2) Kirtan Reform Workshop – March 2004
The Kirtan Reform Workshop is part of the official seminar series by Jayadvaita Swami. Audio recordings are presented below.A look at the trends within modern ISKCON kirtan and hearing about Srila Prabhupada’s standards and instructions for kirtan. Kirtan is one of the most important limbs of devotion service, and getting it right is crucial. A must for all kirtaniers, temple leaders and devotees who want to know what makes good kirtan.Download audio (zip)
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Day 1
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Kirtan Reform Workshop
Jayadvaita Swami
February 2004 Revised December 20, 2005
Jayadvaita Swami
February 2004 Revised December 20, 2005
Disclaimer
In this seminar I’ll have some fairly negative comments to make about various things people do in modern ISKCON kirtana.Practically all of my friends, all the devotees I most admire, and all my favorite kirtana leaders regularly do one or another of these things.
So I don’t intend to attack anyone personally or insinuate that anyone is spiritually defective.
Please don’t think if your guru does something you hear about in my seminar you have to ditch him and look for someone else.
But I wouldn’t mind if some of these features of modern ISKCON kirtana came up for review.
And at least I can hope that this seminar will help make the world safe for devotees who may not always want to do things the modern ISKCON way.
There are standards
It’s our premise here that Srila Prabhupada did give us standards to follow in kirtana. It’s not that we all have to do everything precisely as in the 1960’s and 70’s. But it’s not that “anything goes.”
There are standards, there are instructions, and we should know them.
Krpamoya Dasa , UK
“This generation has to be very
careful because whatever we set down as a standard is being copied at
the moment and we’ll see the repercussions of that in three, six, ten years
time. And after we’re all gone, that will be the style in ISKCON.
“One thing that constantly
surprises me is that Prabhupada did manage, over those twelve years that he was
with us, to keep kirtana pretty much the same. I never heard Prabhupada do even
“Nitai-Gaura Haribol.”
“It’s very important to get it
right now. Because although we might not
think that we are sufficient parts of the parampara, whatever we do now is
multiplied by the next generation, which will be then multiplied by the
generation after that.
“So: purity in consciousness,
purity in philosophy, theology—but also purity in musical expression. Choice of
instruments. Purity—and faithfulness to what Prabhupada has given us is equally
important because that will go on for generations and if we make a mistake now
it will be difficult to correct. Hare Krsna.”
Purity of consciousness
A bona fide spiritual master chants the holy names -- Hare
Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama,
Hare Hare -- and the transcendental sound vibration enters into the ear of the
disciple, and if a disciple follows in the footsteps of his spiritual master
and chants the holy name with similar respect, he actually comes to worship the
transcendental name.
When the transcendental name is worshiped by the devotee,
the name Himself spreads His glories within the heart of a devotee. When a
devotee is perfectly qualified in chanting the transcendental vibration of the
holy name, he is quite fit to become a spiritual master and to deliver all the
people of the world. The chanting of the holy name is so powerful that it
gradually establishes its supremacy above everything in the world. The devotee
who chants it becomes transcendentally situated in ecstasy and sometimes
laughs, cries and dances in his ecstasy.
Sometimes the unintelligent put hindrances in the path of
chanting this maha-mantra, but one who is situated on the platform of love of
Godhead chants the holy name loudly for all concerned. As a result, everyone
becomes initiated in the chanting of the holy names -- Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna,
Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. By chanting
and hearing the holy names of Krsna, a person can remember the forms and
qualities of Krsna.
--TLC,
Chapter 18: “The Conversations with Prakasananda” (last words of the chapter)
From the Acaryas, not cinema songs or bhajanas from the street
“These prayers [offered by Brahma to Lord Visnu] were not
ordinary concocted prayers. Prayers must be approved by Vedic literature, as
indicated in this verse by the words daivibhir
girbhih. In our Krsna consciousness movement we do not allow any song that
has not been approved or sung by bona fide devotees. We cannot allow cinema
songs to be sung in the temple.
“We generally
sing two songs. One is sri-krsna-caitanya
prabhu nityananda sri-advaita gadadhara srivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrnda. This
is bona fide. It is always mentioned in the Caitanya-caritamrta,
and it is accepted by the acaryas. The
other, of course, is the maha-mantra—Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare
Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. We may also sing the songs of
Narottama dasa Thakura, Bhaktivinoda Thakura and Locana dasa Thakura, but these
two songs—’sri-krsna-caitanya’ and the Hare Krsna maha-mantra—are sufficient to
please the Supreme Personality of Godhead, although we cannot see Him.
--SB 8.5.25,
purport
In our
temple, strictly Hare Krishna chanting should be given more importance.
There is no harm in this mantra you have heard, but it is not very important.
There are many such common songs composed by common devotees out of sentiment.
But our principle is to stick to the authorities, and always remember that Hare Krishna is the prime
authorized mantra.
–letter to
Malati, 28 January, 1969
There are sahajiyas who, not knowing the importance of the
Panca-tattva, concoct their own slogans, such as bhaja nitai gaura, radhe
syama, japa hare krsna hare rama or sri-krsna-caitanya prabhu-nityananda hare
krsna hare rama sri-radhe govinda. Such chants may be good poetry, but they
cannot help us to go forward in devotional service. In such chants there are
also many discrepancies, which need not be discussed here.
Strictly
speaking, when chanting the names of the Panca-tattva, one should fully offer his
obeisances: sri-krsna-caitanya
prabhu-nityananda sri-advaita gadadhara srivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrnda. By
such chanting one is blessed with the competency to chant the Hare Krsna
maha-mantra without offense. When chanting the Hare Krsna maha-mantra, one should
also chant it fully: Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama,
Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.
One should not
foolishly adopt any of the slogans concocted by imaginative devotees. If one
actually wants to derive the effects of chanting, one must strictly follow the
great acaryas. This is confirmed in the Mahabharata:
maha-jano yena gatah sa panthah. “The real path of progress is that which
is traversed by great acaryas and authorities.” –Cc. Adi 7.168
“One devotee had picked up a chant in India : he krsna, govinda, hari, murari/ he natha, narayana, vasudeva. When
Prabhupada heard it, he called us into his room and said, ‘This is not a Vedic
mantra; this is a cinema song. An intelligent disciple just takes whatever his
spiritual master provides for him, considering that to be sufficient. There are
many names of God you can chant, but it’s best to take what comes in disciplic
succession and what the spiritual master introduces.’ ”
--Revatinandana
Dasa, quoted in Srila Prabhupada and His Disciples in Germany , page 192
“While he was singing [the namaste narasimhaya prayers] some Indian lady in the crowd starting
to sing om jaya jagadisa hare. Prabhupada
interrupted the prayer and said, ‘Who has said this?’ He said, ‘No, no. Not om jaya jagadisa hare. It is jaya jagadisa hare. Don’t concoct.”
