“Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Kīrtana Standards,” installment 10
Without the process, the kīrtana “has no real effect.”
As recorded by Yamuna Devi in her journal, Śrīla Prabhupāda spoke with devotees in Bombay on January 5, 1971, about the importance of following the process of devotional service to gain spiritual potency. Śrīla Prabhupāda said:
Our success is only possible when we are very much sincere and spiritually strong. Of course, in any dealing, both parties must be sincere. The hearing party must be sincere in understanding transcendental subject matter, and we must also be qualified that we can present it. Then everything is all right. . . . What the people do not know is that this Krishna Consciousness is a process. Without the process, the kirtan is simply a sound vibration. It has no real effect. Bhaktivinoda Thakur has said that it is simply like the vibration of the alphabet: ABCDEFG. . . . It is the process that is important.1
In the beginning we may be liberal, but. . .
In a conversation with Rameśvara Swami and others in Śrīdhāma Māyāpur on February 25, 1977, Śrīla Prabhupāda emphasized again and again that people should not only chant but take up the full devotional process, in which the chanting will be most effective.2 In the beginning we may be liberal and just encourage people to chant, he said, but people should “come in the process.” That is, they should accept a guru and be initiated, follow the rules and regulations, avoid offenses, and so on. Otherwise, he said, the chanting will deteriorate, one will commit offenses, and (the worst offense) one may think, “I am chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, so whatever sinful activities I am [doing] will be controlled.”
Those who are chanting should “know the science,” he said.
Giving an example, Śrīla Prabhupāda said, “Some way or other, if you are near the fire you’ll get some heat. But there is a process how to take heat.” One should not reject the process, thinking, “Because I am getting a little heat, it is sufficient.” That, he said, is the way of the sahajiyās, those who take Kṛṣṇa consciousness cheaply.
To get the full benefit of chanting, one should hear from pure devotees and take to the full devotional process.
Appendix: Conversation in Mayapur, February 25, 1977
In 1977, when Rameśvara Swami was in charge of publishing Back to Godhead magazine, Śrīla Prabhupāda had a conversation with him and other devotees about a trend in Back to Godhead toward content the others considered mundane. The conversation took place in Śrīdhāma Māyāpur on February 25, 1977. Rameśvara Swami explained that since hundreds of thousands of copies were being distributed, the editors wanted to make Kṛṣṇa consciousness more accessible to ordinary people and wanted to get everyone to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. But Śrīla Prabhupāda emphasized again and again that people should not only chant but take up the full devotional process, in which the chanting can be most effective.
“Something is better than nothing.”
Rāmeśvara: What about the idea that you do not have to move into a temple, give up your family and everything, but you can actually chant Hare Kṛṣṇa in your own home, that idea that “It is available to you. . .”?
Prabhupāda: No, that chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa does not mean whimsical.
Rāmeśvara: No.
Prabhupāda: Offenseless. He must be properly initiated. It does not mean that he should not be initiated and chant. That is not the idea. You. . . must be initiated, either you are a gṛhastha or sannyāsī or brahmacārī. Not that without being initiated you’ll whimsically chant and the effect will be the same. No. You must be initiated. Ādau gurvāśrayam. You must accept a guru.
Rāmeśvara: If you want to sell some product, you may make so many claims, and then the public will buy. So sometimes we quote these psychologists who have done studies that “If you chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, there are some good effects.”
Prabhupāda: Good there is undoubtedly. If you eat something, there will be some effect of eating. But if it is properly eaten, properly made, it will. . . have better effect. That is the idea.
Rāmeśvara: We were thinking that something is better than nothing.
Prabhupāda: No.
Hari-śauri: If you advertise the mahā-mantra gives some material benefit, isn’t that an offense?
Prabhupāda: Then that is aparādha.
Hari-śauri: Yes.
Prabhupāda: That is aparādha.
Hari-śauri: One of the ten offenses.
