The Ten Offences to the Holy Name

The ten kinds of offences are explained in this śloka in the Padma Purāṇa:

satāṁ nindā nāmnaḥ paramam aparādhaṁ vitanute
yataḥ khyātiṁ yātaṁ katham u sahate tad-vigarhām
śivasya śrī-viṣṇor ya iha guṇa-nāmādi-sakalaṁ
dhiyā bhinnaṁ paśyet sa khalu hari-nāmāhita-karaḥ
guroravajña śruti-śāstra-nindanaṁ tathārthavādo hari nāmni kalpanam
nāmno balād yasya hi pāpa-buddhir na vidyate tasya yamair hi śuddhiḥ
dharma-vrata-tyāgahutādi-sarva-śubha-kriyā-sāmyamapi pramādaḥ
aśraddha-dhāno vimukho ’py-śṛṇvati yaś chopadeśaḥ śivanāmāparādhaḥ
śrutvāpi nāma-mahātmyaṁ yaḥ prītirahito ’dhamaḥ
ahaṁ mamādiparamo nāmni so ’py aparādha-kṛt
(Padma Purāṇa, Brahma-Khaṇḍa, 25.15-18)

The ten kinds of Nām-aparadh are stated in the Padma Purāṇa. I have given a Bengali translation and Śrīpād Sāgar Mahārāj has very nicely given English translation of that. Sāgar Mahārāj can please explain it a little loudly, and then it will be very nice for everyone. Please, listen attentively.

Śrīpād Sāgar Mahārāj:
Hare Kṛṣṇa mahāmantra of all mantras the best
throughout the world is preached by potent saints’ grace behest
such saints to the Name devoted such pure souls great
never dare offend them, never show them hate. (1)

The mahāmantra is given to us by the mercy of the devotee and they are called sādhu and mahājan. They are always chanting the Holy Name and their mercy is powerful. We do not take the Holy Name from a book or any abstract source, but we take it from the saints, the saintly devotees. They are great souls, ‘pure souls great’, the sādhu and the mahājan. They’re beloved of the Lord, and if we offend those saintly devotees, those great souls who the Lord loves, then the Lord, or the Lord Name cannot be happy with us. The Name is non-different from the Lord Himself and that will be a great offence to the Name.

Lord Kṛṣṇa, son of Nanda, of all lords the Leader—
The great Śiva and all the gods serve His feet forever;
The touchstone of the Name is Kṛṣṇa incarnate—
his Pastimes, Nature, Form, also think not separate. (2)

As Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj explained, as the Lord is eternal, then His Name, His Form, His Pastimes and His Qualities; they are all eternal. And there are also great personalities like Lord Śiva, Lord Brahmā, Lord Indra and other gods; they are also serving the Lord, but they are not the Lord. The result of chanting their names in not the same as the result of chanting the name of Kṛṣṇa. Still it is not said that we should abuse them either. They should also be respected but we should know that the Lord is the master, and all others are his servants. If we have that proper understanding then we can respect all and have the result of chanting the Name, we will not make offence to the Name.

Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj: The meanings can come two ways here. One is Lord Śiva etc. the demigods and various other gods, they are all so respectable and they are dear to Kṛṣṇa. They have got their positions by the mercy of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Then they will always be respected. But we will not think they are the same as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. We will think, “They’re higher than me and I must give respect to them.”

The other way the meaning is coming is that the Lord’s Name, the Lord’s Form, the Lord’s Qualities, and the Lord’s Pastimes; everything is transcendental. We cannot differentiate between each of these. The Lord’s Pastimes, His Form and His Name are non-different. He manifests in the heart of the devotee in this way. His manifestation is in this mundane world and also in the transcendental world, everywhere, but all is transcendental wherever He is present. He has given His whole power in His name. Through the chanting of the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa, He can manifest in our heart. In this way all of His Pastimes will be revealed before us, wherever we may be. That is the quality of the Lord. So we must consider this as transcendental knowledge and the Hari-nām as a form of transcendental vibration of our Lord.

