Right conception for Chanting Hare Kåñëa mahamantra

Devotee- MAHARAJ JI! One of the devotees asked about the Hare Kåñëa concept that has been told by Iskcon that- O energy of Kåñëa! O Rädhä Rani! Please engage me in the service of Kåñëa because I am not qualified. Please throw some light on this, as my fellow devotees have also asked about the same.

MAHARAJ JI- See, many devotees have this question- What should be the right conception when we chant Hare Kåñëa mahamantra?

The conception told in Iskcon is O Kåñëa! O energy of Kåñëa! Please engage me in Your service. The conception told in Iskcon is that we beg Rädhä Rani, O energy of Kåñëa to kindly engage us in Kåñëa’s service since we are not qualified to directly engage ourself in Kåñëa’s service and She being the Supreme Devotee, She please engage us in Kåñëa’s service.

So, the question is, the conception being told in Iskcon, is it right or is it wrong? See you can decide on your own whether the conception is right or wrong. I can tell you from Acharyas- why they do, what they do.

The sloka in Rädhä Ras Sudha Nidhi verse 259. It tells -

dhyäyaàs taà çikhi piïcha maulim aniçaà tan näma saìkértayan

nityaà tac caraëämbujaà paricaraàs tan mantra varyaà japan

çré rädhä pada däsyam eva paramäbhéñöaà hådä dhärayan

karhi syäà tad anugraheëa paramodbhutänurägotsavaù

The meaning of this verse is- Srila Prabodhanand Saraswati, being one of the main Acharyas of Gauòéya Vaiñëava Sampradaya…He has written in his Grantha Rädhä Ras Sudha Nidhi which is accepted as a law book…, law book by the other Samprdayas as well! Not just Gauòéya Vaiñëavas read Rädhä Ras Sudha Nidhi; Rädhä vallabhis, Nimbarkis and other devotees who worship Rädhä Kåñëa, they also read this Grantha Rädhä Ras Sudha Nidhi as the law book . Because until and unless you understand the conceptions how Rädhä Kåñëa are to be worshipped, what we have to beg from Rädhä Rani, what we have to beg from Kåñëa…,

until and unless one understands these things very clearly, worship of Rädhä Kåñëa is not humanly possible.

So, the Acharyas are telling…

How we should see Kåñëa?

How we should see Rädhä Rani?

In what consciousness we should chant Kåñëa’s name?

In what consciousness we should serve Kåñëa?

This verse is an eye opener and the most important verse for all Gauòéya Vaiñëavas who want to chant Hare Kåñëa in the right perspective. If you want to attain Siddhi, perfection by chanting Hare Kåñëa, then follow these words of Srila Prabodhanand Saraswati and benefit yourself.

He is telling here in 259 verse that-

I always meditate on Krishna,

I sing His name in Sankirtan, like Krishna Krishna

and I meditate on Krishna,

I sing His name,

I serve the Deity of Krishna,

I repeat the Beej, Diksha Mantra; Gopi Jana Vallabhbhaye swahah Mantra,

I repeat the Mantra.

But in what consciousness? He is explaining in the later half. He is telling that I do all these things, but holding the desire in my heart that my only cherish service…, the only thing which I cherish, only thing I desire from my heart is the service of Srimati Radha Rani’s Lotus feet. That is the only thing I desire in my heart, with the conception that O Krishna! I want to attain service of Radha Rani’s Lotus feet, I am chanting Your name. Please be merciful to me.

And conception told in Iskcon is- You are requesting Radha Rani to engage in Krishna’s service. It is exactly opposite which Srila Prabodhanand Saraswati is telling!

Prabodhanand Saraswati is telling that we should request Krishna that please engage us in Radha Rani’s service. Gaudiya Vaishnavas don’t desire Krishna independent of Radha Rani.

If this conception is right- O energy of Krishna! Engage me in Krishna’s ’s service, then it means that Radha Rani is just a stepping stone for us to engage in Krishna’s service. Stepping stone…ladder to achieve something higher. Radha Rani is not a ladder. She is the only place where we want to go. Her Lotus feet are the only cherished destination for all the Gaudiya Vaishnavas, not just for us, but for all the Gaudiya Vaishnavas for all time to come.

The only desire is Radha Rani’s service. So even if we chant Krishna’s name, even if we hear Krishna katha, even if we chant His mantras, Beej Mantras…the conception is not that we want to engage in Krishna’s service, we want to serve Krishna only. Our desire is that we want to serve Radha Rani and since Krishna is related to Radha Rani, we serve Him as well.

