For Shri Padmanabhji, there was only Nama. Shri Rama Nama was his mantra. Shri Rama Nama was his seva. Shri Rama Nama was his puja. He regarded it as the maha-nidhi, the supreme treasure, and chanted nothing else.
All the elaborate rituals of tantra-shastra, the japa of other mantras, panchagni and every kind of tapas, every tirtha on the face of the earth, he saw all of them as Shri Rama Nama itself. He needed no other sadhana. His heart entertained nothing beyond Nama.
He loved only Nama. He loved only the anuragis of Nama. With those who turned away from Nama, he would have no accord. And whenever conflict arose, he did not argue. He simply remembered Nama. Most remarkably, he called even the Nami, Para-Brahma Paramatma Shri Ramachandraji Himself, by the name "Nama" alone. The Name and the Named were one to him.
Consider the witness of Ajamila. On his deathbed, merely calling out "Narayana" as the name of his son, Nama liberated him from the bondage of samsara and the noose of Yama. If an accidental utterance holds such power, what of a life devoted entirely to its remembrance?
Nama is the support of Raghunatha. Shri Rama is ever near, as Hanumatji has declared. By the kripa of his gurudeva Shri Kabirji, Padmanabhji attained realization of the param tattva, the Para-Brahma.
He was present around Samvat 1577.
The Name Is the Supreme Treasure
Shri Padmanabh Ji regarded Shri Rama Nama as the maha-nidhi, the supreme treasure. He saw the holy Name not as one practice among many but as the fullness of all practice. Mantra, tirtha, tapas, seva, puja, japa: he found them all present within a single utterance of the Name. This is the teaching that a seeker can carry into any circumstance. You do not need elaborate conditions or rare opportunities. The Name is always available, always complete. What is required is only the turning of the heart toward it, again and again, until that turning becomes the most natural thing in the world.
Bhaktamal tilak on Shri Padmanabh Ji
The Name and the Named Are Not Two
Padmanabh Ji's practice reached such a depth that when he spoke of Shri Ramachandraji, Para-Brahma Paramatma, he called Him simply Nama, the Name. The Named and the Name had become one reality for him. This is the innermost teaching of the Nama tradition: the Name is not a symbol pointing at God from a distance. It is non-different from the one it names. Just as fire cannot be separated from its heat, Shri Rama cannot be separated from Shri Rama Nama. The seeker who touches this understanding even for a moment is no longer merely chanting. They are participating in the very nature of the divine.
Bhaktamal tikaEn on Shri Padmanabh Ji
Even the Shadow of the Name Has Power
When Padmanabh Ji described the miraculous healing of a leper in Kashi through three utterances of Rama Nama, he felt wonder at the Name's power. His guru, Shri Kabirji, pressed him deeper still. He said: you have not yet understood the true glory of the Name. Even the mere semblance, the shadow, of Shri Rama Nama is enough to destroy kushtha outright. What you witnessed was only the Name's reflection. This teaching is both humbling and liberating. Humbling, because we are always at the beginning of understanding the Name's depth. Liberating, because even our partial, imperfect attempts at remembrance carry a power we cannot yet measure.
Bhaktamal moolEn and tikaEn on Shri Padmanabh Ji
Guru's Grace Opens the Door
The tilak on Shri Padmanabh Ji opens with a declaration: by the kripa of his gurudeva Shri Kabirji, Padmanabh Ji attained parcha, a direct recognition of the supreme reality. Parcha is not an intellectual conclusion. It is a lived tasting of the truth, an inner touching of what is always present. This is the gift the guru transmits when the disciple is truly ready. No amount of personal effort alone produces it. The effort matters, because it opens and softens the heart. But the final recognition is grace. Padmanabh Ji's entire life was organized around this understanding: that what the guru has revealed must be lived and breathed, not merely remembered.
Bhaktamal tilak on Shri Padmanabh Ji (Samvat 1577)
Turn Inward: Let the Name Respond
Padmanabh Ji loved those who loved the Name and had little meeting ground with those who turned away from it. But when conflict arose, he did not marshal arguments or cite scripture. He simply turned inward and remembered Shri Rama Nama. The Name was his response to everything. This is a teaching of rare simplicity. We spend much energy constructing replies, defending positions, trying to change minds. Padmanabh Ji shows a different way. Whatever arises, return to the Name. Let the Name meet the situation. This is not passivity or avoidance. It is the recognition that the deepest answer to any disturbance is the same: come back to what is real.
Bhaktamal tikaEn on Shri Padmanabh Ji
Hindi text from OCR scan (Khemraj Shrikrishnadas Prakashan, CC0). May contain errors.