The Hare Krishna Movement

Presented to: Rev. George Livingston Presented by: Hemant Naik (B.Th IV)

Introduction:
Five hundred years ago Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the most recent incarnation of Krishna, taught by His own
example that one can live the essence of Bhagavad-Gita by chanting Krishna’s holy names: Hare Krishna, Hare
Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

Sri Krishna and Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu both taught Bhakti yoga, the spiritual practice of connecting with
God through devotional service to Him. Based on Their teachings, in 1966 A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
Prabhupada, referred to as Srila Prabhupada, founded the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
(ISKCON) in New York City.
Srila Prabhupada and his disciples popularized the chanting of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra in the 1960s and
1970s, and it spread to countries around the globe. Though the International Society for Krishna Consciousness is
the legal name for the movement Prabhupada started, most people know it as the Hare Krishna movement. 1
The Origin of The Hare Krishna movement
The Hare Krishna movement technically "began" about 500 years ago, its inaugurator being Sri Chaitanya
Mahaprabhu, the 16th-century mystic, scholar and social reformer, who is accepted by Vedic scriptural evidence
to be the Supreme God Himself.

The essential scripture for the movement, the famous 5,000-year-old Bhagavad-Gita, spoken by Lord Krishna,
God Himself, explains that religious principles, although beginningless, are revived periodically by Him or His
authorized representative only, the purpose remaining the same, although due to time, climate and circumstances,
the details emphasized may vary.

The final instruction of Lord Krishna in the Gita is that everyone should surrender unto Him only and make Him
the ultimate goal of life. This is clearly stated and requires no "interpretation". Unfortunately, the Gita is almost
invariably mistranslated by unscrupulous persons with no actual knowledge of or devotion to Krishna, who
consequently deviate the student's attention to something else entirely.

Prabhupada, being a bonafide "guru" directly in the line of Sri Chaitanya, does not distort the Gita's clear
message of devotional theism. Hence his writings, which have astounded literary communities worldwide, are
used as standard textbooks in numerous educational institutions.

Therefore "Hare Krishna" is a cultural, philosophical and religious movement, which is intended for the
reformation of the entire human society. "Hare" means the "devotional energy of God," and "Krishna" and
"Rama" mean "the Supreme Personality of Godhead".

According to the example and percepts of Sri Chaitanya, the easiest way to reawaken our dormant Krishna
Consciousness, or Love for God, is by vibrating the mantra, "Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna,
Hare Hare; Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare." These 16 syllables are called the "maha-mantra,"
or "great chant".

The Bhagavata Purana, or Srimad-Bhagavatam (in 12 cantos), is the post-graduate study of Bhagavad-Gita.
Elaborated therein are varieties of recorded activities or "pastimes" of the Supreme God, compiled by the
unrivaled Vedic authority, Srila Vyasadeva (author of Mahabharata, which contains Bhagavad-Gita).

Familiarity with this work will enable the serious and sincere student to understand all about God and His
potencies, thereby providing tangible meaning to the otherwise abstract goal of "loving" Him unconditionally.

Regrettably, after the departure of Srila Prabhupada in 1977, the institution he founded, ISKCON, became
embroiled in a phenomenal amount of negative publicity. This can be entirely traced to the recently surfacing
1
( http://www.krishna.com/main.php?id=468)
massive evidence that Prabhupada was poisoned to death, most likely by a coterie of his ambitious secretaries,
who have been, since then, posing as his successors. 2
The Hare Krishna Movement is a worldwide community of devotees practicing Bhakti-Yoga, the eternal science
of loving service to God. The movement was founded in the western world in 1966 by His Divine Grace A.C.
Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, a pure devotee of God representing an unbroken chain of spiritual masters
originating with Lord Krishna Himself.
The following eight principles are the basis of the Krishna consciousness movement. We invite all our readers to
consider them with an open mind and then visit one of the Hare Krishna centers to see how they are being
applied in everyday life.
By sincerely cultivating a bona fide spiritual science, we can be free from anxiety and come to a state of pure,
unending, blissful consciousness in this lifetime.

We are not our bodies but eternal spirit souls, parts and parcels of God (Krishna). As such, we are all brothers,
and Krishna is ultimately our common father.

Krishna is the eternal, all-knowing, omnipresent, all-powerful, and all-attractive Personality of Godhead. He is
the seed-giving father of all living beings, and He is the sustaining energy of the entire cosmic creation.

The Absolute Truth is contained in all the great scriptures of the world. However, the oldest known revealed
scriptures in existence are the Vedic literatures, most notably the Bhagavad-Gita, which is the literal record of
God's actual words.

