Nectar of the Holy Name

[Nitaidas]

Nectar of the Holy Name by Manindranatha Guha was our first publication. It can be viewed and purchased from the link below.

Here

[spiritualbhakti]

This is one of my favorite books and a must have.
I let a friend borrow it but unfortunately it mysteriously dissapeared, now I have to order another.
Will there be more books by Manindranatha Guha in the furute Nitai dasji?

[Nitaidas]

Feb 1, 2012 16:30:37 GMT -6 spiritualbhakti said:

This is one of my favorite books and a must have.
I let a friend borrow it but unfortunately it mysteriously dissapeared, now I have to order another.
Will there be more books by Manindranatha Guha in the furute Nitai dasji?

Yes. I have started his book on the Siksastaka. Parts of that are in a thread somewhere in this maze. He also wrote two nice little books (which he cautioned me were based on his own realizations) called the Madhava-madhurya-manjusa and Gaura-karuna-candika-kana. Though he says they are based on his own realization, they are filled with citations from scripture as his books always are. In addition to that he did a wonderful edition of Prabodhananda's Caitanya-candramrta with commentary and an elaborate Bengali translation and introduction. That too is worthy of doing. He did other editions as well. His wife, Savitri, was a good Sanskritist and she helped him do these things I am sure. He is a fine example of a householder to the end. He and his wife retired to Vrindavana and spent their final days doing bhajan and writing and publishing these books. They were a perfect team.

If you need another copy of the Nectar, just let me know.

[spiritualbhakti]

How about books from his Guru, any of those in the work?
I read somewhere about his great works on Naam.

I'm in serious need of the nectar, it was so much in that book, i kind of regret lending it.

[Nitaidas]

Feb 7, 2012 17:44:03 GMT -6 spiritualbhakti said:

How about books from his Guru, any of those in the work?
I read somewhere about his great works on Naam.

I'm in serious need of the nectar, it was so much in that book, i kind of regret lending it.

Yes, I am working on his Nama-cintamani series. But Mani Babu's little book is a summary of the teachings of those. So one can get the gist of Sri Kanupriya's thought by reading his book. There is a lot packed into it and it is easy to miss something or not register the implications of what he says. One has to read it carefully and a couple or three times. Everything is supported by citations from CV texts. His next book on the Siksastaka is also a fine text that lays out the whole scope of sadhana and supports everything with numerous citations. There is a little overlap between it and the Nectar. The Siksastaka comm. is rather like Pandita Ananta Das Babaji's on the same text. I haven't studied Panditji's closely enough to be able to tell where they differ.

Send me an address by personal message and I will send you another copy of Mani Babu's Nectar book.

[spiritualbhakti]

This is a great service you have done by making this translation available.
there is so much nectar in this book,
All Glories to Lord Holy Name!!!!!!!

[Nitaidas]

I am happy to announce that there is now an e-version of Nectar of the Holy Name available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble and other ebook sellers. Here is a link to the Amazon listing.

Thanks to Nilamadhava Dasji's help in converting this book over. We plan to convert several other Blazing Sapphire books over to ebooks in the future. Any suggestions on what to do next?

[Nityānanda dāsa]

Jai Harinam!

Quick question about this book by BSP. In the introduction on page xlviii, footnote #55 you write, "Kānanavihārī Gosvāmī, Bāghnāpāṛā-sampradāya o Baiṣṇava Sāhitya, 530. I have never seen this text personally."

Are you saying you've never seen this book you're citing? Or are you saying you've never seen the book 'Daśa-mūla-rasa' that the citation refers to?

If the former is the case, I know where you can buy it online for $35 (free shipping). If the latter is the case, I have a digital copy for you.

[Nitaidas]

Thanks for the offer, Nilamadhavadasji. That note was written years ago and since then I have acquired a copy of the Dasamularasa (from archive.org). I already had a copy of the Kananavihari Goswami book and have used it for a number of essays. Thanks for checking in, though.

[Nityānanda dāsa]

Radhe Radhe and good morning!