Śrīpād Sāgar Mahārāj:
“Guru’s a form of Kṛṣṇa the Scriptures corroborate;
in the form of Guru, Kṛṣṇa blesses the fortunate.”
Never offend that Guru by thinking him mere mortal;
Gain your highest objective serve the Name for time eternal. (3)

So here not only the Pastimes and Form and Nature of the Lord we cannot separate, but we cannot separate Gurudev as well. Gurudev although he appears before us and walks amongst us in human form, still we know that by his grace we get the service of Kṛṣṇa. So he is also a form of Kṛṣṇa himself. And therefore, we do not differentiate from our Gurudev and Kṛṣṇa. When our Gurudev orders us, when our Gurudev gives us an instruction, when he gives us his blessing, we know that Kṛṣṇa himself is instructing us, that Kṛṣṇa himself is blessing us, not any ordinary human being. If we think Guru to be an ordinary human being or if we disobey his instruction, then we cannot get the mercy of Kṛṣṇa.

Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj: This is the third offence. The reason is that Kṛṣṇa Himself can give His own self. He is infinite and his mercy is unlimited. His will and his desire will take form in front of the sincere seeker as Guru, so He is non-different with Guru, and Guru is also non-different with Him. Otherwise the Guru cannot give connection as a human. When that transcendental knowledge is coming to me through some personality, that personality must be non-different from Kṛṣṇa. Except for Kṛṣṇa no-one can give Kṛṣṇa. Only the desire of Kṛṣṇa can give Kṛṣṇa. That may be as a Vaiṣṇava, that may be as a Guru but here in this case when we are taking initiation, Kṛṣṇa himself is giving that initiation. When we will maintain this knowledge about our Guru, then this first offence will not attack us.

Śrīpād Sāgar Mahārāj:
The Vedas with Mother Gāyatrī and Śrīmad Bhāgavatam
Illuminate the lotus feet of Śrī Hari’s Name;
Whoever vilifies those Holy Vedic Scriptures—
Never keep their company, know them as offenders. (4)

We find the glories of the Holy Name is all of these scriptures so we always worship those scriptures and any offence to those scriptures will also obstruct our progress to obtain the fruit of chanting the Holy Name. That’s called śruti-śāstra-nindā. Through the scriptures we actually find direction to find our Gurudev and those scriptures guide us. We always remember that faithful guide as mother, as sister as our own friend who always guides us the service of our Guru and the Supreme Lord. The scriptures also have their identical form with the personality of the Lord. The Śrīmad Bhāgavatam has been described as First Canto Second Canto – the feet of the Lord, Third Canto Fourth Canto – the leg of the Lord, Fifth Canto Sixth Canto the middle portion of the Lord, Seventh Eighth Ninth Cantos – coming up to the shoulders of the Lord, Tenth Canto – the smiling face of the Lord, Eleventh Canto – forehead of the Lord and Twelfth Canto – the crown of the Lord. So as the deity of the Lord, the scriptures also have their bright, brilliant existence and they are also showing us that effulgent form of the Lord in the form of his Name. So we always bow to and worship those holy scriptures. Otherwise the offence will go to the Name as well.

Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj: Actually, the scriptures are revealed through śruti. Śruti means Kṛṣṇa himself has given that knowledge to Brahmā through his ear and Brahmā is given that śruti mantram, that’s called āmnāya mantram. That mantram is revealed into Brahmā from Kṛṣṇa, from Brahmā to Nārada… in this way the śruti-mantram comes down from the transcendental abode into this mundane world. For that reason one of the names of that mantra is ‘śruti mantra’. Also there is not only mantram there but our whole kalyāṇa, our super-beneficial property is descending through the Guru-paramparā.

At that time nothing was written down as everyone had very sharp intelligence. Everyone’s memory was very sharp and they were practicing in the house of their Guru. From their Guru they were getting that knowledge. That’s called transcendental knowledge. At that time it was not in book form. It has come later on in book form, and there it has come as the Sāma, Ṛg, Atharva and Yajur Veda, the Mahābhārata, the Purāṇas etc. later it’s come in the written form. But before that it was given from Guru to disciple, disciple to disciple, line of disciplic succession. All the disciples were practicing in the house of their Guru and in this way the mantra was revealed from one to others. For that reason it’s called śruti. All of that śruti is glorifying the Holy Name of Lord Kṛṣṇa.

