Holy Name and Krishna are not different

There is no difference between the Holy Name of the Supreme Lord and the Supreme Lord Himself, Because the Lord is on the Absolute platform, there is no difference between His Name and Himself, There are different Names of the Supreme Lord, such as Paramatma, the Supersoul, Brahman the Supreme Absolute, Shristikarta the Creator, Narayan the Transcendental Lord, Rukminiraman the husband of Rukmini, Gopinath the Enjoyer of the Gopis, and Krishna. The Lord has different Names, and they have different purposes. When one understands the Supreme Lord as the Creator, He is different from the aspect of the Lord as Narayan. Some of the Names of the Lord as the Creator are the conception of the materialistic men. One cannot fully realize the essence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead by understanding the name of the Creator, because this material creation is the function of the external energy of the Supreme Lord. Such a conception of God includes only the external feature of the Supreme Lord.    (More...)

Lord Caitanya instructed the mass of people in the sahkhya philosophy of acintya-bhedabheda-tattva, which maintains that the Supreme Lord is simultaneously one with and different from His creation. Lord Caitanya taught this philosophy through the chanting of the holy name of the Lord. He taught that the holy name of the Lord is the sound incarnation of the Lord and that since the Lord is the absolute whole, there is no difference between His holy name and His transcendental form. Thus by chanting the holy name of the Lord one can directly associate with the Supreme Lord by sound vibration. As one practices this sound vibration, he passes through three stages of development: the offensive stage, the clearing stage and the transcendental stage. In the offensive stage one may desire all kinds of material happiness, but in the second stage one becomes clear of all material contamination. When one is situated on the transcendental stage, he attains the most coveted position-the stage of loving God. Lord Caitanya taught that this is the highest stage of perfection for human beings.    (More...)