In plain words
The divine glory of Rāma's Name
Once upon a time a woman came to Kausalyā. “Mother! Who are you?” Kausalyā asked. She, “Do you not know who I am? I am the mother of Hanumān, who crossed the great ocean in a single stride,” she said. While the two of them were talking together, another woman came. Seeing her, Kausalyā asked, “Who are you, mother?” and she said, “I am the mother of Agastya, who drank up in a single gulp the ocean that Hanumān crossed.” Then Kausalyā burst out laughing and said, “Whether for your son Hanumān to cross the ocean or for your son Agastya to drink the ocean, the support is nothing but the Name of my son, Śrī Rāmacandra.” In this way the three women came together and began arguing among themselves, one saying, “I am great,” and the next, “I alone am great.” “O mine of virtues, where three women gather, stars fall in broad daylight.” When three women gather in one place, they say, the stars come falling down even in the daytime! At that moment Rāma came there. “Mother! What are you quarrelling about?” He asked. Then Kausalyā, “My son! This is Hanumān's mother, and this is Agastya's mother. The two of them are boasting about the great deeds their sons did. But only by remembering your name could Hanumān cross the ocean, is it not so? Only by calling your name to mind could Agastya drink the ocean, is it not so? All this is nothing but the power of your grace. So how fortunate I am, to have borne a son like you!” she said. Then Rāma, “Mother! This is not My grace. ‘Rāma’ is the name given to this body. The greatness of this very name could achieve so many great deeds. Only because this name was given to this body could I too conquer Rāvaṇa, that mighty hero,” He said.
God's Name alone protects all
In everything, the Name alone is foremost. Only through remembering God's Name do all powers spring forth in us. You know of Draupadī. Her husbands were very great men, embodiments of Dharma. But when Duryodhana set out to dishonour her in the full assembly, no one, neither Arjuna nor Bhīma, came to her help. At the very last she remembered: “Kṛṣṇa! Kinsman in distress!” And the moment she did, Kṛṣṇa Himself came and rescued her. What protects all is God's Name alone. So we must not neglect it. The Name is a very small word. But in these two letters alone the whole world lies contained. Nāmasmaraṇa alone is the means of crossing over. The Name itself is the boat that carries us across the ocean of saṃsāra.
Nāmasmaraṇa is vital to the purity of the atmosphere
All the sounds we make join the electric waves in the air and spread out through the whole world. When someone speaks at the Delhi radio station, those sound waves creep out over the whole world, do they not?