The New Testament

Lord Jesus Christ taught His disciples to go forth and preach among all men that "The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you." (Luke, 10:9) Such preaching is also kirtana: whether one says, "Repent, the kingdom of God is at hand" or chants Hare Krsna, the message is essentially the same, for the Godhead is verbally proclaimed amongst men. When asked when the kingdom of God was coming, Christ taught that God is attained not by the mental speculative method nor by investigation of external phenomena but by spontaneous love arising from within the individual himself.

And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or lo there! For, behold, the kingdom of God is within you. (Luke, 17:20-21)

Thus God and His kingdom are most quickly attained when one's yearning is strong, when bhakti arises in the soul.

There is also stress on the holy names in the New Testament, for Christ warns His disciples: "And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved." (Mark, 13:13) Christ also emphasized the potency of the holy names: "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." (Matthew, 18:20)

In one of the most intensely mystical passages in St. John's Gospel, when Christ prays to His Father the night before the crucifixion, He asserts that the name of God is a unifying force, that He (Christ) Himself manifested the name to His disciples and that it will be God's name that will keep them as one. Christ prayed:

I have glorified Thee on the earth: I have finished the work which Thou gavest me to do. I have manifested Thy name unto the men which Thou gavest me out of the world: Thine they were, and Thou gavest them me; and they have kept Thy word. And now I am no more in the world, and I come to Thee. Holy Father, keep through Thine own name those whom Thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Thy name: those that Thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled. (John, 17:4, 6, 11-12)

Christ's disciples continued in this tradition. After being beaten and thrown in jail and shackled in Philippi in Macedonia, Paul and Silas chanted praises to God: "And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them." (Acts, 16:25) It was also St. Paul who wrote the Romans:

For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And again, Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles: and laud him, all ye people. (Romans, 10:13, 15:6, 11)

Again, St. Paul emphasized the potency of the Lord's name in an epistle to the Philippians:

Therefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice. (Philippians, 2:9-11, 4:4)

St. Paul also wrote the Thessalonians and Hebrews similar instructions (II Thessalonians, 1:12. Hebrews, 2:12). Similarly, the apostle James in an epistle used skillful means to get the people to chant: "Is any among you afflicted? Let him pray. Is any merry? Let him sing psalms." (James, 5:13)

In his apocalyptic Revelations, St. John describes a vision of universal destruction and salvation which resembles, in magnitude, Lord Krsna's display of His universal form in the Eleventh Chapter of Bhagavad-gita. St. John, in his vision, sees the Lamb (Christ) glorified amongst thousands of devotees who have God's names written on their foreheads (a Vaisnava custom). The devotees stand on a sea of glass and fire, a sea of cosmic destruction, and chant the names of God. Again it is proclaimed that all peoples will worship the Almighty God and glorify His name.

And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the Mount Zion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder; and as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth. And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are Thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are Thy ways, Thou king of saints. Who shall not fear Thee, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? For Thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before Thee; for Thy judgments are made manifest. (Revelations, 14:1-3, 15:2-4)

Thus from Moses to Revelations-the gamut of the Bible-sahkirtana is a prominent factor. The message is essentially one throughout the Bible and Caitanya (Vaisnava) philosophy: man only meets with frustration when he tries to assault the kingdom of God physically or intellectually. The Supreme Godhead is above man-is above, in fact, the heavens-and man is subordinate as an organ of the body is subordinate to the entire body. In the spiritual hierarchy that culminates with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, man's role is established as an organ of praise, and it is in praise of God that man is elevated to the spiritual platform. Actually this is not a unique role, for, as the Bible and Caitanya philosophy maintain, all creatures that breathe-and even entities that do not breathe-can join in universal acclamation of the Supreme Person. The total unity and harmony of that hymn comprise the great song of God.

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