Lecture on Smaller than a Period on a page by HH Prahladananda Swami on 04 July 2014
(HH Prahladananda Swami was born in 1949, in Buffallo, New York. He studied at the University of Buffalo, where he received a full scholarship. In January 1969 he joined ISKCON and received both initiations that year from Srila Prabhupada.)
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Ever heard of the 3-minute round? Ever seen Krishna devotees who chant relatively slow finish their 16 rounds in one and a half hour? I have, and still do, and it never fails to amaze me.
The maha-mantra consists of 16 names, of 2 syllables each:
hare krishna hare krishna
krishna krishna hare hare
hare rama hare rama
rama rama hare hare
You will find that with some practice, you can chant this mantra fairly quickly and still maintain an accurate pronunciation. However, to chant 108 of these mantras in 3 minutes requires that you can't take more than 1.67 seconds per mantra and can't breathe in between mantras. Go ahead, get a stopwatch and try to chant one mantra under 1.7 seconds. You'll find that this is sheer illusion, especially if you expect to do that 108 times in a row on just one breath of air.
Let's give it a bit more time, say 2 seconds per mantra. That is still pretty fast. And let's throw in some quick breathing time, too. Say 1 second after every 3 mantras (not very liberal, but let's see where that gets us).
Now a round will take 108 x 2 = 216 seconds, plus 108 / 3 = 36 seconds for breathing. That makes almost 4 and a half minutes. If you keep this pace up without fail or interruption, you will finish your 16 rounds in one hour and seven minutes. Hey, that is less than one and a half hour! Yes, but it is also still not realistic. In reality, most devotees can't and/or don't chant all their 16 rounds straight, without interruption, breathing only once every three mantras . Also, at this pace you better concentrate like a yogi, as the margin for errors in pronunciation and the chances for skipping beads or names is substantial.
Realistically, a comfortable fast pace sets you at about 3 seconds per mantra, with a slightly more liberal 1.5 second breath after every two mantras. That makes (3 x 108) + (108 / 2 x 1.5) = 6 minutes and 45 seconds for a round. Add 3 seconds between rounds for the panca-tattva mantra (if chanted) and you will chant your 16 rounds in (16 x 3 x 108) + (108 / 2 x 1.5) + (15 x 3) = a bit more than 1 hour and 48 minutes. Here, too, the key is maintaining a sustained pace. Every distraction or extra breath, or other type of delay, adds to the time.
As a personal "reality check," I suggest you sit down with a stopwatch and chant how you normally chant. Once you're up to your normal speed and feel comfortable (probably somewhere after half a round), switch the stopwatch on and off to capture the time it takes you to chant a single mantra. Note that down. Now capture the time it takes you to chant 32 mantras in a row. Divide the time by 32. This is your raw chanting speed and does not take into account any extras besides your normal breathing pace. Note the difference with the speed for just a single mantra. You can use the table below to figure out how long it should take you to chant all your 16 rounds without interruption:
Raw 16 rounds Assessment
2 seconds
58 minutes
Sheer illusion.
3 seconds
1 hour, 27 minutes
Keep dreaming.
4 seconds
1 hour, 56 minutes
Realistic, fast.
5 seconds
2 hours, 25 minutes
Realistic, relaxed.
6 seconds
2 hours, 54 minutes
Realistic, slow.
7 seconds
3 hours, 23 minutes
Too slow.
8 seconds
3 hours, 52 minutes
Way too slow.
9 seconds
4 hours, 22 minutes
Spacing out to the max.
10 seconds
4 hours, 50 minutes
Anybody home?
Most chanters will fall in range between 4 and 6. If you take more than 3 hours to chant 16 rounds uninterruptedly, chances are that you are not very focused. If you range between 2 and 3, I suggest that you seriously question yourself about the quality of your chanting -- especially in regards to pronunciation and skipping of names or beads.
I have personally seen slow chanters finish a round on their beads faster than fast chanters, and then discovered that when they chant with a clicker (tally counter) that they click every half of the mantra, or twice per mantra. I have seen devotees who chant with their beads in open view do the same thing, two beads per mantra. In this way they really only chant 8 rounds, not 16. Needless to say that most do not appreciate it when you point this out. Skipping of names or beads is not uncommon at all, and is usually the result of poor chanting habits developed early on (often because the emphasis lies more on quantity than quality -- "Gotta get those 16 rounds in.").