–Yasodanandana Dasa, in Memories, Vol.
1 (Siddhanta Dasa, ed., Culver City, CA: Monsoon Media, 2002, p. 98)
We
cannot follow an upstart, manufacturing some song. What is authorized song, we
shall sing.
--lecture,
Vrndavana, November 13,
1972
Authorized songs means the songs which were sung or composed
by self-realized Acaryas. It is an injunction in the Vaisnava regulations that
unauthorized songs or statements should never be heard. The comparison is given
that milk, although very nutritious food, if it is touched by the tongue of a
serpent, it acts like poison. –letter to Syamasundara, 25 Feb 1970
One should chant the bona fide songs received from the
disciplic succession. In Bhagavad-gétä it
is said that the chanting is powerful when one follows the disciplic succession
(evaà paramparä-präptam imaà räjarñayo
viduù). Manufacturing many ways of chanting will never be effective.
However, chanting the song or the narration left by the previous äcäryas (mahäjano yena gataù sa panthäù) is
extremely effective, and this process is very easy.
--SB 7.9.18
purport
Examples of current ISKCON mantras
They’re “Catchy jingles introduced into ISKCON kirtana.” (Bhakti Vikasa Swami)
Govinda bolo hari, gopala bolo
Where does this come from?
Srila Prabhupada chanted:
govinda jaya jaya gopäla jaya jaya
rädhä-ramana hari govinda jaya jaya
Radharani ki jaya, maharani ki
jaya
A Brijbasi folk song, says B.V. Swami
Jaya Radha-ramana haribol
(an invented pop bhajan)
Radhe-radhe syama milade (“O Radharani, please introduce me to your Syama.”)
Within this song is something else also heard lately: “Radhe radhe radhe, sri krsna radhe radhe”
In “More Songs of the Vaisnava Acaryas,” the song is labeled “Traditional Gujarati chant.” (Which acarya?)
Sampradaya vihina ye mantras te nisphala matah. (Padma Purana)
Don’t concoct mantras
“Svayambhur wanted more clarification on what Srila
Prabhupada had said about the chanting of nitai-gaura being a deviation. In his
mind there was some contradiction, and he put it to Prabhupada to resolve. “Prabhupada,
you wrote in the Caitanya-caritamrta that the Caitanya maha-mantra, sri-krsna-caitanya
prabhu nityananda. . . . there is no offence to that. And so therefore in the
Kali-yuga it is actually more beneficial. . . “
Prabhupada repeated his comments made to Harikesa Maharaja. “Offence
is that what is spoken by the acaryas, if
you do not follow, that is offence. Guror
avajna. To chant Gaura-Nitai is no offence. But if our previous gurus have
chanted sri-krsna-caitanya prabhu
nityananda sri-advaita-why should we go beyond that? That is guror avajna. Even there is no aparadha, because guru, Kaviraja
Gosvami, has sung like that and my guru has sung, we should follow that. We
should not make any deviation. That is guror
avajna, sruti-sastra-nindanam; namno balad yasya hi papa-buddhih. So it
comes to be one of the items of the
dasa-vidha-aparadha [ten offences in chanting]. Guror avajna.
“Is it more beneficial for people to hear the Panca-tattva
mantra than the Hare Krsna maha-mantra?” Svayambhur asked.
“Oh yes,” Prabhupada told us. “You are going to Hare Krsna
through Nitai-Gaura. Nitaiyer karuna habe
braje radha-krsna pabe.” But he added, “The principle is don’t try to
manufacture. Because you are not experienced, so what nonsense you will
manufacture, that will be offensive. Better go on, the simple thing.”
--September 6, 1976 ,
Vrindavana Conversation in Garden (from Transcendental Diary Vol. 4)
So, in this way if we practice according to the
prescription, sastra-vidhi, that is
wanted. Not that without sastra-vidhi
you can become liberated. That is not possible. Yah sastra-vidhim utsrjya vartate kama-karatah na sa siddhim avapnoti,
Krsna says. And if you give up sastra-vidhim and act according to your whims,
then there is no question of perfection. Na
sa siddhim avap..., na sukham, like that. The sastra-vidhim [indistinct]. Rupa Gosvami also advised like that:
sruti-smrti-puranadi-
pancaratra-vidhim vina
aikantiki harer
bhaktir
utpatayaiva kalpate
There are so many they have invented. Just like Hare Krsna
mantra is prescribed in the sastras, and they have invented so many. Although
there is the name of the Supreme Lord, still you have to follow the sastra. If you say Rama Rama Rama, Radhe
Radhe Radhe, Krsna, there are so many mentioned. That is also name, but you
have to follow the sastra. Sastra
says:
Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
You have to take that. Not that you can say, nitai-gaura
radhe-syama, hare krsna hare rama, no. Why? Is there any in the sastra? No, you have invented. What is
the value of your invention? You are not perfect. But they like that, "It
is my guru, I have got some followers, I invent some type of chanting." This
is nonsense. You must follow. Mahajano
yena gatah sa panthah. You cannot invent.
--lecture, Vrndavana, November
2, 1976
No new mantras
For worshipping the Deities in Bombay , including Sita-Rama, there is
absolutely no change in worship. Adopt the same method as in our Vrindaban
centre, simply with 3 pujaris just like in Vrindaban. They are all
Visnu-tattva, Ramacandra, Radha-Krsna, Gaura-Nitai. No additional kirtanas,
simply do exactly as in Vrindaban.
--letter to
Saurabha, 76-06-07
(“Jaya Sita-Rama Laksman Hanuman. . .” Ooops!)
Jaya Gurudeva!
He objected to the usage of ‘Jaya Gurudeva’ since it was a
direct insertion into our movement from the sahajiya sampradayas in Bengal who always say things like ‘Jaya Guru’, ‘Jaya
Gurudeva’, without referring to any particular guru. Prabhupada criticised this as impersonal and
did not want it chanted by his disciples.
‘Who is the guru?’, he would challenge.
