Yesterday in class, Prabhupada mentioned how the power of mantra had been verified by some doctors in Lucknow, but he didn't tell us how. Today he related the story. "Just like sometimes the snake-charming mantra can be purchased in the market. But if you do not make yourself perfect about chanting the mantra, it will not be effective. I'll give you one practical instance. It is not a story; it is a fact. Perhaps some of you know my friend who came here, Dr. Ghosh. He told me there was a case. In Lucknow University they were students. So there is a big building, and two, three snake-biting case happened. So some snake charmer was invited to find out the snake and take him. So he came and took it away, the snake. Then this Dr. Gosh and his class friends, they were medical students. Naturally, the so-called modern scientist, they do not believe in all these things. So they became very inquisitive. All of them went to that snake charmer -- he was a Muhammadan gentleman. So he knew that 'These medical students, they have come to see the fun how the snakes are charmed.'
"So they inquired, 'What is the magic that you can catch up snake and the snake cannot do any harm to you?'
"So he said it is possible by mantra.
"So they challenged, 'Oh, your snakes, I think they are poisonless and they cannot bite; the poison teeth, the fang, is taken away.'
" 'No, no. They have got everything.'
"So he took one and showed that 'Here is...' So to make a fun, he had many snakes, he let them all come out from the box. And immediately all over the courtyard, they began to run over, and these medical students, they became afraid. They were fleeing this side, that side, that side. So the charmer said, 'Don't be afraid. So long I am here they'll not bite you.'
"So this was spoken by Dr. Ghosh, a personal experience. The mantra has got so much power. But not that you purchase the mantra and chant. That will not. You have to make it perfect. There is process, how to become perfect in chanting the mantra."
This was just a material example Prabhupada said, and if we seriously chanted the maha-mantra, which is completely spiritual, then the effect would be unlimited. He said that if we chant it properly only once, the Hare Krsna mantra can destroy more sins than the most sinful person can commit in a whole lifetime. "Nama-aparadha-sunyam. Without any nama-aparadha, if we chant according to the principle, then the mantra will act so nicely that the mantra will keep you always in touch with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is the power of mantra. Don't think it is a hobby or it is something superfluous. No. Actually, this mantra, Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Himself.
"So if you are allowed to keep yourself constantly in company with Krsna, then just imagine what is your position. If you keep yourself always near the fire, certainly you shall remain warm; there will be no attack of cold or anything like that. If we constantly chant Hare Krsna mantra, then we are not in this material world. But if we purposely again come to the material world ... That independence we have got."
He explained that chanting a certain fixed number of rounds each day is one of the rules governing success. He said that Haridasa Thakura chanted three lakhs of names per day, but Rupa Gosvami chanted less because he was writing books, although he still did a fixed number of rounds. "Similarly, we must have some numerical strength. And we have minimized. I know that you are coming from a different source, so according to time, according to circumstances. Even then, there is no limit. You can chant more than sixteen hundred times. But practically we see that even chanting sixteen rounds becomes difficult. So don't try to imitate, but do it properly, what is advised by your spiritual master, without any offense. That mantra will save you from the dangers of maya. That's a fact."
- From "A Transcendental Diary Vol 4" by HG Hari Sauri Prabhu
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