8. Chanting Versus Other Spiritual Practises ( Other than Yajna , Yoga , and Austerity ) : In this age , worship of salagrama-sila is not as important as chanting the holy name : It has been a custom since time imemorial that a person born in a brahmana family must worship the salagrama-sila in all circumstances. In our Krsna consciousness society , some of the members are very anxious to introduce the salagrama-sila , but we have purposely refrained from introducing it because most of the members of the Krsna consciousness movement do not originally come from the families of brahmana caste. After some time , when we find that they are actually situated strictly in the line of brahminical behaviour , this salagrama-sila will be introduced. In this age , the worship of salagrama-sila is not as the chanting of the holy name of the Lord. That is the injunction of the sastra : Harer nama Harer nama harer nama iva kevalam kalau nasty eva nasty eva nasty eva gatir anyatha [ adi 17.21 ] Srila Jiva Goswamis opinion is that by chanting the holy name offencelessly one becomes completely perfect. Neverthless , just to purify the situation of the mind , worship of the Deity in the temple is also necessary. Therefore when one is advanced in spiritual consciousness or is perfectly situated on a spiritual platform , he may take to the worship of salagrama-sila. Sri Caitanya Caritamrita Adi Lila 13.86
Posted on: Sat, 15 Mar 2014 03:30:55 +0000