Offences to the Name

All Glories to HDG Srila Bhakti Promode Puri Goswami Maharaj

All Glories  to HDG Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati  Prabhupada

The name is transcendental. The conditioned soul by  favorable cultivation of service mood to the Lord results  in the syllables of the name attaining its original divine quality. Hence the name  although apparently consisting of material syllables is the expansion of the original transcendental name and non -different from the Supreme Lord. As stated n Bhagavat  Sandharbha: The living entity on chanting the holy name  in the mood of enjoying then at that time the divine name does not  become awakened  rather by some material relish only material syllables are invoked.. This type of ascension by chanting  from material syllables to spiritual will be unsuccessful. The chanting done  by  a dedicated devotee of the Lord is that the  the power of his chanting is by invoking  the descent of the divine name while a materialistic devotee attempts by chanting to ascend to the divine  holy name and although both  appearing apparently similar yet this latter is called offence to the holy name. There are ten offenses to the chanting of the Holy Name. The first offence is to blaspheme the saintly devotees. It is from the unalloyed devotees of the Lord that one comes to know the glory of the name as nondifferent from the Supreme Lord. It is these saintly devotees that gifts one the knowledge regarding the holy name. It is these very  devotees that demonstrate the transcendental form of  of the name and therefore to criticize them would mean one becomes bereft of  fruits of chanting the name. One has to take shelter of these saintly devotees and chant the name  after hearing the pure chanting from their mouths. Otherwise, to consider a  a non- devotee as a devotee and by his influence one may be implicated by that  very first offense hence in not rejecting such bad association ,one may become entangled in serious offenses to the name. To assume white lime is yoghurt and drink the same would mean one will have to suffer. In short, one has to take the association of an unalloyed devotee of Krishna  while rejecting the association of non devotees .At the same time with a favorable  service mood ,one should strive to chant the holy name. To consider Lord Siva as independent of the Supreme Lord is the second offence. Only the Supreme Lord is independent while all the rest of the  demigods are His servants  and dependent on Him. In that regard ,there is no necessity  at all of worshipping any other demigod independently. By simply pouring water on the root of a tree that will make the whole  plant healthy .The worship of demigods factually implies that one does not have sufficient faith in the Supreme Lord. The Srutis and Smrtis univocally declare that the most Superior worship is that of the Supreme Lord. To hear and chant the  name of the  Lord without having faith in  Him as non different from the name in that regard is offensive. The form of Siva is part of the form ,qualities and pastimes of the Lord ,Just as the rays of the sun are emanating from the sun so to consider  complete difference would be tantamount to offence. The third offence is to think of the holy preceptor  as ordinary. The spiritual master  is engaged in the service of the Lord and reservoir of all good qualities but to think him as ordinary human would be offensive. Again to regard one who is not on the platform of a  guru as a guru is equally offensive as the blind will only  lead the  blind followers to their doom. To fathom one who is not a guru as a guru is equally offensive. avaishnavaupedistena mantrena nirayena vrajet

In parts of the Sruti Scriptures, there is glorification of the  name but to ignore this section and to validate  and honor simply other parts of the same scripture regarding the chanting of the name  would mean one becomes implicated by offense to the name. The fifth offense is to consider all the glories that are mentioned of the name are just exaggerated  in order to attract the aspirant to the right path of religiousness .Then there is the materialistic  devotee who does not believe that increased chanting of the name will bear any fruit, all such aspirants are offenders. We have heard how Mahaprabhu jumped in the Ganga with his disciples after hearing such offensive speculation of the holy name hence giving instruction how to deal with those who indulge in such offenses to the name by giving up their association altogether. The sixth offense is to consider glories of  the holy name as imagination just as the mayavadis consider the Supreme Lord as without form and qualities also they equate the transcendental eternal name  with temporary material names . The ritualistic fruitive workers consider the fruits of work as more powerful in comparison to the efficacy of the  Lord's name. Both the above two classes of people are actually bewildered by the material energy of Vishnu and are offenders to the holy name. One has to renounce such association and with hearing the pure name chanted by the pure devotees take to the shelter of the name.

The seventh offense is to  commit offenses with the chanting of the holy name. If one were to think :it is true that by the chanting of one single  name, one can vanquish million of sins so let me continue in my sinful activities as after all one single name is able to neutralize all these innumerable sins. Nevertheless this type of thinking does not show the proper mood of divine service to the name .The fact remains that name is useful for destroying  one's addiction to sin and increasing pious activities. The eight offense is to consider the name as equivalent to  charity ,sacrifices, renunciation, taking vows and other  such pious activities .The fact remains that all these above  activities are related to  accumulating pious activities in   the material world .But mostly these are  related  to our own personal motivated sense gratification in contrast  the chanting of the  holy name is the actual service of the Supreme Lord. The ninth offence is to preach to the faithless .To instruct a novice devotee whose faith is still wanting about the glories of the name  is not wrong. Otherwise to instruct one who has no belief whatsoever and on top of it very argumentative  in character is definitely an offense. The tenth offense to the holy name is to think of oneself as his body  and to be attached to wife ,children , house and belongings with the sense of me and mine. At that time because of the lack of connecting knowledge the name does not sprout in him. Before chanting  of the name he should  first inquire from his guru about  the nature of the living  entity and his actual connection with the Supreme lord. Prior  to this enquiry because of his attachment to his body, hearing of the transcendental nature of the name  did not give him  much relish .All that previous chanting was simply to get fame and prestige and  up to pinnacle of liberation. So one does not attain the goal of chanting  which is devotion to the Supreme Lord. Hence for millions of births, if one  were to persist in such chanting he will never be able to get love of God. Only the name chanted free from all these ten offenses can be  called the pure name. This pure name is manifest to the external world when one  attains  the proper service mood to Supreme Lord. The pure name is independent of perfect intonation of the syllables nor is there consideration of such impediments to perfect chanting .The verse in Padma Purana is the evidence of this: namaekayasya vachi smaranapatah srotamulam gatam va suddhamasuddhamva vyavahitarahitam taretya shamsayam meaning: O Brahmin! even if one name of the Supreme Lord manifests on the tongue of the chanter or in his remembrance or if it has actually entered his ears it is certain that chanter can be delivered. The intonation  of the syllables whether purely or impurely chanted is of no consequence. But if there is attachment to the body, attachment to household life , desire for wealth and followers, greed or  impersonal ideals then know for certain that the chanting will not bring results quickly. There are two types of obstacles small and great. In the association of the devotees the chanting when met by small obstructions will culminate in namabhasa or clearing stage. This clearing stage can become stronger after some  period of time. But major obstructions in chanting of the name will result simply in offenses. These types of offenses are very serious 

All other  types of offences can be mitigated by chanting of the name but offences to the name are difficult to overcome. Constant chanting  of the name until the point when  one's service mood becomes awakened and at that time all the offences can be neutralized. The fact is for one who is materially orientated, to chant the name constantly is very difficult so also the personal endeavor to give up offenses to the name is equally difficult. Actually, these materialistic devotees unwittingly become implicated in  offences. Therefore, it is necessary to serve a full fledged devotee of the Lord established in divine service and only by such service  to the pure devotees will one clear one's  offences to  attain the stage  of pure devotion. In short, in order to give up all these offences one has to serve the lotus feet of the pure devotees  constantly without break until one becomes purified and able to chant the pure name.