By Srila Prabhupada
Although “Hare Krishna” has become a household word,
practically nobody knows what it means. Is it merely a repetitious
incantation designed to hypnotize its practitioners? Is it a form
of escapism? Or is it a genuine meditation that can actually summon
higher awareness? In this short essay, recorded on his first LP in
late 1966, Srila Prabhupada illuminates the inner meaning of the
Hare Krishna mantra.
The transcendental vibration established by the chanting of
Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama,
Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare is the sublime method for reviving
our transcendental consciousness. As living spiritual souls, we are
all originally Krishna conscious entities, but due to our
association with matter from time immemorial, our consciousness is
now adulterated by the material atmosphere. The material
atmosphere, in which we are now living, is called maya, or
illusion. Maya means “that which is not.” And what is this
illusion? The illusion is that we are all trying to be lords of
material nature, while actually we are under the grip of her
stringent laws. When a servant artificially tries to imitate the
all-powerful master, he is said to be in illusion. We are trying to
exploit the resources of material nature, but actually we are
becoming more and more entangled in her complexities. Therefore,
although we are engaged in a hard struggle to conquer nature, we
are ever more dependent on her. This illusory struggle against
material nature can be stopped at once by revival of our eternal
Krishna consciousness.
Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare is the
transcendental process for reviving this original, pure
consciousness. By chanting this transcendental vibration, we can
cleanse away all misgivings within our hearts. The basic principle
of all such misgivings is the false consciousness that I am the
lord of all I survey.
Krishna consciousness is not an artificial imposition on the
mind. This consciousness is the original, natural energy of the
living entity. When we hear this transcendental vibration, this
consciousness is revived. This simplest method of meditation is
recommended for this age. By practical experience also, one can
perceive that by chanting this maha-mantra, or the Great Chanting
for Deliverance, one can at once feel a transcendental ecstasy
coming through from the spiritual stratum. In the material concept
of life we are busy in the matter of sense gratification, as if we
were in the lower, animal stage. A little elevated from this status
of sense gratification, one is engaged in mental speculation for
the purpose of getting out of the material clutches. A little
elevated from this speculative status, when one is intelligent
enough, one tries to find out the supreme cause of all
causes—within and without. And when one is factually on the plane
of spiritual understanding, surpassing the stages of sense, mind,
and intelligence, he is then on the transcendental plane. This
chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra is enacted from the spiritual
platform, and thus this sound vibration surpasses all lower strata
of consciousness—namely sensual, mental, and intellectual. There is
no need, therefore, to understand the language of the mantra, nor
is there any need for mental speculation, nor any intellectual
adjustment for chanting this maha-mantra. It is automatic, from the
spiritual platform, and as such, anyone can take part in the
chanting without any previous qualification. In a more advanced
stage, of course, one is not expected to commit offenses on the
grounds of spiritual understanding.
In the beginning, there may not be the presence of all
transcendental ecstasies, which are eight in number. These are: (1)
being stopped as though dumb, (2) perspiration, (3) standing up of
hairs on the body, (4) dislocation of voice, (5) trembling, (6)
fading of the body, (7) crying in ecstasy, and (8) trance. But
there is no doubt that chanting for a while takes one immediately
to the spiritual platform, and one shows the first symptom of this
in the urge to dance along with the chanting of the mantra. We have
seen this practically. Even a child can take part in the chanting
and dancing. Of course, for one who is too entangled in material
life, it takes a little more time to come to the standard point,
but even such a materially engrossed man is raised to the spiritual
platform very quickly. When the mantra is chanted by a pure devotee
of the Lord in love, it has the greatest efficacy on hearers, and
as such this chanting should be heard from the lips of a pure
devotee of the Lord, so that immediate effects can be achieved. As
far as possible, chanting from the lips of non-devotees should be
avoided. Milk touched by the lips of a serpent has poisonous
effects.
The word Hara is the form of addressing the energy of the
Lord, and the words Krishna and Rama are forms of addressing the
Lord Himself. Both Krishna and Rama mean “the supreme pleasure,”
and Hara is the supreme pleasure energy of the Lord, changed to
Hare in the vocative. The supreme pleasure energy of the Lord helps
us to reach the Lord.
The material energy, called maya, is also one of the
multi-energies of the Lord. And we, the living entities, are also
the energy, marginal energy, of the Lord. The living entities are
described as superior to material energy. When the superior energy
is in contact with the inferior energy, an incompatible situation
arises; but when the superior marginal energy is in contact with
the superior energy, Hara, it is established in its happy, normal
condition.
These three words, namely Hare, Krishna, and Rama, are the
transcendental seeds of the maha-mantra. The chanting is a
spiritual call for the Lord and His energy, to give protection to
the conditioned soul. This chanting is exactly like the genuine cry
of a child for its mother’s presence. Mother Hara helps the devotee
achieve the Lord Father’s grace, and the Lord reveals Himself to
the devotee who chants this mantra sincerely.
No other means of spiritual realization is as effective in
this age of quarrel and hypocrisy as the chanting of the
maha-mantra: Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare
Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.
