Kama-gayatri mantra

Expressions researched:
"kama-gayatri"

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 8.138, Translation:

"In the spiritual realm of Vṛndāvana, Kṛṣṇa is the spiritual, ever-fresh Cupid. He is worshiped by the chanting of the Kāma-gāyatrī mantra, with the spiritual seed klīm."

The Kāma-gāyatrī mantra is just like a Vedic hymn, but it is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. There is no difference between the Kāma-gāyatrī and Kṛṣṇa. This Kāma-gāyatrī simply does not belong to this material world.

CC Madhya 8.138, Purport:

Gāyantaṁ trāyate yasmād gāyatrī tvaṁ tataḥ smṛtā: one who chants the Gāyatrī mantra is gradually delivered from the material clutches. In other words, that which delivers one from material entanglement is called Gāyatrī. An explanation of the Gāyatrī mantra can be found in the Madhya-līlā, Chapter Twenty-one, text 125:

kāma-gāyatrī-mantra-rūpa, haya kṛṣṇera svarūpa,

sārdha-cabbiśa akṣara tāra haya

se akṣara 'candra' haya, kṛṣṇe kari' udaya,

trijagat kailā kāmamaya

The Kāma-gāyatrī mantra is just like a Vedic hymn, but it is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. There is no difference between the Kāma-gāyatrī and Kṛṣṇa. Both are composed of twenty-four and a half transcendental syllables (see Madhya 21.125–29). The mantra depicted in letters is also Kṛṣṇa, and the mantra rises just like the moon. Due to this, there is a perverted reflection of desire in human society and among all kinds of living entities. In the mantra klīṁ kāma-devāya vidmahe puṣpa-bāṇāya dhīmahi tan no ’naṅgaḥ pracodayāt, Kṛṣṇa is called Kāma-deva, Puṣpa-bāṇa and Anaṅga. Kāma-deva is Madana-mohana, the Deity who establishes our relationship with Kṛṣṇa; Puṣpa-bāṇa ("He who carries an arrow made of flowers") is Govinda, the Personality of Godhead who accepts our devotional service; and Anaṅga is Gopījana-vallabha, who satisfies all the gopīs and is the ultimate goal of life. This Kāma-gāyatrī (klīṁ kāma-devāya vidmahe puṣpa-bāṇāya dhīmahi tan no ’naṅgaḥ pracodayāt) simply does not belong to this material world. When one is advanced in spiritual understanding, he can worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead with his spiritually purified senses and fulfill the desires of the Lord.

A person who is properly purified and initiated by the spiritual master worships the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, by chanting this mantra, the Kāma-gāyatrī with the kāma-bīja.

CC Madhya 8.139, Purport:

One should execute his spiritual activities in the svarūpa-gata stage of consciousness. He should also chant such spiritual mantras as oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya and the cin-mayī Gāyatrī—klīṁ kṛṣṇāya govindāya gopījana-vallabhāya svāhā and klīṁ kāma-devāya vidmahe puṣpa-bāṇāya dhīmahi tan no ’naṅgaḥ pracodayāt. These are the Kāma-gāyatrī or kāma-bīja mantras. One should be initiated by a bona fide spiritual master and worship Kṛṣṇa with these transcendental mantras.

As explained by Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī in the previous verse and the current verse:

vṛndāvane 'aprākṛta navīna madana'

kāma-gāyatrī kāma-bīje yāṅra upāsana

puruṣa, yoṣit, kibā sthāvara-jaṅgama

sarva-cittākarṣaka, sākṣāt manmatha-madana

A person who is properly purified and initiated by the spiritual master worships the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, by chanting this mantra, the Kāma-gāyatrī with the kāma-bīja. As the Bhagavad-gītā (18.65) confirms, one should engage in transcendental worship in order to be fit for being attracted by Kṛṣṇa, the all-attractive:

man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru

mām evaiṣyasi satyaṁ te pratijāne priyo ’si me

"Always think of Me and become My devotee. Worship Me and offer your homage unto Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are My very dear friend."

The fifth chapter of the Brahma-saṁhitā presents an explanation of Kāma-gāyatrī.

CC Madhya 9.239-240, Purport:

The Brahma-saṁhitā is a very important scripture. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu acquired the Fifth Chapter from the Ādi-keśava temple. In that Fifth Chapter, the philosophical conclusion of acintya-bhedābheda-tattva (simultaneous oneness and difference) is presented. The chapter also presents methods of devotional service, the eighteen-syllable Vedic hymn, discourses on the soul, the Supersoul and fruitive activity, an explanation of Kāma-gāyatrī, kāma-bīja and the original Mahā-Viṣṇu, and a detailed description of the spiritual world, specifically Goloka Vṛndāvana. The Brahma-saṁhitā also explains the demigod Gaṇeśa, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, the origin of the Gāyatrī mantra, the form of Govinda and His transcendental position and abode, the living entities, the highest goal, the goddess Durgā, the meaning of austerity, the five gross elements, love of Godhead, impersonal Brahman, the initiation of Lord Brahmā, and the vision of transcendental love enabling one to see the Lord. The steps of devotional service are also explained. The mind, yoga-nidrā, the goddess of fortune, devotional service in spontaneous ecstasy, incarnations beginning with Lord Rāmacandra, Deities, the conditioned soul and its duties, the truth about Lord Viṣṇu, prayers, Vedic hymns, Lord Śiva, the Vedic literature, personalism and impersonalism, good behavior, and many other subjects are also discussed. There is also a description of the sun and the universal form of the Lord. All these subjects are conclusively explained in a nutshell in the Brahma-saṁhitā.