We should learn the Vedic knowledge from a genuine spiritual master--one who has no selfish motives and
whose mind is firmly fixed on Krishna.

Before we eat, we should offer to the Lord the food that sustains us. Then Krishna becomes the offering and
purifies us.

We should perform all our actions as offerings to Krishna and do nothing for our own sense gratification.

The recommended means for achieving the mature stage of love of God in this age of Kali, or quarrel, is to chant
the holy names of the Lord. The easiest method for most people is to chant the Hare Krishna mantra:
Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare
Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

"His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada is doing valuable work, and his books are significant
contributions to the salvation of mankind." 3

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (September 1, 1896–November 14, 1977) was born Abhay Charan De, in
Kolkata, West Bengal, India. He studied at the Scottish Churches College, Calcutta, which was then administered
by the British. In his later years, as a Vaishnava sadhu, he became an influential communicator of Gaudiya
Vaishnava theology to India and specifically to the West through his founding of the International Society for
Krishna Consciousness (popularly called "Hare Krishna") in 1966. He has been described as a charismatic leader
(in the sense used by sociologist Max Weber), and was successful in acquiring followers in the United States,
Europe, and elsewhere.

Before adopting the life of a vanaprastha, or pious renunciant, in 1950, he was married with children and owned
a small pharmaceutical business. He later took sannyasa (a vow of renunciation) in 1959. 4

Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura

2
( http://www.samsloan.com/krishna.htm)
3
(http://www.asitis.com/krishna/)
4
( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prabhupada)
In 1922, when Prabhupada first met his spiritual master, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura (1874–1937),
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta requested that Prabhupada spread the message of Lord Chaitanya in the English language.
In 1933 Prabhupada became a formally initiated disciple. In 1944 Prabhupada started Back to Godhead, an
English language fortnightly, for which he acted as publisher, editor and copy editor. In 1947 the Gaudiya
Vaisnava Society recognised Prabhupada's scholarship with the honorific Bhaktivedanta, indicating devotion
(Bhakti) and conclusive knowledge (Vedanta). Beginning in 1950 he lived at the medieval temple of Radha-
Damodara in the holy city of Vrindavan, where he began his translation work on the Sanskrit epic Srimad
Bhagavatam. His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura had always encouraged Prabhupada, "If
you have any money, print the books!", referring to Srimad Bhagavatam, Bhagavad Gita, Chaitanya
Charitamrita, and other fundamental works. 5

Sannyasa

Prabhupada took sannyasa (renunciant) vows in 1959 from his godbrother Sri Bhakti Prajnana Keshava Maharaja
at Mathura, following which he singlehandedly published the first three volumes of his thirty-volume translation
of the 18,000-verse Bhagavata Purana and the commentary on it. He then left India to fulfill his master's spiritual
mission. In his possession were a suitcase, an umbrella, a supply of dry cereal, about seven dollars worth of
Indian currency, and several boxes of books. 6

The Hare Krishna Mantra

The transcendental vibration established by the chanting of Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare
Hare /Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare is the sublime method for reviving our transcendental consciousness.
As living spiritual souls, we are all originally Krishna conscious entities, but due to our association with matter
from time immemorial, our consciousness is now adulterated by the material atmosphere. The material
atmosphere, in which we are now living, is called Maya, or illusion. Maya means that which is not. And what is
this illusion? The illusion is that we are all trying to be lords of material nature, while actually we are under the
grip of her stringent laws. When a servant artificially tries to imitate the all-powerful master, it is called illusion.
We are trying to exploit the resources of material nature, but actually we are becoming more and more entangled
in her complexities. Therefore, although we are engaged in a hard struggle to conquer nature, we are ever more
dependent on her. This illusory struggle against material nature can be stopped at once by revival of our eternal
Krishna consciousness.

Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Hare Hare is the transcendental process for reviving this original pure
consciousness. By chanting this transcendental vibration, we can cleanse away all misgiving within our hearts.
The basic principle of all such misgivings is the false consciousness that I am the lord of all I survey.

