Text 16] The Demigods and Demons Declare a Truce
221
harer nāma harer nāma harer nāmaiva kevalam kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva nāsty eva gatir anyathā
“In this age of quarrel and hypocrisy the only means of deliverance is chanting the holy name of the Lord. There is no other way. There is no other way.” In His  Śikṣāṣṭaka , Lord Caitanya says,  paraṁ vijayete śrī-kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtanam:  “All glories to the chanting of  śrī-kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtana! ” The  mahā-mantra —Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare—is directly chanted by the Lord Himself, who gives us this  mantra  for deliverance.
We cannot invent any means to be delivered from the dangers of material existence. Here, even the demigods, such as Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva, and the  prajāpatis , such as Dakṣa, are said to be like illuminating sparks in the presence of the Supreme Lord, who is compared to a great fire. Sparks are beautiful as long as they are in the fire. Similarly, we have to remain in the association of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and always engage in devotional service, for then we shall always be brilliant and illuminating. As soon as we fall from the service of the Lord, our brilliance and illumination will immediately be extinguished, or at least stopped for some time. When we living entities, who are like sparks of the original fire, the Supreme Lord, fall into a material condition, we must take the  mantra  from the Supreme Personality of Godhead as it is offered by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. By chanting this Hare Kṛṣṇa  mantra , we shall be delivered from all the difficulties of this material world.
TEXT 16
श्रीशुक उवाच
एवं विरिञ्चादिभिरीडितस्तद्
विज्ञाय तेषां हृदयं यथैव ।
जगाद जीमूतगभीरया गिरा
बद्धाञ्जलीन्संवृतसर्वकारकान्
॥१६॥