Since it is indeed very hard to keep the mind focussed, these bad habits can go unnoticed for years on end. The good news is that they can be "unlearned". One simply has to take the time to, so to say, start over again. In the beginning, go for quality. Chant at a pace where you can clearly and fully pronounce each and every syllable. Pay attention to the number of names and the entire mantra. There's a flow and a rhythm. Do that for a couple of days and then slowly increase the speed. As soon as you find that the speed affects the quality, go slower again. As with certain martial arts, like Tai-Chi, everything that is learned slowly maintains its accuracy when executed quickly. Muscles "remember" better at slower speed. The tongue is a muscle, too. Practice.
Lecture on Bhakti Ka Margdarshan by Subhag Swami
(Srila Prabhupada gave His Holiness specific services of translating Gaudiya Vaishnava scriptures & Prabhupada’s books. Also Srila Prabhupada ordered him to preach Krishna Consciousness all over the world.)
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Lecture on Different kinds of Perfected Devotees by Sivarama Swami on 30 June 2014 at Romania
(Sivarama Swami was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1949. In 1956, during the failed Hungarian revolution, he emigrated with his family to Canada. Sivarama Swami first came in contact with the books of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada in 1970, becoming an initiated disciple of Prabhupada in 1973.)
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Lecture on ISKCON's New Theology by HH Bhakti Vikasa Swami on 10 June 2014 at North Carolina
(His Holiness Bhakti Vikasa Swami appeared in this world in 1957 in England. He joined the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in London in 1975 and was initiated in that year with the name Ilapati dasa by ISKCON's founder-acarya, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.)
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Lecture on Dhruva Charitra by HG Nitaisevini Mataji on 26 Jan 2014 at ISKCON Vizag
Nitaisevini Devi Dasi was born in Mumbai in a Gujarati Business family, conventional followers of the Pushtimarg. Later she with her family shifted to Hyderabad in 1984, since then she was closely connected to ISKCON Secunderbad. Inspired by Visits of many senior devotees, she later joined as a Full time devotee in 1997 and took initiation in the year 1998 in Atlanta,USA from H.H.Jayapataka Swami.
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Lecture on The Difference between Mechanical Religion and Bhakti by HG Madhavananda Prabhu on 22 May 2014 at Durban
(Madhavananda Das, joined ISKCON in Los Angeles in 1982. He moved to Bhubaneswar Orissa in 1993 where he has been living since. He was instructed by Sri Srimad Gour Govinda Swami Maharaj to edit his lectures into publications.)
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Lecture on Does Guru looks for Disciple or Disciple looks for Guru by HH Bhakti Charu Swami on 22 Aug 2013 at ISKCON Pune
(Bhakti Charu Swami is from a Bengali family and spent most of his early childhood in urban Kolkata. He met with Srila Prabhupada at the end of 1976 after a long and intense search for a spiritual teacher. This initial meeting resulted in Bhakti Charu Swami being assigned to translate the books of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust into the Bengali language.)
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Dear Devotees
Please accept my humble obeisances
All Glories To Srila Prabhupada
We are immensely happy to invite you for the Grand Inauguration of Srila Prabhupada's "Dream-Come-True Palace" of Sri Sri Radha Madhava Temple, ISKCON Kanpur. Srila Prabhupada said " We should certainly have a centre in Kanpur." (Letter to Aksayananda, 29th January ,1976). To fulfill his desire we started the construction in Oct 2011. We are celebrating the Pran Pratishtha for Sri Sri Radha Madhavaji Lalita-Vishakha, Sri Sri Sita Rama Laxman Hanuman , Sri Sri Gaura Nitai & Srila Prabhupada on 3rd Oct(Friday) 2014, Vijaya Dashami.
As we are in the process of finalizing the Accommodations & transportations facilities for this upcoming event of ISKCON Kanpur inauguration from 1st Oct to 5th Oct 2014.
01 Oct - Kalash sthapana & Yajna
02 Oct - Shilpi Doshana snana, Netronmilan, Vandapana, Nayasahoma, Shayanadivasa
03 Oct - Pran Pratistha, Maha Abhishek, Dhvaja sthapana
04 Oct - Cultural Programs & Seva Appreciation of devotees
05 Oct - Cultural Programs
Kindly confirm your participation to grace this occasion & make this event a memorable one. We will appreciate if you kindly let us know the number of devotees who will accompany you with tentative arrival & departure details in reply to this mail.
