Introduction 35
dental position, it is very difficult for a layman to actually know the
Personality of Godhead, Krsna, His holy name and fame, etc. His name,
fame, form and pastimes all are one and the same transcendental identity,
and they are not knowable by the exercise of the material senses.

“The transcendental relationship of the pastimes of the Lord is the
source Of still more bliss than one can experience by realization of Brahman
or by becoming one with the Supreme. Had it not been so, then those who
are already situated in the transcendental bliss of Brahman would not have
been attracted by the transcendental bliss of the pastimes of the Lord.”

After this, a great meeting was arranged by the devotees of the Lord in
which all the sannydsis were invited, including the Lord and Prakasananda
Sarasvati. In this meeting both the scholars (the Lord and Prakasananda)
had a long discourse on the spiritual values of the sankirtana movement,
and a summary is given below.

The great Mayavadi sannydsi Prakasananda inquired from the Lord as to
the reason for His preferring the sankirtana movement to the study of the
Vedanta-sittra. He said that it is the duty of a sannyasi to read the Vedanta-
sitra, What caused Him to indulge in sankirtana?

After this inquiry, the Lord submissively replied: “I have taken to the
sankirtana movement instead of the study of Vedanta because I am a great
fool.” The Lord thus represented Himself as one of the numberless fools
of this age who are absolutely incapable of studying the Vedanta philoso-
phy. The fools’ indulgence in the study of Vedanta has caused so much
havoc in society. The Lord thus continued: “And because I am a great
fool, My spiritual master forbade Me to play with Vedanta philosophy. He
said that it is better that I chant the holy name of the Lord, for that would
deliver Me from material bondage.

“In this age of Kali there is no other religion but the glorification of the
Lord by utterance of His holy name, and that is the injunction of all the
revealed scriptures. And My spiritual master has taught Me one sloka
(from the Brhan-Ndradiya Purana) which is:

harer nama harer nama harer ndmaiva kevalam
kalau nasty eva nasty eva nasty eva gatir anyatha.

“So on the order of my spiritual master, I chant the holy name of Hari,
and I am now mad after this holy name. Whenever I utter the holy name |
forget Myself completely, and sometimes I laugh, cry and dance like a
madman. I thought that I had actually gone mad by this process of
chanting, and therefore I asked My spiritual master about it. He informed
Me that this was the real effect of chanting the holy name, which
