Divine Sound and Levels of Consciousness
According to the ancients, divine sound is all-powerful. Everywhere in the lost cultures of forgotten civilizations sound was key to understanding the universe. From the sacred words of Aztec sun worshippers to the mantras of Tibetan Buddhists and the mystic spells of alchemists sound has always had transcendent power.
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| Author with Toltec Head, National Anthropology Museum, Mexico |
The Bible equates logos, the word, the holy sound, the mantram, with divinity and creation. In the Gospel of Saint John, the Bible tells us, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
The Word is identififed with creation and the creating agent, God Himself. The word here refers to λόγος (logos).
Logos is translated 'Word' in most English versions, but ancient readers would have had a subtler understanding. The Greek Logos also means “Logic,” as a function of “Idea,” “Thought,” and “Speech.” Since thought, language, and speech are the medium for ideas, Logos also means the Idea.
In the beginning was the idea Logos, communicated through sound Logos into reality. In Sanskrit Logos is sound, the primordial sound being Om. ॐ
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| "In the Beginning was the Word..." |
There is no distinction made between the divine sound Om ॐ and God Himself. Sound is a manifestation of the divine that moves through waveforms and vibrations to influence creation itself. Skeptics will point out that sound cannot exist in a vacuum. Sound depends on a medium like air or water to move through, otherwise its waves cannot be heard. And yet, Beethoven was absolutely deaf when he composed his best and most complex works. His ears were impervious to physical sound. He composed string quartets mentally.
Sound is heard even by the deaf, through language. Language is the most potent medium for ideas, surpassing even visual media. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but the mind is capable of processing millions of words in moments, analysing thousands of pictures in language and words.
Some concepts defy images, but are manifest in sound. We may represent ॐ as an image, but the experience of Om as divine sound is what enters the mind and touches the soul. With no stimulation to the optic nerve a blind man may communicate the sophisticated labyrinths of the mind through the poetry of language as does Jorge Luis Borges in his Fictions. Imagery is overrated. The Bible tells us, as do all ancient literatures that flow from the realization of great saints, that thought as it moves from idea to language to sound is the primordial source of creation.
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| "Let there be Light..." |
The Bible tells us that God spoke sound, “Let there be light,” and there was light. First the idea of light, then the order, the sound, the word, and then light. The image is subordinate to the sound, the divine mantram.
We have seen that the appeal to the holy name of God takes place across cultures and languages. He may be called “God” in English, “Dios” is Spanish or “Dieu” in French. There are many names for God: The tetragrammaton spells the name with five letters: YHWH, also called Yahweh, or Jehovah. He is called Adonai, Abba, “Most High,” “Lord of Lords” or “The Father.”
The particular name by which Divinity is named in any language recalls the ontological conception of divinity by which He is understood. These different conceptions have been analyzed by Sanātana Goswāmi in his Brihad Bhagavatamritam and also by Bhaktivinoda Thakura in his Krishna Samhita.
Atheists and agnostics recognize no ultimate divinity; they sometimes consider the universe as God. This is a vague understanding of the Virata-rupa or Universal Form of Divinity, which in the most generous of analysis, may be considered a remote understanding of God: God as Cosmos. There are many names for this conception.
Monists and nondualists think that beyond this material manifestation may be some kind of spiritual truth or immortal reality, but they conceive of this in impersonal terms. This realization of spirituality denies personality to God. They speak of “The One,” or “The Light,” and their idea of oneness is indistinct. Buddhists, Advaitavadis, and other impersonal truth-seekers may worship different deities as an intermediate focus for their meditation, or as a kind of way-station on the path to one-ness, but in the final analysis these forms dissolve. Nirvana implies nothingness as the ultimate goal.
Dissolution of the ego into either eternal spiritual oneness or absolute nothingness is the finality of these systems. The names of divinity may vary, but the practice terminates in a kind of static samādhi: undifferentiated oneness or nonbeing. This kind of samādhi admits no personal expression or dynamic bliss.