Here's a question prompted by reading Nectar of the Holy Name...

So we know that Ajamila achieved liberation, by unintentionally chanting the name of Narayana. This is described as namabhas, a shadow of chanting the name. So we understand from the story that Ajamila was a great sinner, yet by accident he received the mercy of Narayana by accidentally calling His name. Ajamila achieved a great result from this mistake, from his chanting.

Now for us, we are chanting the names of Radha (Hare) and Krishna, yet at least in my case I see no result even though I am intentionally chanting the Name. A few times I know I have called out to the Name in significant distress. Yet again, no result. At least no conscious, visible, or tangible result.
I recall the verse from the Cc where Mahaprabhu says that if one doesn't feel ecstasy at the chanting of the Name then one has made great offense(s). So that must be the case for me. And I suppose all I can do is continue chipping away, hoping for a glimpse of the gold of the Name in some lifetime. Hard to think of having such patience.
A couple more questions about Ajamila...

(1) Was his result of attaining Narayana because he didn't have a reservoir of aparadha built up?

(2) Was it because of the feeling with which he chanted?

I guess that's all for now. Gaura Haribol! 🙏🏻

[service to Radha's feet]

Not an expert by no means, but here it goes.

We have accumulated aparadha by various means, e.g. associating with aparadhis, hearing aparadha, and thus committing aparadha ourselves. We must strive for ridding ourselves of nama aparadha.

Another thing that helps is attaining the feet of Sri Guru, receiving diksa, Krishna mantra, and other diksa mantras according to the GV Guru pranali of that sadhu. It can be said that the fruit of chanting the name before diksa is attaining the shelter of a genuine guru. The fruit of chanting the holy name after diksa is love for Krishna. Chanting the holy name certainly can give prema, but it is very rare without one having taken shelter of Guru. Conditioned jivas have accumulated over lifetimes the dirt of ignorance throughout samsara. The diksa mantras are very powerful in ridding from our hearts the darkness of ignorance which will help us quickly get taste for chanting the name and the other of the nine practices of bhakti. These sacred mantras also contain the name of Bhagavan and His associates along with seed mantras and special endings.

We ultimately must strive to chant the holy name with love with no other desire than to serve and please Sri Sri Radha and Krishna. Even if one does not mean it sincerely, but to try to chant with the mood of love. Samkirtan is a great way to chant the name with love, having the various tasteful ingredients of rhythm, enchanting melodies and hearts pouring through voices the holy name while internally thinking of Radha and Krishna and seva. Sri Gauranga therefore praised the practice of congregational chanting of the names of Krishna as the best means to attain Krishna bhakti. All the nine practices become accessible with the support of Hari nam sankirtan. I have personally have had deep experiences while chanting Hari nam sankirtan that gives me strong faith to continue again and again.

Ajamil did not immediately attain Narayan after the conversation between the Yamadutas and Visnudutas. He was given a second chance and went to Haridwar to do bhajan after his encounter with the messengers of Vaikunthanath and Yamaraja. Thereafter, he attained the kingdom of Bhagavan Sri Narayan.

[meeno8]

Radhe Radhe Nilamadhava ji. You are on the right path, even though you have not seen the results you have been expecting at this juncture. For me it was a different case. After chanting the Buddhist mantra om mani padme hum for a few years, then the maha mantra for a few months, I started to have deep experiences both while doing japa and in group kirton. Granted that was within ISKCON, it still shows the power of the maha mantra and the pancha tattva mantra. After getting diksha in the lineage of Prabhu Nityananda, it just got that much better and more intense. So, do not become disheartened. You could have a major breakthrough any day now.

[Nityānanda dāsa]

I also found the following, which kind of answers my question. Jiva Gosvamin in Krama Sandarbha 11.20.27 (found on page 50 of Nectar of the Holy Name by Manindranath Guha). Bold emphasis is mine..

"In this example [of Ajāmila] is revealed the excellence of the giver of such results even for a semblance of bhakti (bhaktyābhāsa) performed even without faith, as long as there is no offense."