Text 7] Activities of Kapila 1425

TRANSLATION

Oh how glorious are they whose tongues are chanting Your holy name!
Even if born in the families of dog-eaters, such persons are worshipable.
Persons who chant the holy name of Your Lordship must have executed
all kinds of austerities and fire sacrifices and achieved all the good manners
of the Aryans. To be chanting the holy name of Your Lordship, they
must have bathed at holy places of pilgrimage, studied the Vedas and
fulfilled everything required.

PURPORT

As it is stated in the previous verse, a person who has once offenselessly
chanted the holy name of God becomes immediately eligible to perform
Vedic sacrifices. One should not be astonished by this statement of
Srimad-Bhagavatam. One should not disbelieve or think, “How by chanting
the holy name of the Lord can one become a holy man to be compared
with the most elevated brahmana?”’ To eradicate such doubts in the
minds of unbelievers, this verse affirms that the stage of chanting of the
holy name of the Lord is not sudden, but that the chanters have already
performed all kinds of Vedic rituals and sacrifices. It is not very astound-
ing because no one in this life can chant the holy name of the Lord
unless he has passed all lower stages, such as performing the Vedic
ritualistic sacrifices, studying the Vedas and practicing good behavior like
that of the Aryans. All this must first have been done. Just as a student
in a law class is to be understood to have already graduated from general
education, so anyone who is engaged in the chanting of the holy name of
the Lord, Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama,
Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, must have already passed all lower
stages. It is said that those who simply chant the holy name with the tip of
the tongue are glorious. One does not even have to chant the holy name
and understand the whole procedure, namely the offensive stage, offense-
less stage and pure stage; if the holy name is sounded on the tip of the
tongue, that is also sufficient. It is said herein that nama, a singular
number, one name, Krsna or Rama, is sufficient. It is not that one has to
chant all the holy names of the Lord. The holy names of the Lord are
innumerable, and one does not have to chant all the names to prove that
he has already undergone all the processes of Vedic ritualistic ceremonies.
If one chants once only, it is to be understood that he has already passed
all the examinations, not to speak of those who are chanting always,
