Where is the Hare Krishna mahamantra mentioned in the Vedic scriptures?

Where is it mentioned that the Hare Krishna mantra is the mantra for salvation in kalyuga and in which vedas or upnishad is the hare krishna mantra written. Also Prabhupad in his Gita As It Is have said that the single syllable OM is the mantrs for moksha.

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Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Question, where is it mentioned that the Hare Krishna Mahamantra is the mantra for salvation in Kali Yuga? In which Vedas or Upanishads is the Hare Krishna Mantra written? And Prabhupada in his Bhagavad Gita, as it is, has said that the single mantra, Om, is the mantra for Moksha. Answer, the Hare Krishna Mahamantra is mentioned in multiple places.
The most important among them is the Kali-Santra Upanishad. The Kali-Santra Upanishad is a conversation between Narad Muni and Brahmaji. Narad Muni goes to Brahmaji and asks him, what is the means for liberation in Kali Yuga? So, the Kali-Santra Upanishad is one of the shortest Upanishads.
It has 11 verses and yet it is considered to be one of the 108 Upanishads. And the standard lists of the Upanishads that are present, list this as one of the Upanishads. So, now the Kali-Santra Upanishad starts with Narad Muni going to Brahmaji and asking him, You can read the whole text at your leisure, I have pasted it along with the answer, linked to it.
So, at the end of the Upar-Yuga, just as Kali-Yuga was about to start, Narad Muni went and asked, Brahmaji, how will I be able to swim across this ocean known as Kali-Yuga? So, he is using a humble position saying, I, Narad Muni has already crossed over. But he is speaking for all, the guidance of all of us who are Kali-Yuga-Gwasis. And Brahmaji replies that, Your words will benefit all mankind.
Listen to the essential secret of the various scriptures. It is concealed like a treasure that is hidden. When one uncovers this knowledge, one can swim across material existence during Kali-Yuga.
And then he says, all of one’s sins can be eradicated simply by chanting the name of the Supreme Personality of God, Lord Narayana. So, then Narad Muni more specifically asks, which of the Lord’s names should we chant? And then the Maha-Mantra is mentioned. Now, this Maha-Mantra, there are different recensions of the Kali-Santra Upanishad.
Recension means the same text which is available sometimes in different versions. So, there is a Northern recension and a Southern recension. So, in the Northern recension of this book, the Hare Krishna part comes first.
And in the Southern recession, the Hare Ram comes first. The important thing is that both of them contain the same essential names. Krishna, Ram and Hare.
And along with that, their full mantra is mentioned. And just for the sake of being more transparent, I have used here the Southern recension, which gives the mantra starting with Hare Ram. And then I will explain about the specific way in which it is chanted within a scone.
So, this mantra is given in the Kali-Santra Upanishad. And after that mantra, then Brahmaji goes on to say that this 16 names only destroy the sins in Kali Yuga. No other remedy can be found.
And then further he says, these 16 names destroy the 16 coverings. What are the coverings that constitute the 16 constituents? The 16 constituents are mentioned in the Uddhava Gita. They are the various components that comprise our material body.
And they bind us to this material existence. So, the 16 components are the 5 material senses, sense organs, the 5 types of breath, the 5 working organs and the subtle body. So, the 5 knowledge acquiring senses are eyes, ears, nose, tongue and touch.
The 5 types of breath are prana, paan, jnaan, udana and samaan. And the 5 working organs or 5 working senses are hands, legs, tongues, genitals and anus and the subtle body that comprises the mind, intelligence and ego. So, basically the 16 letter Maha Mantra frees us from the 16 constituents that cover us in the conditioned stage of existence.
And then Narada goes on and further asks, is there some specific way to chant this mantra? And Brahmaji replies that actually there is no set procedure. Whether a seeker is pure or impure, liberation awaits him. And such a person will go to the planet of the Lord, become his personal associate, get a form like his and if the person wants, he can even attain liberation in personal sense by merging in the Lord.
And then he further says that if one chants this mantra 3.5 crore times, 35 million times, one can become free from all sins, even the grievous of sins like killing a Brahmin, assassinating a warrior or doing any other sinful activities. So, now if we chant the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra 16 rounds as has been told by Srila Prabhupada to us, then within the average human lifespan, in a time of around 55.5 years, we will attain this figure of 35 million times. Of course, 16 rounds is the minimum.
