Hare | The Hare Krishna Movement

The Meaning of the Hare Krishna Mantra

15 Jul 2013 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Chanting Hare Krishna, Lectures Tags: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Avatara, chanting Hare Krishna, Hare, Hare Krishna, Krishna, lecture on the maha-mantra, Maha Mantra, mantra, mantra meditation, prabhupada, Prabhupada Lecture, Rama, sound incarnation, Srila Prabhupada, swami, transcendental sound

So this sound, this Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare. Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, is the sound representation of the Supreme Lord.

Lecture on Maha-mantra
By His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Recorded September 8th, 1966, New York

Prabhupada: Now, some of you members have asked me to explain the meaning of this chanting, Hare Krishna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare. Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Now, this sound is transcendental sound, transcendental sound, incarnation, sound incarnation of the Absolute Truth. Just try to understand what is incarnation. Incarnation means… The Sanskrit word is avatara, and that is translated into English as “incarnation.” Of course, the root meaning of incarnation I cannot exactly explain to you, but the root meaning of the… (aside:) The root meaning of avatara is “which comes from the transcendental sky, the spiritual sky to the material sky.” That is called avatara. Avatarana. Avatarana. Just like… Avatarana means “coming from up to down.” That is called avatarana. And avatara is understood that when God or His bona fide representative comes from that sky to this material plane, that is called avatara.

The Way of Chanting and Knowing Kṛṣṇa

09 Jul 2013 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Chanting Hare Krishna, Free Downloads, Free eBooks, On the Way to Krsna Tags: 2nd Ave., A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, chanting Hare Krishna, free ebook, free pdf download, Hare, Hare Krishna, Krishna, meditation, mirror of the mind, On the Way to Krishna, Rama, The Way of Chanting and knowing Krsna, transcendental sound vibration

The following chapter “The Way of Chanting and Knowing Kṛṣṇa” is from one of the small paperback books entitled On The Way to Kṛṣṇa that was printed back in 1973. I always liked these smaller paperback books because I could take them with me wherever I went. For a Free PDF download that you can save or read online follow the link at bottom of post.

On the Way to Kṛṣṇa
By His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Chapter Two

Purport to the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra

06 Dec 2012 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Chanting Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna Maha Mantra, Practicing Krishna Consciousness at Home, YouTube Tags: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, chanting Hare Krishna, energy of the Lord, hara, Hare, Hare Hare, Hare Krishna, Hare Rama, Hare/ Hare Rama, Hari, Krishna, Krishna consciousness, Krishna Krishna, Krsna, pleasure potency of the Lord, purport to the Hare Krishna mantra, Rama, spiritual souls, transcendental vibration

The following letter arrived in our mail box and because it is a very good question we have attempted to answer it here.

Dear Hare Krishna Movement

I understand that the Hare Krishna mantra should be received through a proper disciplic succession for it to be “active”

My question is, how can this be achieved? Is it sufficient to read about the mantra in books by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada? Or is there a need to in person receive the mantra from a authentic disciple? If so, where can information be found on who such disciples are and how to contact them?

Thanks and best regards

Our Reply is as follows:

Dear _____

Thank you for your very important question. If you would take a moment and view the following YouTube… or listen to it while you read the purport given by Srila Prabhupada. By the end of it I assure you, that you will have received the Hare Krishna Mantra through the proper disciplic succession from the proper person who is a pure devotee of Krishna, the representative of Krishna. and is the direct link to the parampara (disciplic succession).

The Hare Krishna Maha Mantra

Purport to the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra
By His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada,
Founder and Acharya of the Krishna Consciousness Movement
New York, New York, USA 1966

As explained on the cover of the record album, this transcendental vibration– by chanting of Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama, Hare Hare – is the sublime method for reviving our Krishna consciousness. As living spiritual souls we are all originally Krsna conscious entities, but due to our association with matter since time immemorial, our consciousness is now polluted by material atmosphere. In this polluted concept of life, we are all trying to exploit the resources of material nature, but actually we are becoming more and more entangled in our complexities.

