Mother Nature can be a refuge for us, support and sustain our spiritual practice, and help us reach our Goal.
The quiet of Nature helps us better observe our thoughts, and help us see the goodness in all people.
The quiet of Nature helps us better observe our thoughts, and help us see the goodness in all people.
Krishna addresses Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita.
hare Krishna hare Rama
Meaning for Spiritual Practice.
hare kṛṣṇa hare kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa hare hare
hare Krishna hare Krishna Krishna Krishna hare hare
hare Rama hare Rama Rama Rama hare hare
hare can mean “experiencing”, or “moving towards”
Krishna can mean spiritual understanding,
Rama can mean the beauty and attraction of spiritual practice and healing.
The Song.
Many Kirtan musicians record this Sanskrit mantra, for it is a foundational mantra.
Krishna Das offers an excellent recording, on his album “Heart Full of Soul,” 2008, available on https://krishnadasmusic.com/. This song begins very quietly, just his harmonium, then slowly builds up speed, tempo, pitch and energy to a sustained powerful climax. Then a sudden release. Very exciting if you can join in. You can listen to it at -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LdNrXaoT24&t=51s It’s had four million views since 2014 !!
This album launched me on this path of Kirtan translation. My friend Chris was playing this Krishna Das album, at this mantra, in his shop, which is the premier alternative shop in Bundaberg, Qld. Called “Nature’s Emporium, and a real oasis on Bourbong St. I had to stop, and listen to the full 15 minute song. I bought it, and later began leading Kirtan sessions in a Yoga center (since closed) across the road from Nature’s Emporium. But this double CD will cost you as much as all the songs on this website, that are available singly from the musicians.
If you do buy it, you want to give yourself a full hour, undisturbed, to listen to the whole of disc 2, undisturbed. Perhaps starting with track 2. Be transported to another world.
You can pre-listen to a recording very similar to track 4, disc 2 on - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTc8X37oJBE
The hare Krishna hare Rama mantra is also a favourite of Pralad Das, with several melodies on his only Kirtan album : “Acoustic Journey”, by Pralad and the Chants. This excellent CD is a live recording at Mt Gravatt, Brisbane, with call-and-response, and slow build up to climax. I recommend it for this mantra.
Prahlad Das is a wonderful musician, with real proficiency on the guitar. His music seems to come from pub rock, but now directed to higher pursuits. Prahlad Das really enjoys leading Kirtan, and I really enjoyed dancing at several of his concerts. These were at the Mantra Room, Westend of Brisbane, a delightful venue dedicated to live Kirtan, three times per week, and my website now has a page about their mantras. Prahlad and the Chants have been performing regularly at the Coolangatta Yoga centre, Gold Coast, Qld. The other chants that Prahlad uses are discussed on my other webpage “hare Krishna hare Rama b”, nested behind this page. His Facebook page is –
https://www.facebook.com/PraladandTheChants/
Pronunciation.
Krishna is spelled kṛṣṇa in scriptures, and we point the tongue to the mid palette to pronounce the letters ṛ ṣ ṇ. This gives a dull sound. I notice that Kirtan singers use the brighter pronunciation by pointing the tongue to the teeth, as we do in English. Then the Name is spelled “Krishna”, as a Kirtan word.
The Mantra Discussed.
Krishna is a most popular Name for Deity in India, and there are many temples and devotees for Krishna there. Krishna has a good following because of the Bhagavad Gita, properly spelled Bhagavād (pron. ‘Bhagavaad’) Gītā, or Sacred Song. This is a very popular scripture in India because it is such a good exposition of spiritual practice. I use it as my primary Hindu reference in my own treatise on spiritual practice, and I quote from it extensively. The Bhagavad Gita is a discourse delivered by Krishna at Kuruk-shetra, near Delhi, almost three thousand years ago in India. Thus -
The Bhagavad Gita lists several key or foundational Qualities of Deity, thus –
To these we can add also -
These Qualities or Powers of Presence (idhi) are all in one verse – Chapter 9 verse 18 (an interesting number) and this verse begins with the simple opening ahaṁ = ‘I am …’. Chapter 9 of the Bhagavad Gita is entitled rāja vidyā yoga, the Yoga of truly understanding (vidyā) Presence of Deity (rāja).
