“Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Kīrtana Standards,” installment 26 In a letter to Mukunda Dāsa (later Mukunda Goswāmī), June 6, 1967, Śrīla Prabhupāda appreciated a recording by his early disciples in San Francisco of Śrī rāma jaya rāma jaya jaya rāma and other kīrtanas (and a song by Hayagrīva Dāsa about “Nārada Muni, eternal spaceman”). And again in San Francisco, at the end of a lecture on September 10, 1968 (the Sunday before Rāma-vijayotsava), Śrīla Prabhupāda had his devotees chant in kīrtana Śrī rāma jaya rāma jaya jaya rāma. Yet as mentioned earlier, Hayagrīva writes that on … [Read more...] about On the margin – Rāma mantras
About kirtana standards
Jaya Jagannātha!
“Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Kīrtana Standards,” installment 25 From Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta we understand that during the Rathayātrā festival Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu wandered from one kīrtana group to another, chanting “Jaya Jagannātha!”1 and all the other devotees were chanting “Jaya Jagannātha!” as well.2 Śrīla Prabhupāda-līlāmṛta says that at the San Francisco Rathayātrā Śrīla Prabhupāda told devotees to switch the chanting from Hare Kṛṣṇa to Jaya Jagannātha.3 On November 17, 1975, on a walk on Juhu Beach, Lokanāth Swami asked Śrīla Prabhupāda about the chanting of “Jaya Jagannātha!” … [Read more...] about Jaya Jagannātha!
Jaya Śacīnandana, Nitāi Gaurāṅga, and Prabhu Nityānanda
“Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Kīrtana Standards,” installment 24 Śrīla Prabhupāda told us we should chant the full Pañca-tattva mantra—śrī kṛṣṇa caitanya prabhu nityānanda śri advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi gaura-bhakta-vṛnda. To this he gave emphasis again and again. Nonetheless. . . Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura (in 1885) wrote of the day when devotees from abroad would join with the Bengali devotees and chant “Jaya Śacīnandana.” When Śrīla Prabhupāda visited the ISKCON temple in Baltimore, where the main Deities were Gaura-Nitāi, Śrīla Prabhupāda said: So this benediction is offered … [Read more...] about Jaya Śacīnandana, Nitāi Gaurāṅga, and Prabhu Nityānanda
Govinda Jaya Jaya
“Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Kīrtana Standards,” installment 23 From the earliest days of ISKCON, Śrīla Prabhupāda chanted: govinda jaya jaya, gopāla jaya jayarādhā-ramaṇa hari, govinda jaya jaya In San Francisco in 1967, Śrīla Prabhupāda taught Mukunda Mahārāja this chant.1 Sometimes Śrīla Prabhupāda would lead chanting of “Govinda jaya jaya” after giving class or would have the devotees chant it.2 In 1968 Śrīla Prabhupāda wrote to one new devotee: Please go on chanting “Govinda Jaya Jaya, Govinda [sic] Jaya Jaya, Radha Ramana Hari, Govinda Jaya Jaya”, along with “Hare … [Read more...] about Govinda Jaya Jaya
Jaya Pañca-tattva, Jaya Pañca-tattva
“Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Kīrtana Standards,” installment 23 As mentioned above (under “The real point: Strictly follow”), Śrīla Prabhupāda instructed that we should chant “only what the ācāryas have given,” that “the ācāryas only chant all five names of the Pañca-tattva,” and that we should not “chant our own made-up mantras.” And yet we hear: Jaya Pañca-tattva! Jaya Pañca-tattva!Jaya Pañca-tattva! Jaya Pañca-tattva! This is not something the ācāryas have given. It doesn’t include any of the five names. It wasn’t chanted by Śrīla Prabhupāda. And we don’t hear it even in the … [Read more...] about Jaya Pañca-tattva, Jaya Pañca-tattva
Hari bol, Hari bol / Gaura Nityānanda bol
“Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Kīrtana Standards,” installment 22 Looking into some specifics, seemingly not so important, here leads us to important instructions from Śrīla Prabhupāda about broader principles. Let’s see how the journey unfolds. The chanting of “Nitāi Gaura Hari bol” is common in Gauḍīya kīrtana. But Śrīla Prabhupāda wanted to keep our focus on the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. Śrutakīrti Prabhu writes: March 18, 1973, ISKCON Māyāpur Candrodaya Mandir During ISKCON's first international festival in Māyāpur, many devotees demonstrated how they had become influenced by … [Read more...] about Hari bol, Hari bol / Gaura Nityānanda bol
Jaya Gurudeva!
“Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Kīrtana Standards,” installment 22 The chanting of “Jaya Gurudeva” has become popular in ISKCON, but like other chants not received directly from Śrīla Prabhupāda, this one has its problems. Kripamoya Prabhu gives the following account: February 1977, Gaura Pūrṇimā. Before the first maṅgala-ārati, Pañca-dravida Swami had been chanting bhaja bhakata vatsala śrī gaura-hari for the maṅgala offering, before the ārati. During the maṅgala-ārati kīrtana someone had been chanting —for Prabhupāda, of course—Jaya Gurudeva. And Bhavānanda came down after … [Read more...] about Jaya Gurudeva!
The Pañca-tattva mantra
“Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Kīrtana Standards,” installment 21 Chant the Pañca-tattva mantra first In a Caitanya-caritāmṛta purport, Śrīla Prabhupāda instructed: At the beginning of every function in preaching, especially before chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra—Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare / Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare—we must chant the Pañca-tattva’s names and offer our respects to them.1 In the previous chapter he had written: As preachers of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, we first offer our obeisances to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu by … [Read more...] about The Pañca-tattva mantra
Core instructions from Śrīla Prabhupāda for Vrindāvan
“Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Kīrtana Standards,” installment 20 In this book I several times cite or quote an article by Harikeśa Swami, “Important Kirtan Instructions from Srila Prabhupada,” published in 1988. Harikeśa Swami wrote this article when he was a leading GBC member, he wrote it at the request of other GBC members, and we have no reason to believe that later events have diminished its validity. I have included the entire article as an appendix to this book. In that article, Harikeśa tells especially of instructions Śrīla Prabhupāda gave for ISKCON Vrindāvan: Although the … [Read more...] about Core instructions from Śrīla Prabhupāda for Vrindāvan
What should we think of while chanting?
“Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Kīrtana Standards,” installment 19 The question "What should we think of while chanting?" often comes up. So let me give some attention to it here. One instruction from Śrīla Prabhupāda that I remember came to me from a German godbrother named Uttamaśloka Dāsa. Sometime in the early days when our New York temple was at 61 Second Avenue, Uttamaśloka came from Europe and stayed at the temple for some days. And he repeated an instruction he had heard from His Divine Grace about how to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa: “Just try to hear yourself chant sincerely.” For all the … [Read more...] about What should we think of while chanting?
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