It is not positive or progressive immortality, since there is neither personal expression or dynamism. Such samādhi is merely simple eternal being without personality or sat, in the case of the advaitavadis or nonbeing in the case of those of the Buddhistic school who would eliminate the ego forever. The names of God that are used as mantram to achieve these states of being or nonbeing are therefore temporary. Like a ladder that is pushed aside upon reaching the goal, these mantram are left behind at the moment of nirvana.
Since the eternal identity of the living soul or jiva is in fact qualitative, that is to say differentiated, such a state of samādhi is artificial and cannot be maintained forever. Such so-called immortality is temporal, since in the long sojourn of the eternal soul absolute negativity is impossible. According to the analysis of Ramanuja and the Vedantic scholars of the Vaishnava school headed by Śrī Caitanya, those jiva souls who detain themselves for millions of centuries in impersonal samādhi will eventually awaken ego. This ego will involve the conditioned soul in further adventures in the exploitation of the shadow world called maya in an unending search for rasa and ananda. All the great saints and scholars of the nondualist school, including their founder Shankar will return to the world of dualism to ferret out their personal bliss.
Only after many births and deaths will they again attain the human form of life and a chance to come into contact with the eternal names of God.
It is not positive or progressive immortality, since there is neither personal expression or dynamism. Such samādhi is merely simple eternal being without personality or sat, in the case of the advaitavadis or nonbeing in the case of those of the Buddhistic school who would eliminate the ego forever. The names of God that are used as mantram to achieve these states of being or nonbeing are therefore temporary. Like a ladder that is pushed aside upon reaching the goal, these mantram are left behind at the moment of nirvana.
Since the eternal identity of the living soul or jiva is in fact qualitative, that is to say differentiated, such a state of samādhi is artificial and cannot be maintained forever. Such so-called immortality is temporal, since in the long sojourn of the eternal soul absolute negativity is impossible. According to the analysis of Ramanuja and the Vedantic scholars of the Vaishnava school headed by Śrī Caitanya, those jiva souls who detain themselves for millions of centuries in impersonal samādhi will eventually awaken ego. This ego will involve the conditioned soul in further adventures in the exploitation of the shadow world called maya in an unending search for rasa and ananda. All the great saints and scholars of the nondualist school, including their founder Shankar will return to the world of dualism to ferret out their personal bliss.
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| Buddhism: dissolution of the ego |
Only after many births and deaths will they again attain the human form of life and a chance to come into contact with the eternal names of God.
Sanātana Goswāmi’s Brihad Bhagavatamrita describes the character arc of a truth-seeker who goes ever deeper in his search for the ultimate reality. He finds that beyond the undifferentiated world of static immortality, there is a higher world of positive and progressive immortality.
Sanātana Goswāmi’s thesis tells us that we are capable of interpreting reality according to different levels of consciousness. That there are different levels of consciousnes is not a new idea.
We are afloat in a sea of consciousness. Materialists believe that we live in a world of stuff. But that stuff floats in a sea of consciousness. We are surrounded by and permeated by consciousness. There are different levels of consciousness. Scientists have a narrow definition of consciousness as life-forms supported by a carbon-based matrix. But is consciousness a byproduct of a carbon-based matrix of molecules or something subtler? What if carbon-based matrixes of electro-magnetic impulses exist as a function of conscious stuff? What if the most primitive level of consciousness is something like a star, something like the sun, whose metabolism is so slow as to be undetectable as a living form, but whose light and heat is capable of sustaining myriad life-forms?
We may classify consciousness phenomenologically. I have no idea what pain is felt by others, but I can infer the consciousness of pain through its expression. In other words, we try to measure consciousness and understand it through its effects and functions. So the most basic analysis of consciousness will break things down by looking at function. If we begin with the most basic forms of consciousness, what we are looking at is not consciousness itself, but its coverings. Tthese coverings are called “koshas” in Sanskrit, of which there are five: annamaya, pranamaya, manomaya, vijñāna-maya and anandamāya. As consciousness degrades through the medium of mind, misguided intelligence and false ego, it becomes ensconced in the “world of misconception” or the world of māya.
Of course, just as it is possible to de-evolve towards sensual materiality, it is also possible for us to evolve higher through different levels of consciousness to the stage of enlightenment found in divine bliss, as we shall see further. But the different levels of consciousness as described by ancient wisdom traditions are instructive in helping us to understand the unfolding of the chain of being.
