The Hare Krishna mantra is composed of Sanskrit names in the singular vocative case: Hare, Krishna, and Rama. It is a poetic stanza in anuṣṭubh meter. The actual mantra in the Upanishad is as follows:
When Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu promulgated the Mahamantra, it was rendered with Krishna's name's first. Pronunciation of mantra in IPA : Sanskrit is a polysemic language and as such, this mantra has multiple interpretations all of which may be considered as correct. "Hare" can be interpreted as either the vocative form of Hari, another name of Vishnu meaning "he who removes illusion". Another interpretation is as the vocative of Harā, a name of Rādhā, Krishna's eternal consort or His energy. According to A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Harā refers to "the energy/shakti of Supreme Personality of Godhead" while Krishna and Ramarefer to Supreme Godhead Himself, meaning "He who is All-Attractive" and "He who is the Source of All Pleasure". In the hymn Vishnu Sahasranama spoken by Bhishma in praise of Krishna after the Kurukshetra War, Krishna is also called Rama. It is sometimes believed that "Rama" in "Hare Rama" means "Radharamana" or the beloved of Radha. The more common interpretation is that Rāma refers to Rama of the Ramayana, an earlier avatar of Krishna. "Rama can also be a shortened form of Balarama, Krishna's first expansion." The mantra is repeated, either sung out loud, congregationally, or to oneself aloud or mentally on prayer beads made of Tulasi. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami describes the process of chanting the Maha Mantra as follows:
History
The mantra is first attested in the , a Vaishnava Upanishad associated with the Krishna Yajurveda. In this Upanishad, Narada is instructed by Brahma : Narada asks to be told this name of Narayana, and Brahma replies: The mantra was popularized by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu roughly around 1500 C.E. when he began his mission to spread this mantra publicly to "every town and village" in the world, travelling throughout India, and especially within the areas of Bengal and Odisha. Some versions of the Kali Santarana Upanishad give the mantra with Hare Rama preceding Hare Krishna, and others with Hare Krishna preceding Hare Rama, as in Navadvipa version of the manuscript. The latter format is by far the more common within the Vaishnava traditions. It is a common belief that the mantra is equally potent when spoken in either order. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, a devotee of Krishna in disciplic succession, on the order of his guru, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, brought the teachings of Sri Chaitanya from Bharat and single-handedly took the responsibility of spreading them around the Western world. Beginning in New York City 1965, he encircled the globe fourteen times in the final eleven years of his life, thus making 'Hare Krishna' a well-known phrase in many parts of the world.
Hippie culture
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Hare Krishnas became confused with the hippie counterculture. This was an erroneous association, as the ideals of these groups are quite different. Although Prabhupada was open to anyone becoming a member of the Hare Krishnas, they had to follow the four regulative principles, one of which is strict abstention from intoxicants, including marijuana. These four principles, are:
no meat eating, including fish or eggs
no gambling
no intoxication or use of stimulants
no illicit sex
Spiritual elevation and joy are to be derived from chanting God's holy names. The Broadway musical Hair has a song, "Hare Krishna", containing the mantra, along with some additional lyrics.
Popular culture
The Hare Krishna mantra appears in a number of famous songs, notably those of George Harrison. His first solo single "My Sweet Lord" reached the No. 1 spot on the UK Singles Charts. Harrison put a Hare Krishna sticker on the back of the headstock of Eric Clapton's 1964 Gibson ES-335; the sticker also appears on Gibson's 2005 reproduction of the guitar. Produced by Harrison, Radha Krishna Temple's recording "Hare Krishna Mantra" was issued as a single on the Beatles' Applerecord label in 1969. The single was a commercial success, peaking at No. 12 in the UK, and led to the Temple devotees appearing on the popular British music chart television programme Top of the Pops. The mantra also prominently appears in Jesus Loves You's "Bow Down Mister" and in the Pretenders' "Boots of Chinese Plastic" from their 2008 album, Break Up the Concrete. Stevie Wonder used the devotees chanting Hare Krishna in his song "Pastime Paradise". Less well-known recordings of the Hare Krishna mantra include versions by the Fugs on their 1968 album Tenderness Junction, by Nina Hagen, in multiple songs by English psychedelic rock band Quintessence and by Hüsker Dü on their 1984 album Zen Arcade. Kula Shaker, Boy George, and members of the Rubettes have recorded music tracks about Krishna Consciousness. In a 2010 experimental study involving both devotees and non-devotees, singing vowels like "ah" and "eh" was found to be more joyful than singing vowels like "oh" and "uh", possibly due to a facial feedback effect.
Scriptural references
The practice of chanting the Hare Krishna mantra is recommended in the Puranas, the Pancharatra, and throughout Vaishnava literature in general. For example:
