Japa
How to chant the mahā-mantra on beads: the beads, the order, sixteen rounds, attention and the ten offences against the holy name to avoid.
本指南尚未译成您的语言，下方以English显示。
Japa is the quiet chanting of the mahā-mantra on beads, for oneself. It is the main daily practice: sixteen rounds a day is the vow Śrīla Prabhupāda gave his disciples.
The mahā-mantra
Sixteen names from the Kali-santaraṇa Upaniṣad. Before japa one recites the Pañca-tattva mantra.
Praṇāma-mantras在文库中 जय श्री-कृष्ण-चैतन्य प्रभु नित्यानन्दश्री-अद्वैत गदाधर श्रीवासादि-गौर-भक्त-वृन्द
jaya śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu nityānandaśrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda
Glory to Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya, Prabhu Nityānanda, Śrī Advaita, Gadādhara, Śrīvāsa and all the devotees of Gaura!
हरे कृष्ण हरे कृष्ण कृष्ण कृष्ण हरे हरेहरे राम हरे राम राम राम हरे हरे
hare kṛṣṇa hare kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa hare harehare rāma hare rāma rāma rāma hare hare
O Harā, O Kṛṣṇa, O Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, O Harā, Harā! O Harā, O Rāma, O Rāma, Rāma, O Harā, Harā!
The beads
A strand has 108 beads and one large one — the Kṛṣṇa bead. The beads are held in the right hand, preferably in a bead bag; the index finger does not touch them. Each bead is moved with the thumb and middle finger.
How to chant
- Begin at the bead next to the Kṛṣṇa bead: one full mahā-mantra on each bead.
- On reaching the Kṛṣṇa bead, do not cross it: turn the strand around and go back.
- Pronounce every word clearly, with the lips, so that you hear yourself. The mind rests on the sound.
- One round is 108 mantras, about six to eight minutes.
Sixteen rounds
No fewer than sixteen rounds every day — about two hours. Best of all early in the morning, before other business, in a quiet place. If that does not work out, the rounds can be divided, but finished on the same day.
Attention and mood
The main thing in japa is to listen. When the mind wanders, bring it gently back to the sound. Śrī Caitanya described the mood of chanting in the third verse of the Śikṣāṣṭaka.
Śrī Śikṣāṣṭaka在文库中 तृणाद् अपि सुनीचेन तरोर् अपि सहिष्णुनाअमानिना मानदेन कीर्तनीयः सदा हरिः
tṛṇād api sunīcena taror api sahiṣṇunāamāninā mānadena kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ
By one who is lower than a blade of grass and more tolerant than a tree, who expects no honour for himself and honours everyone, Hari is to be chanted always.
The ten offences against the holy name
According to the Padma Purāṇa, in chanting the name one must avoid ten offences:
- To blaspheme devotees who have dedicated their lives to preaching the name.
- To consider the names of demigods equal to the Lord's name or independent of Him.
- To disregard the instructions of the spiritual master.
- To blaspheme the Vedas and the scriptures that follow them.
- To consider the glories of the name exaggeration.
- To interpret the name in one's own way.
- To sin on the strength of the name, counting on it to purify.
- To consider chanting the name an ordinary pious act.
- To preach the glories of the name to the faithless.
- Not to have faith in the name and to keep material attachments even after hearing its glories.
In practice the most important is to chant attentively, without distraction.