True heart-cleansing through chanting dissolves the illusion of material life and liberates the soul.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 2.3.24 — June 22, 1972, Los Angeles 720622SB-LOS ANGELES [48:21 Minutes] SB-02.03.24_720622SB-LOS ANGELES Prabhupāda: [to a devotee] I have seen your article; you can see me after meeting. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Devotees: Hare Kṛṣṇa! Pradyumna: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya.
Page 163, text number 24. [leads chanting of verse] [Prabhupāda and devotees repeat] tad aśma-sāraṁ hṛdayaṁ batedaṁ yad gṛhyamāṇair hari-nāma-dheyaiḥ na vikriyetātha yadā vikāro netre jalaṁ gātra-ruheṣu harṣaḥ [SB 2.3.24] Prabhupāda: That's all. Next, anyone? [devotees chant] That's all.
Hm. Pradyumna: [leads chanting of synonyms] tat—that; aśma-sāram—is steel-framed; hṛdayam—heart; batedaṁ—certainly that; yat—which; gṛhyamāṇaiḥ—in spite of chanting; hari-nāma—the holy name of the Lord; dheyaiḥ—by concentration of the mind; na—does not; vikriyeta—change; atha—thus; yadā—when; vikāraḥ—reaction; netre—in the eyes; jalam—tears; gātra-ruheṣu—at the pores; harṣaḥ—eruptions of ecstasy. [break] [06:15] Translation: "Certainly that heart is steel-framed which, in spite of chanting the holy name of the Lord with concentration, does not change when ecstasy takes place and tears fill the eyes and hairs stand on end." Prabhupāda: So here is one word, "steel-framed." Nowadays, the medical science is changing the heart, steel-framed. So this modern science is making steel-framed hearts, but we can understand that formerly also, there was steel-framed hearts.
Otherwise how this word comes? Tad aśma-sāraṁ hṛdayaṁ batedam. So just like stone or steel does not melt very easily, similarly, anyone's heart which does not change after chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra regularly, then it is to be understood that it is steel-framed, made of stone or iron. Actually, hari-nāma—harer nāma harer nāma harer nāmaiva kevalam [Cc. Ādi 17.21]—it is especially meant for cleansing the heart. That every...
All misconception is within our heart, beginning from the wrong identification, that "I am this body." That is the beginning of all misconception. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam [Cc. Antya 20.12]. So as you go on chanting, gradually the heart will be cleansed, and you'll be able to understand that you are not this body. That is the...
That is called jñāna-vairāgya. Jñāna. Jñāna means to know thoroughly that "I am not this body." This is jñāna. And as soon as you know that you are not this body, naturally you become disinterested with anything which has got bodily relation.