We can always chant more and attain that target faster. And the Upanishad concludes by saying that sarva-dharma-parityaga-papa-sadyaha-suchitam-niyat sadyo-muchyeta-sadyo-muchyeta-itya-upanishad One will be completely freed, completely freed by whatever sins may have happened because of neglecting other religious duties or performing other religious activities. All of them one can become purified.
So, this Kalisantra and Upanishad is an unambiguous pramana. There are many other books which talk about the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra. But even if somebody doesn’t accept these later books or other books because they are subordinate, but the Upanishad is directly a part of the Vedic literature.
It is a part of the original Vedanta. So, specifically the Kalisantra and Upanishad is a part of the Krishna Yajur Veda. Yajur Veda has two parts, Shukla and Krishna, white and black.
And this is a part of the Krishna Yajur Veda. So, in this sense, it’s a very unambiguous and clear reference. Apart from that, there are books like Ananta Samhita which gives the mantra.
And there are several other sources also where it is referred. So, as I said, even in the original Upanishads, there are the northern recensions where the mantra is as it is Hare Krishna and Hare Ram comes later. But in the southern recensions is Hare Ram and I have quoted that over here.
So, it is described that in the Vedic tradition, all mantras were not allowed to be chanted by everyone. Mantras bestow power. And power in the wrong hands can cause harm to all of society.
Therefore, for the larger protection of society, access to power was restricted to those who would be responsible enough to use that power properly. That’s why the chanting of mantras was not always allowed for everyone. And because this is a Vedic mantra and traditionally only the Brahmins are supposed to chant the mantras, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, when He came in Kali Yuga, He said, actually the path of bhakti and the path of developing a personal relationship with God is open for one and all.
And He started based on the Vedic scriptures. The Vedic scriptures repeatedly recommend that we chant the names of God, names of Krishna. Which names? They are not particularly specific.
There are many names, but specifically the Kalesantra Upanishad recommends this particular name. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, in order to respect the feelings of the Brahmins at that time, who said that the Vedic mantras are meant to be chanted only by Brahmins, but Chaitanya Mahaprabhu also did not want the mercy of the Lord and the powers of the Holy Name to not be available to common people. And for that purpose, respecting the feelings of the Brahmins, He said that, OK, the mantra which starts from Hare Ram is a Vedic mantra, and if that is not meant to be chanted by everyone, fine, then we will chant it starting from Hare Krishna.
So if we start it from Hare Krishna, what happens by that is, it is now in a different sequence, and so it’s a different mantra. As far as the Vedic mantras are concerned, the precision of the pronunciation is extremely important. There is a detailed answer of how the Holy Name and God are connected, and how God’s power is manifested through the Holy Name.
And from the point of view of the mantras which involve the Holy Name, their power comes not specifically by their sequence, but by the devotion with which they are chanted. So in that sense, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu changed the sequence, and then the Brahmins were satisfied that, OK, now the Vedic mantra is not being chanted, but Chaitanya Mahaprabhu emphasized the devotion, and He himself was an exemplary devotee, the Lord Himself was acted as a devotee, and He exhibited exemplary devotion, and devotional emotion while chanting the Holy Names, and through that He attracted millions of people during His time, and millions of people since His time, to the chanting of the Holy Names. So there is a scriptural basis for the chanting of the Mahamantra, a very clear and ambiguous scriptural basis, and further, because Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has recommended it, and He has exemplified it, we have the additional blessings of His directly coming through the Mahamantra to us.
Now as far as the statement of the Bhagavad Gita is concerned, Srila Prabhupada is simply paraphrasing what is given in the Bhagavad Gita when he says, By Aum one can attain liberation. Now if we look at the full Bhagavad Gita in proper context, we will find, what exactly is Aum? There is a link on the website to the article on the relationship between Aum and Hare Krishna. So, Srila Prabhupada Krishna says that, Pranabhah Sarvavedi Shu, this is actually among all the Vedas, actually, I am the Pranabhah, that means, Aum is actually a manifestation of Krishna.
