[Advaita-l] What does "Hare Krishna" Mean?

[Jaldhar H. Vyas]

On Fri, 17 Oct 2003, Manikantan S wrote:

>
> When Such a simple thing can give moksha to a ordinary
> man, why should he study all the other works of great
> people.
>

Because it can't.  There is no "magic spell" that can give anyone moksha.
Bondage is caused by ignorance so only the opposite of ignorance can
result in liberation.  It's not a question of whether one recites one name
or 100,000, if it is done without jnana it will not avail.

> please note that, iam not saying that we are not
> required to study other works, iam just trying to
> think, if such simple words can give him moksha, why
> should he go to understand all the complex works?.
>

Because knowledge is good and ignorance is evil.  Beware of any so-called
Guru who tries to persuade you to stop reflecting and learning.

The custom of chanting names is an integral part of our philosophy dating
back to its' very beginnings (for example namaka and chamaka in the
Vedas.)  But it is a part of a comprehensive program of sadhana not a
replacement for it.  It was with the medieval sants that the extravagant
claims for nama-sankirtan arose.  Satya Sai Baba is an inheritor of those
currents as are North Indian Vaishnava movements of which ISKCON is a
modern offshoot.  In many cases what such people mean by Moksha is also
markedly different from what Advaitins believe.

> Actually i wanted to know what this simple Mantra mean
> and who composed it and in what language is it
> composed (sanskrit or hindi?)
>

It is only the names Hari and Krishna in various combinations.  There is
no shastraic basis for it and it was probably invented by the 15th century
Bengali saint Chaitanya.

-- 
Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>
It's a girl! See the pictures - http://www.braincells.com/shailaja/