Saṅkīrtana, Sacrifice For The Present Age

Saṅkīrtana, Sacrifice For The Present Age
His Divine Grace A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu has recommended:
harer nāma harer nāma
harer nāmaiva kevalam
kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva
nāsty eva gatir anyathā
“In this age of quarrel and hypocrisy the only means of deliverance is chanting the holy name of the Lord. There is no other way. There is no other way. There is no other way.” (Bṛhan-nāradīya Purāṇa 38.126) In this Age of Kali, it is extremely difficult to perform Vedic ritualistic ceremonies or sacrifices perfectly. Hardly anyone can chant the Vedic mantras with perfect pronunciation or accumulate the paraphernalia for Vedic perfor¬mances. Therefore the sacrifice recommended in this age is saṅkīrtana, constant chanting of the holy name of the Lord. Yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair yajanti hi sumedhasaḥ (Bhāg. 11.5.29). Instead of wasting time performing Vedic sacrifices, those who are intelligent, those who possess good brain substance, should take to the chanting of the Lord’s holy name and thus perform sacrifice perfectly. I have seen that many religious leaders are addicted to performing yajṣas and spending hundreds and thousands of rupees for imperfect sacrificial performances. This is a lesson for those who unnecessarily execute such imperfect sacri¬fices. We should take the advice of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu (Yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair yajanti hi sumedhasaḥ). Although Sukracarya was a strict brāhmaṇa addicted to ritualistic activities, he also admitted, niśchidram anusaṅkīrtanaṁ tava: “My Lord, constant chanting of the holy name of Your Lordship makes everything perfect.” In Kali-yuga the Vedic ritualistic ceremonies cannot be per¬formed as perfectly as before. Therefore Srila Jiva Gosvami has recommended that although one should take care to follow all the principles in ev¬ery kind of spiritual activity, especially in worship of the Deity, there is still a chance of discrepancies, and one should compensate for this by chanting the holy name of the Supreme Personality of God¬head. In our Krishna consciousness movement we therefore give special stress to the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra in all activities.
– Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (Bhāgavata Purāṇa) > Canto 8: Withdrawal of the Cosmic Creation > Chapter 23: The Demigods Regain the Heavenly Planets, Verse 16, Purport