नारदः पुनः पप्रच्छ तन्नाम किमिति । स होवाच हिरण्यगर्भः ।
हरे राम हरे राम राम राम हरे हरे ।
हरे कृष्ण हरे कृष्ण कृष्ण कृष्ण हरे हरे ॥
इति षोडशकं नाम्नां कलिकल्मषनाशनम् ।
नातः परतरोपायः सर्ववेदेषु दृश्यते ॥
षोडशकलावृतस्य जीवस्यावरणविनाशनम् । ततः प्रकाशते परं ब्रह्म
मेघापाये रविरश्मिमण्डलीवेति ॥ २॥
nāradaḥ punaḥ papraccha tannāma kimiti | sa hovāca hiraṇyagarbhaḥ |
hare rāma hare rāma rāma rāma hare hare |
hare kṛṣṇa hare kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa hare hare ||
iti ṣoḍaśakaṃ nāmnāṃ kalikalmaṣanāśanam |
nātaḥ parataropāyaḥ sarvavedeṣu dṛśyate ||
ṣoḍaśakalāvṛtasya jīvasyāvaraṇavināśanam | tataḥ prakāśate paraṃ brahma
meghāpāye raviraśmimaṇḍalīveti || 2 ||
Nārada asked again: "And what is that name?" And Hiraṇyagarbha [Brahmā] answered: Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare. Such are the sixteen names that destroy the taint of Kali. In all the Vedas no means more effective than this is to be found. The soul is wrapped in sixteen coverings; by this [mantra] the covering is destroyed, and then the supreme Brahman shines forth, as the disc of the sun comes through the parting clouds.
858448b75054 · published Jul 26, 2026, 7:22:25 PM UTC
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Here the mahā-mantra itself is given — the heart of the text and the chief reason why this brief Upaniṣad became so well known in the tradition of Caitanya. It is noteworthy that the number of the names (sixteen) is set against the number of the "coverings" in which the soul is clothed: this is not an idle metaphor but a direct assertion that each name removes its own layer — so that consciousness, hidden beneath the veil of identification with the body, is gradually cleared. The comparison with the sun emerging from behind clouds matters because it creates nothing new: the light was already there, the clouds merely hid it. Such is the nature of the soul — originally pure, originally aware of itself in its relation to God; the holy name does not manufacture that purity but only removes what was obscuring it.