16 Raja-vidya: The King of Knowledge

tian. These are bodily designations. We are all pure
spirit, part and parcel of the Supreme. God is
pavitram, pure, and we are also pure. Somehow or
other, however, we have fallen into this material
ocean, and as the waves toss, we suffer. Actually we
have nothing to do with the tossing waves of material
miseries. We must simply pray, “Krsna, please pick
me up.” As soon as we forget Krsna, the ocean of
illusion is there, and it at once captures us. The
chanting of Hare Krsna is most important in order to
escape from this ocean. Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna,
Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama,
Rama Rama, Hare Hare is a sound (Sabda) that is
non-different from Krsna. The sound Krsna and the
original Krsna are the same. When we chant Hare
Krsna and dance, Krsna is also dancing with us. Of
course we may say, “Well, I do not see Him,” but
why do we put so much stress on seeing? Why not
hearing? Seeing, tasting, smelling, touching, and
hearing are all instruments for experience and knowl-
edge. Why do we put such exclusive stress on seeing?
A devotee does not wish to see Krsna; he is satisfied
by simply hearing of Krsna. Seeing may eventually
be there, but hearing should not be considered any
less important. There are things which we hear but
do not see—the wind may be whistling past our
ears, and we can hear it, but there is no possibility
of seeing the wind. Since hearing is no less an impor-
tant experience or valid one than seeing, we can hear
Krsna and realize His presence through sound. Sri
Krsna Himself says, “I am not there in My abode,
or in the heart of the meditating yogi but where my