nāmnām akāri bahudhā nija-sarva-śaktis
tatrārpitā niyamitaḥ smaraṇe na kālaḥ
(Śikṣāṣṭakam 2)

Mahāprabhu said, “When your Holy Names are descending they are descending with your full power. You have given that power in your Holy Name and you are living there with your Name.” When it is descending that’s called transcendental knowledge through Guru-paramparā. Later it has happened in the written form. Śrīla Vyāsadev has done it and He is also our very exalted guru in the line of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Actually, we have got all this knowledge from Vyāsadev in the written form. So, that śruti-śāstra we will not abuse in any way. There are so many things, so many explanations, so much knowledge expanded there, many things are living in the śruti-śāstra. But if we will think, “Oh it is too much, it cannot give this result…”, if in this way we abuse that śāstra, it will not make the Holy Name happy and it is offensive. We must avoid this fourth offence.

Śrīpād Sāgar Mahārāj:
The glories of the Name—all the scriptures’ exaltation;
Dare not think their praise to be exaggeration.
Agastya, Ananta, Brahmā, Śiva, etc., ever
Sing the glories of that Name with full-hearted fervour.
Who can cross the ocean of the glories of that Name?
Whoever says ‘exaggeration’ have their sin to blame. (5)

For example, it’s mentioned somewhere that if one chants the Holy Name only once, one cannot commit as many sins, that by only chanting one Name all those sins can be purified. Someone will say, “Oh, that’s too much.” But only if that Name is chanted purely, without offence. This is the power of that Name because the Name is himself Kṛṣṇa; He is called Nāma Prabhu.

Also, there is no exaggeration when all the glories of the Name have been sung by the scriptures. Not only sung in the scriptures, but sung by whom? Agastya Muni, Anantadev who is supporting all the universes with unlimited heads and who has unlimited mouths, and with unlimited mouths he is always singing the unlimited glories of the Name. But he also says, I cannot find the end of the glories of that Name. Then were would be the question of exaggeration?

And Lord Brahmā the local creator of the universe, four-headed Brahmā, five-headed Lord Śiva who is also considered the most exalted of the Vaiṣṇavas amongst the gods, they are also singing the glories of that Name with all their heart. Then how would we very insignificant souls ever consider that the glories of that Name were exaggeration. If so that would be an offence to the Name and we will not get the result of our chanting.

Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj: Yes, it is clear.

Śrīpād Sāgar Mahārāj:
The Holy Names of Kṛṣṇa, eternal wealth of Goloka:
Who thinks those Names imaginary, mundane—he’s offender. (6)

Śrīla Narottam Dās Ṭhākur prayed, “Golokera prema dhana harināma saṅkīrttan rati nā janmilo kene tāy, – This gift is coming down from Goloka Vṛndāvan with no price, and also there is no price with which yo can purchase this gift. Priceless yet it is given free. But why did I not get love for that Name, that is coming down from Goloka?”

If I do not have faith in that Name, then how will I get the benefit of that Name? And to think it is imaginary. That the scriptures, the teachers, the Lord Mahāprabhu Chaitanyadev Himself, they chanted and they gave that gift to the world. And the Lord he came in the form of his own devotee as Śrī Chaitanyadev and he said, “durdaivam īdṛśam ihājani nānurāgaḥ, – I do not have love for that Name, I think it is because of my offences.”

So, offence is the only obstacle to that love divine which is the gift of the Holy Name. If we have no faith or lack in our faith then we shall try to nourish our faith by the association of the pure Vaiṣṇavas, the pure devotees. If we think it is imaginary, or it is a fashion or a style, or a business or anything except that gift coming down from the spiritual world it will be an offence and we will not get the result, that is prema.

All scriptures claim the Name all sin it can destroy,
But those who spend their time in sin making it a ploy—
Such a wicked attitude is that of an offender
Deceived by illusion, perpetually to suffer. (7)

The Name will destroy all sin. Then if I sin and after that sin I will again chant and think, ‘Now I am pure’. Again I will commit sin, again I will chant… It is considered like an elephant taking bath in the river and then again rolling in the dust. The elephant’s method of drying itself is dust, but he wanted to take bath to remove the dust. So if we chant the Name to remove the dust of our sin, but again by our addiction by our habit or by our wrong association we sin again, that will be an offence. Birth after birth we were living in a sinful life, so again we will sin, and again we will bathe in the Ganges of the Holy Name. That will be to use the Name as our servant and not to realise that we are a servant of the Lord and we are a servant of the Name. It is an offence.

