January 10, 2023 by Jayadvaita Swami<\/p>\n
What we chant in ISKCON\u2019s daily program (continued)<\/p>\n
\u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da\u2019s K\u012brtana Standards,\u201d installment 32<\/p>\n
What are the words?<\/p>\n
First of all, we should get the mantras right. Either namas te s\u0101rasvate devam or namas te s\u0101rasvate deve would be correct. But \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da wrote to Pradyumna that deve would be the most fitting word,1 so the BBT and ISKCON have adopted that as the standard.<\/p>\n
And as \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da instructed, \u201cYou should pronounce it s\u0101rasvate, not sarasvat\u012b. Sarasvat\u012b is my spiritual master. So his disciple is [offered respects with] s\u0101rasvate.\u201d2 Note the long \u0101, and e not \u012b.<\/p>\n
In p\u0101\u015bc\u0101tya-de\u015ba, the c is pronounced like the ch in chair or the c in ciao or DaVinci. So: pAsh-chA-tya.<\/p>\n
Now that we know \u201cwhat,\u201d let us move on to when.<\/p>\n
Chanting at ma\u1e45gala-\u0101r\u0101trika<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve been asked in my seminar whether I would chant \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da\u2019s pra\u1e47\u0101ma mantra after the Gurv-a\u1e63\u1e6dakam prayers.<\/p>\n
Let us start here. As far as I recall, when \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da chanted \u201csa\u1e41s\u0101ra-d\u0101v\u0101\u201d he would continue straight into the chanting of \u015br\u012b k\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a-caitanya and Hare K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a, without first chanting the pra\u1e47\u0101ma mantra to his guru mah\u0101r\u0101ja.3 Or sometimes perhaps he would first chant the entire ma\u1e45gala-cara\u1e47a, then sa\u1e41s\u0101ra-d\u0101v\u0101, \u015br\u012b-k\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a-caitanya, and Hare K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a.4 Therefore if one simply chants the Gurv-a\u1e63\u1e6dakam, followed directly by \u015br\u012b-k\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a-caitanya and Hare K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a, one is not doing anything different from what our founder-\u0101c\u0101rya did: sa\u1e41s\u0101ra-d\u0101v\u0101, \u015br\u012b-k\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a-caitanya, Hare Krishna, nothing else.<\/p>\n
Personally, when I lead k\u012brtana I chant \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da\u2019s pra\u1e47\u0101ma mantra. After all, \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da is the founder-\u0101c\u0101rya of ISKCON. But philosophically, or in terms of the tradition, if one chants sa\u1e41s\u0101ra-d\u0101v\u0101, \u015br\u012b-k\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a-caitanya, Hare K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a, nothing else, one is not doing anything wrong. And I know at least one brave godbrother who does exactly that.<\/p>\n
Jumping over?<\/p>\n
But there\u2019s something else done that, again, I think is not carefully thought out. Sometimes we hear a k\u012brtana leader start the ma\u1e45gala-\u0101r\u0101trika with \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da\u2019s pra\u1e47\u0101ma mantra. What\u2019s happening here? If we\u2019re not directly \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da\u2019s disciple, what\u2019s happening is that first we\u2019re chanting the pra\u1e47\u0101ma mantra to our guru\u2019s spiritual master and then we\u2019re leading the ma\u1e45gala-\u0101r\u0101trika. And what happened to our guru? Are we \u201cjumping over\u201d?<\/p>\n
Now, there are reasons why the k\u012brtana leader doesn\u2019t chant the pra\u1e47\u0101ma mantra to his guru. There was a time in ISKCON when we had \u201czonal gurus\u201d and even if the \u201clocal guru\u201d wasn\u2019t your guru you had to chant his mantra. You could be his godbrother, but \u201cto set an example for everyone else\u201d you had to chant his mantra. After a while, senior devotees came to see this as so intolerably oppressive and so out of line with \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da\u2019s teachings that finally all such protocols went out the window. As a result, now in the k\u012brtana we don\u2019t chant any mantra for our guru; we chant only \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da\u2019s. Even though it might be proper for a k\u012brtana leader to first offer respects to his guru in some way, we don\u2019t do that, because of our ISKCON history and our ISKCON cultural sensitivities. This is understandable, and I see no reason to argue against it.<\/p>\n
But when a disciple chants \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da\u2019s mantra first, what is happening? The disciple is beginning the k\u012brtana by first offering obeisances not to his own spiritual master but to his guru\u2019s spiritual master, or even to his guru\u2019s grand-spiritual master. When we think about it, according to tradition this is not quite right. The tradition is that first, before we do anything, we offer our respects to our own spiritual master. So at Naimi\u1e63\u0101ra\u1e47ya, for example, before S\u016bta Gosv\u0101m\u012b answers the questions of the sages, he first offers his respects to his spiritual master, \u015aukadeva Gosv\u0101m\u012b.5 Then he offers obeisances to the Lord, to Sarasvat\u012b, to \u015ar\u012bla Vy\u0101sadeva, and so on. But first his own spiritual master. That is the ancient traditional system.6 Before speaking, before leading k\u012brtana, before doing anything, we offer our obeisances to our spiritual master.<\/p>\n