–Harikesa Swami
“One thing, on the invitation card you have written All
Glories to Our Guru Maharaja. This is impersonalism. As soon as we offer
obeisances to guru, the name should be there. We are strictly personalists. The
sahajiya's, they write Glories to Guru. Why you are learning this
impersonalism, who has taught you? Daily I am offering obeisances to my Guru by
vibrating his real name, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, otherwise it is
impersonal.” –letter to Bhavananda, 14 July 72
Bhavananda Prabhu recounts that Srila Prabhupada told him,
“Don’t chant ‘Jaya Gurudeva.’ It is mäyäväda.”
Story from Krpamoya Prabhu:
“February 1977,
Gaura Purnima. Before the first mangala-arati, Panca-dravida Swami had been
chanting bhaja bhakata vatsala sri
gaura-hari for the mangala
offering, before the arati. During
the mangala-arati kirtana someone had
been chanting—for Prabhupada, of course—Jaya
Gurudeva. And Bhavananda came down after mangala-arati, and during the announcements he brought two messages
from Prabhupada, because Prabhupada was just on the floor upstairs and had
heard. So Prabhupada said, firstly, you don’t sing Bhoga Arati for the mangala-arati
sweet offering; secondly, you do not sing
Jaya Gurudeva. Gurudeva is impersonal; it can mean anyone. If you want to indicate
your spiritual master, you call him
by name. So it is ‘Jaya Prabhupada.’
“Then afterwards
he also said that if you want to sing Jaya
Gurudeva, you should sign it before singing
Jaya Prabhupada, so you finish with
the personal name of the spiritual master. But in our multi-guru ISKCON,
sometimes the generic form of Jaya
Gurudeva, as a glorification of all the
ISKCON guru-vrnda, is chanted by the disciples who are leading kirtana, not before Prabhupada’s name
but after. So it means that if you’re a Prabhupada disciple who’s now at a kirtana being led by a junior, you are
then guilty of contravening Prabhupada’s explicit instruction, because the gurudeva that you’re being asked to
chant cannot indicate your gurudeva if you sing it after Jaya Prabhupada. It may be a small thing, but it’s one of those
things that has bothered Krpamoya Dasa for many years since he first heard it
in Mayapur, and now it has caught on.”
“Just follow the guru”
Hari Sauri Prabhu writes
There is a devotee here from Chicago , Träëa-kartä däsa, who is very
interested in singing different bhajanas. Several times I have heard him sing jaya rädhä-mädhava, jaya kuïja-bihäré, jaya
gopé-jana-vallabha, jaya giri-vara-dhäré, jaya giri-vara-dhäré, rather than
sing it the way Çréla Prabhupäda does. In view of what Prabhupäda recently said
about not changing anything given by the äcäryas I approached Träëa-kartä and
asked him where he had learned this new version.
He said
that he had heard it on a tape made by Acyutänanda Swami. He was also singing
other bhajanas that are not in our song book, and said that he got them from
Prabhupäda's Godbrothers. He even had a tape of himself singing a song written
by B. R. Çrédhara Mahäräja.
We had a
bit of a debate about the merits of what he was doing, and so I decided to
bring the matter to Çréla Prabhupäda for clarification. I brought up the issues
about chanting new versions of existing songs, and the chanting of new songs.
As far as
the new version of Jaya rädhä-mädhava is concerned, Prabhupäda said it was all
right. But he added, "Bhaja Hare Kåñëa is not all right. The thing is,
they add these things without asking, and that is the danger. It is better to
just follow the guru."
Çréla
Prabhupäda confirmed that the song, and the singing, of his Godbrothers was
also all right. Nevertheless, his preference is clearly that we stick to
whatever he has introduced and not be so interested in running here and there
to gather up new songs, as this may cause a distraction for us. As he has said
before, our Western mentality is to always seek out something new—we are never
satisfied with what we already have.
(Transcendental Diary, Volume 4, Sri
Vrndavana Dhama, October 6, 1976)
Hare Krsna: No “Bhaja”
Bhakti Caru Swami relates
One devotee was leading the guru puja kirtan in a very
ecstatic way. Then all of a sudden this devotee started to sing “bhaja Hare
Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare...” and Prabhupada became very, very
angry and stopped the kirtan. Everyone was so ecstatic that they were jumping three to four feet high, but then
Prabhupada just shouted “Stop that!” and the kirtana immediately stopped.
Prabhupada asked him “Where did you learn this bhaja Hare Krsna? Did you ever
hear me singing bhaja Hare Krsna?” And Prabhupada just chastised him for about
five minutes. He was very heavy. He told him “Never add anything to Hare Krsna
maha mantra and never subtract anything from Hare Krsna maha mantra. Sing the
maha mantra just as it is”. Prabhupada also explained that “This is how
deviation starts. Somebody puts in his own concocted thing and then somebody
else comes, he adds some more concoction to it and with time it becomes a
complete distortion”.
Harikesa Swami tells of a similar incident in France in 1976. Here’s Hari Sauri
Prabhu’s version of it:
“There was kértana throughout the morning, as the devotees
prepared for the installation. Çréla Prabhupäda was sitting quietly in his
room, waiting to be called when he rang the bell and asked for Harikeça. When
he arrived Prabhupäda told him, "Listen! What is that?" indicating
the kértana downstairs. "He is adding something before the Hare Kåñëa
mantra. Go and stop it and bring him here."
Harikeça
wasn't sure exactly what Prabhupäda was referring to, but he went straight down
and pushed his way through the packed temple room. Påthu-putra Swami was
pounding a drum, leading a loud and fervent rendition of the mahä-mantra. A
group of sweat-soaked brahmacärés were gathered round him, clashing karatälas,
stamping their feet, waving their hands and leaning into an intense exchange of
the holy names with Påthu-putra. First he chanted, then them. Every time he
took the lead he prefaced the mahä-mantra with the word
"bhaja,"—"Chant!"
Harikeça
butted in and brought the singing to an abrupt stop. He informed Påthu-putra
that Prabhupäda wanted to see him. Påthu-putra entered Prabhupäda's room
apprehensively, wondering what was going on.
Prabhupäda,
whose sharp ears had picked out the extra word, demanded to know where he had
learned "this bhaja Hare Kåñëa mantra." He was angry. "There is
no bhaja in Hare Kåñëa! Where did you get this from?"
Shaken by
Prabhupäda's sudden, unexpected reproach, Påthu-putra turned red. "I heard
it in Våndävana."
Prabhupäda's
wrath intensified, and his face flushed as he thought of his disciples once
again becoming polluted by the non-ISKCON elements of Våndävana. He exploded,
"Why you are taking this from the nonsense bäbäjés! Who has told you
this!?"