Are we indeed these important Qualities, during our daily activities? Upon insightful reflection, we realise we can do much to improve them, in daily life. They are important, yet perhaps they do not receive the importance they deserve in our priorities. They are more a Goal to move towards, rather than an accurate description of our daily life experience. Our spiritual practice could be described as moving towards Qualities such as these. Realising these Qualities, and experiencing them as real. So the word before Krishna in our mantra is hare -
Moving towards these Qualities of Presence and then experiencing them is easier said than done. Often we find ourselves moving away from Liberation, and experiencing the opposite of it. There is much we can learn, and a good education can help a lot. Much of this website explores themes that can be helpful and illuminating for our spiritual practice. However, I will be brief and return to the meaning of our mantra.
When we have some success in our spiritual practice, then we naturally experience the joy, attraction and beauty of both spiritual practice and the fruit of spiritual practice. Indeed, the delight and rewards of purification practice are what keeps us on the Path. This brings us to the second Name for Deity in our mantra – Rama -
hare and Krishna can also be interpreted somewhat differently.
The mantra goes back and forth, from hare to either Krishna or Rama. This suggests moving our attention from ourselves as practitioners, to the Goal or the attraction and delight of the Goal that we are headed towards. When we sing this mantra.
As Transcendental Sounds.
The Names of Deity, such as Krishna and Rama, can be also perceived as a transcendental sound, that has “descended from the spiritual realm to the physical, without losing any potency” (from Siddha-svarup-ananda.)
The purpose of reciting the Name as a mantra is to –
- Krishna can mean the Source of spiritual knowledge, or
- Krishna can be what spiritual practice actually is.
The Bhagavad Gita lists several key or foundational Qualities of Deity, thus –
- sākṣhī = observing : our ability to be aware of our state of mind, intentions, defilements.
- prabhuḥ = directing : our ability to direct the mind away from defilements and towards something more helpful. Our ability to return to and restore the spiritual Qualities into this moment
- kalyāna mitra = being friendly : our ability to be kind to ourselves, and not entertain pain
- bhartā = supporting, nurturing our body, mind and spirit
- śharaṇam = sheltering, protecting ourselves from the defilements
- nidhānam = taking rest in these Qualities
- sthānam = storing these beautiful Qualities in our place of spiritual practice
- bījam = the Source of all the above.
- gatiḥ = the Goal of spiritual practice, where we are heading.
To these we can add also -
- sthiraṃ = stabilising our thinking, and head towards refreshing and rejuvenating inner stillness and silence.
These Qualities or Powers of Presence (idhi) are all in one verse – Chapter 9 verse 18 (an interesting number) and this verse begins with the simple opening ahaṁ = ‘I am …’. Chapter 9 of the Bhagavad Gita is entitled rāja vidyā yoga, the Yoga of truly understanding (vidyā) Presence of Deity (rāja).
Are we indeed these important Qualities, during our daily activities? Upon insightful reflection, we realise we can do much to improve them, in daily life. They are important, yet perhaps they do not receive the importance they deserve in our priorities. They are more a Goal to move towards, rather than an accurate description of our daily life experience. Our spiritual practice could be described as moving towards Qualities such as these. Realising these Qualities, and experiencing them as real. So the word before Krishna in our mantra is hare -
- hare can mean “experiencing” or “moving towards”, and
- hare Krishna can mean “experiencing spiritual understanding” and
- hare Krishna can mean “moving towards spiritual understanding”.
Moving towards these Qualities of Presence and then experiencing them is easier said than done. Often we find ourselves moving away from Liberation, and experiencing the opposite of it. There is much we can learn, and a good education can help a lot. Much of this website explores themes that can be helpful and illuminating for our spiritual practice. However, I will be brief and return to the meaning of our mantra.