Rāmeśvara: ’Cause sometimes when we interview these people who are chanting, they speak from their own realization, and it is not exactly the version of Śukadeva Gosvāmī, . . . but it is their own realization, whatever little bit they have realized.
Prabhupāda: No, no. They may chant, but they must understand that the chanting process, that will be more effective. That they must know. Chanting is open. Anyone can chant, but they must know it that “If I chant in the proper process, then it will be effective.”
Rāmeśvara: It must be clear to them that the goal is love of God, not something material.
Prabhupāda: Yes. Premā pum-artho mahān. That is wanted. There is one word by Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, nāmākṣara bahir haya nāma nāhi haya:“ The… Simply the alphabets [letters] are coming, but that is not nāma.” Nāmākṣara, Hare Kṛṣṇa, the alphabets, are coming out, but it is not the holy name. 3
Rāmeśvara: Suppose someone says that Caitanya Mahāprabhu has given freely this holy name with no rules and regulations, but simply… [break]
“The offense will increase.”
Brahmānanda: We wanted to make a distinction that a nondevotee chanting is different from when a pure devotee chants.
Rāmeśvara: So that distinction should be there.
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Rāmeśvara: We were thinking that somehow this magazine. . .
Prabhupāda: No, another thing, it is aparādha. . . . Nāmno balād yasya hi pāpa-buddhiḥ. Unless he is in the process, he’ll think, “I am chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, so whatever sinful activities I am [doing] , it will be controlled.”
Brahmānanda: That’s the worst offense.
Prabhupāda: Yes. That is very bad offense.
Hari-śauri: So we’re actually advertising the process of devotional service, not just simply haphazard chanting.
Prabhupāda: First of all we are chanting just to make him little attracted. Ādau śraddhā.
Rāmeśvara: Just to popularize it.
Prabhupāda: Yes, that’s it. Then, if the heart is little cleansed, then they will understand. It will be effective, but when it is done properly it will give real effect. Outsider, those who are chanting, we don’t discourage him.
Rāmeśvara: We want them to chant more.
Prabhupāda: Yes. But we must. . . They must know the science also.
Rāmeśvara: Just like this Alice Coltrane. She has done her small part. She made this record album with Govinda Jaya Jaya and Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Prabhupāda: That is. . . That will be a good thing. But when he does it properly it will be more effective, because there is. . . If one does not chant in the process, then gradually it degrades. The offense will increase. There is chance.
“Don’t make it cheap.”
Rāmeśvara: So in the past, in the magazine, we have only shown people chanting if they were initiated devotees, shaven-headed, living in temple. And recently they have adopted to show people who have jobs outside the movement—and they are not brahmacārī or sannyāsī; they’re also chanting—to give the public the idea that. . .
Prabhupāda: So that we are giving, the facility to chant and take prasādam. But at the same time, gradually, if chanting is effective, then next we have to make it in the process.
Brahmānanda: We want to bring them to the process.
Prabhupāda: Yes, that is the ultimate. That is stated by Rūpa Gosvāmī,
yena tena prakāreṇa
manaḥ kṛṣṇe niveśayet
sarve vidhi-niṣedhā syur
etayor eva kiṅkarāḥ
That “Somehow or other, bring him to chant Kṛṣṇa or to become little Kṛṣṇa conscious. Then, when he’s little purified, then the vidhi-niṣedhāḥ. . .”He’s not rejecting the vidhi-niṣedhāḥ. Vidhi-niṣedhāḥ means regulative principles. It is not rejected, that. . . But when he’s a little purified, this vidhi-niṣedhā syur etayor eva kiṅkarāḥ. Just like one. . . First of all let him become rich, get some money. And then, when he has got money, he can keep some servant, some assistant, some secretaries, like that. First of all earn money.
Rāmeśvara: So one step at a time.
Prabhupāda: Yes. But organized business means there must be so many men, secretary, manager. That is regulated. So in the beginning, “All right, bring some money somehow. Then I shall. . .”So you cannot reject this [method of] organization because he’s chanting. Then what is the use of writing so many books [dealing with] the nāma-aparādha and other discussions, if anyone can chant?
