I remember years ago when I was just a young new devotee, and we were asked to go out and distribute books, we were asked so many questions by people we met. One question I will never forget; “What does the mantra mean?” How to explain this to someone who has never heard of Krishna? So I replied; “O Lord please engage me in Your loving devotional service”. Even as a new devotee I knew there was more I could have said, but I left it at that.
But that basic question always stayed with me.
Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare
Another definition I discovered is;
Hare– Srimati Radharini (the divine energy of the Lord)
Krishna– The All Attractive Supreme Personality of Godhead
Rama– Name of Lord Krishna who is the reservoir of pleasure. (as in Radha-Ramana, the giver of pleasure to Srimati Radharani) The name Rama also means Lord Ramacandra, and Lord Balarama.
But for me, I like this verse I discovered in my reading;
“O Srimati Radharani, O All Attractive Reservoir of Pleasure, Lord Sri Krishna, please engage me in your loving devotional service”
This morning I was reading from the “Nectar of Devotion”, about devotional service. Srila Prabhupada was explaining the nine processes of performing devotional service and referenced the “Teachings of Lord Kapila”, which was a book I have not read for such a long time, so I thought I would share a chapter with you today. And also this very important verse from the Srimad Bhagavtam.
“Hearing, chanting and remembering the holy name, form, pastimes, qualities and entourage of the Lord, offering service according to the time, place and performer, worshiping the Deity, offering prayers, always considering oneself the eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa, making friends with Him and dedicating everything unto Him—these are the nine processes of devotional service.” (Bhāg. 7.5.23)
There are nine basic processes of devotional service—hearing and chanting about the Supreme Lord, remembering Him, serving His lotus feet, worshiping Him, offering prayers to the Lord, acting as His servant, becoming His friend, and surrendering everything to Him. The beginning is śravaṇaṁ kīrtanam, hearing and chanting. One must be very eager to hear and chant.
Teachings of Lord Kapila, the Son of Devahūti By His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda Chapter Three, Text 3
This is probably one of my most favorite songs from the “Songs of the Vaisnava Acaryas” songbook. I try to sing it every day as part of my morning program. And I like to recite the English as well.
I offer my respectful obeisances unto the six Gosvāmīs, who were chanting very loudly everywhere in Vṛndāvana, shouting, “Queen of Vṛndāvana, Rādhārāṇī! O Lalita! O son of Nanda Mahārāja! Where are you all now? Are you just on the hill of Govardhana, or are you under the trees on the bank of the Yamunā? Where are you?” These were their moods in executing Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Śrī Śrī Ṣaḍ-gosvāmy-aṣṭaka Eight Prayers to the Six Gosvamis by Śrīnivāsa Ācārya
We often say “Chant and be Happy”, but there are offences to be considered. If we want to feel the full ecastscy derived from chanting the Holy names, we need to avoid them.
There are offenses to be considered while chanting the Hare Krishna mantra. Therefore simply by chanting Hare Krsna one does not become ecstatic. ( Cc. Adi-lila 8.24) 1) To blaspheme the devotees who have dedicated their lives for propagating the holy name of the Lord. 2) To consider the names of demigods like Lord Shiva or Lord Brahma to be equal to or independent of the name of the Lord Vishnu. 3) To disobey the orders of the spiritual master. 4) To blaspheme the vedic scriptures or scriptures in pursuance to the vedic version. 5) To consider the glories of chanting Hare Krishna to be an imagination. 6) To give some interpretations to the holy name of the Lord. 7) To commit sinful activities on the strength of the holy name. 8) To consider the chanting of Hare Krishna as one of the auspicious ritualistic activities which are offered in the Vedas as frutive activities (Karma kanda). 9) To instruct a faithless person about the glories of the holy name
10) To not have complete faith in the chanting of the holy name and to maintain material attachments, even after understanding so many instructions on this matter. It is also an offense to be inattentive while chanting.
Every devotee who claims to be Vaishnava must guard against these offenses in order to quickly achieve the desired successKRISHNA PREMA!!!
Recently a fellow Vaisnava (Kamsahanta Prabhu) passed away, or as we like to say, left his body, and we were left to settle his affairs. First there was the death certificate, and registering his death. Then there was the funeral home where arrangements were made for his cremation. Then there was the big job of distributing all his possessions. We gave his clothes to a nearby charity, food stuffs to the local church, There was tons of religious paraphernalia, dieties, pictures, books, (which were left with other devotees) and vehicles. It took weeks. And it really got me thinking… about my own mortality.
Kamshanta Prabhu was very fortunate in many ways, for in his adult life he preformed so much devotional service, distributed so many of Srila Prabhupada’s books, and collected so much laxmi to help advance this movement. He was also fortunate that his son Namacharya, was there to assist him at his hour of passing. Nam put his fathers japa beads in his hand, helped him chant in his final hours, and made arrangements to have his fathers body be cremated with his tulasi beads around his neck and his japa beads in his hand.