Yoga philosophy teaches that the mind is pure consciousness which has been filtered through a false conception of ego and mind and as a consequence of that filtering process there is the creation of five different layers of consciousness: These are called annamaya, pranamaya, manomaya, jnanamaya, vijnanamaya, and anandamaya koshas, or coverings.
The most primitive of these is annamaya, “food consciousness.” Here, the living entity has a metabolic function. There is no metacognition or self-awareness, but the entity is capable of discovering food and metabolizing. This stage of consciousness is found in helocentric plants, in one-celled organisms and jellyfish. A jellyfish has no brain, and yet jellyfish display awareness.
Pranamaya consciousness means “survival consciousness.” Prana is the life-air. Consciousness of one’s own life air and the determination to survive is found in many primitive life forms who can resist attacks and defend themselves. We see pranamaya consciousness even in dogs and cats. Animals have emotions and a sense of self-preservation. The sense of self-preservation is called pranamaya.
Human beings who function at the level of metabolism or survival are certainly not living to their full potential. Human beings, however recapitulate these forms of consciousness from the embryo to infancy. We certainly hope that humans progress beyond the jelly-fish brain and the dogs-and-cats level.
Manomaya is the next level, and implies mental activity. Many higher order mammals such as dolphins, trained dogs and horses, chimpanzees, exhibit some signs of higher mental activity. But manomaya consciousness in general may extend to all the psychological functions of human life that do not imply self-realization. All the mental functions that are involved in self-preservation, survival skills, sexual behavior, security, defense, protection of the family, and even recreation fall within the manomaya category. Even language, poetry, art, culture, and that religion which does not exclusive pursue self-realization may be considered as “mental consciousness,” or manomaya.
Above manomaya, or “mental consciousness,” is vijnanamaya, which is that consciousness which begins with logic and intellectual sciences and culminates in the science of the self or “self” realization.Finally there is anandamaya or “bliss” consciousness which is only available in the highest stages of realization.
Once one is seriously situated at the vijnanamaya level or the philosophical pursuit of metacognitive knowledge--above the primitive levels of jellyfish, animals, and quotidian human life--one might consider the different ontological levels of knowledge, following the analysis of Sanātana Goswami and Bhaktivinoda Thakura.
In Golden Volcano of Divine Love, Śrīdhara Mahārāja describes the levels of knowledge:
Knowledge has been classified under five headings. The lowest is knowledge acquired through one's own sense experience: pratyaksa—what we have experienced through our senses. That is the first stage. The next higher stage is knowledge we have not experienced with our own senses, but have gathered from the experience of others (paroksa), just as the scientists have their experience, and we have gathered some knowledge from their inventions and discoveries.
These 5 levels of knowledge are sometimes thought of as the different ways fo gathering evidence. But these are not only levels of evidence, or epistemological stages: these categories of knowledge have both epistemological and ontological value. Epistemological, since they describe what we know and can know; ontological because they describe levels of being, from sensual to mental to spiritual to subservient to God, and finally to involvement in a loving relationship with God.
Returning to the problem of differentiated and undifferentiated immortality, we may consider the conflict between the school of Ramanuja vs. the school of Shankara.
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| Shankara, advocate of nondualism |
According to the bhakti school of Ramanuja Acharya, nondualism is not the highest level of spiritual realization. In fact, it is shallow.
In Shankara's view there is the sensual world, above the sensual world is the mental world. The sensual and mental world are products of maya in his view. This is why his philosophy or vada is that of maya, illusion. According to Shankara, brahma-satyam, jagan-mithya: Brahman or spirit is true; the world is false. So there is no dualism according to the Advaitin school of Shanakara. He says that the idea of dualism is illusion, or maya. In Shankara’s view of Vedanta, one who comes to understand the nondual or advaita version of reality will realize the highest stage, "oneness."
Ramanuja disagrees. In his view, God is a higher category of reality than you and I. Above our individual spiritual existence is the ultimate reality, that of divinity. Ramanuja found this divinity in the worship of Vishnu in Vaikuntha. The idea of Vishnu corresponds generally to that of God as the “Great Father,” the “King of Kings,” the “Absolute Ruler of Heaven.”
