5 minute read
Śabda: Spiritual Sound Vibration
When we chant Hare K ṣ a, we are meant to be in contact with Lord K ṣ a and His associates. is is the nature of spiritual sound vibration, which is di erent from the kind of sound vibration that is only heard. When you write Hare K ṣ a on a piece of paper, it is as whole and complete as when you speak it. is is śabda. Śabda is not limited to something that is communicable only from the mouth to the ear: the spiritual energy or potency manifests itself in sound, and this is śabda. And because it is spiritual, it does not have the restrictions that material communications have, or which this world has.
Generally when we speak of sound we mean material sound, a transmission of information that is heard with the ear. And certainly that is also the characteristic of the spiritual sound vibration, but it is not limited to that. e di erence with spiritual sound is that it is more than merely communicating a message: it contains within it and is empowered by a spiritual potency, and that means it represents the spiritual realm and spiritual energies, either in part or whole. Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, nāmnām akāri bahudhā nija-sarva-śaktis, that K ṣ a’s holy name has all spiritual potency. When we say “how are you?”, how much potency is in that? But when we say Hare K ṣ a, then everything that exists within the spiritual world is compressed within that sound vibration. And the presence of that potency is there whether you see it on paper or whether you hear it.
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It also exists in the reality of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s purports. Śrīla Prabhupāda uses the same words we use. He also asked “how are you?”, but because he is speaking from the spiritual platform, his words are saturated with spiritual potency. erefore his words have more impact. It is no longer just a question. And even further, aside from posing the question, the words—being from the spiritual plane—also purify the heart of one who hears them and frees one from material contamination, they liberate one. It is not a mere enquiry about wellbeing: the intent is coming from the spiritual world to liberate us, to bring us closer to K ṣ a, and that in itself comes across. It is a complex and detailed matter.
In the Vedānta-sūtras it is said that śabda actually liberates. So when we say Hare K ṣ a, these are names, but within these names, because it is nija-sarva-śaktis, all the potency of Godhead is there. It is like being in the presence of the Lord, like reading all the Vedas, like seeing the spiritual world, like hearing all of K ṣ a’s pastimes, like understanding the philosophy—if you know how to connect with the sound.
at is the challenge: connecting with the śabda.
Because with any kind of relationship, there has to be more than just transmission: there has to be reception. If we are transmitting but the other person is not receiving, then it is not working. It is the same with all our modern media communication: all of it is based on information coming from one side and being received on the other. If the receiver is faulty, the whole thing fails. Like when someone sends us a kīrtana online, if we do not have the right program on our computer, then the le appears as a bunch of squiggles. It is the same if we are not tuned in to the sound vibration.
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Śabda: Spiritual Sound Vibration
Sometimes when we are preaching to people they say, “show me God.” So this is how to see God, by saying Hare K ṣ a. But you have to hear it in a certain way, because it is your consciousness that is perceiving, not your ear. Just like my tongue is speaking and that sound is going through the microphone. But the microphone is not hearing anything because it is not conscious. It is transmitting sound, but it is not hearing. Same with my ear: it is an instrument. I am hearing, the soul is hearing, but if the soul is contaminated, it cannot pick up the message of Hare K ṣ a. en we are interfering.
e real challenge of K a consciousness is to actually be proper recipients.
Our ears are the general instrument, but those are not enough. Because it is not just a sound vibration, though we use that terminology. Śabda works on the level of consciousness. We have to have the proper consciousness in order to connect with that sound vibration. e puri cation of consciousness needs to happen so that there is no obstruction. When we can hear Hare K ṣ a without o ence or interference, then, Śrīla Prabhupāda says, we come directly in contact with God.
So puri cation of consciousness is necessary. How? By chanting Hare K ṣ a. It is the means and also the end. Even by faulty chanting and hearing, the consciousness becomes more and more puri ed. en one can actually recognise that there is no di erence between K ṣ a and His name, and the whole spiritual world unfolds when one says Hare K ṣ a, because nija-sarva-śaktis. en all eighteen potencies of Godhead are present within the sound vibration, nothing is held back. It is a wonderful experience.
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What we are doing is practising. We are trying to purify our consciousness in order to perfectly hear and chant the holy name of the Lord. en what happens when we can do that? We continue to chant, because there is nothing more pleasurable. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī expresses the mentality of the perfect chanter:
tu e tā avinī rati vitanute tu āvalī-labdhaye kar a-kro a-ka ambinī gha ayate kar ārbudebhya sp hām ceta -prā ga a-sa ginī vijayate sarvendriyā ā k ti no jāne janitā kiyadbhir am tai k eti var a-dvayī
“I do not know how much nectar the two syllables ‘K ṣ- a’ have produced. When the holy name of K ṣ a is chanted, it appears to dance within the mouth. We then desire many, many mouths. When that name enters the holes of the ears, we desire many millions of ears. And when the holy name dances in the courtyard of the heart, it conquers the activities of the mind, and therefore all the senses become inert.” (Vidagdha-mādhava 1.15, quoted in Cc. Antya-līlā 1.99)
at is the experience of the transcendentalist. We are getting a taste in our conditioned state, but for transcendentalists the experience is millions of times greater, and the nature of the experience is that it makes one want to have more and more and more.
Despite the fact that we are not charged a price for the mahā-mantra, or that it is not secret, or that we can take it anywhere, chant it anywhere, still the divine nature of the Hare K ṣ a mantra is not diminished. Understanding these things, we should see what a wonderful thing Hare K ṣ a actually is.
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