In Kali-yuga, chanting Krishna's holy names achieves what meditation and sacrifice accomplished in previous ages.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Prabhupāda: dvāpare bhagavān śyāmaḥ pīta-vāsā nijāyudhaḥ śrī-vatsādibhir aìkaiś ca lakṣaṇair upalakṣitaḥ [Cc Madhya 20.337] [In Dvāpara-yuga the Personality of Godhead appears in a blackish hue. He is dressed in yellow, He holds His own weapons, and He is decorated with the Kaustubha jewel and the mark of Śrīvatsa. That is how His symptoms are described.] namas te vāsudevāya namaḥ saìkarṣaṇāya ca pradyumnāyāniruddhāya tubhyaṃ bhagavate namaḥ [Cc Madhya 20.338] [I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, expanded as Vāsudeva, Saìkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna and Aniruddha.] These are some of the mantras for offering respect to Kṛṣṇa. This mantra you may particularly note down: namas te vāsudevāya namaḥ saìkarṣaṇāya ca pradyumnāyāniruddhāya tubhyaṃ bhagavate namaḥ ei mantre dvāpare kare kṛṣṇārcana 'kṛṣṇa-nāma-saìkīrtana'-kali-yugera dharma [Cc Madhya 20.339] [By this mantra, the people worship Lord Kṛṣṇa in Dvāpara-yuga. In Kali-yuga the occupational duty of the people is to chant congregationally the holy name of Kṛṣṇa.] So in the Dvāpara-yuga, this was the process, kṛṣṇārcana, worshiping Kṛṣṇa, and in the Kali-yuga, this pīta, this yellowish-colored incarnation of Kṛṣṇa, Lord Caitanya, He's to be worshiped by this saìkīrtana movement. Saìkīrtanair yajñair. This is also called sacrifice, this saìkīrtana yajña. There are different kinds of yajña.
This is called nāma-yajña, sacrifice of the holy name of the Supreme Lord. dharma pravartana kare vrajendra-nandana preme gāya nāce loka kare saìkīrtana [Cc Madhya 20.341] [Lord Kṛṣṇa, the son of Nanda Mahārāja, personally introduces the occupational duty of the Age of Kali. He personally chants and dances in ecstatic love, and thus the entire world chants congregationally.] The process is that the Lord chants and He dances Himself, and people follows similarly. Just like we are painting the picture: the Lord is dancing and everyone is following. And that following can be continued even up to date.
God is always there. It is not that Caitanya is not present here. He's always present, and, whenever there is saìkīrtana, there is this kīrtana by the devotees, sincere devotees, it is said that Lord Caitanya is there, present. Tatra tiṣṭhāmi nārada yatra gāyanti mad-bhaktāḥ [Padma Purāṇa]. [O Nārada, I am not in Vaikuṇṭha nor am I in the hearts of the yogīs. I remain where My devotees glorify My name, form, qualities and transcendental pastimes.] Śuddha-bhakta, those who are pure devotees...
Pure devotees means without any material desire. They are pure devotees. Those who are determined to go back to Godhead, to Kṛṣṇa, they are called pure devotees. They have lost all interest for any material enjoyment.
They are now determined. They are called pure devotees. So this saìkīrtana movement creates pure devotee, who gradually loses all interest in the material enjoyment. So this verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, as I've already explained to you, that is also cited here: kṛṣṇa-varṇaṃ tviṣākṛṣṇaṃ sāìgopāìgāstra-pārṣadam yajñaiḥ saìkīrtana-prāyair yajanti hi su-medhasaḥ [SB 11.5.32] [In the Age of Kali, intelligent persons perform congregational chanting to worship the incarnation of Godhead who constantly sings the names of Kṛṣṇa. Although His complexion is not blackish, He is Kṛṣṇa Himself. He is accompanied by His associates, servants, weapons and confidential companions.] That personality, incarnation of God, who is yellowish color and is accompanied by His associates, confidential associates, He is worshiped by this process of saìkīrtana in this age of Kali. āra tin-yuge dhyānādite yei phala haya kali-yuge kṛṣṇa-nāme sei phala pāya [Cc Madhya 20.343] [In the other three yugas—Satya, Tretā and Dvāpara—people perform different types of spiritual activities. Whatever results they achieve in that way, they can achieve in Kali-yuga simply by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra.] Āra tina-yuge means this is Kali-yuga, and there are..., there were other three yugas: the Satya-yuga, the Tretā-yuga, Dvāpara-yuga. There are different processes of realizing God. So Lord Caitanya says, "In other three yugas, what was achieved by meditation, by sacrifice, by temple worship, now that can be achieved in this age by saìkīrtana." Kalau... kaler doṣa-nidhe rājann asti hy eko mahān guṇaḥ kīrtanād eva kṛṣṇasya mukta-bandhaḥ paraṃ vrajet [SB 12.3.51] [My dear King, although Kali-yuga is an ocean of faults, there is still one good quality about this age: Simply by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, one can become free from material bondage and be promoted to the transcendental kingdom.] This is a śloka, verse, from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in connection with conversation with Mahārāja Parīkṣit and Śukadeva Gosvāmī, and, when the description of this Kali-yuga was given, Mahārāja Parīkṣit became very sorry that, because he was a pious king, he was thinking always of the welfare of the citizens.
So when he heard about the description of the Kali-yuga, he was very much disturbed in his mind. Although he was going to die, still he was so compassionate: "Oh, in the age of Kali, the people will suffer so much." So, when he was so sorry, so Śukadeva Gosvāmī encouraged him, "Mahārāja, don't be sorry. There is very nice process in the Kali-yuga. In the midst of so many difficulties of this age, there is one boon, and that boon is one can become liberated from this material entanglement altogether simply by chanting this Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare / Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma..." Kīrtanād eva kṛṣṇasya.
It was especially mentioned, kīrtanād eva kṛṣṇasya, simply by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, one can become... This is the greatest boon in this age. Although there are so many difficulties, full of miseries, increase in the greatest volume... The world is... Material world is miserable.