So, the names of God that correspond to the adhokshaka level may raise us to that level. As long as we are occupied with the mundane names of God, asking for rewards in this world from our mundane deities, we may expect to be rewarded within the plane of consciousness of annamaya, pranamaya or manomaya, the sensual and mental world of temporary pleasures.
All such temporary names of God which correspond ontologically to the world of sense, body, and mind may provide us with the proper alchemy to release the karmic energy we need to live happily in the world of birth and death. Those who invoke the rain-god and the thunder-god for crops and harvest, the sea-god for safe journey or the war-god to conquer one’s enemies may find their prayers answered and their wishes granted. Those who pray to Tlaloc or Quetzalcoatl, to Thor or Wodin, to Mars or Jupiter might find some temporary shelter. Happiness in the world of birth and death is both temporary and mythological; prayer to the mythological gods in the world of birth and death may provide some temporary and mythological comfort to the supplicant. But a higher ontological position demands a higher prayer.
Those who would merge into the divinity of Shiva may worship Shiva, considering that Jiva is Shiva, the soul ultimately returns to the universal consciousness of soul. But their worship of Shiva is also temporary. Attaining Shiva, they will leave aside their worship. Once they have become one they no longer need their god, so the adoration of the name, the mantra, is temporary.
Later, the followers of Caitanya Mahaprabhu discovered a still higher level: the supramundane or aprakrita level. This is the plane of divine love, where it is possible to have a personal loving relationship with God, Krishna. Since love is devoid of awe and reverence, but resembles the mundande, the divine love conception has been called aprakrita by the followers of Chaitanya Mahaprabhy, notable Jiva Goswami in his Bhakti Sandarbha, but later also Vishvanatha Cakravarti Thakura, Bhaktivinoda Thakura in his books, Caitanya Shikshamrita and Jaiva Dharma. Shridhar Maharaja, of course, is referencing the previous acharyas in addressing this question.
Aprakrita has a sublime sense. Here the soul may realize the highest stage of consciousness, bliss consciousness or Krishna consciousness. Since Krishna is God as the enjoyer of the highest pleasure, He is by Himself and For Himself. The Krishna Conception of Godhead exists beyond ordinary majestic ideas of God as Father. A-prakrita means “apparently material.” The idea is that the Personality of Godhead is transcendental to mundane considerations of personality. There are many avatars or personalities of Godhead, but the Krishna Conception is Supreme, since he is the emporium of all rasa. He has no duties as creator or judge, or as a father. He is the sublime prince of Vrindavan who exists only for his own pleasure.
To summarize what I have said about the levels of consciousness, as stages or levels of consciousness, waking, dreaming, deep sleep, and even meditation, belong to knowledge acquired through one's own sensual and mental experience. This has been called pratyaksa according to a taxonomy of consciousness as given both by Shankara, Ramanuja, and the followers of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu including Jiva Goswami. This is a basic level of consciousness, epistemology and spiritual being. A more evolved conscious level operates on knowledge gathered from the experience of others (paroksa), which means education, reading, in short, "what we have gathered from others. In the view of Shankara the highest spiritual awakening is the realization of unity consciousness, what is called Aparoksha. Since this consciousness is hazy, undifferentiated, union consciousness. Shankara's analysis ends here. He feels that anything else is a mental product. Shankara's version then goes up to Aparoksha.
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| Adhokshaja: Godhead as Awe and Reverence |
At this point Ramanuja discovers something new: the numinous sense of the absolute. As individidual consciousness, I discover I am not alone in the universe, but there is a higher power. And I am not "at one" with that power. I am in a subordinate position. This "awe and reverence" or "fear and terror" of God is a higher level of being, since it is the beginning of a personal relationship with divinity. Ramanuja calls this Adhokshaja. It is beyond the level of sense, mind, intelligence, and even general spiritual realization. This is available through faith.
