Hare Krishna mantra question

[Podshell]

The Krsna consciousness movement accept Srila Prabhupada as the Bona Fide guru.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1BaOr599J4

[Miss Hepburn]

Another one...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riW_G27lGoc
What was your question, tho?

[Jainarayan]

Originally Posted by alphamind

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”.

Hu-reh, not Haaree, not harry. Hare in this context is the vocative of Hari, a name of Vishnu. Hari is pronounce huh-rih. Short a in Sanskrit is "uh", short e is "eh", short i is "ih" like "it". The only time it's pronounced huh-ree is when it refers to Rādhā for whom another name is Harā (like hurrah). Then it becomes huh-ree.

Raam-uh. Krishna, a bit more involved. The "r" in Krishna is like "ruh" but shorter and clipped. Many people write it "Krushna". Translitered from Sanskrit (itself pronounced sum-skrut, the n is a nasal) it is kṛṣṇaḥ. The final h is a visarga, and is just a puff of air.

Quite honestly, if you pronounce it as closely as possible, he will understand. The Mahāmantra as it's called is not subject to the pronunciation rules of the Vedas. It's not a Vedic chant. Vedic chants must be pronounced as perfectly as possible or they lose their energy. Tantric and ugra (fierce deity) mantras, if not pronounced properly can cause serious problems.

Sanskrit gets you more than you bargain for.

[Jainarayan]

Originally Posted by iamthat

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

You are correct. Sanskrit is difficult for non-Sanskrit speakers because there are tongue gymnastics non-Sanskrit speakers are not used to. There are two ways of pronouncing sh, r, l, n, m. not to mention long and short vowels, when to use them, how to read and write them.

[Jainarayan]

Originally Posted by alphamind

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.

Either is fine. Iirc the original as revealed by Chaitanya Mahāprabhu was Hare Rāma Hare Rāma ...

In this age of kali yuga (not goddess Kālī, different spelling and pronunciation) Chanting the names of God in just about any way, though it's not a free for all, confers benefits. Pronunciation and devotion are still important.

[Miss Hepburn]

'' Iirc'' had to look that up, for others like me ...''If I recall correctly''.

[Jainarayan]

Originally Posted by Miss Hepburn

'' Iirc'' had to look that up, for others like me ...''If I recall correctly''.

Oh sorry, I don't usually do that but sometimes I get lazy.

[alphamind]

Originally Posted by Jainarayan

Hu-reh, not Haaree, not harry. Hare in this context is the vocative of Hari, a name of Vishnu. Hari is pronounce huh-rih. Short a in Sanskrit is "uh", short e is "eh", short i is "ih" like "it". The only time it's pronounced huh-ree is when it refers to Rādhā for whom another name is Harā (like hurrah). Then it becomes huh-ree.

Raam-uh. Krishna, a bit more involved. The "r" in Krishna is like "ruh" but shorter and clipped. Many people write it "Krushna". Translitered from Sanskrit (itself pronounced sum-skrut, the n is a nasal) it is kṛṣṇaḥ. The final h is a visarga, and is just a puff of air.

Quite honestly, if you pronounce it as closely as possible, he will understand. The Mahāmantra as it's called is not subject to the pronunciation rules of the Vedas. It's not a Vedic chant. Vedic chants must be pronounced as perfectly as possible or they lose their energy. Tantric and ugra (fierce deity) mantras, if not pronounced properly can cause serious problems.

Sanskrit gets you more than you bargain for.

Hi

Thanks! Very valuable and beneficial post, I even passed it on. I feel that you know what you’re talking about. It’s a mini but essential lesson in Sanskrit!

I’ll put conscious effort in chanting Krsna properly.

I read a quote from an ISKCON leader that Hare itself refers to Radharani. So not sure which is correct.

That is how I settled for chanting the Hare indeed and there’s definitely a different effect than saying Hari. I often feel like switching off when devotees chant Hari, but as you said, he understands…so I stay. But I also hear Rama sounding like Ramo often, which does annoy me. Know anything about that? ��

[alphamind]

Originally Posted by Jainarayan

Either is fine. Iirc the original as revealed by Chaitanya Mahāprabhu was Hare Rāma Hare Rāma ...

In this age of kali yuga (not goddess Kālī, different spelling and pronunciation) Chanting the names of God in just about any way, though it's not a free for all, confers benefits. Pronunciation and devotion are still important.

I searched it up and found the theory that while the original is Hare Rama, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu reversed the order for the public because the Brahmins were offended because there’s apparently rules for chanting the original (like not eating meat etc).

I have found that both ways are indeed effective though.

[alphamind]

Originally Posted by Miss Hepburn

'' Iirc'' had to look that up, for others like me ...''If I recall correctly''.

You saved me the effort 🤪