Q: (1) Which Yuga are we in right now? It seems that Sri Aurobindo said that we are out of Kaliyuga, but Vaishnava schools believe it still continues. (2) Nama Japa in Kali Yuga is believed to have the potency of god realisation, so is it sufficient to do only Nama Japa? (3) Also, what are the rules for taking Ma Sri Aurobindo name?
ALOKDA: (1) There are two main different time frames mentioned with regard to the yugas. If we look at the time gap between the appearance of at least the two recognised Avatars, Sri Rama and Sri Krishna, it will be clear that the duration of each Age is not as enormous as the Purana suggests granting that we have decoded it correctly. We can best describe this Age as a transition from the Kaliyuga to Satyuga, which has begun but is dragging the shadows of Kaliyuga behind. It will take at least a few centuries for Satyuga to manifest in its fullness.
(2) Of course Nama Japa has a great power in it but to make it a stand alone practice can help only in some ascetic yogas of withdrawal from life but not in the yoga of integral transformation. Else Sri Aurobindo and the Mother would not have given us so much about the practice of the Yoga.
(3) There are no rules for doing Nama Japa. It can continue even in the washroom and everywhere else.