But this is what got me thinking…after a whole lifetime, Kamshanta Prabhu was left with only his neck and japa beads, and most importantly the holy name on his lips and in his ears. And I was reminded of the verse from the Bhagavad-gita 8.5:
“And whoever, at the time of death, quits his body, remembering Me alone, at once attains My nature, of this there is no doubt”
“The Holy Name is so powerful, that even by chanting with offense, gradually one becomes pure. Therefore we should not give up chanting under any circumstances.” -Srila Prabhupada
Here is a new word for your vaisnava vocabulary; laulyam which can be defined as desire and great eagerness, or as greed
“My dear Lord, O lotus-eyed one, when will that day come when on the bank of the Yamuna, I shall become just like a madman, and continue to chant Your holy name while incessant tears flow from my eyes?”
One should feelingly pray and become eager to render his particular type of service to the Lord. This is the teaching of all great devotees, especially Lord Caitanya.
In other words, one should learn how to cry for the Lord. One should learn this small technique, and he should be very eager and actually cry to become engaged in some particular type of service. This is called laulyam, and such tears are the price for the highest perfection. If one develops this laulyam, or excessive eagerness for meeting and serving the Lord in a particular way, that is the price to enter into the kingdom of God. Otherwise, there is no material calculation for the value of the ticket by which one can enter the kingdom of God. The only price for such entrance is this laulyam lālasāmayī, or desire and great eagerness.
One of the most used books in our temple room is the songbook. Everyday it seems, I am flipping through the “Songs of the Vaisnava Acaryas”, singing one of the many songs or reciting some of the numerous pranams (prayers) as part of my daily sadhana. The following post is the first 13 pages of songbook, which in my mind is a nice way to start the day and is a good prelude to other devotional service.
Pranams from the Songs of the Vaisnava Acaryas
SRI GURU PRANAMA
om ajnana-timirandhasya jnananjana-salakaya caksur unmilitam yena tasmai sri-gurave namah
om-address; ajnana-of ignorance; timira-by the darkness; andhasya-of one who was blinded; jnana-anjana-by the ointment of spiritual knowledge; salakaya-by a medical instrument called a salaka, which is used to apply medical ointment to eyes afflicted with cataracts: caksuh-eyes; unmilitam-were opened; yena-by whom; tasmai-unto him; sri-gurave-unto my spiritual master; namah-obeisances.
I offer my respectful obeisances unto my spiritual master, who has opened my eyes, which were blinded by the darkness of ignorance, with the torchlight of knowledge.
Excerpted from Back to Godhead Magazine 1975 Vol. 10 No. 2
Five hundred years ago, Sri Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, appeared in West Bengal in the role of His own pure devotee—Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Lord Caitanya is considered the most munificent incarnation of Godhead because He made love for Krsna easily available through the chanting of the maha-mantra—Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.
When Lord Krsna appeared as Lord Caitanya, His principal associate in spreading the Krsna consciousness movement was Lord Nityananda Prabhu. Lord Nityananda is Lord Caitanya’s expansion. In other words, He is nondifferent from Lord Caitanya. The same Supreme Lord appeared in different forms—as Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityananda—to bestow mercy upon the fallen souls of the material world. This song, therefore, describes the benefits of taking shelter of Lord Nityananda Prabhu.
Srila Narottama dasa Thakura was a great devotee and spiritual master in the disciplic chain coming down from Lord Caitanya. He has written many songs, and they are recognized as authoritative by all Krsna conscious devotees. He sang these songs in simple Bengali language, but the purport—the deep meaning of his songs—is very significant. His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada has therefore explained many of these songs in English and taught them to his disciples. (Cassette recordings of Srila Prabhupada singing and explaining these songs are available from Golden Avatar Productions in Los Angeles.)
… Yes, from the very beginning I went to New York because I thought that Krishna Consciousness is the most important idea in the world, so let me go to that place, New York, which is the most important city in the world, and if I am able to do anything for Krishna and my Spiritual Master, even I am at the fag-end of my life, at least let me try for it there. So my dreams have all come true, and all of you nice boys and girls are getting the credit. When I was alone in your New York, I was thinking, who will listen to me in this horrible, sinful place? All right, I shall stay little longer, at least I can distribute a few of my books, that is something. But Krishna was all along preparing something I could not see, and He brought you to me one by one, sincere American boys and girls, to be trained-up for doing the work of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Now I can see that it is a miracle. Otherwise, your city of New York, one single old man, with only a few books to sell for barely getting eatables, how he can survive, what to speak of introducing God-consciousness movement for saving the humankind? That is Krishna’s miracle. Now I can see it. (Letter to Sudama, December 23, 1972)
“I liked Prabhupada’s humbleness. I always liked his humility and his simplicity. The servant of the servant of the servant is really what it is, you know. None of us are God—just His servants. He just made me feel so comfortable. I always felt very relaxed with him, and I felt more like a friend. I felt that he was a good friend. Even though he was at the time seventy-nine years old, working practically all through the night, day after day, with very little sleep, he still didn’t come through to me as though he was a very highly educated intellectual being, because he had a sort of childlike simplicity. Which is great, fantastic. Even though he was the greatest Sanskrit scholar and a saint, I appreciated the fact that he never made me feel uncomfortable. In fact, he always went out of his way to make me feel comfortable. I always thought of him as sort of a lovely friend, really, and now he’s still a lovely friend.
