1. "It is in śrī dhāma that śrī nāma has been deposited"

 

"...If we engage ourselves in the service of śrī dhāma then service to the desires (kāma) of Śrī Kṛṣṇa is available to us. The word dhāma can mean rays, prowess, influence, home, place, body, birth and so forth. According to truly learned savants of God, śrī dhāma should be accepted in its sense as that in which there is no malice, jealousy or evanescence, and that which is eternally self-manifested, spiritual and blissful. By adventing in śrī dhāma, Śrī Caitanyadeva has made the world conscious of its transcendence.

We had failed to realize the exaltation of śrī dhāma; we had no predilection for serving śrī dhāma and not so much faith in the worshipful deity form of Śrī Bhagavān. We remained absorbed in study, sure of our notion that we could vanquish everyone on earth through our expertise in dialectics, the splendour of our erudition, and the glory of our exemplary character. But then some holy saints, who were engaged in serving śrī dhāma, enlightened us. They told us that the very service to śrī dhāma that we had been neglecting would in fact bring us the highest welfare.

He who seeks connection with śrī dhāma finds that his attachment to grāma (domestic life) soon expires. Then his service to śrī nāma, which is the means of attaining true blessedness, soon carries him to his true goal: service to Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s kāma.

The holy name (śrī nāma) of Śrī Vaikuṇṭha (the spiritual dimension) has descended to this earth, and it is in śrī dhāma that śrī nāma has been deposited. The performance of nāma-sevā does not bestow kṛṣṇa-kāma-sevā, service to Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s desires, which is the true and ultimate objective, upon one who disconnects oneself from śrī dhāma."

- by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda

Adapted from The Gauḍīya, Volume 24, Number 12

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