Mantras and the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra

What is a Mantra?"Mananaat traayate iti mantrah" -That which uplifts by constant repetition is a Mantra. There are some many different explanations and meaning for this word and people use them so much interchangeably that I have decided to actually give up trying to explain it. Everyone knows, what a Mantra is - right from Saints, Sadhus to the today's corporate World. I would rather try to give my experiences of Mantras and about the Hare Krishna Maha (Greatest) Mantra.

In Hinduism and other religions, there are so many mantras that are chanted by the aspiring spiritualists.A Mantra consists of a sacred Syllable when chanted by a practitioner produces a particular result for the practitioner. I remember my father telling me this incident, that his uncle was a ardent worshiper of Goddess Durga and he somehow got a mantra from someone and started worshiping Durga. After a month or so, he literally became mad, unable to remember or recognize anyone, anything.Apparently, he while doing the mantra, he had pronounced the Bija akshrras - the seed syllable incorrectly.It took the family members a lot of pain and suffering to make him normal.He was taken to few Sadhus and finally one Sadhu gave him, Holy water to drink.After taking it for two weeks, he became normal.When, he was asked about, the last thing he remembered - my fathers uncle told an interesting experience.He had a dream, in which he saw a gigantic form of Durga. The goddess called him to come near and he was sacred and did not dare to go near her.And, she was angry and said" go away".And, then he lost his consciousness.

In Srimad Bhagavatham, we find an example of incorrect chanting of this Mantra, which produced the opposite result.As explained by Srila Prabhupad "There was some defect in Tvastā's chanting of the mantra because he chanted it long instead of short, and therefore the meaning changed. Tvastā intended to chant the word indra-śatro, meaning, "O enemy of Indra." In this mantra, the word indra is in the possessive case (sasthī), and the word indra-śatro is called a tat-purusa compound (tatpurusa-samāsa). Unfortunately, instead of chanting the mantra short, Tvastā chanted it long, and its meaning changed from "the enemy of Indra" to "Indra, who is an enemy." Consequently instead of an enemy of Indra's, there emerged the body of Vrtrāsura, of whom Indra was the enemy."(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam Canto 6,Chapter 9: Appearance of the Demon Vrtrāsura).

Of course, the Mantras are sometimes handy for example, the Snake charming ones. Sometime ago, about 20 yrs - my Grandfathers Home in a small village surrounded by fields was becoming an abode for snakes.Once,when one of my uncle was sleeping a snake dropped from the ceiling and fell into a bed.Similarly there are snakes everywhere in the house.They contacted a local snake charmer and he gave them some sand ( which was charmed by his mantra) and the sand was sprinkled all over the house.Since, that day the snakes have stopped frequenting rooms and ceilings in the house.Hmm. Is it due to Mantra or something else.? It is said that these snake charmers also have to undergo a rigid methods of practicing the mantras, following particular rules and regulations etc.

And one time in the same place, I must have been about 11 or 12 years old, I was building houses with mud.And, mixing the mud ready to plaster the walls,that I have built.And, something bit in my index finger.Initially, I thought that it is just a ant or something. But  when the pain started to spread to my whole palm, hand, arms, I know something is wrong.I immediately lifted moved the brick from the place where I was bitten and found a red scorpion.I went running and told the elders that I had been bitten by a scorpion.The pain was unbearable. Immediately  Raya Narsadu - our head servant was called to apply the mantra for the bite.So, that's it.I never went to a Doctor.Again, you might say, all scorpions are not dangerous, the pain goes by itself etc.I don't know, but the Mantra worked for me.I was alright within an hour.

  

Thus, we can understand that Chanting any mantra or a mantra is not a simple, straight forward method and has many implications that need to be taken into account.

Whereas, in chanting the Hare Krishna Mantra - In Shrimad-Bhagavatam (8.23.16) it is said:

mantratas tantratash chidram, desha-kalarha-vastutah;

sarvam karoti nishchidram, anusankirtanam tava.

“There may be discrepancies in pronouncing the mantras and observing the regulative principles, and, moreover, there may be discrepancies in regard to time, place, person and paraphernalia. But when the Hare Krishna maha-mantra is chanted, everything becomes faultless”

This is further confirmed by Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu himself in Sri Siksastakam Text 2

namnam akari bahudha nija-sarva-shaktis

tatrarpita niyamitah smarane na kalah

etadrishi tava kripa bhagavan mamapi

durdaivam idrisham ihajani nanuragaha

O my Lord, Your holy name alone can render all benediction to living beings, and thus You have hundreds and millions of names like Krishna and Govinda. In these transcendental names You have invested all Your transcendental energies. There are not even hard and fast rules for chanting these names. O my Lord, out of kindness You enable us to easily approach You by Your holy names, but I am so unfortunate that I have no attraction for them.

Thus, I feel that for this, age, time, place and circumstances, Chanting of the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra is the most suitable and sublime.

So what does, this Hare Krishna Mantra means and what it can do for us is beautifully explained below by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, founder Acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness

"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 protect 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.

Therefore 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."

Just to create a right mood for chanting the Hare Krishna Mantra, I have added some photos from my last visit to the Holy Dham, Vrindavan (India).The first one is my son riding on a bicycle Rickshaw, the second one is a picture taken in one of the Holy Kund (Bathing Places) with name of "Sri Radha" painted on the walls, third one is a part of sacred Govardhan Hill.