“That was the thing about Prabhupada, you see. He didn’t just talk about loving Krishna and getting out of this place, but he was the perfect example. He talked about always chanting, and he was always chanting. I think that that in itself was perhaps the most encouraging thing for me. It was enough to make me try harder, to be just a little bit better. He was a perfect example of everything he preached.
It is said that it is the nature of a devotee to constantly apply his mind, energy, words, ears, etc., in hearing and chanting about Kṛṣṇa. This is called Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and for one who is rapt in hearing and chanting Kṛṣṇa, the subject matter never becomes hackneyed or old. That is the significance of transcendental subject matter in contrast to material subject matter. Material subject matter becomes stale, and one cannot hear a certain subject for a long time; he wants change. But as far as transcendental subject matter is concerned, it is called nityanavanavāyamāna. This means that one can go on chanting and hearing about the Lord and never feel tired but will remain fresh and eager to hear more and more.
…” Lord Kṛṣṇa brought His friends to the bank of the Yamunā and addressed them as follows: ’My dear friends, just see how this spot is very nice for taking lunch and playing on the soft sandy Yamunā bank. You can see how the lotus flowers in the water are beautifully blown and how they distribute their flavor all around. The chirping of the birds along with cooing of the peacocks, surrounded by the whispering of the leaves in the trees, combine and present sound-vibrations that echo one another. And this just enriches the beautiful scenery created by the trees here. Let us have our lunch in this spot because it is already late and we are feeling hungry. Let the calves remain near us, and let them drink water from the Yamunā. While we engage in our lunch-taking, the calves may engage in eating the soft grasses that are in this spot.’“
On hearing this proposal from Kṛṣṇa, all the boys became very glad and said, ”Certainly, let us all sit down here to take our lunch.“ They then let loose the calves to eat the soft grass. Sitting down on the ground and keeping Kṛṣṇa in the center, they began to open their different boxes brought from home. Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa was seated in the center of the circle, and all the boys kept their faces toward Him. They ate and constantly enjoyed seeing the Lord face to face. Kṛṣṇa appeared to be the whorl of a lotus flower, and the boys surrounding Him appeared to be its different petals. The boys collected flowers, leaves of flowers and barks of trees and placed them under their different boxes, and thus they began to eat their lunch, keeping company with Kṛṣṇa. While taking lunch, each boy began to manifest different kinds of relations with Kṛṣṇa, and they enjoyed each other’s company with joking words. While thus enjoying lunch with His friends, Lord Kṛṣṇa’s flute was pushed within the belt of His cloth, and His bugle and cane were pushed in on the left-hand side of His cloth. He was holding a lump of foodstuff prepared with yogurt, butter, rice and pieces of fruit salad in His left palm, which could be seen through His petal-like finger joints. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who accepts the results of all great sacrifices, was laughing and joking, enjoying lunch with His friends in Vṛndāvana. And thus the scene was being observed by the demigods from heaven. As for the boys, they were simply enjoying transcendental bliss in the company of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. (excerpted from: KRSNA Book Chapter 13 entitled “The Stealing of the Boys and Calves by Brahmā”)
Today marks the Disappearance Day of Narottama Dasa Thakur.
This is a very nice song by Narottama dasa Thakura who says; Anyone who has accepted the two lotus feet of Lord Caitanya can understand the true essence of devotional service. Therefore, Narottama dasa Thakura prays that one take shelter of Lord Caitanya and follow in His footsteps.
We have included the Bengali/Elglish transliteration, translation, and 2 different purports by His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada.
Anyone who has accepted the two lotus feet of Lord Caitanya can understand the true essence of devotional service. If one is captivated by the pleasing pastimes of Lord Caitanya, the dirty things in his heart will all become cleansed. (from the Songs of the Vaisnava Araryas)
Today we honor the Appearance Day of Srila Haridasa Thakura, an associate of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Haridāsa Ṭhākura daily chanted 300,000 names of the Lord. Certainly the chanting of 300,000 holy names of the Lord is wonderful. No ordinary person can chant so many names, nor should one artificially imitate Haridāsa Ṭhākura’s behavior. It is essential, however, that everyone fulfill a specific vow to chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra.
