In the Padma Purāṇa also it is stated, "The chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra is present only on the lips of a person who has for many births worshiped Vāsudeva." It is further said in the Padma Purāṇa, "There is no difference between the holy name of the Lord and the Lord Himself. As such, the holy name is as perfect as the Lord Himself in fullness, purity and eternity. The holy name is not a material sound vibration, nor has it any material contamination." The holy name cannot, therefore, be chanted offenselessly by one who has failed to purify his senses. In other words, materialistic senses cannot properly chant the holy names of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. But by adopting this chanting process, one is given a chance to actually purify himself, so that he may very soon chant offenselessly.
Material sound
Bhagavad-gita As It Is
BG Chapters 1 - 6
A brahmacārī hears only words concerning Kṛṣṇa consciousness; hearing is the basic principle for understanding, and therefore the pure brahmacārī engages fully in harer nāmānukīrtanam—chanting and hearing the glories of the Lord. He restrains himself from the vibrations of material sounds, and his hearing is engaged in the transcendental sound vibration of Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa. Similarly, the householders, who have some license for sense gratification, perform such acts with great restraint.
Srimad-Bhagavatam
SB Canto 3
The holy name of Viṣṇu is the most auspicious name, and His pastimes are also nondifferent from the holy name of the Lord. There are many foolish persons who say that one can chant Hare Kṛṣṇa or chant the name of Kālī or Durgā or Śiva because they are all the same. If one thinks that the holy name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the names and activities of the demigods are on the same level, or if one accepts the holy name of Viṣṇu to be a material sound vibration, that is also an offense. The third offense is to think of the spiritual master who spreads the glories of the Lord as an ordinary human being.
It is stated also in the Vedānta-sūtra that sound is the origin of all objects of material possession and that by sound one can also dissolve this material existence. Anāvṛttiḥ śabdāt means "liberation by sound." The entire material manifestation began from sound, and sound can also end material entanglement, if it has a particular potency. The particular sound capable of doing this is the transcendental vibration Hare Kṛṣṇa. Our entanglement in material affairs has begun from material sound. Now we must purify that sound in spiritual understanding. There is sound in the spiritual world also. If we approach that sound, then our spiritual life begins, and the other requirements for spiritual advancement can be supplied. We have to understand very clearly that sound is the beginning of the creation of all material objects for our sense gratification. Similarly, if sound is purified, our spiritual necessities also are produced from sound.
SB Canto 4
It is stated in the beginning of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.1.3), śuka-mukhād amṛta-drava-saṁyutam: the nectar of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam became more relishable because it emanated from the mouth of Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī. One might think that these glories of the Lord can be heard from anywhere, from the mouths of either devotees or nondevotees, but here it is specifically mentioned that the glories of the Lord must emanate from the mouths of pure devotees. Śrī Sanātana Gosvāmī has strictly prohibited hearing from the mouth of a nondevotee. There are many professional reciters of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam who speak the narrations very ornamentally, but a pure devotee does not like to hear from them because such glorification of the Lord is simply a vibration of material sound. But when heard from the mouth of a pure devotee, glorification of the Lord is immediately effective.
When the mind is completely washed of all material contamination, the pure consciousness acts. The sound vibration from the spiritual sky can automatically cleanse all material contaminations, as confirmed by Caitanya Mahāprabhu: ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam (CC Antya 20.12). We need only take the advice of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu and chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra to cleanse the mind of all material contamination, and this may be considered the summary of this difficult verse. As soon as the whole material contamination is washed away by this process of chanting, all desires and reactions to material activities become immediately vanquished, and real life, peaceful existence, begins. In this age of Kali it is very difficult to adopt the yogic process mentioned in this verse. Unless one is very expert in such yoga, the best course is to adopt the ways and means of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, śrī-kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtanam. Thus one can gloriously become freed from all material contamination by the simple process of chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. Just as life in this material world has its beginning in material sound, similarly a spiritual life has its beginning in this spiritual sound vibration.
