Who is Qualifies to Sing?

𝐆ā𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚 𝐚𝐝𝐡𝐢𝐤ā𝐫ī 𝐤𝐞? (𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐐𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 Sing?)

First published in Sajjana Toṣaṇī, Vol. 19, Issue 10, 1916

𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐤ī𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐚? 𝐈𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝟏𝟗𝟏𝟔, Ś𝐫ī𝐥𝐚 𝐒𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐯𝐚𝐭ī Ṭ𝐡ā𝐤𝐮𝐫𝐚 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐡𝐢𝐤ā𝐫𝐚 (𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧) 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐤ī𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐞𝐭𝐜.

Amongst the nine processes of bhakti, kīrtana is considered to be the best type of devotional service. Perfection in the other eight processes can only be achieved along with kīrtana. Kṛṣṇa-kīrtana cleanses the mirror of the jīva’s impure heart, it extinguishes the flames of material existence which manifests as the ocean of birth and death. Its favourable rays emanate supreme auspiciousness for the jīva. It is the very life of transcendental emotions. It increases the jīva’s bliss in performing service to Kṛṣṇa. At every step it makes one taste complete nectar, and all souls become blissful by it. As such, kṛṣṇa-kīrtana cannot be performed artificially.

Only with pure transcendental intelligence can the performer of kīrtana chant the divine Names of Kṛṣṇa with a serving disposition. 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬, 𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐤𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐣ñā𝐧𝐚, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐤ṛṣṇ𝐚-𝐤ī𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐛 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐭𝐢. 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧, Ś𝐫ī Ś𝐫ī𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐡ā𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐡𝐮 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐣ī𝐯𝐚𝐬:

tṛṇād api sunīcena taroriva sahiṣṇunā

amānenā mānadena kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ

𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐲𝐩𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞, 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝, 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞, 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐲𝐩𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐠𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐠𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐣ī𝐯𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 sing 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐊ṛṣṇ𝐚. 𝐈𝐟 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐠𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐦, 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐮𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐛𝐲 𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬, 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐍𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐢 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞.

𝐁𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐭, 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟-𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞, 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐚𝐬 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐲, 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐚 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐛𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐕𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝, 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐜𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐊𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐩𝐚 (𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞), 𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞’𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐲—𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩, 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐞 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝. 𝐒𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 sing 𝐊ṛṣṇ𝐚’𝐬 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐍𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐤𝐢ñ𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐚.

𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐝𝐲 (𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐚), 𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐨 (𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐚), 𝐫𝐡𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐦 (𝐭ā𝐥𝐚) 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞 (𝐦ā𝐧𝐚) 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐍𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 sing 𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐊ṛṣṇ𝐚. 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐧𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐬𝐦 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐊ṛṣṇ𝐚, 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐨 sing. 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢ṣṭ𝐡ā 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐤ī𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐚, 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 sing 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐍𝐚𝐦𝐞. 𝐎𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐝𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐧ā𝐦𝐚 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐧𝐨𝐧-𝐝𝐮𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝, 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲sing 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐍𝐚𝐦𝐞.

(Translated from Bengali by Swami B.V. Giri.)

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