Who can really chant the name of Bhagavān?

Q: Who can really chant the name of Bhagavān?

A: Nāma Prabhu cannot be controlled by us. We have to come under His subjugation. We have to pray ‘O Nāma Prabhu! I want to come in contact with You through service, I want to serve you.’ This is the only way to come into contact with the personality of Nāma. Otherwise it is not possible. Our senses are mundane, and we have no qualification to access that which is transcendental in nature. But the transcendent can bestow mercy by seeing our earnest desire and endeavour to serve. Only then we can come in contact with it.

ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ sevonmukhe hi jihvādau svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ

(Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya 17.136)

[Translation: ‘Therefore material senses cannot appreciate Kṛṣṇa’s holy name, form, qualities and pastimes. When a conditioned soul is awakened to Kṛṣṇa consciousness and renders service by using his tongue to chant the Lord’s holy name and taste the remnants of the Lord’s food, the tongue is purified, and one gradually comes to understand who Kṛṣṇa really is.’]

Thus Nāma Prabhu Himself manifests on the tongue of that sādhaka who has become sevonmukha. He appears to the vision of a surrendered person, for whom ‘seeing’ Bhagavān is service, not sense enjoyment. Such a person wants to come in contact for service and not for any personal gain. Only then Bhagavān will reveal Himself [form, qualities and pastimes].