SB Canto 6
In regard to the significant word anāma-rūpaḥ, Śrī Śrīdhara Svāmī says, prākṛta-nāma-rūpa-rahito 'pi. The word anāma, which means "having no name," indicates that the Supreme Personality of Godhead has no material name. Simply by chanting the name of Nārāyaṇa to call his son, Ajāmila attained salvation. This means that Nārāyaṇa is not an ordinary mundane name; it is nonmaterial. The word anāma, therefore, indicates that the names of the Supreme Lord do not belong to this material world. The vibration of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra is not a material sound, and similarly the form of the Lord and His appearance and activities are all nonmaterial. To show His causeless mercy to the devotees, as well as to the nondevotees, Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, appears in this material world with names, forms and pastimes, all of which are transcendental. Unintelligent men who cannot understand this think that these names, forms and pastimes are material, and therefore they deny that He has a name or a form.
SB Canto 8
The Supreme Personality of Godhead exists everywhere (aṇḍāntara-stha-paramāṇu-cayāntara-stham (Bs. 5.35)). Therefore when one chants His transcendental names—Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare—the Supreme Personality of Godhead is automatically pleased by such saṅkīrtana. It is not that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is absent; He is present there. And when a devotee utters the transcendental name, it is not a material sound. Therefore, the Supreme Personality of Godhead is naturally pleased. A devotee knows that the Lord is present everywhere and that one can please Him simply by chanting His holy name.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta
CC Adi-lila
In this age, people are prepared to argue that they can understand that which is beyond their limited knowledge and perception through so-called scientific observations and experiments, not knowing that actual truth comes down to man from authorities. This argumentative attitude is against the Vedic principles, and it is very difficult for one who adopts it to understand that the holy name of Kṛṣṇa is as good as Kṛṣṇa Himself. Since Kṛṣṇa and His holy name are identical, the holy name is eternally pure and beyond material contamination. It is the Supreme Personality of Godhead as a transcendental vibration. The holy name is completely different from material sound, as confirmed by Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura: golokera prema-dhana, hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana. The transcendental vibration of hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana is imported from the spiritual world. Thus although materialists who are addicted to experimental knowledge and the so-called "scientific method" cannot place their faith in the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, it is a fact that simply by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra offenselessly one can be freed from all subtle and gross material conditions.
CC Madhya-lila
In other words, the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra is so powerful that it does not depend on official initiation, but if one is initiated and engages in pañcarātra-vidhi (Deity worship), his Kṛṣṇa consciousness will awaken very soon, and his identification with the material world will be vanquished. The more one is freed from material identification, the more one can realize that the spirit soul is qualitatively as good as the Supreme Soul. At such a time, when one is situated on the absolute platform, one can understand that the holy name of the Lord and the Lord Himself are identical. At that stage of realization, the holy name of the Lord, the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, cannot be identified with any material sound. If one accepts the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra as a material vibration, he falls down. One should worship and chant the holy name of the Lord by accepting it as the Lord Himself.
Other Books by Srila Prabhupada
Nectar of Devotion
Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead
King Parīkṣit inquired from Śukadeva Gosvāmī about a very important topic in understanding transcendental subject matter. His question was, "Since Vedic knowledge generally deals with the subject matter of the three qualities of the material world, how then can it approach the subject matter of transcendence, which is beyond the approach of the three material modes? Since the mind is material and the vibration of words is a material sound, how can the Vedic knowledge, expressing by material sound the thoughts of the material mind, approach transcendence? Description of a subject matter necessitates describing its source of emanation, its qualities and its activities. Such description can be possible only by thinking with the material mind and by vibrating material words. Brahman, or the Absolute Truth, has no material qualities, but our power of speaking does not go beyond the material qualities. How then can Brahman, the Absolute Truth, be described by your words? I do not see how it is possible to understand transcendence from such expressions of material sound."