And further, specifically regarding liberation it is talked about, then it is described that in verse 13 of chapter 8, 8.13, it is described, Aum Iti Ekaksharam Brahma, Vyaharanma Manusmaran, Yaha Prayati Tyajandeham, Sayati Paramangatim, Aum Iti Ekaksharam Brahma, this Ekakshara, one syllable mantra, called Aum, Vyaharan, when one recites the spiritual verse, Aum vibration, and very importantly, Maam Anusmaran, when one remembers Krishna, Yaha Prayati, one will use his body, Tyajandeham, in this way, Sayati Paramangatim, that person will attain the supreme destination. So what this verse is saying is, it is not just the utterance of the sound Aum, but along with that there has to be the remembrance of Krishna, and then and then alone one will attain the Paramangatim, the supreme destination. And in case there is some ambiguity, then two verses before that also it is very clearly stated, a few verses before, verse 10 it is said that, Actually, Bhaktya Yukto Yog Balena Chaiva, one has to have Bhakti, and Bhakti is not just to some non-personal light, it is to a person.
So one has to remember Krishna. So now, Aum in and of itself is a very powerful sound vibration, and Aum might bring us peace, because it connects us with the impersonal Brahman, it is the spiritual substratum of all of existence. But Aum itself does not necessarily evoke the remembrance of Krishna in our minds, and that’s why it does not bring Prema.
And as conscious beings who long to love and be loved, we need to experience spiritual emotions and spiritual fulfillment through love. And for this to happen, we need to remember Krishna. So Aum refers to Krishna, but in an indirect, official, non-personal sort of way.
That means the Prime Minister of India has his own name, but along with that, he can be called the Prime Minister of India, he can also be called the Chief of the State of India, Head of State of India. We can call him by his post, and we can call him by his personal name. So the referring to the reference by the post is not as personal.
And in one sense, the Prime Minister of India is the top person in the government of India. So now we refer to the government of India, it invokes power, but it does not invoke the remembrance of any person. So ultimately, it’s the same principle that is being referred to when we talk about the government of India, the Prime Minister of India, and the person who is the Prime Minister, by his personal name.
So similarly, Aum refers to the same underlying absolute truth, but in a non-personal way. And because it’s a non-personal way, it does not easily evoke the remembrance of Krishna. And because it doesn’t evoke the remembrance of Krishna, it does not awaken affection, prema in our heart.
And that’s why this path becomes troublesome. आव्यक्ताहिगतिर्दुक्कम् देहवद्भिरवापिते In 12.6 in the Bhagavad Gita, it is described that देहवद्भिरवापिते That’s a person who is embodied. This is 12.5 in the Bhagavad Gita.
Krishna says that those people who have material bodies, they just are so materially conditioned, क्लेशो दिक्तरस्तेशाम् It’s extremely difficult to आव्यक्ताहिगतिर्दुक्कम् देहवद्भिरवापिते Because their minds are attached to the impersonal aspect. They just can’t move forward. So therefore, Krishna discourages this kind of meditation by saying that it is very difficult.
And he contrasts this with the path of bhakti, तस्याहु सुलभा पारथनित्ति तस्योगिन In 12.6 and 7, he says that सुलभा is very easy to obtain. So what is easy to obtain? अनन्येन योगेन माम्ध्यायन तव्वासते One who undeviatingly fixes his mind on me. So the way to fix the mind on Krishna is by chanting his holy names.
That’s the easiest and the most potent way to fix the mind on Krishna. So by Om, by chanting Om, one can get liberation, but it is a very difficult process. And even in that getting liberation, one has to remember Krishna.
Which remembrance doesn’t come by the chanting of the name Om. And even after one gets liberation, one will only get Shanti, one will not get Prema, one’s heart will not be satisfied, one will just get some peacefulness with which one will get bored and then one will again want to return back to material life for some activity and some relationships. So in contrast with these three problems with chanting Om, first is that we can get liberation very, but with great difficulty.
Second is that even for getting the liberation with that level of difficulty, still we have to invoke the remembrance of Krishna and that remembrance does not come just by chanting the holy name. So one will have to take shelter of bhakti in some way at least. And even after getting liberation, one will get only peace and not love and fulfillment.
And that is why one will be prone to fall back to material life because of not having a satisfactory spiritual situation. In contrast with that, when one chants Hare Krishna, actually one is directly remembering Krishna and chanting Hare Krishna, singing and dancing is a much more joyful process. And it helps us to develop our relationship with Krishna and enter into eternal life of love with Krishna.
And that’s why it is eternally lasting and eternally fulfilling. So in this way, chanting Hare Krishna Mahamantra is the recommended way for this Kali Yuga.