A shocked
Påthu-putra tried to assure him. "Oh, no, not from the bäbäjés! I heard it
from our own men."
Çréla
Prabhupäda still fumed, but he eased a bit when he understood it had not come
from an outside source. Still, he strongly warned his disciple, "Never
chant this bhaja Hare Kåñëa again! Hare Kåñëa mantra is complete in itself and
requires no addition!"
Promising
not to repeat his mistake, Påthu-putra returned to the temple room to resume
his chanting—this time without the addition.
It is one
of Prabhupäda's great fears that ISKCON devotees will become increasingly
polluted by outside influences not strictly in line with our sampradäya's pure
devotional principles. Just as he did with the gopé-bhäva group in Los Angeles , he acted quickly
and firmly at the very first sign of contamination.”
(Transcendental Diary, Vol 3, Paris and
New Mayapur, August 6, 1976)
And Bhakti Vikasa Swami writes
“Srila Prabhupada did not want anything chanted before the
Hare Krsna maha mantra. Once he stopped Jaya Pataka Maharaja from chanting bolo before the Hare Krsna maha mantra. Bolo simply means ‘chant’ but Srila
Prabhupada did not like it and therefore we should not add it, or anything
else, to the maha mantra.”
How other mantras got started
An understanding of how other mantras and techniques came
into the movement is helpful in relieving the doubts that might arise in the
minds of those who were not informed of what Srila Prabhupada expected in
kirtan. Some devotees had to leave America
due to various legal reasons and had no place to stay but in some Gaudiya Math
temples. In some of these temples they
chant all different kinds of mantras without restriction. Although these mantras are not unbonafide and
are seemingly proper, Srila Prabhupada did not want us to use them in our temple kirtans
Although the Vrindavana temple was opened in March of 1975,
Srila Prabhupada had started establishing the standards of its functioning in
the previous year. He was concentrating
his energies on creating the proper Deity, kitchen, and economic
standards. At this time Srila Prabhupada
asked me to be the president of the temple.
He was personally instructing me in various aspects of the
management. Since we are writing about
Srila Prabhupada’s standards for kirtan, I would like to recount his specific
instructions in regards to the standards for kirtan which he wanted me to
rigidly enforce.
--Harikesa Swami (article in the now defunct Vaisnava Journal, 1988)
(This article was written by Harikesa Swami when he was a
leading GBC member. He wrote it at the request of other GBC members, and we
have no reason to believe that subsequent events have diminished its validity.)
Standards in Vrindavana
As far as standards go, his instructions could not have been
more specific. The exact cause of these
instructions was a kirtan in the temple led by Bharadvaja das, the night
before. Srila Prabhupada had been in the
habit of attending our nightly kirtans and classes due to his being sickly and
unable to speak. That evening Bharadvaj
chose to sing a song (which he said he got from a book by Gopal Bhatta Goswami)
which was a variation on the mantra Krsna Krsna Krsna Krsna Krsna Krsna Krsna
He, but instead of it being for Krsna, Krsna was replaced with Gaura, so that
the mantra went, Gaura Gaura Gaura Gaura Gaura Gaura Gaura He &etc. Srila Prabhupada disliked this extremely, so
much so that the next morning he called me into his room and wanted from me an
explanation of why Bharadvaja was chanting like that. I could not give a proper explanation at that
moment, but Prabhupada said that he never wanted to hear that again in the
temple and that I should never allow such kinds of ‘speculation’ in
kirtan. He then went on to specifically
describe how kirtan should be done.
More or less his exact words were, << Now I want to
establish the standards for kirtan. You
may chant as follows; for mangala aratika, the samsara-dava prayer, then sri
krsna caitanya, then hare krsna, nothing else.
For the guru-puja, the ‘guru-prayer’ [that’s what he called it], sri
krsna caitanya, hare krsna, nothing else.
For evening aratika, the gaura aratika song, sri krsna caitanya, and
hare krsna, nothing else. For all aratikas
this basic pattern should be followed.
The chanting of Sri Krsna Caitanya mantra should only be for three
times, not more. No one should sing a
bhajan unless all the devotees know what the song means. No one should sing songs in Vrindavan temple
that are in languages which the people do not understand. Yasomati-nandana may be sung since the people
understand that. >> I did not put this section in quotes since it would
be highly presumptuous of me to think that I can remember Prabhupada’s exact
words after 13 years have passed, but it is close enough for us to learn
from.
--Harikesa Swami
Hari bol, Hari bol
During ISKCON’s first international festival in Mayapur,
many devotees demonstrated how they had become influenced by the Bengali form
of kirtan. Srila Prabhupada expressed
some displeasure about the chanting of so many different mantras. “They can
chant their ‘Nitai Gaura, Hari Bols’,” he said, “but I will chant Hare Krsna
and go back home, back to Godhead.”
Perhaps if we
had understood the translation of “Hari bol,” then we would have known what to
do. Srila Prabhupada enjoyed chanting the Maha-mantra.
–Sruta Kirti
Prabhu
Bhakti Vikasa Swami: On another occasion, during Mayapura
festival of 1976, devotees were chanting “Haribol, Haribol, Haribol, Haribol!”
again and again in a huge, exuberant kirtana. After several minutes of this
Srila Prabhupada sent word down from his room to chant the Hare Krsna mantra.
Srila Prabhupada said that we are not the Haribol sampradaya.[i]
(In Bengal there is a group of deviant
Vaisnavas known as the Haribol sampradaya who wildly chant Haribol! Haribol!
over and over for hours on end.)
Another time, devotees asked Srila Prabhupada about the
kirtana that Lokanatha Maharaja’s party often performed, singing haribol for
five or ten minutes back and forth:
“Prabhupada,
although not too upset by the kirtana, made it clear that such chanting was not
approved by him. He told us that we should mainly chant the Hare Krsna
maha-mantra. He said ‘nitai-gaura haribol’ is all right, because they are bona
fide names of the Lord, but the real point is that we should strictly follow
only what the acaryas have given. This is the process. He said that the acaryas
only chant all five names of the Panca-tattva, not just two. So although there
is no offense in chanting the names of Gaura-Nitai, if we deviate and chant our
own made-up mantras then this is guror avajna, or disobeying the orders of the
spiritual master, and the line of the acaryas. To make advancement in spiritual
life one must always follow the line of acaryas.”
