Verse 1.16.278

Bengali text, Devanagari and Unicode transliteration of verse 1.16.278:

“শুন, বিপ্র! সকৃত্ শুনিলে কৃষ্ণ-নাম পশু, পক্ষী, কীট যায শ্রী-বৈকুণ্ঠ-ধাম ॥ ২৭৮ ॥

“शुन, विप्र! सकृत् शुनिले कृष्ण-नाम पशु, पक्षी, कीट याय श्री-वैकुण्ठ-धाम ॥ २७८ ॥

“śuna, vipra! sakṛt śunile kṛṣṇa-nāma paśu, pakṣī, kīṭa yāya śrī-vaikuṇṭha-dhāma || 278 ||

“suna, vipra! sakrt sunile krsna-nama pasu, paksi, kita yaya sri-vaikuntha-dhama (278)

English translation:

(278) “Listen, dear brāhmaṇa. If even animals, birds, or insects hear the

holy names from the mouth of a pure devotee, they will go to Vaikuṇṭha.

Commentary: Gauḍīya-bhāṣya by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura:

“O brāhmaṇa, when the transcendental sound of Kṛṣṇa’s holy names emanates from the mouths of sadhus, bhaktas, or Vaiṣṇavas and enters the ear holes of any living entity interested in serving the Lord, then that sound vibration certainly frees him from the bondage of māyā. The transcendental sound vibration removes the living entities’ propensity for enjoyment and awakens their propensity for service to the Supreme Lord. Since unlike those of conditioned souls in the material sky, there is no ignorance or material enjoyment in the devotees’ tongues, which are abodes of Vaikuṇṭha, and since the transcendental holy names are full manifestations of advaya-jñāna, or the transcendental reality, devotees do not become entangled in material enjoyment while chanting. Therefore if a living entity chants the transcendental name of the Lord, he becomes jīvan-mukta, liberated even in this life. In order to become liberated from the bondage of material existence, a conditioned soul should accept mercy from a liberated soul by accepting mantra-dīkṣa, or initiation.

When one has perfected his chanting, he becomes qualified to loudly chant the holy names. He then becomes extremely distressed on seeing the conditioned souls’ anarthas born of prajalpa and mundane words that gratify the mind, both of which are unrelated to Kṛṣṇa; as a jagad-guru, he removes their propensities for mundane enjoyment and sends them to the kingdom of Vaikuṇṭha. Ordinary foolish people think, “The śāstric statement that just by once chanting or hearing the transcendental name of the Lord one is certain to go back to Vaikuṇṭha is simply an exaggeration.” But actually the extraordinary influence of the transcendental name is not under the jurisdiction of the most tiny brains of such illusioned materialists who want to measure everything with their blunt material senses. If one considers the transcendental name to be in the category of material objects, then his enjoyment prone evil

propensities do not allow him to understand the extraordinary, transcendental, spiritual name that is not perceivable to material senses. That is why the absence of faith in the Vedas or in Vaiṣṇava literatures in pursuance of the Vedas is proof of a living entity’s misfortune.