Rāmeśvara: So it definitely has to lead them to that.
Prabhupāda: Yes. So we must come to that point. In the beginning you may be very liberal: “All right, chant.”We do like that, and I have done it. There is no other regulation. But that does not [mean] that it should be neglected. He should be given affirmed, “By simply, whimsically chanting this. . .”No, that is not.
Hari-śauri: Niyamāgraha.
Prabhupāda: Yes. Don’t make it cheap. It has got a science. It has got a form.
“And if done by pure Vaiṣṇavas. . .”
Rāmeśvara: I’ve seen in some articles they have written to defend our Society from the attack of deprogrammers, sometimes one argument they give is that meditation and chanting are being studied by scientists and they are finding the effects to be good. Now. . .
Prabhupāda: Effect will be good. And if we do it properly it will be first class.
Rāmeśvara: Now, these scientists, they are studying Hare Kṛṣṇa meditation, but they’re also studying some other processes which are not authorized. And they are. . .
Prabhupāda: That is the defect.
Rāmeśvara: And they’re stating that in general, to meditate, to chant mantra, this is good, this is healthy for the mind.
Prabhupāda: That’s all right. The thing is that some way or other, if you are near the fire, you’ll get some heat. But there is a process how to take heat.
Rāmeśvara: Oh, yes.
Prabhupāda: That you cannot reject. “Because I am getting little heat, it is sufficient,”that is sahajiyā.
Rāmeśvara: So we are trying to use their endorsements and then make it very specific, that “Therefore to meditate using the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, this is healthy. So why are you attacking us?”
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Rāmeśvara: We’re trying like that. They are endorsing something else.
Prabhupāda: This is a better meditation. Meditation. . . One is performing meditation silently. But if we chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, it is forced meditation. He has to meditate. So it is better meditation. [kīrtana in background] Just like they’re chanting; I am engaged in different business. Still, I am hearing. This is the. . . And one is silently meditating, he’s getting. . . , maybe he’s getting the benefit, but here anyone who is hearing, getting benefit. Therefore chanting is better than. . . Yes. And it is recommended by Haridāsa Ṭhākura that. . . This is discussed in Caitanya-caritāmṛta, that “Chanting, even the trees, even the insects and the animals, they will hear and they get the benefit.” So it is better meditation. Even the trees, plants, animals, birds, beasts, they can take benefit. And if it is done by pure Vaiṣṇava, then they get the full benefit.
This is an installment of a draft for an upcoming book.
I especially welcome comments—suggestions, criticisms, questions, whatever.
Among other things: If you were personally present with Srila Prabhupada and received or heard instructions from him about kirtana, or were present at an instructive incident, I’m all ears.
I’m also particularly interested in hearing from “second generation” devotees (or third generation)—those born into the Hare Krishna movement or who joined after Srila Prabhupada’s departure. Again, I’m all ears.
Especially welcome: Thoughts or evidence that runs contrary to what’s in the draft or that adds a different perspective or nuance.
The draft has not yet been reviewed for spelling, italics, diacritic marks, and so on. I’ll handle that later. The same goes for formatting—headlines, subheads, and the like. For now, what matters is the content.
You can reach me by the contact form on this site. Or if you have my contact details, feel free to call me, message me, or send me an email.
Thank you very much. And happy chanting!
Notes
- Quoted in Yamuna Devi: A life of unalloyed devotion, Volume 1, p. 348. Emphasis Yamuna’s.[↩]
- The relevant portion of the conversation appears in full as an appendix to this book.[↩]
- asādhu-saṅge bhāī, kṛṣṇa-nāma nāhi haya / nāmākṣara bahirāya baṭe, tabu nāma kabhu naya. “My dear brothers, a person cannot purely chant kṛṣṇa-nāma in the company of nondevotees. The sound and the syllables may be uttered, but that is not real chanting.” Jaiva Dharma, chapter 25, quoting from Prema-vivarta, chapter 7.[↩]
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