When we have some success in our spiritual practice, then we naturally experience the joy, attraction and beauty of both spiritual practice and the fruit of spiritual practice. Indeed, the delight and rewards of purification practice are what keeps us on the Path. This brings us to the second Name for Deity in our mantra – Rama -
- Rama can mean the beauty, enjoyment and attraction of spiritual practice, and the fruit of spiritual practice.
- hare Rama can mean “experience the enjoyment of spiritual practice” or
- hare Rama can mean “move towards the beauty of spiritual practice.”
hare and Krishna can also be interpreted somewhat differently.
- hare can mean the spiritual practitioner, ie us when we are both practised and practising, and
- Krishna can mean the Goal of spiritual practice, and
- Rama can mean the beauty, enjoyment and attraction of spiritual practice, and the fruit of spiritual practice.
The mantra goes back and forth, from hare to either Krishna or Rama. This suggests moving our attention from ourselves as practitioners, to the Goal or the attraction and delight of the Goal that we are headed towards. When we sing this mantra.
As Transcendental Sounds.
The Names of Deity, such as Krishna and Rama, can be also perceived as a transcendental sound, that has “descended from the spiritual realm to the physical, without losing any potency” (from Siddha-svarup-ananda.)
The purpose of reciting the Name as a mantra is to –
- to purify and awaken,
- to cultivate wisdom and happiness, and
- to return to and reconnect with our higher self or ātma which experiences these beautiful Qualities.
Derivation Details
The dictionary and the scriptures give the following translations -
- rāma (raama) means “joy and delight” in the dictionary, and
- Rama means the “Source of joy and delight”, as a Name for Deity.
As a word, hare is the vocative form of both hara and hari. All these three words, hare, hari and hara have similar dictionary meaning, of carrying or bearing, either carrying away from or carrying towards. In addition, hare can mean attractive. When this is applied to the dynamics of spiritual practice, this suggests the following translations –
- hare can mean moving towards the spiritual Qualities, and
- hare can mean moving away from the defilements, or
- hare can mean being drawn towards the spiritual Qualities.
- hare means taking away suffering and eradicating ignorance, in the scriptures.
In addition, the Hare Krishna sect and its founder Prabhupada describes hare as the “internal spiritual energy” of Deity. This points to the Deity within our hearts, as pure consciousness. It is the experience where the spiritual Qualities are strong, and the defilements are weak. This suggests the following translations –
- hare can also mean the experience or quality of Presence, or
- hare can mean how Deity actually feels when it has come to visit us.
The Hare Krishna sect and its founder Prabhupada provide yet additional meaning for this word hare. hare can also stand for Radha (properly spelled Rādha and pronounced Raadha), also known as Radha-rani. In the traditional stories, Radha was the closest to Krishna of all the gopis. She was Krishna’s woman. Thus Radha can mean “close to Deity” or “closer to Deity than egoic attitudes and habits.” This is one way of describing the spiritual practitioner, and suggests the following translation -
- hare can also mean us when we are both practised and practising.
Should the teachings of Prabhupāda not appeal to you (they don’t to me), then I offer a new interpretation of spiritual practice drawn from Hindu and Buddhist sources. I also offer a treatise on “Deity and Kirtan”, where Deity is an experience, not a prescribed religious belief. Also my “Course on Meditation,” to help guide us in meditation training for spiritual awakening. Published on this website.
To access other pages on this website,
about spiritual practice, meditation training or Deity,
go to the menu at the page head. Click onto the “more” button,
or the + next to it. Then click onto more + buttons.
My introductory webpages “Mantras Translated A - C”
discuss how to gain the full benefit of these mantra writeups.
about spiritual practice, meditation training or Deity,
go to the menu at the page head. Click onto the “more” button,
or the + next to it. Then click onto more + buttons.
My introductory webpages “Mantras Translated A - C”
discuss how to gain the full benefit of these mantra writeups.
©Copyright by Mike Browning, 2021. You are permitted and encouraged to copy text from this webpage and use as you see fit, provided it is not harmful to mantra-translate.