ämära éçvaré hon våndävaneçvaré

This is the Mool Mantra of Gaudiya Vaishnavas, being told by the Mahajans of Gaudiya Vaishnava Sampradaya.

ämära éçvaré våndävaneçvaré

Then why do you worship Krishna?

tära präëanätha

Krishna is prannath of my praneshwari. My pran…the Ishvari of my pran…life airs… My praneshwari is Radha Rani. Since Krishna is the pran of Radha Rani, that is why we worship Krishna as well. Otherwise, our object of service is only Radha Rani’s Lotus feet.

Gaudiya Vaishnavas must understand…we only desire Radha Rani’s service, whether we pray to Krishna, whether we pray to anybody…Krishna, Ananga Manjari, Rupa Manjari, anybody we pray to…, our desire is same…Please engage me in Radha Rani’s service.

The conception told in Iskcon is- O Radha Rani! Please engage me in Krishna’s service .

And what is Rupa Goswami telling in Chatu Pushpanjali- O Radha Rani! Please make me the object of Krishna’s pitiful prayers. Krishna should beg me that please engage me in Radha Rani’s service just as you manjaris are engaged in Radha Rani’s service.

So, we are not begging Radha Rani to engage us in Krishna’s service. We are begging Radha Rani that please make Krishna beg us for our mercy, so that He can unite with You.

It is exactly opposite of what Srila Rupa Goswami is saying and what Srila Prabodhanand is saying. Exactly opposite!

If the foundational concept of chanting Hare Krishna is absolutely opposite of Acharyas- Rupa Goswami and Prabodhanand Saraswati, then there is no question of attaining siddhi by such conception. It is just like you have to go right and you are running for one hundred years exactly on the left side. You are going further and further away from your real destination and only destination. It is not just wrong. It is the most horrific thing which a Gaudiya Vaishnava can do to himself! I mean going exactly opposite of what Srila Rupa Goswamipada is telling, going exactly opposite of Srila Prabodhanand Saraswati.

You can see from Vilap Kusum Anjali. Raghunath Das Goswami…what is He telling?

sakhyäya te mama namo’stu namo’stu nityaà

Raghunath Das Goswami is telling this.

Now see…We have told you what Prabodhanand Saraswati tells…how to chant, how to pray?

And what Srila Rupa Goswami tells, and now what Raghunath dasa Goswami tells. These are all/our main Acharyas.

He tells…when Radha Rani comes in front of Raghunath dasa Goswami, what doyou want…? Radha Rani asked.

Raghunath dasa Goswami says- I want only and only your service.

Radha Rani asks- Why don’t you become one of my Sakhis and also physically unite with Krishna, just like Lalita and Vishakha do?

No no no no no.! I offer my pranam to such great suggestion of Yours, that I also become like Lalita and Vishakha. I have got no desire to become like Lalita, Vishakha.

namo’stu namo’stu nityaà sakhyäya te

I offer my pranaam to this boon of Yours that become a Sakhi like Lalita, Vishakha. I don’t want to become a Sakhi. Then Radha Rani asked- What do you want? Only and only, I want to serve Your lotus feet! We are not begging Radha Rrani to engage us in Krishna’s service. We are begging Radha Rani to engage us in your service. That’s it!

These Gaudiya Vaishnava Acharyas have written Granthas so that we can imbibe the right conception in our mind and thereby attain perfection, siddhi.

There are so many institutions in this planet Earth and all of them have got one common point. Our Guru Maharaja says so. And they follow their institutional Acharya. And there are so many big organisations. Their Gurus are very famous. They have hundreds and thousands of disciples. But is this a right way forward for a Vaishnava, what my institutional Acharya says?

No, the right way forward is what Probodhanand Saraswati says, what Raghunath dasa Goswami tells us to do, what Srila Rupa Goswami tells us to do.

See, I have given hours and hours of seminars on this topic. Have you ever heard me speaking- do this because my Guru Maharaj says so or I tell you to do this or chant this way or that way. No, I never tell any of our Devotees.

We just tell this is being mentioned by Rupa Goswami, this is being mentioned by Raghunath dasa Goswami, by Srila Prabodhanand Saraswati- you follow them.

All institutional Acharyas…they differ from each other. And all followers think that our institutional Acharya is the best. And all of them miss the real trick. They don’t follow the Mool Acharyas. Root Acharya, Mool Acharyas…Raghunath dasa Goswami, Rupa Goswami, Prabodhanand Saraswati.