Looking forward for your valuable participation at Kanpur Temple opening!
Requesting you once again to kindly reply soon to enable us to serve you better?
Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada
Devakinandan Das
Zonal Secretary (UP, Rajasthan, Juhu, Vrindavan)
NOTE: (Please reply back tentative details for registration before 31st July).
Lecture on Reading and Commentary by HH Bhakti Vikasa Swami on 09 June 2014 at Carolina
(His Holiness Bhakti Vikasa Swami appeared in this world in 1957 in England. He joined the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in London in 1975 and was initiated in that year with the name Ilapati dasa by ISKCON's founder-acarya, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.)
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Lecture on How we Come to Krishna Consciousness by HH Niranjana Swami on 15 July 2014 at Kishinev
(The management and spiritual leadership experience Niranjana Swami gained during his tenure as president of ISKCON Boston from 1979 to 1983, and his service as regional secretary of New England in 1984, readied him for his GBC appointment in 1987.)
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Lecture on Lord Chaitanya is the Ultimate Goal of Life by HH Bhakti Caitanya Swami at ISKCON Durban
(Originally from New Zealand, Bhakti Caitanya Swami joined the Hare Krishna movement in London, early in 1973. Almost a year before, as a philosophy student at Auckland University, he had first seen his future spiritual master walking across the campus with his followers. Srila Prabhupada initiated Bhakti Caitanya Swami later in 1973, giving him the name Raghubir Dasa. )
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Lecture on Benefits of Chanting Holy Name by HH Bhakti Charu Swami on 10 Feb 2014 at ISKCON Ujjain
(Bhakti Charu Swami is from a Bengali family and spent most of his early childhood in urban Kolkata. He met with Srila Prabhupada at the end of 1976 after a long and intense search for a spiritual teacher. This initial meeting resulted in Bhakti Charu Swami being assigned to translate the books of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust into the Bengali language.)
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Lecture on Esoteric Significance of Jagannath Puri Dham by HG Madhavananda Prabhu on 22 May 2014 on Durban
(Madhavananda Das, joined ISKCON in Los Angeles in 1982. He moved to Bhubaneswar Orissa in 1993 where he has been living since. He was instructed by Sri Srimad Gour Govinda Swami Maharaj to edit his lectures into publications.)
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Lecture on Are we responsible for reactions coming to us or the three modes by HH Bhakti Charu Swami
(Bhakti Charu Swami is from a Bengali family and spent most of his early childhood in urban Kolkata. He met with Srila Prabhupada at the end of 1976 after a long and intense search for a spiritual teacher. This initial meeting resulted in Bhakti Charu Swami being assigned to translate the books of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust into the Bengali language.)
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Lecture on Disappearance Day of Bhaktivinoda Thakura by Dravida Prabhu on 26 June 2014 at Los Angeles
(Dravida Prabhu is a vaishnava scholar, musician and poet. He has edited Back to Godhead magazine and other books published by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust for over 25 years.)
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Lecture on Exchanges With the Honeybee by HH Bhakti Caitanya Swami on Durban
(Originally from New Zealand, Bhakti Caitanya Swami joined the Hare Krishna movement in London, early in 1973. Almost a year before, as a philosophy student at Auckland University, he had first seen his future spiritual master walking across the campus with his followers. Srila Prabhupada initiated Bhakti Caitanya Swami later in 1973, giving him the name Raghubir Dasa. )
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English Kamika Ekadashi Mahatmya without Music
Hindi Kamika Ekadashi Mahatmya without Music
English Narration: Bhakta Neeraj Kapoor
Hindi Narration: Madhava Das (BVKS)
Recording, Editing, Music mixing : Madhava Das (BVKS) at Gopal's Studio (ISKCON Desire Tree)
Read more about Kamika Ekadashi on www.harekrishnacalendar.com
Listen Hindi Audio for Kamika Ekadashi on www.iskcondesiretree.net
View recipes for Ekadasi on www.totalveg.com
Srimad Bhagvatam Class by HH Radhanath Swami at Gita Nagari Retreat - click here
How to Control one's False Ego by HH Radhanath Swami at Gita Nagari Retreat - click here
