Hari-nāma
Hari-nāma · hari-nāma, “the name of Hari”
Grammar: compound of hari and nāma (name).
Meaning: the name of Śrī Hari, and the japa of his names.
In the scriptures: The fruit. In the Sāvitrī Upākhyāna of the Prakṛti Khaṇḍa of the Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, one who always does japa of Śrī Hari’s name lives long, and death sees him and runs away. Those who always utter Śrī Hari’s names live happily in Vaikuṇṭha for as many yugas as the number of names they uttered. Born again, they surely gain Vishṇu-bhakti. If this is done in a puṇya-kshetra where Śrī Hari dwells, the fruit is a crore times more. One who does japa of Śrī Hari’s names a crore times in a puṇya-kshetra where Śrī Hari is becomes free of every pāpa and becomes jīvanmukta. He has no rebirth and attains sārūpya with Śrī Hari in Vaikuṇṭha (Prakṛti Khaṇḍa, Chapter 27).
Śiva’s japa. In the Goloka Varṇana of the Śrī Kṛshṇa Janma Khaṇḍa, Brahmā takes the devas and Bhūdevī to Kailāsa. There he has darśana of Śaṅkara on the bank of the Ākāśa Gaṅgā, at the root of the akshaya vaṭa, with five faces and three eyes. Śiva is doing japa with his five mouths of the name of Hari, which brings good to the world, counting on a japamālā strung with beads of lotus seed born in the Mandākinī, his body thrilled with joy. Earlier, in Brahmā’s sabhā, Bhūdevī tells of the burdens she cannot bear. One of them is those who sell for money the portions of the Veda that bring good to the world, the singing of the Sāmaveda and the most auspicious names of Hari (Śrī Kṛshṇa Janma Khaṇḍa, Chapter 4).
Related terms: Japa · Nāma · Vaikuṇṭha
Sources
- Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Prakṛti Khaṇḍa, Chapter 27; Śrī Kṛshṇa Janma Khaṇḍa, Chapter 4