Haridāsa Ṭhākura said that liberation and freedom from the reactions of sinful activities are only by-products of chanting the holy name of the Lord. If one chants the holy name of the Lord purely, he attains the platform of loving service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. (SB 5.24.20)
The nice thing about mantra meditation or chanting the maha mantra:
Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama , Rama Rama, Hare Hare
is that one can do it anywhere, any time. In a plane, train or automobile, sitting, walking, or standing on one’s head. I find myself chanting when I am working in my shop, cutting the lawn, taking a shower, working in the garden. Chanting always makes me feel better.
“…one should learn the art of chanting the Holy name of Krishna 24 hours a day and that alone is the remedy for all problems of material existence.” (from letter to Susan Beckman August 29th 1973)
Prabhupada: The chanting is a process of purification. Just like we use soap to cleanse the body, this is material, but the chanting is spiritual cleansing. The three stages of cleansing are first
(1) To clean the mirror of the mind. In the Bhagavad Gita it is said:
“The mind is the best friend and the worst enemy, for one who has learned to control the mind it is the best of friends but for one who has failed to do so it is the worst enemy.”
Due to long term association, the mind absorbed in material things has become contaminated, or dirty, the chanting process purifies the mind.
(2) Then the next stage, when the mind is cleansed one becomes free from the symptoms of material existence. Material existence means to be always hankering and lamenting. I must have a new automobile, I must have more money, I must have good wife, I must have this I must have that. Then when I have the thing, I lament, I have lost my wife, I have lost my money, I have lost my car, simply lamenting. So the second stage is to be free from this anxiety.
(3) The third stage is “He never laments nor desires to have anything; he is equally disposed to every living entity. In that state he attains pure devotional service unto me.”
“One who is thus transcendentally situated at once realizes the Supreme Brahman and becomes fully joyful. He never laments or desires to have anything. He is equally disposed toward every living entity. In that state he attains pure devotional service unto Me.”
Today marks the disappearance day of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura. We honor it with a half day fast followed by a nice vegetarian feast. We share with you one of my favorite songs composed by Srila Bhaktivinoda.
When, oh when, will that day be mine? When my offenses ceasing, taste for the name increasing, when in my heart will your mercy shine? When, oh when will that day be mine?
Lower than a blade of grass, more tolerant than a tree. When will my mind attain this quality? Respectful to all, not expecting their honour, then shall I taste the name’s nectar sublime. When oh when will that day be mine?
Today June 2 is the English calendar birthday of my very dear older Godbrother Vishnujana. When I first joined the temple they sent me to LA to get trained up. Vishnjana was the temple commander and I fondly remember being trained by him. We would spend hours on the streets those days chanting the Holy Name with him!
I learned so much from him especially about preaching. He would speak in such a way that child could understand and a scholar could understand. He made Krishna Consciousness so exciting! I remember someone asked what is that stuff on your forehead, a question that you stumble around dully trying to get them to understand. He said with a voice full of love, “This is a beautiful meditation that we perform in the morning where we take sacred clay and mark our bodies as a temple of God!”
Even now if I hear a recording of him, before even understanding that it is Vishnujana, my hairs stand on end. I miss him so much!
Srila Prabhupada knowing Visnujana Swami’s talents asked him to make a melody for this song. The very next day Visnujana had this amazing melody with a very sweet spoken purport. It is a heart melting song that shows Visnujana Swami’s amazing love and devotion that inspired and still inspires so many. -Gauridas Pandita das
A friend of mine recently sent me a couple of links to check out. The first is Purely Prabhupada.com ,which has the pre-1978 editions of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda’s books, there are videos, testimonials, and more. This site connects with its sister sitePurely Prabhupada.org which is a treasure-house of podcasts, articles, narrations, kirtans, and instructional series for practical application of spiritual life.
I have spent a number of hours now reviewing both sites and there seems to be a wealth of information and links here.
(from ‘Broadcasting Krsna’s Glories’ by Satsvarupa dasa Gosvami)
“At the studio, everyone accepted the devotees as a regular music group. One of the rock musicians asked them what the name of their group was, and Hayagriva laughed and replied, “The Hare Krsna Chanters.” Of course most of the devotees weren’t actually musicians, and yet the instruments they brought with them — a tamboura, a large harmonium (loaned by Allen Ginsberg), and rhythm instruments — were ones they had played during kirtanas for months.
So as they entered the studio they felt confident that they could produce their own sound. They just followed their Swami. He knew how to play, and they knew how to follow him. They weren’t just another music group. It was music, but it was also chanting, meditation, worship.
The Hare Krishna Movement 