Walk into ISKCON Brahmapur at almost any hour and you will hear it — a soft murmur of devotees chanting on beads in the morning, the swell of kirtan with mridanga and kartals in the evening. The sound is the same sixteen words: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.
What the mantra means
Hare addresses Radha, the divine energy of devotion; Krishna is ‘the all-attractive one’; Rama is ‘the reservoir of all pleasure’. To chant the maha-mantra is simply to call out, again and again, ‘O energy of the Lord, O Lord, please engage me in Your service.’ No ritual, qualification or fee is required — only attention and a sincere heart.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy.
Two ways to chant
- Japa: quiet, personal chanting on a string of 108 beads. One round takes about seven minutes; many devotees chant sixteen rounds a day, but even one round changes the tone of a morning.
- Kirtan: singing the mantra together, with instruments, in call and response. Kirtan is the heart of every temple programme and the easiest way to begin — you only have to repeat what you hear.
What to expect
The first few minutes can feel mechanical. Stay with the sound. Within a week most people notice that the mind grows quieter, worries loosen their grip and a simple gladness appears from nowhere in particular. Srila Prabhupada compared the process to cleaning a dusty mirror: as the layers come off, the self we always were begins to show.
Beads are available at the temple book table, and any devotee will gladly show you how to use them. Come to the evening kirtan this week — and bring a friend.