What should we do?<\/p>\n
So now what should we do? On one hand we have this tradition, and on the other we have ISKCON with its history and its sensitivities and its multiple gurus and their disciples. My humble suggestion would be that if we\u2019re going to chant \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da\u2019s pra\u1e47\u0101ma mantra, first we should chant Sri Gurv-a\u1e63\u1e6dakam and then \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da\u2019s mantra, with the understanding, for successive generations, that the Gurv-a\u1e63\u1e6dakam is for our guru (and his guru and so on) and, in his own exalted place in that line, for our founder-\u0101c\u0101rya, \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da. This may not be quite the same as beginning by chanting our guru\u2019s mantra, but given the Society we live in and its history and the feelings of the devotees, this would work.<\/p>\n
In sum: Rather than chant \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da\u2019s mantra at the very beginning of the ma\u1e45gala-\u0101r\u0101trika, before the Gurv-a\u1e63\u1e6dakam, we can chant it after the Gurv-a\u1e63\u1e6dakam, so that those who may not be \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da\u2019s direct disciples can first offer obeisances to their guru and then to our founder-\u0101c\u0101rya, \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da.<\/p>\n
At sandhy\u0101-\u0101r\u0101trika<\/p>\n
A student at my k\u012brtana seminar asked, What about the sandhy\u0101-\u0101r\u0101trika, when \u015ar\u012b Gurv-a\u1e63\u1e6dakam isn\u2019t chanted? What should we do then?<\/p>\n
If I were a grand-disciple of \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da and I were the k\u012brtana leader, I would think, \u201cIt\u2019s my duty to offer my respects to my guru before I begin the k\u012brtana.\u201d So I might begin by chanting o\u1e41 aj\u00f1\u0101na-timir\u0101ndhasya. . . , without expecting the other devotees to respond. Or if I were brave I might first chant the mantra for my guru mah\u0101r\u0101ja, again on my own, not expecting the other devotees to respond. Someone else might have a different approach. In this regard, devotees may take guidance from their own spiritual masters and the prevailing ISKCON laws.<\/p>\n
On other occasions<\/p>\n
Apart from formal ceremonies, we chant Hare K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a in public venues, we chant Hare K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a at home programs, we sit and chant Hare K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a in temples. What then? Again, it is an established Vai\u1e63\u1e47ava principle that one should first offer respects to one\u2019s own guru. So what should we do? For such occasions, my godbrother Locan\u0101nanda D\u0101sa has suggested that \u201cbefore we begin to chant, all disciples and grand disciples first prayerfully recite together the two lines of Guru Pranama with folded hands, beginning with \u2018om ajnana timirandhasya. . . ,\u2019 right before chanting Srila Prabhupada\u2019s pranama mantras.\u201d7 Someone else might have a different suggestion, but this one, in my view, fits admirably well.<\/p>\n
Notes:<\/p>\n
1 Letter to Pradyumna, April 9, 1970.<\/p>\n
2 Lecture, August 10, 1971, London.<\/p>\n
3 Satsvar\u016bpa D\u0101sa Goswami\u2019s recollection matches mine.<\/p>\n
4 Though I\u2019ve heard a recording of \u015ar\u012bla Prahup\u0101da chanting this way in the morning tune, Satsvar\u016bpa Mah\u0101r\u0101ja and I both remember that this is not what he regularly chanted in the morning. Satsvar\u016bpa Mah\u0101r\u0101ja was quite sure about this point. (Personal interview with Satsvar\u016bpa D\u0101sa Goswami, September 17, 2021.)<\/p>\n
5 Ya\u1e41 pravrajantam anupetam apeta-k\u1e5btya\u1e41, etc. Bh\u0101gavatam 1.2.2\u20123.<\/p>\n
6 \u201cRegarding the means of worship, our Vaisnava process is first offer respects to the Spiritual Master, then Lord Caitanya, and then Lord Krsna.\u201d \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da letter to Tamal Krishna, May 15 1970.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
January 10, 2023 by Jayadvaita Swami What we chant in ISKCON\u2019s daily program (continued) \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da\u2019s K\u012brtana Standards,\u201d installment 32 What are the words? First of all, we should get the mantras right. Either namas te … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":81,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[140,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-area2","category-english"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-14 16:40:21","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/81"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52250"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52250\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}