Chanting the Hare Krishna Maha-mantra (Japa)

28 Sep 2012 1 Comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in Chanting Hare Krishna, Japa, Practicing Krishna Consciousness at Home Tags: chanting, chanting Hare Krishna, God, Hare, Hare Krishna, Holy Names of the Lord, japa, kirtana, Krishna, Maha Mantra, practicing krishna consciousness at home, Rama

It has been requested that we do a post on Japa Meditation, so on this auspicious day of the appearance of Haridasa Thakura, we share with you some instructions on the chanting of Japa.

…Since God is all-powerful and all-merciful, He has kindly made it very easy for us to chant His names, and He has also invested all His powers in them. Therefore the names of God and God Himself are identical. This means that when we chant the holy names of Krishna and Rama we are directly associating with God and being purified. Therefore we should always try to chant with devotion and reverence. The Vedic literature states that Lord Krishna is personally dancing on your tongue when you chant His holy name.

Srimati Radharani is the pleasure potency of Krishna, Hare

23 Jun 2011 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in Chanting Hare Krishna, Lectures, Srimati Radharani Tags: bhagavad-gita, Caitanya Mahaprabhu, chanting Hare Krishna, hara, Hare, Hare Krishna Mantra, man-mana bhava mad=bhakto, O Radha-Krishna, Radha, Radharani, Radhastami, Srila Prabhupada, taking shelter of Krishna

Lectures on Bhagavad-gita As It Is, (Bhagavad-gita 4.10)
Calcutta, September 23, 1974
By His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

By taking shelter of Krishna, one has to become absorbed in thinking of Krishna. That is not very difficult. Man-mana bhava mad-bhakto mad-yaji mam namaskuru [ Bhagavad-gita 18.65]. It is not at all difficult. You simply chant Hare Krishna mantra. You’ll be man-maya. This is so nice thing. Therefore Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has recommended,

harer nama harer nama harer namaiva kevalam
kalau nasty eva nasty eva nasty eva gatir anyatha [ Chaitanya-charitamrita Adi-lila 17.21]

So our request is… Everyone who is present here… Today is Radhastami. So pray to Radharani. And She is hare, hara. This hare, this word, is Radharani. Hara, Radharani. Radha or Hara: the same thing. So Hare Krishna. So we are praying to Radharani, “My Mother, Radharani, and Krishna.” Hare Krishna. “O Krishna, O the Lord.” Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, the same thing, repetition. “O Radharani, O Krishna.” “O Radha-Krishna.” “Radhe-Krishna” or “Hare Krishna,” the same thing. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare. Again addressing, “O Krishna, O Krishna, O Radharani.” Hare Rama. The same thing, again. Hare Rama. Rama is also Krishna. Rama is Rama, Rama is Balarama. They are all Krishna. Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

So this repetition of addressing Radha and Krishna or Hare Krishna is to pray, “My dear Lord, … and the energy, the spiritual energy of the Lord, kindly engage me in Your service.” That’s all. “I am now embarrassed with this material service. Please engage me in Your service.”

This is good sense. We are servants here. We are engaged in so many services. But it is not giving us comfort. Na trapa nopashanti. The service which we are rendering to others, they are not satisfied, I am not satisfied. This is material service. But if you give service to Krishna… Svalpam apy asya dharmasya trayate mahato bhayat. A little service can save you from the greatest danger. This is the formula.

Practicing Krishna Consciousness at Home

18 Feb 2011 1 Comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in Devotional Service, Krishna Consciousness, Practicing Krishna Consciousness at Home Tags: Hare, Krishna, Krishna Consciousness at home, Padmapani das, Radha Krishna Temple Album, Rama

Practicing Krishna Consciousness at Home
by Padmapani Prabhu

Since the vast majority of our readers are coming to Srila Prabhupada and Krishna Consciousness for the first time through Internet searches, and without access to devotee association or a nearby Hare Krishna temple, many people have inquired about how they can set up an altar in their homes and start practicing Krishna Consciousness at their own pace.

The first and foremost principle of Krishna Consciousness is chanting the Hare Krishna mantra:
“Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/
Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”

This mantra is a prayer to the Supreme Lord which means: “O energy of the Lord (Hare), O all-attractive Lord Krishna, O Supreme Enjoyer (Rama), please engage me in Your service.”