Right way to do Panch tattva mantra
Question- MAHARAJ JI! As You have told that Hare Krishna Mahamantra done by Iskcon…One of my friends goes to Iskcon, Punjabi Bagh. He said that there they tell to do Pancha tattva Mantra before Hare Krishna Mahamantra. When I asked him why it is like that? He says that it’s been said there that Pancha tattva Mantra is used to wipe off the offenses so that we are able to do Hare Krishna Mahamantra. Please clarify what exactly the right procedure is as per the scriptures.
MAHARAJ JI- See, we also do Pancha tattva Mantra, and Iskcon people also do Pancha tattva Mantra. They chant Pancha tattva Mantra before starting their rounds. Before starting the chanting, they first chant one Pancha tattva Mantra and then they chant the round. Then again, they start, before starting the round they chant Pancha tattva Mantra.
So, I asked this question to my Gurudeva Srila Ananta dasa Babaji Maharaj also. He said- Once you have started Mantra, why don’t you finish that round? So, it is not that we have to chant Pancha tattva Mantra just once. You chant some Mantra, do complete that round. So, we chant full 108 times Pancha tattva Mantra. And bare minimum we chant 4 rounds of Pancha tattva mantra.
And to clarify your question, would like to tell you that all the Gaudiya Vaishnava saints, devotees since last more than 500 years, they all have two svarupas in the Spiritual World. We all Gaudiya Vaishnavas, we serve Lord Gauranga as His servant in Navdveep, eternal realm of Navdveep and we serve Radha Krishna as their dasi in Nitya Vrindavana, Eternal realm of Vrindavana. So, to serve Them, we chant Their names- Radha Krishna, Hare Krishna Mahamantra we chant and we chant Pancha tattva Mantra, so that we can engage in Their service. Pancha tattva Mantra is not a stepping stone towards Radha Krishna’s service. It is not something on which we step on, to achieve something. It’s is not a stepping stone to achieve something higher.
We have…, simultaneously we have two Svarupas, one as a Gaura dasa, and one as a Radha Krishna dasi. So, we chant both the Mantras. We chant rounds of both the Mantras.
And as you were saying that to chant Hare Krishna Mahamantra offenselessly, first Pancha tattva Mantra is being chanted so that Lord Gauranga being extremely merciful, He will remove all the offenses which we may do while chanting Hare Krishna Mahamantra. Pancha tattva Mantra is not something like a tissue paper to wipe off your offenses. It is not a tissue paper you wipe it off and throw it away! Lord Gauranga is our eternally worshippable Lord. We have an eternal svarupa where we serve Lord Gauranga. We are not using Him to attain Krishna. We simultaneously have two swarupas.
hethäy caitanya mile sethä rädhä-kåñëa
This is what Srila Narottama Dasa Thakura is telling us. The problem is…once deviated, always deviated! Can anyone ask them…who told them this conception that chant Pancha tattva Mantra before Hare Krishna so that you can chant Hare Krishna Mahamantra offenselessly. Just chant once this mantra. We know all the Siddha Mahatmas. They chant Mala of Pancha tattva Mantra. Point is why the modern institutions are not in any anugatya about anything? Just because my institutional acharya says so…, I will follow A, B or C. This is not bhakti! New institutions keep on popping up. Just see all what Siddha Mahatmas have done. Did they ever chant like this? To chant Hare Krishna offenselessly, let me chant once Pancha tattva Mantra before Hare Krishna Mahamantra.
And those who do so, they are so much in ignorance that they don’t even know that we have got two svaroopas. If you have just this basic knowledge, I have got two svarupas, one as a Gaura dasa, you will never chant pancha tattva mantra just once. You’ll think, I have to attain Their service, why not chant this Pancha tattva Mantra with all my heart and soul? Let me chant some rounds of Pancha tattva Mantra so that I can please Them. They are non-different from Their names. I want to attain Their service. First let me do the service of the Holy names. We serve Pancha tattva eternally. So let me serve Their Holy names, Pancha tattva Mantra. Let me please Them by chanting Their mantra and attain Their service. Pancha tattva Mantra is not a tissue paper or a stepping stone towards something.
Pancha tattva Mantra is not something like there’s dirt on you, you remove dirt through a tissue paper and throw it away, dirt of your offenses. Pancha tattva, please come and then I will throw You away…because I want to attain only Krishna’s service. You came, good for You.. yeah.. ok.. yeah.. good for me…whatever…the case may be. Whatever your conception is…
Bhakti Vinoda Thakura, Jagannatha dasa Babaji, Gaura Kishora dasa Babaji…they all chanted Pancha tattva Mantra, rounds of Pancha tattva Mantra.