The holy name of Krishna, empowered by the spiritual master, liberates souls and qualifies devoted disciples to preach worldwide.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta Dictation — October 21, 1968, Los Angeles 681021DT-LOS ANGELES [28:46 Minutes] Prabhupāda:. Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, first Canto..] [indistinct] chapter, purport of verses numbers 72 to 74 continued The importance of chanting, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare, Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare Is given in many Vedic literatures especially in Nārada Pañcarātra it is said there, "all the three Vedas along with 16 supplementary notes all obtained can be included in the eight alphabet namely: Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa. Similarly in the Kali-santarana Upaniṣad. K, A, L, I, S, A, N, T, A, R, A, N, U, P, A, N, I, S, A, D. In the Kali-santarana Upaniṣad also it is said that these 16 words can only deliver all conditioned soul from the clutches of māyā in this age of Kali. And it is also remarked there in that there is no better means of being liberated in this age.
That is the version of all the Vedas. Similarly Madhvācārya has quoted from Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad in his commentary that in the Dvāpara-yuga Lord Viṣṇu can be worshipped by the method of pañcarātra. While in the age of Kali simply by chanting the holy name of the Lord He can be worshipped. Next paragraph. Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī in his thesis Bhakti-sandarbha, text number 284, has elaborately discussed about the importance of kṛṣṇa-mantra and holy name of Kṛṣṇa as follows; he says, within quotation, that: "all the mantras are indication of the holy name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The specific significance of each and every mantra is that whenever there is some mantra the prefix is namaḥ, na, m a h.
This namaḥ indicates that one surrenders unto the holy name of the Lord. Namaḥ means surrender. By the supreme will of the Lord all the mantras chanted by great sages like Nārada and others has potentially a specific spiritual power. As such as soon as such mantra is vibrated by the devotee immediately the spiritual relationship of the conditioned soul with the Supreme Personality of Godhead is evoked. Because in each and every mantra the specific potency of the Lord is infested therefore simply by chanting a mantra one can rise up to the highest perfectional stage of spiritual life. Somebody may argue that if the holy name of the Lord, or the mahā-mantra, is so much powerful, then why there is necessity of formal initiation and other ritualistic function. So in answer to this question, Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmīhas concluded that although a person who is chanting without any offense the holy name of the Lord does not require to be initiated separately.
But still because the conditioned soul is presently situated within this contaminated body. It is sometimes found that he is addicted to some undesirable bad habits. As such in order to purify from such bad habits, great ṛṣis like Nārada and other sages they have recommended in their books to chant gāyatrī-mantra and bīja-mantra. Although factually, by chanting the holy name of Kṛṣṇa everything is completed. In other words the both the processes should be followed side by side.
But if the initiation mantra cannot be followed circumstantially, simply by chanting the holy name of the Lord offenselessly, one can achieve the highest perfection. Exerpt. There is necessity of mantra perfection in order to subdue the propensity of the conditioned soul for material enjoyment. The word namaḥ, n, a, m, a, h, can be explained as follows: na, means false ego and mah means which nullifies. That means by practice of mantra one becomes able gradually to rise up transcendentally from his false egotism.
False egotism means accepting this body as self and in relationship to the body to accept this material world as very important. This is false egotism. By perfection of chanting mantra one is able to rise up on the transcendental platform without any false identification with the material world. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, he has recommended that the mantra can be chanted by the liberated soul, aye muktakulai rūpasya manam. A, y, e, m u, k, t a, k u, l a, i, .. muktakulai rūpasya.. r u, p a, s y a, m, a, n, a, m. He has addressed the holy name of the Lord, Hare Kṛṣṇa in that way. Text number 76. Explanation that meditation is possible in the Satya-yuga but in this age of Kali it is not possible.
Therefore the only procedure for getting salvation is to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. Similarly in the Tretā-yuga the worship of the Lord is performed by executing different types of sacrifices as they are mentioned in the Vedic ritualistic portion. That in this age of Kali that is not possible. Therefore it is stressed that one should simply chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. In Dvāpara-yuga temple worship is recommended but in this age of Kali actually people have lost all faith in going to the churches and temples.