Original text
हरे कृष्ण हरे कृष्ण कृष्ण कृष्ण हरे हरे । हरे राम हरे राम राम राम हरे हरे ॥ ॥ कलिसन्तरणोपनिषद् से ॥ हरे राम हरे राम राम राम हरे हरे । हरे कृष्ण हरे कृष्ण कृष्ण कृष्ण हरे हरे ॥ १ ॥ इति षोडशकं नाम्नां कलिकल्मषनाशनम् । नातः परतरोपायः सर्ववेदेषु दृश्यते ॥ २ ॥
Transliteration
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare From the Kali-Santarana Upanishad: Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare, Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare ||1|| Iti shodashakam namnam kalikalmashanashanam, natah parataropayah sarvavedeshu drishyate ||2||
Where it comes from
The mahamantra's source is a very short text, the Kali-Santarana Upanishad, "the Upanishad on crossing over Kali", attached to the Krishna Yajurveda. Its scene is simple. At the end of the Dvapara age, Narada, who has been wandering the earth, goes to Brahma and asks how anyone will cross the coming Kali age. Brahma says he has asked well, and gives him "the secret of all the Vedas": simply by uttering the name of Narayana, the primal Person, the stain of Kali is shaken off. Narada asks which name. Brahma answers with the sixteen words, and adds: iti shodashakam namnam kalikalmashanashanam, natah paratara upayah sarvavedeshu drishyate, "these sixteen names destroy the impurity of Kali; no better means is seen in all the Vedas."
The order of the lines
In the Upanishad as most often printed, the mantra begins with Hare Rama. Scholars note that manuscripts from southern India tend to keep that order, while northern ones put Hare Krishna first. The Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486–1534), and with it ISKCON, chants Hare Krishna first, and that is the form most people know. Both contain exactly the same sixteen words. Teachers in every tradition say the order does not change the mantra's power.
What the words mean
The mantra has no verb, no request and no explanation. It is only three names in the vocative:
- Hare: the vocative of Hari, "the one who takes away" (sorrow and sin), or of Harā, Radha, the Lord's own energy, who steals Krishna's heart. In the Gaudiya reading it is a call to Radha to engage the chanter in service.
- Krishna: "the all-attractive", or "the dark one".
- Rama: "the one who delights", read both as Ramachandra and, in Gaudiya teaching, as Krishna himself, the reservoir of pleasure.
Because it is pure address, the mantra is often described as a cry, like a child calling for its mother, rather than a formula. The Upanishad compares its effect to clouds clearing: the sixteen names destroy the coverings of the soul, and then the Supreme shines like the sun's rays when the clouds part.
No rules required
The most striking line comes when Narada asks what the rules for chanting are. Brahma replies: nasya vidhir iti, "there are no rules for it". Whether one is pure or impure, the one who chants it reaches the Lord's world, nearness, likeness and union. This openness is a large part of the mantra's spread. It needs no initiation to begin, no particular place, time or ritual purity. It can be sung in a temple, whispered on a japa mala, or chanted in the street.
How it is chanted
There are two main ways. In japa, the mantra is said softly on a 108-bead tulsi mala, once per bead. ISKCON members vow sixteen rounds a day, 1,728 repetitions. In kirtan, it is sung aloud in a group, call and response, with mridanga and kartal, as Chaitanya Mahaprabhu did in the streets of Navadvipa and Puri. It suits any time of day. Many begin at dawn, during Brahma muhurta, and it is especially loved on Ekadashi, Janmashtami and Gaura Purnima.
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