--Transcendental
Diary, Vol 4, p. 361
Gaura Nityananda Bol
Srila Prabhupada once told Lokanatha Maharaja it was all right
Lokanätha:
We chant, "Gaura Nityänanda bol, haribol, haribol..."
Prabhupäda:
That is all right.
Lokanätha:
"Gaura çré advaita..." Is it recommended by you? That is in our
paramparä? And what about "jaya jagannätha, jaya jagannätha"?
Prabhupäda:
Yes. That's all right. [break] ...anukértanam,
to chant always the Lord's name. So these are Lord's name. Jagannätha is also
Lord's name. Nityänanda is also Lord's name. [break] ...harer näma harer näma eva kevalam. So harer näma can be chanted.
But Hari Sauri Prabhu relates a counter-instance
After singing the standard prayers and the maha-mantra,
Lokanatha Maharaja began chanting “gaura-nityananda
bol, haribol, haribol; gaura-sriadvaita bol, haribol, haribol; gaura-sri
gadadhara bol, haribol, haribol...” with a lot of emphasis on the response
of haribol, haribol. Srila Prabhupada suddenly signaled him from the stage to
stop it; he apparently didn’t like it, although he didn’t say why.
–Transcendental Diary 4, New Delhi , August 30, 1976
Finally, Harikesa Swami relates
One morning in the winter of 1975, after the temple was
opened, Ananda prabhu was leading kirtana. Ananda prabhu was a Godbrother of
Srila Prabhupada who had been living in our temple for many years, humbly
engaged in serving the devotees with great love and devotion. He was the
personal cook of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati and was extremely expert in
preparing foods from simple indigenous leaves, roots and fruits, as well as
preparing emergency medicinal herbs when the need arose (as when a scorpion
stung Saurabh Das and was saved by Ananda Prabhu’s timely herb application). He
was also an enthusiastic kirtana leader.
Srila
Prabhupada was in his room as usual during the mangala aratika kirtan and I was
in the room next to his waiting some order or command. I was not to be
disappointed. The kirtana was loud and the speakers, combined with the
reverberation of the hall, projected the sound into Prabhupada’s room with
great ease. Prabhupada called me into his room. I already knew what was going
to happen since I was trained by him the previous year and knew his standards
for kirtana. Ananda prabhu was chanting Gaura
Nityananda bol etc. I knew that this was not what should happen, but I was
Prabhupada’s servant at this time and not the president any longer.
Much to my
surprise he said, “Go to the temple room and stop him from singing the kirtana.
Tell him that this is your temple and that you will lead the kirtanas the way
you want.” Well, this was quite a shock. It was the first time that I ever had
to stop one of his own Godbrothers from singing a kirtana, but I dutifully
marched off to the temple room to fulfill the order. I was not at all feeling
good about this as I was afraid of making some offense or being crass or crude
about it. Being fallen I just couldn’t bring myself to say it exactly as
Prabhupada had said it, but I managed to mutter out some words to the effect
that Prabhupada didn’t want this mantra in the temple and that would he please
chant Hare Krsna instead? This made a little \scene with the devotees not
understanding what was going on, so I managed to explain something to some
others since the kirtana was still going on without interruption, but soon the
kirtana was stopped and taken over by others.
Prabhupada
was never abrasive towards others and especially I had never seen him act like
this in the temple, but he was so determined that the kirtana standard be
maintained and not changed by the introduction of ‘other’ mantras which were
commonly heard in other temples and maths, that he sent me to stop his own
godbrother from singing in the temple. This incident impressed me greatly as to
his determination in this regard.
–Harikesa
Swami
Morning tune
Srila Prabhupada was very strict in the melody sung during
the mangala-aratika. He wanted the
morning melody and nothing else. He
would sometimes stop kirtans if other melodies were sung in the morning. Of course he was not always doing that, but
when he was nearby and there was someone to appreciate the point, he would
correct the mistake.
--Harikesa Swami
We were chanting mangal aratika within the room of Srila
Prabhupada each morning. Sometimes
Prabhupada would appreciate the singing and sometimes not. Later on in the morning after a particularly
bad kirtan, Prabhupada called me into his room and complained about the
singing. He said, again, more or less,
<< I did not like the singing in the morning. The morning melody must be sung throughout
the mangala aratika and no other melody should be sung. It should be sung sweetly and melodiously,
like this ... [and he proceeded to sing the first verse of the samsara prayer
in a very sweet and melodious voice with perfect inflection and musical
accent]. >> Prabhupada was very insistent that the singing should be done
in that way only. He indicated that he
wanted me to lead the kirtans in the morning as a way to establish the
standards within the temple.
–Harikesa Swami
We have Srila Prabhupada’s recorded instruction: “This is
the morning tune.”
If you ask me, “double-timing” the melody takes all the
charm out of it. (I mean speeding it up and taking all the stops and rests out
of it, making it sound something like a march.)
By the way: The morning tune is not to be sung in the
evening.
Jaya Radhe
The next morning I led the kirtan in his room duplicating
the melodious style which he had shown me the day before [for the morning
tune]. Prabhupada was pleased and seemed
to enjoy the kirtan. Unfortunately I
fell victim to that demon within the mind and started to speculate a couple of “Jaya
radhe’s” at the end of the kirtan. This
was one of the bigger mistakes made by me at that time. Although there is nothing wrong with “Jaya
radhe”, Prabhupada simply didn’t want us to chant it. He once explained that Sukadeva Gosvami did not
feel himself qualified to chant the name of Radha in the Srimad-bhagavatam and
therefore only indicated her name with the word “aradhana” while describing the
topmost gopi friend of Krsna.
Anyway, to continue the story, I had just started to chant
Srimati Radharani’s holy name within Vrindavan dham, Her beloved Lord’s abode,
within the presence of Her most intimate devotee, during the most auspicious
hours of the day, when Her most intimate devotee looked at me with eyes blazing
like fire and desirous of initiating my immediate destruction. Voice choked and gagging, I ended the kirtan
immediately without further formalities, never again to make the same mistake.
Prabhupada never ended kirtans with various extra mantras, especially not “Jaya
radhe”, so why should I?
–Harikesa Swami
Srila Prabhupada didn’t chant it. And his response when
people on his morning walk in Vrindaban greeted him with “Jaya Radhe”?
“Hare Krsna.”
Some particulars of ISKCON liturgy
The “Deity ditties”
Jaya Radha-Something, Radha-Something, Radhe
Such “Deity ditties” now seem to have become obligatory at the end of every kirtana.
They even sometimes appear in the middle of mangala-arati, after Gurvastaka.
