— Chapter Three —

Namabhasa or the Unclarified Name

All glories to Sri Gadadhara Pandit and Lord Sri Gauranga; all glories to Lord Nityananda, the life of Srimati Jahnavadevi; all glories to Sri Advaita Acarya and Mother Sita; all glories to Srila Srivas Pandit, and to all the devotees of Lord Caitanya.

The cloud of anartha the mist of ignorance

THE MERCIFUL LORD Caitanya stretched out His lotus-like hands and lifted up Srila Haridasa. The Lord said, "O Haridasa, please take hold of yourself. Explain clearly to Me about namabhasa. Once anyone understands namabhasa, he then strives towards chanting the pure name. The holy name is potent and endowed with such transcendental qualities that anyone can easily achieve liberation simply by chanting.

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Because our materialistic society considers the acquisition of wealth and power to be the goal of life, the more wealth and power you possess, the more "successful" you are considered to be. If you are materially poor, you are considered a failure in life, whereas if you are wealthy and powerful (regardless of how you acquired such wealth and power), you are considered a great success. So obtaining material wealth is not only essential for your direct sense gratification, but also for your feelings of self-worth. In other words, you feel only as valuable as the things that you possess and control. Lacking appreciation of your real value as an eternal, blissful spark of the Original Cause—falsely identifying the temporary body as yourself—you try to achieve feelings of self-worth by acquisition and control of material things. To achieve such economic development, you may end up engaging in illegal activity—in other words, you might become a crook.
Jagad Guru Speaks

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"Lord Krsna is the omnipotent spiritual sun, and He and His name are identical. Thus, the holy name is like the all-powerful, brilliant sun that disperses the darkness of maya or nescience. To stream mercy upon the conditioned souls, the sun of the holy name has arisen on the horizon of this material world.

"But sometimes clouds and mist obscure one's vision, and then the sun is not visible. The jiva is covered over by the cloud of anartha and the mist of ignorance. The cloud and mist spread a blanket over the jiva's vision so that he is unable to see the sun-like holy name. The sun is too big for any cloud or mist to cover, but if the jiva's vision is obfuscated, then the sun is hidden from him.

The mist of ignorance creates confusion

"Lack of knowledge of the transcendental nature and identity of the holy name creates a mist of ignorance that plunges the jiva

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