The Christian conception of Godhead speaks of “the creator.” God as “creator” cannot be the highest conception of Godhead, because it relativises his position. It gives God importances only because he has the important function of creating humanity. But the Krishna conception exists beyond any function. He has no role to play in the creation. He is By Himself and For Himself, in Hegelian language. Ramanuja’s “adhokshaja” plane corresponds to the “Fatherhood of Godhead” in Christianity, where God is the Supreme Personality at the center of all existence and is worshipped with awe and reverence. The adhokshaja plane is the fourth plane of consciousness.
As Śrīdhara Mahārāja puts it, “It is the fourth plane of consciousness, and it is grand, all-powerful, and all-inspiring. Only if it reveals itself to us can we have some experience of that plane known as Vaikuntha, the unlimited spiritual region of awe and power.”
The Vaikuntha plane is the plane of bliss consciousness, since the liberated souls commune with the Godhead through awe and reverence. But the highest level of bliss consciousness is above the Adhokshaka or Vaikuntha level of being, consciousness, understanding, awareness. This level is what is called Aprakrita, and there one may have communion with the Godhead through true intimacy in divine love.
Śrīdhara Mahārāja describes the fifth level:
"But through Srimad-Bhagavatam and Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, we come to know that there is a fifth stage of knowledge which is very similar to this mundane world, yet is not mundane. It is called aprakrta. That is Goloka, the full-fledged theistic conception which is only found in Krishna's domain. Central knowledge of the absolute must have a connection with even the lowest level of mundane creation; it must be able to harmonize the worst portion of the illusory world. This is known as aprakrta, supramundane. To enter that highest realm is possible only through divine love."
Once again, the idea is that beyond the world of sensual mental being or consciousness (pratyaksha) there is the world of intelligence and education, a higher level of epistemology (pratyoksha) which ends for Shankara in oneness (Aparoksha). This is a kind of deep sleep for the soul for there is no dynamic. No dynamic means, no pain no suffering no birth no death. So unity consciousness is a kind of "deep sleep." Ramanuja discovers the higher world of Vaikuntha (adhoksaja) love of God but tinged with majesty and even fear. Real divine love is above this. It is called "aprakrita" since to the untrained eye it might even appear mundane.
But the plane of divine love in Vrindavan is supramundane. Beyond the complete lack of dynamic in unity consciousness, above even the servile dedication to the majestic “Fatherhood of God” of Vaikuntha, the devotion found in the Vrindavan conception takes place on the level of intimate love. This was the discovery of the Chaitanya school of Vaishnavism, particularly embodied in the teachings of Sanātana Goswami in Brihad Bhagavatamritam and Bhaktivinod Thakura in Krishna Samhita.
There are various taxonomies or analysis of consciousness. But Śrīdhara Mahārāja’s analysis of the Vaishnava view as expounded by Sanatana Goswami and Bhaktivinoda Thakura is deep and particularly worthy of study. He informs us that above the Adhokshaka or Vaikuntha level of being, consciousness, understanding, or awareness, is what is called Aprakrita.
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| Krishna Conception is Aprakrita |
Here’s Śrīdhara Mahārāja’s Version quote from Golden Volcano:
Knowledge has been classified under five headings. The lowest is knowledge acquired through one's own sense experience: pratyaksa—what we have experienced through our senses. That is the first stage. The next higher stage is knowledge we have not experienced with our own senses, but have gathered from the experience of others (paroksa), just as the scientists have their experience, and we have gathered some knowledge from their inventions and discoveries. The third stage is above the stage of human experience (aparoksa). It is something like deep sleep. When we awaken, we say, "I slept very happily; I slept a very good, sound sleep." But when in deep, dreamless sleep, we have no consciousness of that state. When we return from a deep dreamless sleep, we express some awareness of that experience, but it is hazy. Aparoksa is a sort of hazy experience which is indistinct, where the subject and material object come together, and the material object vanishes in the subject. Sankaracarya, the great proponent of impersonalism, explains the gradation of consciousness up to this point. On the other hand, the great devotee-scholar Ramanujacarya, as well as other Vaisnava acaryas, are of the opinion that there is a fourth stage beyond this. That plane is called adhoksaja, transcendental, or that which exists beyond the scope of the senses, whether gross or subtle. It is a plane that we can experience only when, by its sweet will, it comes down to our gross plane of understanding. If it withdraws, we are helpless; we can't find it.
