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TEXT 186
yan-namadheya-sravananukirtanad
yat-prahvanad yat-smaranad api kvacit
svado 'pi sadyah savanaya kalpate
kutah punas te bhagavan nu darsanat
SYNONYMS
yatof whom; namadheyaof the name; sravanafrom hearing; anukirtanatand thereafter from chanting; yatto whom; prahvanatfrom offering respects; yatof whom; smaranatfrom simply remembering; apialso; kvacitsometimes; svadaha dog-eater; apieven; sadyahimmediately; savanayafor performing Vedic sacrifices; kalpatebecomes eligible; kutahwhat to speak; punahagain; teof You; bhagavanO Supreme Personality of Godhead; nucertainly; darsanatfrom seeing.
TRANSLATION
" 'To say nothing of the spiritual advancement of persons who see the Supreme Person face to face, even a person born in a family of dog-eaters becomes immediately eligible to perform Vedic sacrifices if he once utters the holy name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, or chants about Him, hears about His pastimes, offers Him obeisances or even remembers Him.' "
PURPORT
This is a quotation from Srimad-Bhagavatam (3.33.6). According to this verse, it doesn't matter what position a person holds. One may be the lowest of the low-a candala, or dog-eater-but if he takes to chanting and hearing the holy name of the Lord, he is immediately eligible to perform Vedic sacrifices. This is especially true in this Age of Kali.
harer nama harer nama
harer namaiva kevalam kalau nasty eva nasty eva nasty eva gatir anyatha A person born in a brahmana family cannot perform Vedic sacrifices until he is properly purified and has attained his sacred thread. However, according to this verse, it is understood that even a lowborn person can immediately perform sacrifices if he sincerely chants and hears the holy name of the Lord. Sometimes envious people ask how Europeans and Americans in this Krsna consciousness movement can become brahmanas and perform sacrifices. They do not know that the Europeans and Americans have already been purified by chanting the holy name of the Lord-Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. This is the proof. Svado 'pi sadyah savanaya kalpate. One may be born in a family of dog-eaters, but he can perform sacrifices simply by chanting the maha-mantra.
Those who find fault in the Western Vaisnavas should consider this statement from Srimad-Bhagavatam and the commentary on this verse by Srila Jiva Gosvami. In this regard, Srila Jiva Gosvami has stated that to become a brahmana, one has to wait for purification and undergo the sacred thread ceremony, but a chanter of the holy name does not have to wait for the sacred thread ceremony. We do not allow devotees to perform sacrifices until they are properly initiated in the sacred thread ceremony. Yet according to this verse, an offenseless chanter of the holy name is already fit to perform a fire ceremony, even though he is not doubly initiated by the sacred thread ceremony. This is the verdict given by Lord Kapiladeva in His instructions to His mother, Devahuti. It was Lord Kapiladeva who instructed Devahuti in pure Sankhya philosophy.
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