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
Golokera prema-dhana, hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana. The saṅkīrtana movement is not manufactured in this material world. It is released from Vaikuṇṭha, the spiritual world. Golokera prema-dhana... Otherwise why we are chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa...? It is not material sound. Any material sound, you chant thrice, you'll be tired. But you go on chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra twenty-four hours, you'll never be tired. Therefore it is not a sound of this material world; it is a sound of the spiritual world. Golokera prema-dhana, hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana, rati nā janmilo kene tāy. "I am not attracted to this." This is the lamentation of Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura, a Vaiṣṇava.
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
Just like Brahma-saṁhitā. This is not ordinary words. All Vedic words, they are not ordinary, mundane words. Just like Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. This is not mundane sound. This is transcendental sound. Golokera prema-dhana hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana. Hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana is not a, a, mean, a material sound. Therefore it is effective. But if you contaminate it, it will not be effective. If you take it, Bhāga..., Hari-nāma, purely, without any offense—there are ten kinds of offenses—then it will act immediately. Immediately it will act.
Now, the whole material world is produced from sound. That is scientific fact. Scientists are researching the importance of sound, physical science. Sound, light, and transmission of sound and light. There are so many things, electronics. So this sound vibration, this is material sound. They have got so much wonderful power. And just try to understand what is the power of the spiritual sound. Real sound is coming from the spiritual world. It is simply just like gramophone. The sound is coming originally from the person; the gramophone is reproducing. That is not the original source of the sound. Similarly, whatever sound is there in this material world, the original sound is produced by God. Just like in your Bible it is said, "Let there be creation." It is, simply it was sound and there was creation. So spiritual sound is so powerful. And we are trying to catch you directly from that sound vibration, Hare Kṛṣṇa, and I am sure it is acting. Simply, śabdād anāvṛttiḥ.
So this Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra is completely spiritual. If you chant it, spiritually enlightened, then surely it will act. Paraṁ vijayate śrī-kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtanam. It will act. Therefore chanting is so important. Chanting is not... Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura said this sound vibration is not this material sound. Kṛṣṇa is not material sound. It is Kṛṣṇa, spiritual. Abhinnatvān nāma-nāminoḥ. There is no difference between Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and His holy name, Kṛṣṇa. There is no difference.
So the holy name, chanting of holy name, if we act it properly, without any offense, then we are directly in connection with Kṛṣṇa. There is no doubt. Pūrṇaḥ śuddho nitya-mukto 'bhinnatvān nāma-nāminoḥ. And Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura therefore says that this holy name of Kṛṣṇa is imported from Goloka Vṛndāvana. It is not material sound. Golokera prema-dhana hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana. It is not ordinary sound. Don't take it as ordinary. Śabde-sāmānya buddhir hari-nāmni. That is nārakī-buddhi. Just like to consider the Deity as made of stone. Arcye viṣṇau śilā-dhīr guruṣu nara-matiḥ, to consider guru as ordinary human being. Similarly, to think śabde-sāmānya buddhiḥ, the holy name of the Lord as ordinary sound vibration, that this... That is nārakī.
This Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra is spiritual mantra. It is not material. Therefore I've already explained, golokera prema-dhana hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana. It is not ordinary sound vibration, material sound vibration, radio. No. Spiritual. Golokera prema-dhana. So if we actually chant this Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra properly, without any offense, then once chanting is sufficient to make you free from the reaction of all sinful life. Once chanted. There is no question of chanting thousand times. It is said, eka hari-nāme jato pāpa hare, pāpī haya tato pāpa karibāre nare(?). Once chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra can vanquish so many, so much accumulated reaction of sinful life that a first-class pāpī or a very expert pāpī, he cannot commit so many pāpa. You see. It is so powerful. So if we chant it properly, this chanting, daśa-vidha, ten offenses, without offenses... Nāma-aparādha-śūnyam. Without any nāma-aparādha, if we chant according to the principle, then the mantra will act. Mantra will act in so nicely that the mantra will keep you always in touch with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is the power of mantra. Don't think it is a hobby or it is something superfluous. No. Actually, this mantra, Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Himself.
