TEXT 99
sankirtana-yajne tanre kare aradhana
sei ta' sumedha, ara-kali-hata-jana
SYNONYMS
sankirtana-yajnein the performance of congregational chanting; tanreunto Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu; karedoes; aradhanaworship; sei ta'such a person; su-medhasharply intelligent; araothers; kali-hata-janavictims of this Age of Kali.
TRANSLATION
"Anyone who worships Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu by congregational chanting should be understood to be very intelligent. One who does not do so must be considered a victim of this age and bereft of all intelligence.
PURPORT
Rascals propose that anyone can invent his own religious process, and this proposition is condemned herein. If one actually wants to become religious, he must take up the chanting of the Hare Krsna maha-mantra. The real meaning of religion is stated in Srimad-Bhagavatam (6.3.19-22).
dharmam tu saksad bhagavat-pranitam
na vai vidur rsayo napi devah
na siddha-mukhya asura manusyah
kuto nu vidyadhara-caranadayah
svayambhur naradah sambhuh
kumarah kapilo manuh
prahlado janako bhismo
balir vaiyasakir vayam
dvadasaite vijanimo
dharmam bhagavatam bhatah
guhyam visuddham durbodham
yam jnatvamrtam asnute
etavan eva loke 'smin
pumsam dharmah parah smrtah
bhakti-yogo bhagavati
tan-nama-grahanadibhih
The purport of these verses is that dharma, or religion, cannot be manufactured by a human being. Religion is the law or code of the Lord. Consequently religion cannot be manufactured even by great saintly persons, demigods or siddha-mukhyas, and what to speak of asuras, human beings, Vidyadharas, Caranas, and so on. The principles of dharma, religion, come down in the parampara system beginning with twelve personalities-namely, Lord Brahma; the great saint Narada; Lord Siva; the four Kumaras; Kapila, the son of Devahuti; Svayambhuva Manu; Prahlada Maharaja; King Janaka; grandfather Bhisma; Bali Maharaja; Sukadeva Gosvami; and Yamaraja. The principles of religion are known to these twelve personalities. Dharma refers to the religious principles by which one can understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Dharma is very confidential, uncontaminated by any material influence, and very difficult for ordinary men to understand. However, if one actually understands dharma, he immediately becomes liberated and is transferred to the kingdom of God. Bhagavata-dharma, or the principle of religion enunciated by the parampara system, is the supreme principle of religion. In other words, dharma refers to the science of bhakti-yoga, which begins by the novice's chanting the holy name of the Lord (tan-nama-grahanadibhih).
Therefore in this Age of Kali, as recommended here in the Caitanya-caritamrta (text 98), kali-kale dharma-krsna-nama-sankirtana: the chanting of the holy name of the Lord is the method of religion approved by all Vedic scriptures. In the next text of the Caitanya-caritamrta, quoted from Srimad-Bhagavatam (11.5.32), this principle is further stressed.

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