CC Madhya 21.125, Translation:

"Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is identical with the Vedic hymn known as the Kāma-gāyatrī, which is composed of twenty-four and a half syllables. Those syllables are compared to moons that arise in Kṛṣṇa. Thus all three worlds are filled with desire."

Teachings of Lord Caitanya

The Vedic hymn known as kāma-gāyatrī describes the face of Kṛṣṇa as the king of all moons.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 10:

The Vedic hymn known as kāma-gāyatrī describes the face of Kṛṣṇa as the king of all moons. In metaphorical language, there are many different moons, but they are all one in Kṛṣṇa. There is the moon of His mouth, the moon of His cheeks, the moonspots of sandalwood pulp on His body, the moons of the fingertips of His hands and the moons of the tips of His toes. In this way there are twenty-four and a half moons, and Kṛṣṇa is the central figure of all of them.

No one is the source of Kṛṣṇa, but Kṛṣṇa is the source of everyone. He is the supreme cause of all causes and the resident of Vṛndāvana. He is also very attractive, just like Cupid. One can worship Him by kāma-gāyatrī mantra.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 31:

He said that Lord Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the source of all incarnations and the cause of all causes. There are innumerable Vaikuṇṭha planets, innumerable incarnations, expansions of the Supreme Lord, and innumerable universes also, and of all these existences the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa is the only source. His transcendental body is composed of eternity, bliss and knowledge, and He is known as the son of Mahārāja Nanda and the inhabitant of Goloka Vṛndāvana. He is full with six opulences—all wealth, strength, fame, beauty, knowledge and renunciation. In Brahma-saṁhitā (5.1) it is confirmed that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Lord, the Lord of all lords, and His transcendental body is sac-cid-ānanda. No one is the source of Kṛṣṇa, but Kṛṣṇa is the source of everyone. He is the supreme cause of all causes and the resident of Vṛndāvana. He is also very attractive, just like Cupid. One can worship Him by kāma-gāyatrī mantra.

This kāma-gāyatrī mantra and saṁskāra, or reformation of a perfect brāhmaṇa, are offered by the spiritual master when he sees that his disciple is advanced in spiritual knowledge. Even then, the kāma-gāyatrī is not uttered under certain circumstances.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 31:

Lord Kṛṣṇa is worshiped by the gāyatrī mantra, and the specific mantra by which He is worshiped is called kāma-gāyatrī. Vedic literatures explain that that sound vibration which can elevate one from mental concoction is called gāyatrī. The kāma-gāyatrī mantra is composed of 24 1/2 syllables thus:

klīṁ kāma-devāya vidmahe

puṣpa-bāṇāya dhīmahi

tanno 'naṅgaḥ pracodayāt

This kāma-gāyatrī is received from the spiritual master when the disciple is advanced in chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. In other words, this kāma-gāyatrī mantra and saṁskāra, or reformation of a perfect brāhmaṇa, are offered by the spiritual master when he sees that his disciple is advanced in spiritual knowledge. Even then, the kāma-gāyatrī is not uttered under certain circumstances. In any case, the chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa is sufficient to elevate one to the highest spiritual platform.

The word klīm added to the gāyatrī mantra is explained in Brahma-saṁhitā as the transcendental seed of love of Godhead, or the seed of the kāma-gāyatrī. The object is Kṛṣṇa, who is the ever green Cupid, and by utterance of klīm mantra Kṛṣṇa is worshiped.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 31:

The word klīm added to the gāyatrī mantra is explained in Brahma-saṁhitā as the transcendental seed of love of Godhead, or the seed of the kāma-gāyatrī. The object is Kṛṣṇa, who is the ever green Cupid, and by utterance of klīm mantra Kṛṣṇa is worshiped. It is also stated in the Gopāla-tāpanī Upaniṣad that when Kṛṣṇa is spoken of as Cupid, one should not think of Him as the Cupid of this material world. As already explained, Vṛndāvana is the spiritual abode of Kṛṣṇa, and the word Cupid is also spiritual and transcendental. One should not take the material Cupid and Kṛṣṇa to be on the same level. The material Cupid represents the attraction of the external flesh and body, but the spiritual Cupid is the attraction by which the Supersoul attracts the individual soul. Actually lust and sex are there in spiritual life, but when the spirit soul is embodied in material elements, that spiritual urge is expressed through the material body and is therefore pervertedly reflected. When one actually becomes conversant in the science of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he can understand that his material desire for sex is abominable, whereas spiritual sex is desirable.

When one becomes free from the sex urges of the material body, he can actually attain the supreme abode of Vṛndāvana. When one is so situated, he can utter the kāma-gāyatrī and kāma-bīja mantra.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 31:

Spiritual sex is of two kinds: one in accordance with the constitutional position of the self and the other in accordance with the object. When one understands the truth about this life but is not completely cleansed of material contamination, he is not factually situated in the transcendental abode, Vṛndāvana, although he may understand spiritual life. When, however, one becomes free from the sex urges of the material body, he can actually attain the supreme abode of Vṛndāvana. When one is so situated, he can utter the kāma-gāyatrī and kāma-bīja mantra.