Srila Gurudeva: There are two things. One is the creator of this world, the master of this whole world, that is God. The other thing is us, the conditioned soul. We want to connect these two things. How can we do this? There must be something like cement or anything to join us together. What is that? That is love and affection. Like here in this world, any young girl is connected with any young boy by love and affection. Similarly, we can be connected with that God by love and affection. There is nothing else in this world that can connect these two things. Love and affection is inside all of us. Krsna or God has especially given this thing, this love and affection to everyone. Now we should try to develop that consciousness, that love and affection.
Charity begins from home, so start from here by having love and affection for all and then try to transfer that love and affection to the creator of this world, to God. Then very easily you will be happy forever. You will be happy eternally. Now, it is essential for all living beings to collect that cement, that love and affection. It cannot be purchased by any amount of wealth or with any worldly matter. It can only be collected by chanting the name of God. If anyone is chanting and remembering and praying for His mercy, then that love and affection for that transcendental God can come. There is no other way to have this love. So we should try to chant, “Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.”
You can chant any name of God which you like, no harm. But this name especially is so powerful. It has come from the Vedas and it is so powerful that it can change a man very quickly and they can easily have this love and affection for God. This God is so attractive, so beautiful, and so charming, that is why He is called Krsna. There is no partiality in this chanting. Anyone can chant it, it is not only for Indians. He is so charming, He is so beautiful, possessing all kinds of transcendental qualities. He is so charming, therefore He is called Krsna. He also takes away all kinds of suffering, problems, death and birth, so He is called Hari. He is so powerful and very beautiful, so He is called Rama. He is all-pervading, so He is called Rama. There is no partiality in this. It is for all the conditioned souls in the whole world.
[Spoken by Srila Gurudeva on December 18th, 1998, Bali, published as part of the Bhakta Bandhav Anthology, Volume 24]