Nāma-Mahimā
Nāma-Mahimā, simply known as Nama Mahima, Sanskrit: नाम-महिमा, Telugu: నామ మహిమ, Hindi: नाम-महिमा.
Nāma-Mahimā means “the glory of the name”. It is the teaching on the supreme power and glory of Bhagavān Vishṇu’s name (nāma). The sixth skandha (book) of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa sets it out through the Ajāmila Upākhyāna, the story of Ajāmila.
It teaches that saying Bhagavān Vishṇu’s name destroys all the pāpa (wrongdoing) a person has gathered, and purifies the antaḥkaraṇa (the inner mind and heart). This is true even when the name is said by accident, as a joke, in a song, in mockery, while stumbling, or without any intention of devotion. It is the supreme prāyaścitta (act of atonement), greater than all tapas, dāna (giving), vrata (sacred vows) and remedies based on karma. This teaching is also the basis of the teaching of the Dvādaśa Mahājanas (the twelve great authorities), given by Yama Dharmarāja himself.
The Question That Opened the Teaching
Parīkshit Mahārāja put a basic question to Śuka Maharshi. A person knows what pāpa is, yet cannot control the mind, and so commits the same wrong again even after doing prāyaścitta, just as an elephant bathes and then at once covers itself in dust. He concluded that prāyaścitta based on karma cannot root out adharma (wrong living), since the antaḥkaraṇa stays impure. Śuka Maharshi gave the story of Ajāmila as the final answer.
The Core Teaching: The Name Is the Supreme Prāyaścitta
The Vishṇudūtas (messengers of Vishṇu), in their debate with the Yamadūtas (messengers of Yama), set out the teaching of Nāma-Mahimā.
Saying the name in any setting destroys pāpa: Hari’s name may be said on purpose, in bhakti. It may be said while calling someone who has that name, or as a filler word in a song, or in mockery. It may be said by accident while in pain: when stumbling, when bitten by a creature, when burnt by heat, or when struck by a stick. In every case the name destroys all pāpa, and the one who says it can no longer be sent to naraka.
The name is greater than all other prāyaścittas: The śāstra (scripture) lays down great prāyaścittas for great wrongs and smaller ones for smaller wrongs. These may remove the karmic trace of the act itself. But they do not purify the antaḥkaraṇa, the deep vāsanā (tendency) that leads the person back to adharma. Kīrtana of Hari’s name purifies the antaḥkaraṇa itself, so that the mind does not go back to adharma. This is why the name is clearly greater than every other kind of prāyaścitta.
The name works by its own power: A strong medicine heals the patient even if he takes it without knowing. In the same way, Hari’s name works by its own power (nāma-śakti), whatever the intention, knowledge or devotion of the one who says it. The name is one with Bhagavān Vishṇu, and its power is Bhagavān Vishṇu’s own power.
Even the pāpa of the five mahāpātakas (gravest wrongs) is destroyed: Stealing gold, drinking liquor, killing a brāhmaṇa, desiring one’s teacher’s wife, betraying a friend, and killing a woman, a king, a mother, a father or a cow: all these and more are destroyed by saying Vishṇu’s name.
The Example: Ajāmila
Ajāmila was a brāhmaṇa of Kānyakubja who spent eighty-eight years in adharma. He kept up the household of a dāsī (servant woman) by force, gambling, theft and deceit. At the moment of death he called out “Nārāyaṇa”, but he was really calling his youngest son, who had that name. This unintended saying of Hari’s four-syllable name was enough. The Vishṇudūtas came and stopped the Yamadūtas from taking him to naraka. Afterward he went to Haridvāra, practised yoga-sādhanā (spiritual practice), and reached Vaikuṇṭha.
Yama’s Teaching: The Dvādaśa Mahājanas
After the Yamadūtas told Yama Dharmarāja what had happened, Yama himself explained the secret of dharma. He said the supreme truth of Bhagavān Vishṇu is the most secret of all, and most do not know it. It is known only to the twelve great ones (dvādaśa mahājanas), who are the authorities on the highest dharma:
- Brahmā (Svāyambhuva)
- Nārada
- Śiva
- Sanatkumāra
- Kapila Bhagavān
- Svāyambhuva Manu
- Prahlāda
- Janaka
- Bhīshma
- Bali
- Śuka (son of Vyāsa)
- Yama himself
Yama then told his messengers never to go near the devotees of Vishṇu, those who keep Bhagavān Vishṇu’s name on their tongue through kīrtana (singing), smaraṇa (remembering) and śravaṇa (hearing). For Bhagavān Vishṇu is the antaryāmī (inner guide) of all beings, and even Yama works within his order.
The Ranking of Prāyaścittas
The Vishṇudūtas explain that bhakti to Bhagavān Vishṇu is the sanmata, the path of the sat-purushas (the good), and the highest refuge. Prāyaścitta based on the path of karma belongs to pravṛtti-dharma (the dharma of worldly action). Both are shown in the story: the Yamadūtas stood for pravṛtti-dharma, and the Vishṇudūtas stood for viśuddha bhāgavata-dharma (the pure dharma of devotion to Bhagavān Vishṇu). Ajāmila heard both. Hearing the glory of Hari at once gave rise to bhakti in him, and this led to his liberation. This order, from śravaṇa (hearing) to bhakti, to antaḥkaraṇa-śuddhi (purity of heart), to liberation, is itself a short teaching on the whole path.
Sources
- Bhāgavata Purāṇa, 6th Skandha, Chapter 1
- Bhāgavata Purāṇa, 6th Skandha, Chapters 1–2
- Bhāgavata Purāṇa, 6th Skandha, Chapter 2
- Bhāgavata Purāṇa, 6th Skandha, Chapter 3