Hare Krishna mantra question
 

This is a simple question, but I think pronunciation is important when it comes to mantras.

I am unsure about how the “Hare” is pronounced in Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare”.

When I hear it chanted by most sources, it sounds like “Hari” but I would think that if it’s written as “Hare” that the ‘e’ would be pronounced as in ‘elephant’. So why does it sound like “Hari”, and if I’m not being fooled, why is it written as Hare instead of Hari, since that’s how I keep hearing it chanted?

🙂

Hare Krishna!

I was thinking it’s actually chanted as “Haray”, which is why it sounds more like Hari, so that’s what I’m doing. But I could be wrong, so I’m asking hoping someone is confident to answer.

Plenty of information online with Youtube videos about how to pronounce this mantra.

But then I also found online that the popular way of chanting the Hare Krishna mantra is actually incorrect, and does not conform to classical Sanskrit pronunciation. Perhaps because we are accustomed to hearing it chanted by Westerners.

Good luck with finding the correct pronunciation.

Peace

And then there’s the other issue whether it starts with Hare Rama or Hare Krishna first.

Though popularly starts with Hare Krishna, I’ve seen the reverse version as well.

This video pretty much shows you how to pronounce the Maha Mantra.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Hx0umh_uiA

Pronounce it Haray as a previous poster said

Hare हरे
 

That's how I pronounce it also, and like all my friends singing it, including some great knowers of Sanskrit and famous singers :
'Haray', like the Spanish sound 'e', or the French 'é'.

Because it's written हरे, and this is "haray", or Hare in Spanish, or Haré in French.
(It's not हरि, that would be for you Hari in English, or Hari in Spanish or French.)

हरे कृष्ण हरे कृष्ण , कृष्ण कृष्ण हरे हरे |
हरे राम हरे राम , राम राम हरे हरे ||

= Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare
Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare

Btw Hare means “he who takes away” that’s worth some contemplation.

Thanks for the insights!

I’ve also settled for Haray (the ‘e’ as in ‘elephant’.). It’s written as Hare, not as Hari, so that is how I do it.

Just a recording of HH Srila Prabhupada it sounds like he is saying Hari, so I wont listen to it. And in some kirtans it sounds like Ramo instead of Rama.

These details really distract me.

Now I have to figure out the difference between starting with Hare Rama or Hare Krishna first. ��

And yes I do feel there’s a difference when you say it as Hare.