Before you read
Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa
To get the best out of reading the scriptures, chant the holy name every day. Here is why the scriptures lead to the holy name, what the mantra means and its power, the two prayers to say first, what to count on, and how to chant one round.
Why chant
All the scriptures lead to the holy name
The Gītā, the Bhāgavatam and the Caitanya Caritamrta all bring us to the same place: chanting the names of Kṛṣṇa.
“The essence of all Vedic knowledge — comprehending the three kinds of Vedic activity [karma-kāṇḍa, jñāna-kāṇḍa and upāsanā-kāṇḍa], the chandas, or Vedic hymns, and the processes for satisfying the demigods — is included in the eight syllables Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa. This is the reality of all Vedānta. The chanting of the holy name is the only means to cross the ocean of nescience.”
For this age
A different process for each age
Each age had its own way to reach the Lord. For our age, Kali-yuga, the way is chanting.
Satya-yuga
Meditating on Viṣṇu
Tretā-yuga
Performing sacrifices
Dvāpara-yuga
Serving the Lord’s lotus feet
Kali-yuga
Chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra
kṛte yad dhyāyato viṣṇuṁ
tretāyāṁ yajato makhaiḥ
dvāpare paricaryāyāṁ
kalau tad dhari-kīrtanāt
Whatever result was obtained in Satya-yuga by meditating on Viṣṇu, in Tretā-yuga by performing sacrifices, and in Dvāpara-yuga by serving the Lord’s lotus feet can be obtained in Kali-yuga simply by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra.
Its power
Sixteen names that clean this age
The Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra is sixteen names of the Lord. The Upaniṣads say they wash away the faults of Kali-yuga.
hare kṛṣṇa hare kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa hare hare
hare rāma hare rāma rāma rāma hare hare
iti ṣoḍaśakaṁ nāmnāṁ kali-kalmaṣa-nāśanaṁ
nātaḥ parataropāyaḥ sarva-vedeṣu dṛśyate
“After searching through all the Vedic literature, one cannot find a method of religion more sublime for this age than the chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa.”
kaler doṣa-nidhe rājann
asti hy eko mahān guṇaḥ
kīrtanād eva kṛṣṇasya
mukta-saṅgaḥ paraṁ vrajet
My dear King, although Kali-yuga is an ocean of faults, there is still one good quality about this age: Simply by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, one can become free from material bondage and be promoted to the transcendental kingdom.
Chant, read, live, lead
Four steps for each day. Chanting comes first; the rest of this site helps with the other three.
- 1. Chant
Begin the day with the holy name, as Śrīla Prabhupāda asked every student to do.
- 2. Read
Then hear the scripture — one verse and its purport, read with attention.
- 3. Live
Carry one teaching into the day and mark the day you lived it.
- 4. Lead
Share what you have heard — a class, a reel, a conversation.
The mahā-mantra
What the mantra means
Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa
Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare
Hare Rāma Hare Rāma
Rāma Rāma Hare Hare
- Hare
- “O energy of the Lord!”
- Kṛṣṇa
- “O Lord Kṛṣṇa!”
- Rāma
- “O Supreme Lord, O supreme enjoyer!”
It is a prayer. In Śrīla Prabhupāda's words, it says:
The Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra also says, “My dear Lord Kṛṣṇa, my dear Lord Rāma, O energy of the Lord, Hare, kindly engage me in Your service.”
Begin like this
Two prayers, then the mahā-mantra
1First
Śrīla Prabhupāda praṇāma
Begin by offering respects to the spiritual master who gave us the holy name. If you have your own initiating spiritual master, offer his praṇāma first as well.
nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale
śrīmate bhaktivedānta-svāmin iti nāmine
namas te sārasvate deve gaura-vāṇī-pracāriṇe
nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi-pāścātya-deśa-tāriṇe
I offer my respectful obeisances unto His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, who is very dear to Lord Kṛṣṇa, having taken shelter at His lotus feet. Our respectful obeisances are unto you, O spiritual master, servant of Sarasvatī Gosvāmī. You are kindly preaching the message of Lord Caitanyadeva and delivering the Western countries, which are filled with impersonalism and voidism.
The translation sung in ISKCON temples.
2Then
Pañca-tattva mantra
Next, call on Lord Caitanya and His four associates. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that this makes us able to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa without offense.
(jaya) śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda
śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda
All glories to Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya, Prabhu Nityānanda, Śrī Advaita, Gadādhara, Śrīvāsa and all the devotees of Lord Gaura.
The five names, in plain words.
3Then chant
The Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra
Now chant the mahā-mantra itself, fully and clearly, and listen to each word.
Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa
Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare
Hare Rāma Hare Rāma
Rāma Rāma Hare Hare
“My dear Lord Kṛṣṇa, my dear Lord Rāma, O energy of the Lord, Hare, kindly engage me in Your service.”
Śrīla Prabhupāda, SB 4.24.69 purport.
Strictly speaking, when chanting the names of the Pañca-tattva, one should fully offer his obeisances: śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda. By such chanting one is blessed with the competency to chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra without offense.
Beads or a clicker
What to count on
You need a way to keep count of one hundred and eight mantras. Beads and a clicker both do that job.
A string of 108 beads, available at most temples and book shops. Kāṣṭhī, lotus-seed or tulasi beads all do the same work: move one bead after each full mantra and the round counts itself.
No beads yet? A small finger clicker, or a counting app on your phone, does the same job: one click after each full mantra, 108 clicks to one round. What matters is that you chant, not what you count on.
However you count, the key is to begin. One round today with what you already have in hand is worth more than a perfect setup you never start with.
Step by step
How to chant one round
- 1
Sit quietly with your beads
Choose a fixed time, early morning if you can. Hold the beads in your right hand, inside a bead bag if you have one.
- 2
Start next to the head bead
The larger bead is the head bead. Begin on the bead beside it, holding it between your thumb and middle finger.
- 3
One full mantra on each bead
Chant all sixteen words clearly, loud enough to hear yourself, then move to the next bead.
- 4
108 beads make one round
When you come back to the head bead you have finished one round. Do not cross it — turn the beads around and go back the other way.
- 5
Hear, and keep a number
Listen to each word. Start with a number you can keep every day, even one round, and grow towards the sixteen rounds Śrīla Prabhupāda asked for.
Counting on a clicker instead? One click after each full mantra — 108 clicks make one round.
The process of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and to hear the sound attentively so that the mind is fixed upon the transcendental vibration of Kṛṣṇa’s name, which is nondifferent from Kṛṣṇa the personality.
With your reading
Chant one round, read one verse
Reading and chanting go together. If you don't chant yet, begin with one round a day before the one verse you read. Then grow, step by step, towards the sixteen rounds Śrīla Prabhupāda asked for.
- 1Begin
- 4rounds
- 8rounds
- 12rounds
- 16Prabhupāda's goal
Keep count of your rounds
Your dashboard has a place to mark how many rounds you chanted, next to your reading, living and sharing. Mark each day's rounds the next day, once the day's chanting is complete; each day marked earns 5 points.