And sometimes after Nrsimha arati or tulasi puja or “jaya radha-madhava” in Bhagavatam class.
But Srila Prabhupada never chanted them.
And they sometimes lead to “Jaya radhe, jaya radhe!”
And where else can they lead?
Heard in Bahrain :
Jaya Radha
Radha-Krsna, Radha Radha-Krsna, Radhe!
Heard in Sharjah (UAE):
Jaya Radha
Laddu-Gopala, Radha-Laddu-Gopala, Radhe!
Reported in RSA:
Jaya
Radha-Jagannatha, Radha-Jagannatha, Radhe!
RSA:
or
Jaya Nitai
Saci-suta, Nitai Saci-suta, Saci-suta
(derivation?
It fits the same meter as “Jaya
Radha-X,
Radha-X, Radhe”)
Mayapur:
Jaya
Panca-tattva, Jaya Panca-tattva
(not “Sri
krsna caitanya prabhu nityananda,
etc.)
Here and there:
Jaya
salagrama-sila, Jaya salagrama-sila
Here and there:
Jaya Jagannatha, Jaya Baladeva, Jaya Subhadra, Jaya
Jagannatha!
(then start
playing with variations on the order)
Srila Prabhupada never chanted any of this.
Haraye namah krsna yädaväya namah
Another common practice is to end kirtana with this mantra:
haraye namah krsna yadavaya namah
yadavaya madhava kesavaya namah
gopala govinda rama sri-madhusudana
giridhari gopinatha madana-mohana
Sometimes this is also followed by the next verse, offering obeisances to the six Gosvamis.
This comes from a bona fide song by Srila Narottama Dasa Thakura. But why have these verses become customary to chant at the end of kirtana? I speculate that it’s because devotees have heard that Srila Prabhupada asked us to. So I bring to your attention Srila Prabhupada’s actual request:
“We are already accustomed to chant these two mantras--sri-krsna-caitanya prabhu nityananda sri-advaita gadadhara srivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrnda and Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Now, after these, the other two lines--namely, haraye namah, krsna yadavaya namah/ gopala govinda rama sri-madhusudana--should be added, especially in Mayapur. Chanting of these six lines should go on so perfectly well that no one there hears any other vibration than the chanting of the holy names of the Lord. That will make the center spiritually all perfect.” (Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi 17.123, purport)
As mentioned twice in Caitanya-caritamrta, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu personally chanted these two lines. (Two lines, not four.) The song by Narottama Dasa Thakura, bona fide though it be, is not what Srila Prabhupada asked us to chant at the end of kirtana.
Gurvastakam—
Why chant “Jaya Prabhupada” in the middle?
Is this “the Prabhupada song”?
Sri Advaita Gadädhara
Bhavananda Prabhu recounts that on one occasion, while hearing an ISKCON kirtana, Srila Prabhupada said, “They say ‘Ga-dud-hara’ [in the second syllable a short a], but I say ‘Ga-daad-hara’ [stressing the long a].”
Nrsimha kirtana
Why “Jaya Bhakta Prahlada”?
Do you ever hear about “Bhakta Haridasa Thakura” or “Bhakta Rupa Gosvami”? Then why “Bhakta Prahlada”?
Because in modern ISKCON you always have to end the kirtana with “Jaya Somebody or other,” and we picked up “Bhakta Prahlad” from the Indian movie of the same name, and it fits the beat, that’s why.
But how about this: “When a devotee is great he is called prabhu, and when he is lesser he is called bhakta, or a devotee.” (Cc. Adi 6.99, purport)
Tulasi-arati
In the tulasi pranama, it’s devyai, not devi
Nivedana, not nivedena
Why “Jaya tulasi-devi! Jaya bhakti
devi!”?
Tulasi-devi is not Bhakti-devi.
Free-form prema-dhvani
Jaya everything, without regard for sense or order.
And this is another place to recite all the Deity names (as if they weren’t already included in the beginning)
Srila Prabhupada never did this.
Why “A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada”?
And when you’ve done “Om visnupada” etc.,
you don’t need “His Divine Grace.” (You’ve said all that and more.)
And Srila Prabhupada’s title is Bhaktivedanta
Swami, not Bhaktivedanta Goswami.
Tunes and melodies
Any tune can be used. When it is in relationship with Krishna , that makes it bona fide.
--letter to Ekayani,
31 Aug 71
Regarding the presentation of “Govindam’’ as well as other
mantras, the vibration is always pure. I will give the theme and if the sound
is Westernized that does not matter. But another point is that this specific
sound of Kirtana as I sing is also another introduction of art that can be
intermingled with Western art, and such combination will certainly be
appreciated. But so far I know that the Kirtana tune is a specific
representation of Gaudiya Vaisnavas and this tune is appreciated all over India
as unique. They say that the Kirtana tune is the specific gift of Bengal , and that is a fact.
--letter to Syamasundara, 25 Feb 1970
At a talk at 26
Second Avenue in June of 2006, Satsvarupa dasa
Goswami said that Srila Prabhupada in his kértanas
at Tompkins Square Park
Clanging and banging
Of note to you perhaps is an instruction that Srila
Prabhupad gave many many many times, mostly to leaders, but on occasion to
groups of devotees. He withheld this instruction from general assemblies, my
understanding being that he did not want to discourage devotees from chanting,
even when the chanting was not properly done. This instruction I have noted is
one of Srila Prabhupada’s pet peeves, one of the things that annoyed him the
most of all the ways that kirtan was being “done.”
We had a kirtan at the Ram lila grounds, 1976 March and
Dinanath was leading, and tens of thousands were attending and chanting. After
the program Srila Prabhupad and I were alone in the back tent waiting for his
servant and the car. As you know he would often ask rhetorical questions, and
he asked me “So, what did you think of the kirtan?” Understanding this was just
a lead in to his giving me an instruction I answered with a bland “it was OK.”
Srila Prabhupada’s definition to me then was as follows:
“No it was not nice, it was clanging and banging. Kirtan
should be sweet and melodious [my note ref from Gaura Arati] Come let us go to
the ashram and have kirtan.”
And so we went, Srila Prabhupad, his servant, Baradraj, and
myself. Except his servant, the three of us sat in his room and Baradraj played
harmonium on the request of Srila Prabhupad, and we had a long kirtan, of
course exactly the opposite of your ten commandmants. On S.P’s signal the
kirtan ended. He looked at me, smiling, a little shaking his head, and said
“So. . . sweet and melodious” And then he moved on with the rest of
preaching and hearing.
