Hare Krishna Maha-Mantra ~ Purport

by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Founder-Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness

In December 1966, Śrīla Prabhupāda and a small group of his earliest disciples traveled from the storefront temple at 26 Second Avenue to a recording studio near Times Square in New York City. The occasion was the recording of the first Hare Krishna album, produced by Alan Kallman and released under the Happening record label with the title Krishna Consciousness. Before entering the studio, the party held a marching harināma through Times Square — Hayagrīva playing a large bass drum, others playing karatālas. Inside, after roughly fifteen minutes of practice with the sound engineer, the record was cut in a single take: Śrīla Prabhupāda leading the Hare Krishna mahā-mantra on a wooden khol, his voice strong, his playing expert. The first side ran approximately twelve minutes. The second side featured the Saṁsāra prayers (Gurv-aṣṭakam), accompanied by Kīrtanānanda on harmonium. After the chanting, Śrīla Prabhupāda spoke the following purport to the mahā-mantra — a concise, complete, and authoritative explanation of the transcendental sound vibration, its philosophical basis, and its method of reception. The album was later obtained by George Harrison and the Beatles, and the text of this purport was subsequently adapted for the introduction to Kṛṣṇa Consciousness: The Topmost Yoga System. What follows is the original purport as spoken by Śrīla Prabhupāda on that occasion.

This transcendental vibration, by 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 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 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 her complexities. This illusion is called Maya, or hard struggle for existence for winning over the stringent laws of material nature. This illusory struggle against the material nature can at once be stopped by revival of our 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 the process is recommended by authorities for this age. By practical experience also, we can perceive that by chanting this Maha-mantra, or the great chanting for deliverance, one can at once feel transcendental ecstasy from the spiritual stratum.

When one is factually on the plane of spiritual understanding, surpassing the stages of sense, mind, and intelligence, one is situated on the transcendental plane. This chanting of Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare is directly enacted from the spiritual platform, surpassing all lower status of consciousness, namely sensual, mental, and intellectual. There is no need of understanding the language of the mantra, nor is there any need of mental speculation, nor any intellectual adjustment for chanting this Maha-mantra. It springs automatically from the spiritual platform, and as such, anyone can take part in this transcendental sound vibration without any previous qualification and dance in ecstasy. We have seen it practically. Even a child can take part in the chanting, or even a dog can take part in it.

This chanting should be heard from the lips of a pure devotee of the Lord so that immediate effect can be achieved. As far as possible, chanting from the lips of a non-devotee should be avoided, as much as milk touched by the lips of a serpent causes poisonous effect.

The word Hara is a form of addressing the energy of the Lord. Both Krishna and Rama are forms of addressing directly the Lord and they mean, "the highest pleasure eternal." Hara is the supreme pleasure potency of the Lord. This potency, when addressed as Hare, helps us in reaching the Supreme Lord.

The material energy, called maya, is also one of the multi-potencies of the Lord, as much as we are also marginal potency of the Lord. The living entities are described as superior energy than matter. When the superior energy is in contact with the inferior energy, it becomes an incompatible situation. But when the supreme marginal potency is in contact with the spiritual potency, Hara, it becomes the happy, normal condition of the living entity.

The three words, namely Hara, Krishna, and Rama, are transcendental seeds of the maha-mantra, and the chanting is a spiritual call for the Lord and His internal energy Hara for giving protection to the conditioned soul. This chanting is exactly like the genuine cry of a child for its mother. Mother Hara helps the devotee achieve the grace of the Supreme Father, Hari or Krishna, and the Lord reveals Himself to the devotee who chants this mantra sincerely.