Sound Makes up Your Core & Make Your Life Sublime
The Vedas recommend that in the present age the most effective means for achieving self-realization is to always hear about, glorify, and remember the all-good Supreme Lord, who is known by many names. One of these names is “Krishna” which means “He who is all-attractive,” another is “Rama” which means “He who is the reservoir of all pleasure,” and “Hare” indicates the Lord’s inconceivable energy.
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
This sublime chanting puts us directly in touch with the Supreme Lord through the sound vibration of His holy names and gradually awakens us to our original relationship with God. ISKCON’s primary mission is to encourage all members of the human society to devote at least some portion of their time and energies to this process of hearing and chanting about God. In this way they will gradually come to realize that all living beings are spirit souls, eternally related to the Supreme Lord in service and in love.
It is mentioned in the scriptures that Sri Krishna, the Reservoir of Pleasure, dances on the tongue of the chanter of His name. To chant and hear fixes the mind, in meditation, in direct contact with God. The mantra is not to be mistaken for an ordinary song or anything tinged with the mundane; it is a pure transcendental sound vibration of the Absolute and has been upheld as such since time immemorial by the great sages and Vedic scriptures.
Anyone who hears the chanting also benefits if he simply likes the sound of the chanting or he appreciates the sankirtana in some way or other. The holy name is compared to a fire; whether one is scientifically conversant with all the properties of fire or knows nothing about it, if one puts his hand in fire, he will be burnt. Sincere chanting and hearing of the Hare Krishna mantra will cleanse the mind and elevate one and all to the natural original position of spirit soul.
Srila Prabhupada on Chanting Hare Krishna Maha Mantra
The transcendental vibration established by the chanting of Hare Krishna Maha Mantra is the sublime method of reviving our Krishna 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 polluted 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, this is called illusion. 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 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 Krishna consciousness.
Krishna Consciousness
Krishna consciousness is not an artificial imposition on the mind; this consciousness is the original energy of the living entity. When we hear the transcendental vibration, this consciousness is revived. And this process is recommended for this age by authorities. By practical experience also, one can perceive that by chanting this Hare Krishna maha-mantra, or the Great Chanting for Deliverance, one can at once feel a transcendental ecstasy coming through from the spiritual stratum. And when one is factually on the plane of spiritual understanding – surpassing the stages of senses, mind, and intelligence – one is situated on the transcendental plane.
Meaning
This Mantra is composed of three Sanskrit names of the Supreme Being; “Hare”, “Krishna” and “Rama”
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
हरे कृष्ण हरे कृष्ण , कृष्ण कृष्ण हरे हरे |
हरे राम हरे राम , राम राम हरे हरे ||
The Hare Krishna mantra, also referred to reverentially as the Maha Mantra “Great Mantra”. This Mantra is composed of three Sanskrit names of the Supreme Being; “Hare,” “Krishna,” and “Rama.
Understanding
The three words— Hare, Krishna, and Rama—are the seed sounds of the maha-mantra, Hare refers to the energy of that One Infinite Source of all of us. The energy thats present all around us.
Rama and Krishna refer to incarnations of Lord Vishnu.
When Chanting this Mantra, we are calling for that universal energy. This Mantra has the power to dissolve our bad habits and negative emotions. By chanting or listening to the Mantra, you become free from all anxiety and inner fears.
Scriptural Reference of Hare Krishna Mantra
Following are the Scriptural references for Hare Krishna maha mantra:
All the grievous sins are removed for one who worships Lord Hari, the Lord of all lords, and chants the holy name, the Maha-mantra. (Padma Purana, 3.50.6)
When the sixteen names and thirty-two syllables of the Hare Krishna mantra are loudly vibrated, Krishna dances on one’s tongue (Stava-mala-vidyabhusana-bhasya, Baladeva Vidyabhushana in Bhaktisiddhanta’s Gaudiya Kanthahara 17:30)
One who chants the holy name of the Lord is immediately freed from the reactions of unlimited sins, even if he chants indirectly (to indicate something else), jokingly, for musical entertainment, or even neglectfully. This is accepted by all the learned scholars of the scriptures.
(Srimad-Bhagavatam, 6.2.14)
The nama sankirtana(public chanting) of Hare Krishna maha-mantra delivers a complete revelation of all of spiritual reality. (Brahmanda Purana 6.59-60)
My dear King, although Kali-yuga is an ocean of faults, there is still one good quality about this age: Simply by chanting the Hare Krsna maha-mantra, one can become free from material bondage and be promoted to the transcendental kingdom. (Srimad Bhagavatam – 12.3.51)