Veda is known as śabda-brahman. In the material world all these books are material sound vibration, but Vedic knowledge is transcendental sound vibration. Hare Kṛṣṇa is transcendental sound vibration. Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura says, golokera prema-dhana, hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana. This hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana is not a cinema song. No. It is golokera prema-dhana. This sound is coming... Just like we catch sound in the radios and television, similarly, you can catch sound also which is transmitted from Goloka Vṛndāvana. But you must have the particular machine to catch it. Then you can get message from Goloka Vṛndāvana.
Golokera prema-dhana, hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana, rati nā janmilo kene tāy. This is the remedy. Golokera prema-dhana, this hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana, chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, this sound vibration, it is not material. Suppose if I would have advised my disciples that "You chant 'Mr. John, Mr. John, Mr. John,' " this movement would not have spread. (laughter) How long one can chant this "Mr. John, Mr. John"? Therefore it is the proof, that all over the world, we have got about hundred centers. Everywhere, hundred, two hundred, three hundred disciples are there. They're chanting, dancing, with Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. Why? Because it is not material sound vibration. This is the proof. Don't think that Hare Kṛṣṇa chanting and chanting the name of Mr. John is the same, no. This is the proof. You can go on chanting twenty-four hours, Still, you will not feel tired. This is the golokera... This is the proof, that this hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana, golokera prema-dhana, it is the property for loving. It is the thing which will lead you how to love God, prema-dhana.
This is spiritual. In the material world, if you speak one thing once, twice, thrice, four times, then it becomes disgusting. But how this Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra... You are chanting. You can chant twenty-four hours. It will feel fresh and enthusiasm. That is spiritual. Therefore... Therefore it is not a subject matter, this sound is not like this radio, material sound. It is also sound, but it is spiritual sound, and it is coming from the spiritual world. Just like in the material world we can release some sound. From here, it can be heard from thousands of miles, but not more than that. The spiritual sound, it is released from many, many millions and millions and trillions of miles away; still, it can be heard, provided you have got the machine to capture it. That is bhāgavata-prema.
The beginning of the creation is the sound. The modern physicist, they also agree. Sound and light, according to their theory... But the sound is the origin of creation, mixed with these modes of ignorance. Everything here in the material world is spiritual reflection covered by the material elements. So when this sound is purified or you catch up the spiritual sound, then your spiritual life begins. As from the material sound this material creation has begun from first of all the sky, nabha, or ether; and from ether, air is created, wind; and from air, then fire is created, electricity... You see. From the sound, there is immediately electricity in the sky, the fire. Electricity means fire. So from sky, the sound is created. From the sound, air is created. By the friction of air, the electricity, or fire, is created. Then, within the fire, there is water. And after water, there is land. This is pañca-bhūta, five gross elements. It is coming from the subtle elements. From the subtle elements, the gross elements gradually develop.
So as this material creation has begun from material sound under the agitating, impelling method by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, similarly, by spiritual sound, you can get out of it, because sound is the central point. When it is mixed with tamas, tamo-guṇa, then the material creation begins. So similarly, if you directly catch up that sound... The sound is śabda-brahma. Sound is actually spiritual, the Vedic sound om, oṁkāra. Oṁkārāsmi sarva-vedeṣu. So Vedic sound begins: om. So that is a sound. So if we capture that sound and make further progress, śabdād anāvṛtti... In the Vedānta-sūtra it is there, anāvṛtti, no more repetition of birth and death, oṁkāra. If one can chant oṁkāra at the time of death, immediately transferred to the spiritual world, impersonal spiritual effulgence. But if you can chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, then immediately you go to the spiritual planet. These are stated in the Bhagavad-gītā. Anta-kāle, at the time of death, if you can capture this sound, oṁkāra or Hare Kṛṣṇa... If you capture oṁkāra, then you are transferred to the spiritual sky.
