Krishna
Hare Krishna maha-mantra
हरे कृष्ण हरे कृष्ण कृष्ण कृष्ण हरे हरे । हरे राम हरे राम राम राम हरे हरे ॥
Simple reading
Ha-re krish-na ha-re krish-na, krish-na krish-na ha-re ha-re, ha-re raa-ma ha-re raa-ma, raa-ma raa-ma ha-re ha-re
Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare, Hare Rāma Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma Hare Hare
About this mantra
The maha-mantra: sixteen names in a single garland, given in the Kali-Santarana Upanishad as the chant for this age.
Meaning
Hare, Krishna, Rama: three names woven sixteen times into one garland. Hare is read as the call to Hari, who takes sorrow away, or, in the Gaudiya reading, to Hara, the divine energy, Radha; Krishna is the all-attractive; Rama is the reservoir of joy. There is no request anywhere in the mantra. It is pure address, the practice of calling the beloved by name until the calling itself becomes the meeting.
Learn it by heart
Say the first line until it comes without reading, then add the next line and say both, until the whole mantra comes on its own.
Line 1 of 2
हरे कृष्ण हरे कृष्ण कृष्ण कृष्ण हरे हरे ।
Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare, Hare Rāma Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma Hare Hare
0not said yet
Aim for eleven before the next line. Move on when the line comes without reading.
Progress stays on this device.
When to recite it
The anytime kirtan: walking, cooking, waiting; sung in groups and counted alone on beads. Janmashtami and Ekadashi intensify it; no day is wrong for it.
Word by word
- हरेhare
- O Hari, remover of sorrow; in the Gaudiya reading, O Hara, Radha
- कृष्णkṛṣṇa
- the all-attractive one
- रामrāma
- the delighter, source of joy
Source: Kali-Santaraṇa Upaniṣad
Note: The Kali-Santarana Upanishad gives the two halves in the other order: Hare Rama first, Hare Krishna second. The order given here, Hare Krishna first, is the Chaitanya (Gaudiya) tradition's and the one most kirtans follow.