| Sri Harinama Cintamani :: Chapter 11 (part 1) |
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which is fully spiritual; but subhakarma is mundane. Thus there is a gulf of distance between the means and the objective. The holy name is the means of sadhana "Out of His causeless compassion, the Supreme Lord incarnated as the holy name, making Himself available to the jivas. Thus the holy name is accepted by the pious jivas as the best means of perfection. The scriptures recommend the Lord's name as the most efficacious means to obtain the Absolute, but the jivas misunderstood this to mean that chanting is one of many subhakarmas. This misconception is similar to Lord Visnu being seen as another demigod like Lord Siva and Lord Brahma. "The holy name is fully spiritual and transcendental to material nature. It is untainted by matter. Though the jiva is spiritual, he thinks himself material due to gross ignorance. Consequently, he thinks that everything, including the holy name of the Lord, is likewise material. Thus chanting of Lord Krsna's holy name came to be categorized as a subhakarma; jivas with mayavadi leanings are convinced that this is right and proper. But those who adhere to this view are excluded from the path of devotional service. An advanced yogi wants to use the body in accordance with his knowledge that he is not the body. The name is both the means and the end "The holy name is the repository of perfect bliss; He has descended to this material world to become the means by which the summum bonum of bhakti is attained, The scriptures eulogize His divine glories, for Krsna's name is both the means and the end. According to the individual jiva's degree of spiritual perfection, he considers the Lord's name to be either the means or the end. As long as he has not attained self-realization, the the holy name as the means to reach this goal. Subhakarma is secondary; the holy name is the principal means "The means to self-realization are of two kinds: principal and secondary. Subhakarma is the secondary means, and the Lord's holy name is the principal means. Though the holy name is |