I had heard him say, and heard that he also said, sometimes
stopping kirtan, “No screaming and shouting.”
So kirtan is not clanging and banging, screaming and
shouting. Kirtan is sweet and melodious.
The beautiful song to glorify the Supreme Personality of
Godhead. If a small ray of the beauty of that song would enter the heart then
one would be so overflooded with love of the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
Sri Krishna, that one could only sing his holy names, and the name of his
divine consort, with sweetness and melodiousness,
--Tejiyas
Dasa, 12 Nov 02
Don’t divert attention to more instruments
Regarding your question about kirtana, practically we are
not concerned with the instruments. They are used sometimes to make it sweeter,
but if we divert our attention for using the instruments more, that is not
good. Generally kirtana is performed with mrdanga and karatalas, but if
somebody is expert instrument player, he can be admitted to join Sankirtana. We
can accept everything for Krishna ’s service,
but not taking the risk of diverting attention to any other thing which will
hinder our Krishna Consciousness. That should be our motto, or principle.
–letter to Jadurani, 26 May 69
Regarding instruments for temple kirtanas
–letter to
Rupanuga, 2 Feb 75
The harmonium may be played during bhajan if there is someone
who can play melodiously. But it is not for kirtana and arati.
–letter to Bahudak, 11 Jan 76
Bhavananda Prabhu also reports that Srila Prabhupada told
him, “Kirtana means khole-karatal. No harmonium.”
Romapada Swami also tells me that Srila Prabhupada, in New York , told
Baradaraja Prabhu, “Harmonium is not for use doing aratrik.”
But: Regarding the instruments, stringed instruments are
Vedic, but the real Vedic instrument is mrdanga and karatala. Anyway, you have
to do according to the time and circumstances if you use these other
instruments. So you have got my approval and you can go on.
–letter to
Bahudak, 10 November 75
Prabhupada: The other musical instrument, if he plays, his
attention will be diverted in musical instrument, not to chanting. “We have to
see melody, whether it is going on nicely.” But that is not good. Our
concentration should be hearing Hare Krsna. That is bhakti. Caitanya
Mahaprabhu, simply this karatala, khola, that’s all. In those days. . . of course, there was no harmonium, but many stringed
instruments were there—sitar, esaraja—but these things were not used. Sometimes
we do use to attract, but it is not required.
-- Room
Conversation, December 26, 1976 , Bombay
“Srila Prabhupada gave a Sunday feast lecture about kirtan, and he said things that I never
heard him say at other times, particularly not during a lecture. He remarked
that melodic instruments, including the harmonium, are not meant for kirtan, and he explained why. He said
that the ear will automatically follow musical strains, and then our attention
will be diverted from the mantra. He said that rhythm instruments are good for kirtan because they make one more
inclined to dance, and dancing, in turn, unlocks devotion. . . . Another time
he told Visnujana that he did not like melodies that had long, extended notes
in them. He liked the melody to be filled with the mantra.
“During the
lecture he gave that day he also said, ‘Don’t harmonize during the response.’
The leader may sing little variations, but the group should sing a steady
response. One person shouldn’t be singing one melody and another doing another
melody during the response. ‘These things,’ he said, ‘will help one pay more
attention to the mantra as one is chanting and dancing. That way one will get
the maximum benefit, and the kirtan will
also become more ecstatic.” –Revatinandana Dasa, Memories, Vol. 1, page 177
We are not professional musicians
As I have already written to you, we should not try to
become a very popular musical party. Music is one of our items for chanting,
but we are not musicians. We should always remember this fact. The best example
is that we take advantage of the typewriting machine, but that does not mean we
are professional typists.
–letter to
Mukunda, 2 July 69
I am pleased to note that there is interest in having our
Sankirtana Party perform in various public engagements. The same thing is going
on here, and they have been invited to such places as Amsterdam
and Germany .
So if you can also do this, it is nice. But do not change our principles.
Practicing is already done by kirtana. It is not required for us to become
artists. Our main point is service to Krishna ,
not to please an audience. We shall not divert our attention too much to
adjustment of musical sounds. People should not misunderstood that we are a
band of musical artists. They must know that we are devotees of Krishna . Our devotional practice and purity shall be so
strong that wherever we chant there will be immediately an impression in the
audience for devotion to Krishna .
–letter to Tamal Krsna, 30 Oct 69
But one thing we must remember that we are not professional
musicians or concert party. Our main business is to vibrate the Holy Name of
Krishna everywhere so that the people will be benefited by hearing the
transcendental sound. The musical training is not so important as it is to keep
ourselves spiritually fit in spiritual strength, that we should not forget. If
we are in spiritual strength, there will be no scarcity of money; and the
spiritual strength is that each and every one of us must chant the sixteen
rounds of beads and follow the rules and regulations with great adherence.
–letter to Tamal
Krishna, 8 Feb 70
So if you have talent for musical achievement, that is nice;
but if you nourish some idea of becoming famous by playing some music, that
will be a source of frustration—the end. So it is better if you play your music
for Krishna by having very ecstatic kirtanas in your center in Vancouver, and
in this way, as I have introduced it, all of the devotees and also the general
public as well will be able to join together cooperatively in the glorification
of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, not that we shall glorify anyone else.
Let the materialists operate in their own way, but we have got Vaisnavism stand
and we should train the general public to accept it and come up to our platform
of process of doing things, not that we should reduce to their standard.’’
–letter to
Mahatma, 10 April 72
My opinion is that it is not necessary for us to utilize
these different musical talents for spreading Krsna Consciousness. I would
rather see people follow strictly the path of Lord Caitanya and His Sankirtana
devotees. We are using mrdanga, karatala, that is enough. We are not musicians.
We are Krsna bhaktas. Therefore we do not stress so much importance on these
different musical talents. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is God Himself. Had He
thought it would have been better to spread Krsna Consciousness by another way
He would have done so. But no, simply with mrdanga and karatala, traveling and
chanting Hare Krsna, asking everyone to chant Hare Krsna, preaching simply
Srimad-Bhagavatam philosophy, this is the process. There is no need for us to
try and add anything to this simple method. It will only be a distraction.
Therefore I request you to follow the simple path of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu
and help me spread this wonderful mission all over the world. Keep yourself
pure and fixed up in Krsna Consciousness by following the basic principles that
I have given; chanting 16 rounds daily, following the four regulative
principles, rising early, attending mangala arati and classes etc. This is of
the utmost importance.