So ether, the sky, we cannot see, we cannot touch, we cannot smell. But we can hear the sound. As soon as there is sound, that, we know that there is ether or sky. The sound vibration... As we have got experience of this material sound and therefore the material sky, similarly, there is spiritual sound and there is spiritual sky. Without sky, there is no sound. So there is spiritual sky. We get information from śāstra: paravyoma. Vyoma is called sky, and there is another sky. This is material sky, what we have experience. There is spiritual sky. And about that spiritual realization, as this creation begins from the sky-ether, then air, then fire, and then water, then land, kṣitir āp tejo marud vyoma—similarly, the spiritual world also begins from the spiritual sky. After this sky ends, then the spiritual sky begins.
Therefore Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura has described this Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, "not of this material sky." Golokera prema-dhana, hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana. Hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana, this is not a material sound. And in the Vedānta it is stated, śabdād anāvṛtti. By chanting the spiritual sound... The impersonalists, they chant oṁkāra. Praṇavaḥ sarva-vedeṣu. All Vedic mantras are preceded by the spiritual oṁkāra. That oṁkāra... Kṛṣṇa says, akṣarāṇām akāro 'smi. Vedeṣu, praṇavaḥ sarva-vedeṣu, A, U, M, These are described in the Bhagavad-gītā. So either you vibrate oṁkāra or Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, they belong to the spiritual world. This sound does not belong to this material. Material sound, if you chant once, twice, thrice, you will feel disgusted. But spiritual sound, if you chant twenty-four hours, you will never feel disgusted, but you will feel more and more spiritual bliss. That is the difference. Actually, you see these boys and girls and others, they are chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa practically from early in the morning, 5:00 till 10:00, daily, but nobody is feeling any disgust. They like to chant. That is the difference between material sound and spiritual sound.
So immediately you can be in touch with Kṛṣṇa by vibrating this sound, Hare Kṛṣṇa. It is so potent. Nāma cintāmaṇiḥ kṛṣṇaś caitanya-rasa-vigrahaḥ (CC Madhya 17.133). The name of Kṛṣṇa is cintāmaṇi, transcendental. It is not this material sound, material name. Nāma cintāmaṇiḥ kṛṣṇaś caitanya. Living force, caitanya. It is not dead sound. If you want water, if you chant only "Water, water, water, water," you will not get water, because it is material sound. The water substance is different from the word water. Therefore, simply by chanting "water, water," you cannot quench your thirst. You must have the substance water. That is material sound. Anything you take, simply by chanting the name, you will not get the thing. That is material.
So the sound is very important thing. The sound is the cause of our bondage in this material world. Just like in big, big cities they are attached to the sound vibrated by the cinema artist. And not only that, so many other things we are hearing through the radio message. Attachment for the sound. And because it is material sound, we are becoming materially entangled, entangled more and more. Some actress, some cinema artist, singing, and people are so fond of hearing that singing that the artist is paid fifteen thousand rupees for one song. There are many here in Bombay. So just see how much attraction we have got for the material sound vibration. Similarly, the same attachment, if we turn to hear about Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, then we become liberated, the same sound. One is material; one is spiritual. So you practice to be attached by this spiritual sound vibration. Then your life will be successful.
So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is meant for this purpose, that "You have already attachment for sound. Now just transfer this attachment for spiritual sound. Then your life will be successful." This is Hare Kṛṣṇa movement, teaching people how to transfer the attachment from material sound to the spiritual sound. Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura therefore sings, golokera prema-dhana, hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana, rati nā janmilo kene tāy. This sound coming from the spiritual world, golokera prema-dhana, by chanting, by hearing this sound, we shall develop our original dormant love for God. That is wanted.