The Hare Krishna Mantra

Krishna consciousness is not artificial imposition on the mind. This consciousness is the original natural energy
of the living entity. When we hear the transcendental vibration, this recommended for this age. By practical
experience also, one chanting for deliverance, one can at once feel a transcendental ecstasy coming through form
the spiritual stratum. In the material concept of life we are busy in the matter of sense gratification as if we were
in the lower animal stage. A little elevated from this status of sense gratification, , one is engaged in mental
speculation for the purpose of getting out of the material clutches. A little elevated from this speculative status,
when one is intelligent enough, one tries to find out the supreme cause of all causes-within and without. And
when one is factually on the place of spiritual understanding, surpassing the stages of sense, mind and
intelligence, he is then on the transcendental place. This chanting of the Hare Krishna Mantra is enacted from the
spiritual platform, and thus this sound vibration surpasses all lower strata of consciousness-namely sensual,
mental and intellectual. There is no need, therefore, to understand the language of the mantra, nor is there any
need for mental speculation more any intellectual adjustment for chanting this Mahamantra. It is automatic, from
the spiritual platform, and as such, anyone can take part in vibrating this transcendental sound without any

5
( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prabhupada#Bhaktisiddhanta_Sarasvati_Thakura)
6
( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prabhupada#Bhaktisiddhanta_Sarasvati_Thakura)
previous qualification. In a more advanced stage, of course, one is not expected to commit offences on grounds
of spiritual understanding.
In the beginning, there may not be the presence of all transcendental ecstasies, which are eight in number. These
are : 1) Being stopped as though dumb, 2) Perspiration, 3) Standing up of hairs on the body, 4) dislocation of
voice, 5) Trembling, 6) fading of the body, 7) Crying in ecstasy, and 8) trance. But there is no doubt that chanting
for a while takes one immediately to the spiritual platform, and one shows the first symptom of this in the urge to
dance along with the chanting of the mantra. We have seen this practically. Even a child can take part in the
chanting and dancing. Of course, for one who is too entangled in material life, it takes a little more time to come
to the standard point, but even such materially engrossed man is raised to the spiritual platform very quickly.
When it is chanted by a pure devotee of the Lord in love, it has the greatest efficacy on hearers, and as such this
chanting should be heard from the lips of a pure devotee of the Lord, so that immediate effects can be achieved.
As for as possible, chanting form the lips of non-devotees should be avoided. Milk touched by the lips of a
serpent has poisonous effects.

The word Hara is the form of addressing the energy of the Lord, and the words Krishna and Rama are forms of
addressing the Lord himself. Both Krishna and Rama mean the supreme pleasure, and Hara is the supreme
pleasure energy of the Lord changed to Hare (hah-ray) in the vocative. The supreme pleasure energy of the Lord
helps us to reach the Lord.
The material energy, called Maya, is also one of the multi energies of the Lord. And we the living entities are
also the energy, marginal energy. When the superior energy is in contact with the inferior energy, an
incompatible situation arises; but when the superior marginal energy is in contact with the superior energy, called
Hara, it is established in its happy, normal condition.
These three words, namely Hara, Krishna and Rama, are the transcendental seeds of the Mahamantra. The
chanting is a spiritual call for the lord and his energy, to give protection to the conditioned soul. This chanting is
exactly like the genuine cry of a child for its mother’s presence. Mother Hara helps the devotee achieve the Lord
Father’s grace, and the Lord reveals Himself to the devotee who chants this mantra sincerely.
No other means of spiritual realization is as effective in this age of quarrel and hypocrisy as the Mahamantra:
Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

Respect in India

The ISKCON temple, in New Delhi, IndiaISKCON has become a respected organization within India. Srila
Prabhupada has been honored by the Government and praised by the highest leaders of the country.
In 1996 the Government of India recognized Srila Prabhupada's accomplishments by issuing a commemorative
stamp in his honor.
Speaking at the inauguration of ISKCON's cultural center in New Delhi in 1998, Sri Atal Behari Vajpayee, then
India's prime minister, said:
"If the Bhagavad Gita, the holy text of the Hindu traditions, is printed in millions of copies and scores of
languages and distributed in all nooks and corners of the world, the credit for this great sacred service goes
chiefly to ISKCON. For this accomplishment alone, Indians should be eternally grateful to the devoted spiritual
army of Swami Prabhupada, the founder of the Hare Krishna movement, and to his followers. 7

Conclusion:
"The arrival of Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada in the United States in 1965 and the particular popularity his
movement gained in a very short span of twelve years must be regarded as one of the greatest spiritual events of
the century."
Prabhupada considered Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed to be empowered representatives of God. He considered
them pioneers of the same essential message of dedication to God with love and devotion.
"Actually, it doesn't matter – Krishna or Christ – the name is the same. The main point is to follow the
injunctions of the Vedic scriptures that recommend chanting the name of God in this age." 8

7
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prabhupada#Bhaktisiddhanta_Sarasvati_Thakura
8
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prabhupada#Bhaktisiddhanta_Sarasvati_Thakura)