Why do we chant Hare Krishna, not om krishna?
Answer Podcast
Transcript
This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
So why do we say Hare Krishna and not Om Krishna? Any way we chant the sacred names of God, that is good.
Now different names are associated with different conceptions of the absolute. So the word Om is associated with the, usually it is associated with the impersonal conception of the absolute truth. See God is the impersonal side and a personal side.
Now impersonal is that side which is all pervading, extends everywhere. And then the personal aspect which is Krishna manifesting as a person or Ram manifesting as a person. Now both exist in parallel.
And Krishna says that in 4.27 he says that actually the impersonal manifestation rests on the personal manifestation. That means the personal manifestation is the source and the impersonal is the effulgence. Like there is sun over here, we have the light source over here and the light going all around.
So Krishna is a person and from him the impersonal effulgence comes. So those who chant the names of the absolute truth with Om, for example we have mantras Om Shri Krishna Namaha or Om Narayana Namaha. These can also be devotional mantras.
And these are also chanted. But specifically when we have a clear personal understanding of God, we understand that God manifests as the divine couple. There is not just God as one person.
God has his consort and both of them are together. So Om refers to God as the impersonal and then we have Krishna. Om is not necessarily always an impersonal reference.
It can also refer to God in the personal manifestation. But it refers to God. Quite often people use it to refer to God in the impersonal manifestation.
But when we have Hare over there, Hare actually has multiple meanings. Hare can mean Hari, that is Lord himself. It can refer to Hara, it can refer to Hara which refers to Shiva and it can refer to Hara which refers to the Lord’s consort Radharani or Lakshmidevi.
So we see Hare Krishna, we are actually calling the divine couple. So now both of them are God themselves. So now normally when we call out to Krishna, we get his mercy.
If I call out to Ram, I get his mercy. But when we call out the divine couple, we get double mercy. Why? Because when we call out Hare, we are calling out Radharani, she gives her mercy.
But when we are calling out to Hare, actually Krishna is pleased that we are remembering his topmost devotee. Krishna gives his mercy. And when we call out Krishna, Krishna gives his mercy.
But then Radharani also says, oh you are calling my lord, Radharani also gives her mercy. So like that Hare Krishna gives us double mercy. Anyway we chant names of God, that is good.
But Hare Krishna gives us, if you have a car, maximum mileage for the fuel. So like that Hare Krishna mantra gives us the maximum mercy for the time and consciousness that we are investing in chanting. That’s why we chant the Hare Krishna Mahamantra.
That’s what is recommended in the scriptures in this particular age for purifying ourselves.