Hare krishna hare krishna krishna Krishna hare hare hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare
Translation, History & Significance of the Mantras
Nitai Gauranga gaura hari
Mantra for expressing and invoking gratitude
This mantra is composed of the names of two historical Bhakti Yoga saints (Nitai & Gauranga) who revitalized the spiritual practice of Kirtan in society. They envisioned and ignited the spreading of Bhakti wisdom and authentic Kirtan mantras all throughout the world. In essence, this mantra honors the great personalities who have carefully preserved and passed down the sacred tradition of Kirtan meditation.
Gaura Hari are names describing and glorifying Divinity - Gaura meaning "golden" and Hari meaning "the stealer of hearts". So Kirtan is such a sweet practice, it allows us to connect with the Source of all beauty and have our hearts "stolen" and uplifted.
om namo bhagavate vasudevaya
Translation: I offer my respects to the Supreme Source - who is Love Personified
The Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (aka Bhagavata Purana) is described as the "ripened fruit" of all Vedic wisdom texts. In other words, the compiler of the Vedas himself - Vyasadev - explains that this 18,000 verse text is the essence of all spiritual knowledge. The very first line of the book is "Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya" - signifying that the essence of spiritual realization is to develop a deeply personal relationship with our Original Divine Source which is expressed through love and service.
sita ram jaya sita ram
Sita is a name denoting the Divine Feminine energy and Ram is a name denoting the Divine Masculine energy.
This mantra glorifies the perfect & complete combination of compassion and power of Divinity. The more we develop our spiritual practice and nourish our relationship with Source, the more deeply we are empowered to embody both compassion towards others and spiritual strength.
Hare krishna hare krishna krishna Krishna hare hare hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare
This is known as the Maha Mantra - the greatest mantra for cleansing the mirror of the heart so we can reawaken the dormant consciousness within us that is eternal, fully cognizant, and inconceivably blissful.
Hare, Krishna, and Rama are the 3 primary (of the unlimited) names in the Vedic tradition that describe Divinity. Hare means supreme energy, Krishna means all attractive, and Rama means the reservoir of spiritual pleasure.
Translation: O Divine Energy, O All Attractive Source, O Reservoir of Pleasure, please engage me in Divine Service.
Introduction to Bhakti
What is Bhakti?
The word bhakti refers to divine love; bhakti is the love that is dormant within the heart of every living being, it is the happiness that everyone is seeking, and it is the highest potential in all beings. The true self, the atma, or soul, is seeing through the eyes, tasting through the tongue, touching through the body and so, things of this world can give some amount of satisfaction to the mind and senses, but they cannot reach the true self, it is only love that gives fulfillment to the heart. Bhakti is the purest form of that love which connects our true self to its source, and as a result connects us to every other living being in the most meaningful way.
The Process of Bhakti-yoga
The true meaning of yoga is to reconnect, and so bhakti-yoga is the process of reconnecting to the divine through the process of love.
The four pillars of Bhakti:
SADHANA
Our personal practice of connecting to our true selves and God through the power of prayer, meditation and acquiring knowledge. These spiritual practices allow us to tune into the frequency of grace of love and compassion that’s within us and when we put time aside to do this daily, we actually establish a deep foundation and clear direction in life. For example, one of the main practices of bhakti is kirtan. Kirtan or singing of sacred mantras addressing the divine allows us to reawaken that purest form of love, bhakti, within our hearts.
SATSANG
Being in the company of those people who uplift us as far as possible. When we come in contact with spiritual people, their experience and energy inspire us to carry on walking our spiritual path, help us to overcome hurdles and to avoid pitfalls.
SADACHAR
This refers to the mood in which we live our life and interact with those around us. The mood of bhakti means to be in the mood of seva (selfless service).
SEVA
Seva means selfless service; one of the key components and aspects of bhakti is serving God with love along with serving His children and creation. With this principle of seva, we transcend differences based on culture, colour, religion, gender, age and even species, and live together in love and harmony.
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