We cannot say that the Absolute Truth is under the control of our knowledge. We can't measure it like that. It is independent. By its sweet will it may come down and we may experience that higher realm, but if it withdraws, we are quite helpless; we can do nothing. We may cry or we may pray, but we can't enter there forcibly by dint of our own power. This is the fourth plane of consciousness, and it is grand, all-powerful, and all-inspiring. Only if it reveals itself to us can we have some experience of that plane known as Vaikuntha, the unlimited spiritual region of awe and power.
That is the adhoksaja plane. So, there is pratyaksa direct experience through sense perception, then paroksa, learning through the experience of others, then aparoksa, the negative plane of indistinct consciousness, and then the fourth dimension: adhoksaja. We are underground. Real knowledge is above, on the surface, beyond our experience. If we can pierce through the thick coverings walling up our experience, we can come in connection with another plane of consciousness: that is adhoksaja.
Adho-krtam indriya-jam jnanam: adhoksaja means the superior knowledge which can force down our knowledge of the experience of this world. That transcendental, supramental knowledge is the fourth stage of knowledge. That plane is different in every way. It is not similar to this world.
But through Srimad-Bhagavatam and Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, we come to know that there is a fifth stage of knowledge which is very similar to this mundane world, yet is not mundane. It is called aprakrta. That is Goloka, the full-fledged theistic conception which is only found in Krishna's domain. Central knowledge of the absolute must have a connection with even the lowest level of mundane creation; it must be able to harmonize the worst portion of the illusory world. This is known as aprakrta, supramundane. To enter that highest realm is possible only through divine love. Everything can be compensated only through love. There is a saying that a loving mother thinks that her blind child has beautiful lotus eyes. She is blinded by affection. So, what is mean and low can only be compensated by love—that shines very beautifully. That is prema, or divine love. Through mercy, through pity, through grace, a king can come to play with a boy on the street. Affection can make it possible. The difference between high and low disappears at such a stage. The residents of Vrndavana think themselves ordinary. This is jnana-sunya-bhakti, divine love which is free from any calculation and does not consider even the opulence and power of the Lord. That devotion is above even Vaikuntha and goes on under the spell of yogamaya, the spiritually enchanting potency. It is the special art of yogamaya that those holding the highest position think themselves very insignificant. Love removes the difference of great and small, high and low. Vrndavana is such a plane of existence. There we find devotion free from any trace of calculation (jnana-sunya-bhakti). Even the residents of Vrndavana may not know their own exalted position.
So to summarize, the general phenomenological division of consciousness into five layers or koshas is similar to the structure of an onion – as one layer is peeled away the next layer is revealed until one reaches the innermost layer. The innermost “layer” of consciousness is called anandamaya. Once consciousness is uncovered through self-realization, one finds oneself in harmony with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This highest level of consciousness is characterized by joy, since the enlightened soul is both joyful by nature. Divine happiness is the food of the enlightened soul. As soon as one reaches the stage of ananda-maya, he is a liberated soul. But as long as the living entities are situated in the lower stages of life, for example, anna-maya, prana-maya, mano-maya, and vijnana-maya—they are considered to be lost in the world of misconception, in the material condition of life.
We may also divide the stages between vijnana-maya and anandamaya consciousness. Looking at consciousness as epistemology, we can say that realization begins with personal evidence (pratyaksha) and evidence gathered from others (paroksha) but finally must culminate in transcendental or spiritual knowledge which is beyond the senses (aparoksha). Even higher than transcendental understanding is the realization of the Personhood of God Almighty (adhokshaja) where anandamaya bliss consciousness may be experienced with awe and reverence. But the highest form of understanding is aprakrita Supramundane realization which corresponds to the full realization of anandamaya bliss consciousness with complete intimacy with the Personal Godhead.
