of Lord Caitanya's mercy. He is such an authority on the philosophy of nama-rasa that once, when Lord Caitanya was relishing the topics of Radha-Krsna lila with Sri Ramananda Raya and Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya in the courtyard of Srila Haridasa Thakura's bhajana-kutira, Srila Haridasa repeatedly expounded at length on the glories of nama-rasa to the rapt attention of the other exalted persons present.

Hearing this, Lord Caitanya was moved by divine loving emotions. He lifted Srila Haridasa up and embraced him. The Lord then spoke in confidence to him. "O Haridasa! Listen attentively to what I have to say. The truth about the holy name will be hidden by mischievous rascals who will create a dark shroud of ignorance over the entire world. At that time, these excellent and unrivalled instructions of yours about chanting in the association of saintly persons shall be understood only by a remaining handful of devotees."

What did Lord Caitanya mean by 'mischievous rascals'? The prime candidates for this appellation are the various upstart sects like the sahajiyas, aulas, baulas and so on, who propagate bogus mundane doctrines disguised as Mahaprabhu's own teachings. Indeed, they conceal from the world the pure philosophy of Krsna consciousness expounded by the Lord Himself in His Sri Siksastaka.

The Lord continued, "The true path of the holy name will be followed by saintly souls who are totally detached from material life. They will chant the holy name with bhava; because of this, they will be known as rasika-bhaktas. Their bhava will be that of separation. By their chanting they will relish the pastimes of Radha-Krsna and Their eight principal gopi girlfriends.

"The jiva is blessed with pure bhakti only on the strength of his sukrti, or piety and faith. Not everyone is entitled to have such devotion. In order to intensify their devotion, I have descended and propagated the chanting of the holy name as the religion for this age. The chanting of the maha-mantra: Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare; Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama