sitting inside but you don't pay any heed to it, that's why you are trying to keep things private. Moreover, I am present in you every atom of the universe, but you are unable to experience it. I also reside in my Eternal Abode, but you can't go there as well
"न तद्भासयते सूर्यो न शशाङ्को न पावकः।
यद्गत्वा न निवर्तन्ते तद्धाम परमं मम।।"
Vedas state that The Sun, The Moon and time has no entry in the heavenly Abode of God.
"There shall no longer be time" says the Bible. We all are under the influence of Maya. But, that abode is free from the clutches of Maya, that's why we can't go there. So God asks– "What can I do for you in this case? I am sitting inside, you ignore. I am Omnipresent, you ignore. I live in my Eternal Abode where you cannot come. Therefore My Son! I had kept infinite names for myself. Some say God, others call me Khuda or Sat shree Akal or Alakh Niranjan or Shunya or Tao or Krishna or Ram. Even Krishna has Infinite Names like Makhanchor, Giridhari and Kunj Vihari. And he pledges that he has seated himself in every name with all his divine potencies.
But what a pity! Such a misfortune! O lord! You are present in all your infinite names with infinite energies, but I don't have any interest in your Holy Name.
So why should we chant the holy Name? Because God is himself present in all his Names with all his potencies.
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