Incomparable Name of Kṛṣṇa the treasure of ecstasy:
Never dare compare it with auspicious piety. (8)

That is religiousity, vows, sacrifices, good works in the world – if we say chanting the Name is on the same level as all these things, that will be an offence, because the Name comes from Goloka. It is beyond what is bad in this world and what is good as well. And if we equate it with the bad or the good of this world, both will be an offence. Still, we are advised by Gurudev to try to lead a pious life. We will not sin as we have in our previous birth, we will avoid sin. At our present stage that will help us to always have our full regard, faith and affectionate devotion to the Name. It will help us to avoid the wrong association and offensive mentality to the Name. Therefore, we should not think that the Name can be compared with anything in this world, whether bad or good. Even a fire ceremony. Although, there are many mantra chanted there and there the atmosphere is purified, that was only possible in another age. In this Kali-yuga the Name shines above all other systems of service, of worship, of devotional activity.

Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj: Fire sacrifices and many other things that we can do properly in other ages, we cannot do these things properly in this age of Kali-yuga. Sometimes we are doing fire sacrifices etc. and we are even doing archan (worship of the deity) and everywhere we are chanting this mantram,

jaḍa saṅga kriyā karma jana tava prajānata
purṇaṁ bhavatu tat sarvam śrī harer nāma kīrtanāt

“What I have done in this fire ceremony through these ingredients and mantra, I feel it’s not fully happened. If it is so, then I am now chanting the Holy Name of the Lord and everything will get fulfillment through this chanting.” We are making it all proper through the chanting. Then we are chanting Śrī Hari-Śrī Hari-Śrī Hari, or Śrī Kṛṣṇa Chaitanya, or the name of Lord Kṛṣṇa, Mādhava-Mādhava etc.

Śrīpād Sāgar Mahārāj:
Those who’re faithless t’ward the Name deceived by Providence:
Giving them the Holy Name surely’s an offence. (9)

The Holy Name should not be distributed, or the glories of the Name will not be preached, to those who have no faith in the Name, because their offence will increase. There is a saying, “If you give milk to a snake, it only will increase his poison.” So if a person has no faith in the Name, the spiritual master will not give them the Name…

Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj: …And if the spiritual master will give them the Name then that is also offensive. So we are not insisting to anyone to take the Name. We are glorifying our Lord’s Name and if anyone is attracted to that, then they can submit, they can surrender. Then their sincerity and faith and searching tendency will give them some quality and property to take the Name.

Śrīpād Sāgar Mahārāj:
Despite them hearing the infinite glories of Kṛṣṇa’s Name,
Those whose hearts don’t melt in love are rascals of ill fame;
Only pride and avarice their thoughts and deeds do yield—
The Pure Name of Kṛṣṇa to them is ne’er revealed. (10)

‘Ne’er’ meaning ‘never’ revealed.

Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj: Then another one you can say, it is clear.
Śrīpād Sāgar Mahārāj: If I can say Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj has always taught us and is always teaching us that if we want to chant the Name we must do so with humility, tolerance and giving honour to others. And if we will not do that then this will be that offence.

Casting off these ten offences, leaving no exception,
Those pure souls who chant the Name in Holy Congregation—
The miracle of love for Kṛṣṇa they will surely savour,
The Name Divine Himself will shine within their hearts forever.

ei daśa aparādha kariyā varjjana
ye sujana kare harināma saṅkīrttana
apūrva śrī-kṛṣṇa-prema labhya tāre haya
nāma-prabhu tāra hṛde nitya vilasaya

Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj: Jay Oṁ Viṣṇupād Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣak Śrīdhar Dev-Goswāmī Mahārāj ki jay!
Śrīpād Sāgar Mahārāj: Jay Oṁ Viṣṇupād Śrīla Bhakti Sundar Govina Dev-Goswāmī Mahārāj ki jay!

Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj: These are the ten kinds of offences given summarily. You will get some idea from these discourses and avoid them.