62
Śrī-Caitanya-caritāmṛta
various scriptures. In the  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  there are many references to this fact. In the Twelfth Canto it is said,  kīrtanād eva kṛṣṇasya mukta-saṅgaḥ paraṁ vrajet : In the age of Kali there are many faults, for people are subjected to many miserable conditions, yet in this age there is one great benediction—simply by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa  mantra  one can be freed from all material contamination and thus be elevated to the spiritual world. The  Nārada-pañcarātra  also praises the Hare Kṛṣṇa  mahā-mantra  as follows:
trayo vedāḥ ṣaḍ-aṅgāni 
    chandāṁsi vividhāḥ surāḥ 
    sarvam aṣṭākṣarāntaḥsthaṁ 
    yac cānyad api vāṅ-mayam 
    sarva-vedānta-sārārthaḥ 
    saṁsārārṇava-tāraṇaḥ
“The essence of all Vedic knowledge—comprehending the three kinds of Vedic activity [ karma-kāṇḍa ,  jñāna-kāṇḍa  and  upāsanā-kāṇḍa ], the  chandaḥ  or Vedic hymns, and the processes for satisfying the demigods—is included in the eight syllables Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa. This is the reality of all Vedānta. The chanting of the holy name is the only means to cross the ocean of nescience.” Similarly, the  Kalisantaraṇa Upaniṣad  states, “Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare—these sixteen names composed of thirty-two syllables are the only means to counteract the evil effects of Kali-yuga. In all the  Vedas  it is seen that to cross the ocean of nescience there is no alternative to the chanting of the holy name.” Similarly, Śrī Madhvācārya, while commenting upon the  Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad , has said:
dvāparīyair janair viṣṇuḥ 
    pañcarātraiś ca kevalam 
    kalau tu nāma-mātreṇa 
    pūjyate bhagavān hariḥ
“In the Dvāpara-yuga one could satisfy Kṛṣṇa or Viṣṇu only by worshiping Him gorgeously according to the  Pāñcarātrikī  system, but in the age of Kali one can satisfy and worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead Hari simply by chanting the holy name.” In his  Bhakti-sandarbha  (verse 284), Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī strongly emphasizes the chanting of the holy name of the Lord as follows:
nanu bhagavan-nāmātmakā eva mantrāḥ; tatra viśeṣṇa namaḥ-śabdādy-alaṅkṛtāḥ śrī-bhagavatā śrīmad-ṛṣibhiś cāhita-śakti-viśeṣāḥ, śrī-bhagavatā samam ātma-sambandha-viśeṣa-pratipādakāś ca tatra kevalāni śrī-bhagavan-nāmāny api nirapekṣāṇy eva parama-puruṣārtha-phala-paryanta-dāna-samarthāni tato mantreṣu nāmato'py adhika-sāmarthye labdhe kathāṁ dīkṣādy-apekṣā? ucyate—yady api svarūpato nāsti, tathāpi prāyaḥ svabhāvato dehādi-sambandhena kadarya-śīlānāṁ vikṣipta-cittānāṁ janānāṁ tat-saṅkocīkaraṇāya śrīmad-ṛṣi-prabhṛtibhir atrārcana-mārge kvacit kvacit kācit kācin maryādā sthāpitāsti
Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī states that the substance of all the Vedic  mantras  is the chanting of the holy name of the Lord. Every  mantra  begins with the prefix  nama om  and