The thesis of Sanātana Goswāmi is developed with reference to the Śrīmad Bhagavata Purāna which describes at length the ontological position of the avataras of Godhead, culminating in the Krishna conception which occupies the tenth canto of the work, its summum bonum. Since the Bhagavata Purana outlines all the various avatars of Godhead, there may be some confusion as to the relative importance of these manifestations of the absolute. Sanātana Goswāmi has made it clear that the Krishna conception must be the highest conception and this is confirmed by Rupa Goswami who says that Krishna is the higest version of the Absolute since he is the emporium of all rasa, akhila-rasamrita-murti.
Returning to our consideration about the power of divine sound, this means that the names of God which refer exclusively to Krishna will lead us to a higher goal than the names of temporal gods.
While “He Who Creates” or “He Who Judges the Dead” or “RainGiver” denote various forms of Godhead corresponding to the experience of the collective unconscious of humanity and may be intoned in various languages to appeal to various temporal divinities, the name Krishna refers to the Absolute Pleasure Principle who is By Himself and For Himself.
For this reason, the followers of the Chaitanya school of Vaishnavism consider that the mantra which appeals to Krishna exclusively is the best of all divine sounds. This mantra is not used to appeal to a god or gods for mundane remuneration. It is invoked only in the process of developing surrender and divine love.
For this reason, the Maha-mantra or great mantra for chanting:
Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare
is highly confidential. It should not be given out to just anyone. The problem is, they will misunderstand and make offense against the holy name of God, thinking it trivial.
And yet, we dare to publish this sacred name here. How can we take such a risk?
When I sat before the feet of my divine master, Bhakti Rakṣaka Śrīdhar dev Goswāmi in November of 1982, he told me the following story about the great Ramanuja Acharya. Ramanuja was told by his guru about the power of the holy name of God. He was initiated into its secrets and told never to reveal this to anyone.
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| Bhakti Rakśaka Śrīdhar dev Goswāmi |
After taking the mantram and meditating on the Supreme Lord, Ramanuja felt impelled to climb to the highest tower of the temple and shout the mantra to the people below: “Take the holy name of God and be free!” he proclaimed.
His gurudeva was scandalized. He called Ramanuja before him.
“How dare you disobey my order?” his guru demanded.
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Ramanuja told his guru: “My master, your mantram is infallible. it will produce its desired result, I am sure of that, so let these persons get released. Be satisfied with their fulfilment of life. And by breaking your order, I shall have to go to eternal hell. I am ready for that, my master.”
Even at the risk of being condemned by higher authorities, we publish here the holy name of Krishna that everyone might benefit, knowing its eternal value.
The chanting of the holy name knows no boundaries or borders. It is not sectarian. While the greatest protagonist of the holy name was Śrī Caitanya, the greatest proponent of the holy name was Hari Das Thakura, who began life as a follower of Islam. That one born in an Islamic family would become the greatest teacher of the holy name of Krishna proves its non-sectarian appeal. Hari Das Thakura was recognized as the harinam acharya for his humility and constant appeal to the divine name of Krishna.
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| Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu |
Chaitanya Mahāprabhu Himself taught,
चेतो-दर्पण-मार्जनं भव-महा-दावाग्नि-निर्वापणं
श्रेयः-कैरव-चन्द्रिका-वितरणं विद्या-वधू-जीवनम्
आनन्दाम्बुधि-वर्धनं प्रति-पदं पूर्णामृतास्वादनं सर्वात्म-स्नपनं परं विजयते श्री-कृष्ण-सण्कीर्तनम्
ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṇaṁ
śreyaḥ-kairava-candrikā-vitaraṇaṁ vidyā-vadhū-jīvanam
ānandāmbudhi-vardhanaṁ prati-padaṁ pūrṇāmṛtāsvādanaṁ
sarvātma-snapanaṁ paraṁ vijayate śrī-kṛṣṇa-saṇkīrtanam
"Let there be all victory for the chanting of the holy name of Lord Kṛṣṇa, which can cleanse the mirror of the heart and stop the miseries of the blazing fire of material existence. That chanting is the waxing moon that spreads the white lotus of good fortune for all living entities. It is the life and soul of all education. The chanting of the holy name of Kṛṣṇa expands the blissful ocean of transcendental life. It gives a cooling effect to everyone and enables one to taste full nectar at every step.”
Translation by A.C. Bhaktivedānta Swami
Translation by A.C. Bhaktivedānta Swami