There are two kinds of sounds. Just like we are speaking. This is also sound, but this is para sound, uttama sound, para-prakṛti. Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra is not ordinary sound. It is para-prakṛti. Golokera prema-dhana hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana. Hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana is not this material sound. If you think it is material sound, you are rascal. Therefore they are wonderful. The American people have become wonderful, astonished how simply by chanting they becoming brainwashed. That is the actual fact. The rascals, they do not know how these people are giving up illicit sex, meat-eating—their life and soul, all these things. How they are giving up unless they have become mad, hearing? The hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana can do that. Yes.
So Ajāmila, at the point of his death, just remembered his youngest son, who was named Nārāyaṇa. So the Nārāyaṇa, very name, has got the full potency of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Nārāyaṇa. That is the secret of this nāma-saṅkīrtana movement. By chanting the holy name of Nārāyaṇa, you immediately contact with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Nāma cintāmaṇiḥ kṛṣṇaś caitanya-rasa-vigrahaḥ (CC Madhya 17.133). Nāma, the Lord's name, is not material; it is spiritual. The sound is Brahman, śabda-brahma. Vedic sounds, they are śabda-brahma. They are not material sound. So nāma cintāmaṇiḥ, spiritual. Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa's name, there is no difference. Nāma cintāmaṇiḥ kṛṣṇaś caitanya-rasa-vigrahaḥ (CC Madhya 17.133). Rasa, the transcendental mellows. Every one of us is searching after some mellow, some pleasure from everything. Kṛṣṇa is the reservoir of all pleasures, rasa-vigraha, fully personified. Wherever there is Kṛṣṇa, there is rasa, a transcendental mellow, enjoyment, relishable. Very Kṛṣṇa presence.
Festival Lectures
Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura, a great ācārya of Vaiṣṇava sampradāya, he has sung, golokera prema-dhana, hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana. This Hare Kṛṣṇa movement, or chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa, it is not anything material. Therefore you will never feel tired chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. You see practically. You go on chanting twenty-four hours; you will never feel tired. Therefore it is said, golokera prema-dhana. This chanting vibration is coming from the spiritual world. Just like you receive material sound vibration in the radios or television from distant place, there is another machine which can receive the vibration in the spiritual world. So that vibration is Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra.
General Lectures
This Hare Kṛṣṇa, this vibration may be foreign to you, but there is no difficulty to chant. The words may be in Sanskrit, but it is not difficult to chant. And if you simply chant, you get the result because it is transcendental vibration. Just like when television or radio vibration is there, either in India, America, everywhere the vibration is equally beneficial. Similarly, this transcendental vibration is coming down from the transcendental world. It is not material sound. It is not hackneyed. If you chant, if you practice, you'll realize it. So our request is that without any charges, without any fee, without any bluff, we say that you please chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare.
There is the spiritual platform, everything identical. Just like you get some thousand miles away in the radio: this sound and the person who is transmitting the sound is identical, although materially we cannot derive the same benefit. That is the difference between material sound and spiritual sound. The spiritual sound, there is no such difference. Nāma cintāmaṇiḥ kṛṣṇaś caitanya-rasa-vigrahaḥ (CC Madhya 17.133). So it is a fact that by sound vibration, Kṛṣṇa, you immediately contact Kṛṣṇa. So if there is any spiritual benefit by contacting Kṛṣṇa or be in touch in Kṛṣṇa... Just like if you be in contact with fire you get warm, similarly, by contact with Kṛṣṇa you immediately get spiritual warmth. That is the technique of this chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. And that is being experienced by the students, those who are sincerely doing it without any offense.
This Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is a self-purification movement. The method is vibration of transcendental sound. This Hare Kṛṣṇa, this sound, is not material sound. It is descended from the spiritual world. Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa's name—not different. Abhinnatvāṁ nāma-nāminoḥ. As in this material world there is difference between the name and the substance... If you are thirsty, then if you simply chant "water, water, water," your thirst will not be quenched. You have to get the substance water. But in the spiritual world it is, being absolute, the name and the person whose name we are chanting, they are the same. Therefore by chanting this holy name of God, Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa... Hare is addressing the spiritual energy of the Lord, and Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Lord. So by being in touch with the Supreme Lord and His energy directly, we become purified.
