Text 23
nāmoccāraṇa-māhātmyaṁ
hareḥ paśyata putrakāḥ
ajāmilo ’pi yenaiva
mṛtyu-pāśād amucyata
nāma — of the holy name; uccāraṇa — of the pronouncing; māhātmyam — the exalted position; hareḥ — of the Supreme Lord; paśyata — just see; putrakāḥ — O my dear servants, who are like my sons; ajāmilaḥ api — even Ajāmila (who was considered greatly sinful); yena — by the chanting of which; eva — certainly; mṛtyu-pāśāt — from the ropes of death; amucyata — was delivered.
My dear servants, who are as good as my sons, just see how glorious is the chanting of the holy name of the Lord. The greatly sinful Ajāmila chanted only to call his son, not knowing that he was chanting the Lord’s holy name. Nevertheless, by chanting the holy name of the Lord, he remembered Nārāyaṇa, and thus he was immediately saved from the ropes of death.
There is no need to conduct research into the significance of the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. The history of Ajāmila is sufficient proof of the power of the Lord’s holy name and the exalted position of a person who chants the holy name incessantly. Therefore Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu advised:
harer nāma harer nāma
harer nāmaiva kevalam
kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva
nāsty eva gatir anyathā
In this Age of Kali, no one can perform all the ritualistic ceremonies for becoming liberated; that is extremely difficult. Therefore all the śāstras and all the ācāryas have recommended that in this age one chant the holy name.