Does the Hare Krishna mahamantra have specific times for chanting, as does the Gayatri mantra?
Also. Thank you.
I heard that Gayatri Mantra has to be chanted at a specific time so is Hare Krishna Mahamantra also to be chanted at a specific time? No. naam naa makaari bahudhaa nirjaro shaktis patrarpita niyamita smarane nakalaha that there is no niyama or kala for chanting the holy names of Krishna. There are different mantras which are for different purposes and the Hare Krishna Mahamantra is the most merciful of all mantras.
Why? Because God makes himself fully accessible through this mantra and because His grace His love, His mercy manifests to us and His mercy is unlimited so He makes Himself accessible at any time and every time in the chanting of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra. The Gayatri Mantra is not just spiritual power, it is also material power and when there is material power involved in something, there are material laws to be followed because spiritual transcends everything material but material itself doesn't transcend the material. So if I have to eat food, if I have got cough and I take ice cream even if that ice cream is offered to Krishna it is going to have a material effect on me.
So the Gayatri Mantra it can also be chanted, some people chant it remembering Surya, it is actually referring to Surya Narayan. So it is also a name of Krishna but because it involves certain forces that act at the material level also, that's why that mantra is to be chanted at specific times. The Hare Krishna Mahamantra because it is entirely spiritual mantra, meant to raise our consciousness spiritually so it transcends all material rules and regulations.
Question.