The glory of Nama Japa or repetition of Divine Name

Often we come across devotees who take their Ishta Deva's or desired deity’s name either loudly or silently throughout their daily routine. For those who are not familiar with this act may ask what is the significance of this act of repetition of the Lord’s name? Or how this act will benefit the devotees in their spiritual path?
The answer to the above questions would be –
This continous chanting or repetition of Lord’s name while carrying out our daily routine is called “Nama Japa”. It calms and strengthens the mind; eradicates all kinds of evil thoughts; makes the mind introspective and forces the mind to move towards God and eventually helps to have a Darshan or glimpse of one’s Ishta Deva or God realisation.
By taking Lord Rama’s name that too reversely, Ratnakara, a rogue became Valmiki – a great sage who authored Ramayana. Tukaram, a great saint had direct darshan or glimpse of Lord Krishna by repeating simply “Vitthal, Vitthal” (another name for Lord Krishna). Such is the magical power of Nama Japa.
The Shiva Purana says –
“By taking the name of Lord Shiva only once, man can neutralize all his sins. Even he can not accumulate that much sin in his entire lifetime that can not be neutralized by taking the name of Lord Shiva only once.”
Once Saint Kabir Das’s son Kamal advised a rich merchant to repeat the name of Rama twice for  curing his leprosy. But when the merchant was not cured of the disease even after repeating the name of Rama twice, Kamal reported this incidence to his father. Saint Kabir Das was very much annoyed after hearing this and told Kamal “The repetition of the name of Rama only once is quite sufficient. Now beat the merchant severely with a stick on his head. Ask him to stand in the Ganga and repeat the name of Rama once from the bottom of his heart.” Then Kamal followed the instructions of his father and gave a good thrashing on the head of the merchant. The merchant as per Kamal’s instructions repeated the name of Rama only once with devotion, from the bottom of his heart. He was completely cured of leprosy.
Author’s note:
Sometimes devotees may become complacent by knowing the fact that they can earn merits of a lifetime by taking the name of the Lord a few times and even if they commit some sin, it can be neutralized by taking the Lord’s name. But it should be remembered that the goal of a devotee or a human being is not to earn merits; but to attain God realization which can be achieved easily by doing continuous Nama Japa from the bottom of one’s heart. So let us not waste any more time. From this very moment let us do Nama Japa and attain God realization.
References:
1.     Japa Yoga by Swami Sivananda

2.     Shiva Mahapuran

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