Is chanting many manthras daily a correct practice?
Two Questions by two devotees:
(1) A devotee (Name hidden):
Hk prabhu. prabhu there is one Krishna temple nearby our house, there they recite many mantras like kaayena vancha manasendriyarva.. Karacharana kritham vaak …. So How should we follow…..???? Each Krishna temple, each mantras n slogans are chanted…So how are we supposed to follow
And also they say Rajagopala mantra for Krishna is best to recite daily….it’s good for all our difficult situation to undergo….. What do u suggest.
Suppose one mantra means I m surrendering all my activities to u… Can we pray that meaning in our language instead of mantras chanting.
(2) Another girl devotee asked like this:
“ Sir, can we get liberation by having one sight of shree krishna? if yes why shouldn’t prefer chanting d mantras written below:
The following is the “Mahamantra” of Lord Krishna. It is found in the Gopala Tapani Upanishad. Those who repeat this Mantra 18 lakhs of times with concentration, Suddha Bhava and intense Sraddha will doubtless have direct Darshan of Lord Krishna. It is 18 Akshara Mantra. “Om Kling Krishnaya Govindaya Gopijana Vallabhaya Svaha. ”
The following is the Nyasa for the Mantra: “Om Kling Krishnaya Divyatmane Hridayaya Namah”.
“Govindaya Bhumyatmane Sirase Svaha”. “Gopijana Surya-atmane Sikhaya Vashat”. “Vallabhaya Chandra-atmane Kavachaya Hum”. “Svaha Agnyatmane Astraya fut. ”
Besides if this mantra is difficult to recite than one can also go for:
“Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya” is a 12 Akshara Mantra of Lord Krishna.
Dhruva repeated this Mantra and obtained His Darshan. Repeat it 12 lakhs of times.
What i want to know is how should we choose our mantras , because the above mantras are pretty precise , d no of times they need to be repeated has been mentioned.
So plz Help sir , so i could set my mind on a mantra”
REPLY:
From your question, it seems that you are confusing yourself having many manthras in your hand.
Every sampradhaya suggests a mantra. Even every temple has a mantra to recite.
If we consider all those mantras, we will end up in confusion and we will find it difficult to manage chanting all of them.
Getting a guru or mantra is the merciful suggestion by Krishna for you. Only Krishna shows a guru or mantra for you to follow.
So, choose one mantra and chant it sincerely.
Our diksha guru must be only one. Having multiple diksha gurus is not recommended.
Similarly, it is good to follow one mantra to chant daily.
That is why, acharyas have suggested Chanting Hare Krishna Maha Manthra that is simple and can be chanted by the people of kaliyuga who have very short life time.
(CHANTING HARE KRISHNA MAHA MANTHRA- IMPORTANCE, TIPS AND COMPLETE PROCEDURE! READ HERE!)
There are two types of Manthras:
(1) To get material goodness from Krishna.
(2) To get Krishna and His mercy.
There are hundreds of manthras of first case. But, Hare Krishna Maha Manthra, Gayathri Manthra, Vishnu Sahasra Nama come in the second case. These three manthras have no material requests from Krishna. They have only the glorification of different names of Krishna.
As a good thing, all the manthras followed by the gaudiya vaishnavas do not have material requests. They are recited only to get the mercy of Krishna.
Therefore, whatever manthra you chant, there is a condition. That manthra should contain the different names of Krishna. It should not contain any material requests.
For example, many manthras have prayers like “Govinda, please relieve me from my diseases”. Such manthras ARE NOT THE MANTHRAS THAT WILL RELIEVE US FROM MATERIAL BONDING. Their purpose is to ask something from Krishna.
YUGA MANTHRAS and Simply the NAMES OF LORD are able to relieve one from material bonding and bind him with Krishna eternally.
That way, Hare Krishna Maha Manthra does not have any prayers. Instead, it has only the names of Krishna, Rama and their energies (Hare). Such manthras are able to relieve us from material bonding and take us to Krishna.
(Will Chanting clear our Problems and improve our status? READ HERE!)
For this kaliyuga, chanting the Lord’s Name is recommended as sadhana. You can chant any name of the Lord. But, for every manthra, you have to follow certain conditions. For example, Gayathri Manthra too has only glorifications, no prayers. So, it can be chanted. But, the rules are strict. Gayathri manthra should be chanted only after getting initiated as a Brahmana and in a very pure physical state and in a calm place. And it can not be chanted at all places.
Of course, you can chant other names of Krishna including Vishnu Sahasra Nama. But, our life time and daily available time is short. So, we can’t waste our time in searching for different manthras. We need to settle with a single MAHA MANTHRA and catch that strongly.
If we try to excel in many aspects simultaneously, we can’t do that perfectly. So, concentrating in a single aspect at a time will help us to focus only on that manthra.
KIRTAN CAN BE MANY; CHANTING MANTHRA IS RECOMMENDED TO BE ONE.
However, you can sing many kirtans glorifying Krishna and His avatars. Kirtans are sung only during occasions or once or twice in a day. But, a manthra that you use to chant daily must be one.
(Spiritual & Scientific benefits of Loud Kirtans & Dancing in devotion! READ HERE!)
That is why, Sri Caitanya Maha Prabhu has recommended us to chant Hare Krishna Maha Manthra that is very simple and very effective. It can be chanted by anyone in any state. And you can start even with a single round, ie, 108 times and then increase as much as you can.
So, without confusing yourself, chant
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.
Simple, effective and No formalities. It is also capable of purifying yourself and make you eligible to go back to Krishna Himself
When you get Krishna Himself, He will take care of all your needs also as assured by Him in Bhagavad Gita. So, don’t worry.
Hope this helps you to know whether chanting many manthras daily a correct practice.
(How to read Bhagavad Gita & Rightly understand it? 18 Best Tips! READ HERE!)