–letter to Jagadisa
Pandit, 28 Dec 74
I understand also, there was a Kirtana performance given by
Sri Purna das. You have rightly remarked whether they are devotees. You are
right. These people are professional singers. Krishna Kirtana is not for
earning a livelihood. Krishna Kirtana is not meant for entertaining the public
for demonstration of arts. It is dynamic service to the Lord. We do not
therefore mind so much about the artistic presentation of Krishna Kirtana but
we want to see how much a devotee is satisfying the Supreme Will.
--Letter to
Jadurani, 12 December, 1967
The “Sankirtana Competition” in Mayapur 1977. (“They are
simply chanting for money.”)
During Srila Prabhupada’s last days in Vrindaban, Bhavananda
Maharaja brought a group of Bengali
devotees from ISKCON Mayapur who were expert kirtana men. They all came by
train. But when they arrived, Srila Prabhupada showed no interest in them. He
heard their kirtana once or not at all, and so they occupied themselves in
chanting for the Deities while Srila Prabhupada listened to his preferred
kirtaniyas, close devotees such as Bharadraja Prabhu, Hamsaduta Swami, and
Yasodanandana Swami and Guru-krpa Swami.
Regarding a brahmana singer
from Santipura, Kalidasa Lahiri: “Early in life, while still a young boy,
experts in the field of Indian classical music had taught him, and he
considered that such instruction qualified him to occasionally lead the kirtana
sessions of the Vaisnavas. However, when previously, he had led some kirtanas,
the Vaisnavas were apparently not fond of his typically palace-court classical
touch. Nonetheless, he had introduced these classical variations into the
kirtanas, oblivious of the Vaisnavas’ feelings. Attempting to parade his
musical ability, he had stared at the faces of the Vaisnavas, awaiting a
response, hoping for some appreciation. For quite some days now, this had
continued. However, quite suddenly, a few days earlier, he had unexpectedly
started to feel increasing pleasure in singing harinama.”
–Srila
Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Jaiva Dharma,
Chapter 3
“He [Kalidasa Lahiri Mahasaya] lost all interest in trivial
talks, as well as classical music. Thus, a metamorphosis took place in Lahiri
Mahasaya. He was now a Vaisnava.”
–Jaiva Dharma, Chapter 4
Krpamoya Dasa (153935): “When I lead kirtana, I feel I want
to serve the devotees that are there. I’m very conscious that there’s a very
thin line and you can fall either side of the line. If you can sing in such a
way that afterwards devotees come up and say “Nice kirtana,” you’ve got to be
very careful that you don’t allow your artistic considerations to take
precedence over the devotional. My devotional considerations are to be thinking
of two things--Krsna and allowing the devotees to have space in which to listen
to the holy name and reflect. So I try to chant in such a way that I know that
everybody can join in. I don’t tend to sing unfamiliar tunes. I sing familiar
tunes that I think the devotees will know, just so they can become absorbed. I
don’t change the tunes that often. And I just really try to stay this side of
the line of modulating the voice too much--that is, not modulating the voice so
much that people will treat it as an artistic thing and not a devotional thing.”
At the time of the Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura’s
disappearance—the story is well known—he asked that someone sing Sri Rupa Manjari Pada. So one devotee
who was considered a leading kirtana singer began to chant. But Srila
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura interrupted him and asked that the singing be
done by Srila B.R. Sridhara Maharaja, who was not especially noted for
expertise in kirtana. Sincerity over art.
Style is not the thing
With regard to your question about Bengali style kirtana and
mrdanga playing, one or two styles is best. To introduce more styles is not
good. It will become an encumbrance. If we introduce so much emphasis on style
of kirtana, then simply imitation will go on. Devotional emotion is the main
thing. If we give stress to instrument and style then attention will be
diverted to the style. That will be spiritual loss.
----Letter to
Satsvarupa Goswami, 30 June,
1976
At one of the ISKCON international festivals in Vrndavana,
Srila Prabhupada rejected the singing of one of his disciples. The devotee had previously been a singer in a
band, and his kirtanas were much appreciated by some devotees, especially those
from his home temple. But when, with
showy professionalism, he began leading the guru-puja in Prabhupada’s presence,
making the tune sound like a rock and roll ballad, Prabhupada didn’t like
it. He shook his head and indicated that
someone else lead. The “great” kirtana
singer was devastated by the rejection, another form of Prabhupada’s mercy.
--Prabhupada Nectar
It is to be understood that when Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu
chanted and danced, He did so by the influence of the pleasure potency of the
spiritual world. Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu never considered the holy name of the
Lord to be a material vibration, nor does any pure devotee mistake the chanting
of the Hare Kåñëa mantra to be a material musical manifestation. Lord Caitanya
never tried to be the master of the holy name; rather He taught us how to be
servants of the holy name. If one chants the holy name of the Lord just to make
a show, not knowing the secret of success, he may increase his bile secretion,
but he will never attain perfection in chanting the holy name.
–Cc.
Adi 7.95-96, purport
Pace
Srila Prabhupada’s way of kirtana was to start slow, and gradually build up
In Indian classical music also, they begin slow (with the alap), then speed up.
In this way, one becomes absorbed in the sound
When you do “the mach-two startup,” where do you go from there?
Then there’s “the two-speed metronome” (Go slow, then at a certain point suddenly switch to fast.)
Chant tunes people can follow
Easy, familiar tunes
Sing in a comfortable pitch
That is, a pitch comfortable for others—one they can join in on.
Do we need to “max out” the amplifiers?
For more than a month, Prabhupada has had to ask daily that
devotees not use the microphone for performing kirtana: “They think that their
voice becomes sweet from using it. Actually, they sound exactly like a raksasa.”
–TKG’s Diary, pg 149
See “Noise-induced hearing loss” at www.krishna.com/jas
The mrdanga players should chant Hare Krsna
The mrdanga players should follow the leader
Prabhupada was present during a kirtana performed by his
disciples in the Brooklyn temple. The mrdanga
player had been practicing to learn complicated beats, and he was demonstrating
his rapid and intricate abilities in the kirtana. But Prabhupada stopped the music and said to
the drummer that he should follow the leader.
Then he started the kirtana again, but it happened again and again
Prabhupada stopped the kirtana and asked the drummer to follow the leader.
–Prabhupada Nectar 1.22
“I just try to do what the leader wants. That’s the key. . .
. They say that a good drummer or a good bass player isn’t heard.”
–Gopal ( mrdanga
player for the Vrndavana 24-hour kirtana party).
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