God Is Lord Hari - The Vanquisher of Inauspiciousness
Śrīla Prabhupāda teaches that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is celebrated throughout the Vedic literatures as Lord Hari. As the ultimate goal of all spiritual practices, Lord Hari mercifully descends to rescue the conditioned souls, vanquish their material miseries, and awaken their dormant love of Godhead.
The Meaning of Hari
The holy name of the Lord holds deep philosophical significance. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that "Hari" refers to the Supreme Lord who takes away all inauspiciousness, removing the material attachments of His devotees so they can experience pure spiritual bliss.
- The word hari conveys various meanings, but the chief import of the word is that He (the Lord) vanquishes everything inauspicious and takes away the mind of the devotee by awarding pure transcendental love.
- If one connects himself with Hari, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Lord takes away all his miseries, and in the beginning the Lord also superficially appears to take away all his material possessions, reputation, education and beauty.
- When the devotee somehow or other always remembers the Supreme Personality of Godhead anywhere and everywhere, Lord Hari takes away life’s four miserable conditions.
- The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari, is always uncontaminated by the modes of material nature, He is beyond the material manifestation. He is the source of the knowledge of all the demigods, headed by Lord Brahma, and He is the witness of everything.
The Supreme Goal of Duty
Whether one is a yogī meditating in the forest or a householder performing daily tasks, the objective remains the same. Śrīla Prabhupāda emphasizes that the ultimate perfection of all occupational duties and Vedic rituals is simply to satisfy Lord Hari.
- O best among the twice-born, it is concluded that the highest perfection one can achieve, by discharging his prescribed duties (dharma) according to caste divisions and orders of life, is to please the Lord Hari.
- The demons think that Hari, Lord Visnu, exists because of the brahmanas and yajna, but factually Hari is the cause of everything including the brahmanas and yajna.
- In the Vedic literature, including the Ramayana, Puranas and Mahabharata, from the very beginning (adau) to the end (ante ca), as well as within the middle (madhye ca), only Hari, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is explained.
- The significance of meditation is described here (SB 3.21.7). Kardama Muni practiced mystic yoga meditation for ten thousand years just to please the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari.
The Deliverer of the Fallen
Out of supreme compassion, the Lord does not leave the conditioned souls to suffer in the material world. Śrīla Prabhupāda highlights how Lord Hari constantly descends in various forms to rescue His devotees and reestablish the principles of religion.
- The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari, is so kind and merciful to human society that He is always anxious to take the fallen souls back home, back to Godhead.
- Whenever the principles of religion deteriorate and the principles of irreligion increase, the supreme controller, the Personality of Godhead Sri Hari, appears by His own will.
- Thereafter, seeing Gajendra in such an aggrieved position, the unborn Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari, immediately got down from the back of Garuda by His causeless mercy and pulled the King of the elephants, along with the crocodile, out of the water.
- It is stated: harim vina mrtim na taranti. No one can save himself from the cruel hands of death without being favored by Hari, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
The Power of His Holy Name
In the current degraded age, gorgeous temple worship and severe austerities are very difficult to perform. Therefore, Śrīla Prabhupāda confirms that the most direct and effective way to satisfy Lord Hari is simply by chanting His holy name.
- In Dvapara-yuga one could satisfy Krsna or Visnu only by worshiping Him gorgeously according to the pancaratriki system, but in the Age of Kali one can satisfy and worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead Hari simply by chanting the holy name.
- However powerful the reactions of one's sins, they will immediately be vanquished if one chants the name of Hari, Krsna, Balarama or Narayana.
- Simply by chanting one holy name of Hari, a sinful man can counteract the reactions to more sins than he is able to commit.
- By once chanting the holy name of the Lord, which consists of the two syllables ha-ri, one guarantees his path to liberation - Skanda Purana.
Conclusion
To achieve the highest perfection of human life, one must surrender to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Śrīla Prabhupāda concludes that Lord Hari is the ultimate cause of all causes and the supreme object of all Vedic knowledge. By dedicating all our activities to His satisfaction and constantly chanting His holy names, we invoke His causeless mercy, allowing Him to vanquish our material illusions and safely deliver us back to the spiritual world.
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