Hare Ram Hare Krishna Mahamantra

By Author: Thevishnu Experience
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“Om Kleem Krishnaya Namaha!”
This mantra is one of a kind and is significant in the worship of Lord Krishna. Having said that it is important to specify a few details and break up the mantra to reveal the meaning of each word. Some very general opinions on this mantra may be found here:
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080202003425AApLVUh

‘Om’

This word is perhaps the most important of words in all of Hindu theology. It happens to be the first word uttered when evoking each and every God and Goddess. This is so because when it is sincerely uttered, the energy of the sound is said to be derived from our navels. It climbs up through our upper torso through the oesophagus before passing through the vocal chords and exits our bodies through our mouths. The navel is the point of our creation. The umbilical chord that links a mother to her child does so by linking the two by their navels. This is symbolic of the source of all of creation. Lord Brahma, the creator of the Universe is said to have been born from the lotus navel of Lord Vishnu.
Besides, when chanted continuously, ...
... the word Om, slowly resembles the Sanskrit word ‘Vyom’ or space. This is the fifth element that is necessary for all creation to take place. The Vyom of space is also the great void that creates everything but by itself is nothing. Divinity encompasses everything and nothing, matter and anti-matter, the void and the totality. It is not some incantation that must be uttered without thought. It must be understood for its unlimited potential.
Therefore this one word basically manages to capture the true essence of all Gods and Goddesses.

‘Kleem’

This word represents Kaam or desire. This desire is violently misinterpreted by vulgar, spiritually unrealized individuals as lust. In fact it stands for much more. Without desire, creation is not possible, be it that of life or of other marvels of spiritual, technological or sociological importance. Kleem is as such referred to as the ‘Bija’ or the seed from which all things come into being. In our attempts at deliberately moralizing actions and deeds, one runs the risk of thinking about desire in a rather puritanical sense. Doing so is extremely counter-productive. We are human beings, made for exactly what, we may never know but what is true to all of us is the fact that we desire. Desire is endless and absolutely insatiable which is why it is said that it must be bound lest it disrupt the fabric of social life.

If somebody were to go to The Christian God or to Lord Brahma for that matter and advised them to create but with restrictions, our universe would look very different. Every world religion tells us that creation was a spontaneous process, that it is the manifestation of God’s will and His/Her desire. Mankind is said to have been made in His image with the inherent capacity to create. That is exactly why the potential ability of every human being is unlimited. We allow social strictures and outdated moral principles to prevent us from reaching our highest potential because we feel we cant do what we desire. The truth is, regardless of how hard we try to repress the urge to desire, the more injustice we do to ourselves.

Desire is by itself neither a negative force nor a positive force. It is the faculty that makes us want to seek new things, new experiences and new adventures. It prompts the growth of our knowledge and our experience. It makes humanity the ruling species on this planet. Nevertheless, left unchecked, desire also has the potential to destroy everything as has been evident in the two world wars witnessed all through the 20th and 21st centuries.

That is where the next part of the Mantra is activated.
‘Krishnaye Namaha!’
All of that unbridled energy of creation is directed towards Krishna. In mythological ad religious terms, this may be seen as the devotee offering her/his self to the judgement of Krishna, accepting Him as the supreme guide.

From a secular perspective, the offering is equally impressive. It requires an enthusiast to know what Krishna really stands for- zest for life, steadfast loyalty to pragmatism and the ability to make the difficult choices in life in order to preserve the fabric of society that nurtures the good and weeds out the bad, even as it compensates for all the shades of grey in between. For more detailed information on Lord Vishnu and Lord Krishna do visit: http://thevishnuexperience.com/

We can clearly see therefore why the Mool Mantra is so central to Krishna Puja. The offering of the mantra is not so much ritualistic as it is experiential. Constantly keeping in mind what the Mantra stands for strengthens the soul and empowers the mind to make the body realize its fullest potential, thereby justifying existence in an otherwise arbitrary world. For more information you can visit our website: http://thevishnuexperience.com/category/janamashthami/