So as it is said that in the beginning was the word, that means before the creation there was the transcendental sound. So that word, or transcendental sound, is not like the material sound. If we associate with the transcendental sound Hare Kṛṣṇa, then we become purified to become transcendental. Just like we can have a crude example. You take one iron rod and put into the fire. The iron rod will be warm, warmer, and gradually it will be red hot. When it is red hot, then it is no longer the iron rod; it is fire. So how it has become fire? By association with the fire. Simply, therefore, if you simply keep yourself touch with God by the vibration of transcendental sound, gradually you become godly.
Philosophy Discussions
Prabhupāda: Śābde pare ca niṣṇātam (SB 11.3.21). A guru is he who has taken full training in the ocean of spiritual knowledge or Vedic knowledge, śābde pare. Śābde means the Vedic words, or vibration of sound, but that is not ordinary sound, material sound, but spiritual sound. Just like we are chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, this spiritual sound. So one who has taken full bathing in the ocean of spiritual sound, and how he has realized the symptom of his life is that such guru is no more interested in materialistic way of life. Such guru does not manufacture gold or jugglery words to attract some foolish men and make money. That is not guru. Guru means who has no more interest in material things. Śābde pare ca niṣṇātaṁ brahmaṇy upaśamāśrayam. He has taken shelter of the Supreme Lord, completely satiating his material desire.
Conversations and Morning Walks
1974 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: Yes. Just like in the Bible it is said, "There was only word in the beginning." So in the beginning, there was word. That means that word is not the word of this material creation.
Yogeśvara: Just like these Guru Maharajis. They say you cannot chant the name Kṛṣṇa because it's simply a material sound. They say the name is material.
Prabhupāda: That's it. The rascal does not understand what is this sound. He does not see that there was word before creation.
1975 Conversations and Morning Walks
Madhudviṣa: Yes, but there is some traditional respect. (break) When you were speaking with the priest yesterday, he was saying the chanting is material because it comes out of the mouth and it's made like a material sound vibration. Would it be possible for them to run scientific tests on the chanting, the sound of Hare Kṛṣṇa, to make a distinction between that sound and let's say the sound of an automobile's horn? Would that be perceptible?
Prabhupāda: No, the same sound. Sound is the same; when you are impure, this is material. Just like the tongue is the same, but when you are suffering from jaundice, you are tasting sugar as bitter, and when you will be cured, then the same tongue will taste it is sweet. So it depends on the purification of the body. Whole this bhakti-yoga or any yoga, the whole system is purification. Tapo divyaṁ yena śuddhyet sattvam (SB 5.5.1).
Correspondence
1970 Correspondence
Regarding your question: you are right when you write to say that everything about us, tables, chairs, bricks etc. is originally emanating from sound vibration. This is also admitted in the Christian Bible wherein it is said that God said, Let there be creation. And there was creation. So, "said" means it was sound vibration; but this sound vibration is not material sound vibration because before creation of material sky and sound, transcendental sound was there. So actually the transcendental sound is the cause of creation, but material sound is not transcendental sound. We have to receive transcendental sound through the transcendental channel, therefore, Vedas are called Sruti. That means transcendental sound can be received through the ear. And by hearing this transcendental sound through the ear our heart becomes spiritually purified, and we can realize at that stage the transcendental Name, transcendental Qualities, transcendental Form, transcendental Pastimes etc. That is the way of descending process.
| Page Title: | Material sound |
| Compiler: | Visnu Murti, Labangalatika |
| Created: | 10 of Jan, 2008 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=1, SB=6, CC=2, OB=2, Lec=24, Con=2, Let=1 |
| No. of Quotes: | 38 |