CD 15-2 Purport

Purport by His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

The transcendental vibration established by the chanting of Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, 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 Krsna 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 the material nature, while actually we are under the grip of her stringent laws. When a servant artificially tries to imitate the all-powerful master, it is called 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 Krsna consciousness.

Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare, is the transcendental process for reviving the original pure consciousness. By chanting this transcendental vibration, we can cleanse away all misgivings within our hearts. The basic principle of such misgivings is the false consciousness that I am the lord of all I survey.

Krsna consciousness is not an artificial imposition on the mind. This consciousness is the original natural energy of the living entity. In the beginning, there may be not the presence of all transcendental ecstasies, which are eight in number. There are: Being stopped as though dumb, perspiration, standing up of hairs on the body, dislocation of voice, trembling of the body, crying in ecstasy, 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 of dance along with the chanting of the mantra. We have seen this practically. Even a child can take part in this chanting and dancing. 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.

These three words, namely Hara, Krsna and Rama, are the transcendental seeds of the maha-mantra. The chanting is a spiritual call for the Lord and His energies, to give protection to the conditioned soul. This chanting is exactly like the genuine cry of a child for its mother's presence.

No other means of spiritual realization is as effective in this age of quarrel and hypocrisy as the maha-mantra: Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.