Disclaimer
In this seminar I’ll have some fairly negative comments to make about various things people do in modern ISKCON kirtana.
Practically all of my friends, all the devotees I most admire, and all my favorite kirtana leaders regularly do one or another of these things.
So I don’t intend to attack anyone personally or insinuate that anyone is spiritually defective.
Please don’t think if your guru does something you hear about in my seminar you have to ditch him and look for someone else.
But I wouldn’t mind if some of these features of modern ISKCON kirtana came up for review.
And at least I can hope that this seminar will help make the world safe for devotees who may not always want to do things the modern ISKCON way.
There are standards
It’s our premise here that Srila Prabhupada did give us standards to follow in kirtana. It’s not that we all have to do everything precisely as in the 1960’s and 70’s. But it’s not that “anything goes.”
There are standards, there are instructions, and we should know them.
“Keep it pure” (MP3 from Krpamoya)
Purity of consciousness
A bona fide spiritual master chants the holy names -- Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare -- and the transcendental sound vibration enters into the ear of the disciple, and if a disciple follows in the footsteps of his spiritual master and chants the holy name with similar respect, he actually comes to worship the transcendental name.
When the transcendental name is worshiped by the devotee, the name Himself spreads His glories within the heart of a devotee. When a devotee is perfectly qualified in chanting the transcendental vibration of the holy name, he is quite fit to become a spiritual master and to deliver all the people of the world. The chanting of the holy name is so powerful that it gradually establishes its supremacy above everything in the world. The devotee who chants it becomes transcendentally situated in ecstasy and sometimes laughs, cries and dances in his ecstasy.
Sometimes the unintelligent put hindrances in the path of chanting this maha-mantra, but one who is situated on the platform of love of Godhead chants the holy name loudly for all concerned. As a result, everyone becomes initiated in the chanting of the holy names -- Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. By chanting and hearing the holy names of Krsna, a person can remember the forms and qualities of Krsna.
--TLC, Chapter 18: The Conversations with Prakasananda (last words of the chapter)
From the Acaryas, not cinema songs or bhajanas from the street
“These prayers [offered by Brahma to Lord Visnu] were not ordinary concocted prayers. Prayers must be approved by Vedic literature, as indicated in this verse by the words daivibhir girbhih. In our Krsna consciousness movement we do not allow any song that has not been approved or sung by bona fide devotees. We cannot allow cinema songs to be sung in the temple.
We generally sing two songs. One is sri-krsna-caitanya prabhu nityananda sri-advaita gadadhara srivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrnda. This is bona fide. It is always mentioned in the Caitanya-caritamrta, and it is accepted by the acaryas. The other, of course, is the maha-mantra—Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. We may also sing the songs of Narottama dasa Thakura, Bhaktivinoda Thakura and Locana dasa Thakura, but these two songs—“sri-krsna-caitanya” and the Hare Krsna maha-mantra—are sufficient to please the Supreme Personality of Godhead, although we cannot see Him.
--SB 8.5.25, purport
In our temple, strictly Hare Krishna chanting should be given more importance. There is no harm in this mantra you have heard, but it is not very important. There are many such common songs composed by common devotees out of sentiment. But our principle is to stick to the authorities, and always remember that Hare Krishna is the prime authorized mantra. –letter to Malati, 28 January, 1969
There are sahajiyas who, not knowing the importance of the Panca-tattva, concoct their own slogans, such as bhaja nitai gaura, radhe syama, japa hare krsna hare rama or sri-krsna-caitanya prabhu-nityananda hare krsna hare rama sri-radhe govinda. Such chants may be good poetry, but they cannot help us to go forward in devotional service. In such chants there are also many discrepancies, which need not be discussed here.
Strictly speaking, when chanting the names of the Panca-tattva, one should fully offer his obeisances: sri-krsna-caitanya prabhu-nityananda sri-advaita gadadhara srivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrnda. By such chanting one is blessed with the competency to chant the Hare Krsna maha-mantra without offense. When chanting the Hare Krsna maha-mantra, one should also chant it fully: Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.
One should not foolishly adopt any of the slogans concocted by imaginative devotees. If one actually wants to derive the effects of chanting, one must strictly follow the great acaryas. This is confirmed in the Mahabharata: maha-jano yena gatah sa panthah. "The real path of progress is that which is traversed by great acaryas and authorities." –Cc. Adi 7.168
"One devotee had picked up a chant in India: he krsna, govinda, hari, murari/ he natha, narayana, vasudeva. When Prabhupada heard it, he called us into his room and said, 'This is not a Vedic mantra; this is a cinema song. An intelligent disciple just takes whatever his spiritual master provides for him, considering that to be sufficient. There are many names of God you can chant, but it's best to take what comes in disciplic succession and what the spiritual master introduces.' "
--Revatinandana Dasa, quoted in "Srila Prabhupada and His Disciples in Germany," page 192
We cannot follow an upstart, manufacturing some song. What is authorized song, we shall sing.
--lecture, Vrndavana, November 13, 1972
Authorized songs means the songs which were sung or composed by self-realized Acaryas. It is an injunction in the Vaisnava regulations that unauthorized songs or statements should never be heard. The comparison is given that milk, although very nutritious food, if it is touched by the tongue of a serpent, it acts like poison. –letter to Syamasundara, 25 Feb 1970
One should chant the bona fide songs received from the disciplic succession. In Bhagavad-gétä it is said that the chanting is powerful when one follows the disciplic succession (evaà paramparä-präptam imaà räjarñayo viduù). Manufacturing many ways of chanting will never be effective. However, chanting the song or the narration left by the previous äcäryas (mahäjano yena gataù sa panthäù) is extremely effective, and this process is very easy. --SB 7.9.18 purport
This mantra that SP does not approve of "he krsna, govinda, hari, murari/ he natha, narayana, vasudeva" is found written in one of his FIrst Canto Part One purports, so it almost appears to be a contradiction that it is found in the sacred SB purports of SP and here he is denouncing it
ReplyDeleteYou need to change your font for sanskrit at the end foryour last qote. It does not come out right.
There is no contradiction, of course.
ReplyDeleteI am sure if you think about it you will understand why.