'’Hare Rāma Hare Rāma
Rāma Rāma Hare Hare
Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa
Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare
— Kali-Saṇṭāraṇa Upaniṣad
Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa
Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare
Hare Rāma Hare Rāma
Rāma Rāma Hare Hare
- Renderation by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu
History
This mantra is first found in the Kali-Saṇṭāraṇa Upaniṣad ,which is a vaishnava upanishad. Brahma instructs Narada about the mahamantra as follows:
Hearken to that which all Shrutis,keep secret and hidden, through which one may cross the Samsara of Kali.He shakes off the evil effects of Kali by the mere uttering of the name of Narayana.
Narada asks about that name of Narayana and Brahma replied
Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare, Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare; these sixteen names are destructive of the evil effects of Kali . No better means than this is to be seen in all the Vedas.
Refrences from other scriptures
Chanting of the holy names of narayana is recommended in the Puranas and most of the other religious literature .It forms the basis of the Vaishnava community. Some of the refrences are;
All the grievous sins are removed for one who worships Lord Hari, the Lord of all lords, and chants the holy name, the Maha-mantra.
— Padma Purana, 3.50.6
When the sixteen names and thirty-two syllables of the Hare Krishna mantra are loudly vibrated, Krishna dances on one's tongue.
— Stava-mala-vidyabhusana-bhasya, Baladeva Vidyabhushana in Bhaktisiddhanta's Gaudiya Kanthahara 17:30
Anyone can immediately become eligible to perform Vedic sacrifices if he once utters the holy name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead or chants about Him, hears about His pastimes, offers Him obeisances or even remembers Him.
— Bhagavata Purana, 3:33
Benefits of chanting the holy name
Although the holy name of lord is all powerful , and it can deliver permanent salvation to the devotee, but these benefits can be experienced after a long time .Some immediate benefits of chanting are as follows:
By reciting this mantra one can vanquish his unwanted bad habits like drinking ,meat eating ,gambling or sexual urges.
The solution for the life problems becomes visible ,it feels as if some energy is always supporting us in our life ,that is the Krishna prem.
It helps to increase concentration in our work as all the toxic activities begin to disappear.
People begin to realise how everything is under the control of a supreme energy , and how the loss ,gain ,happiness,sadness are nothing but just the materialistic illusions created by Krishna.
The attachments for the fruits of our action begin to decrease and we become more focused on performing our action rather than thinking about its outcome .One would realise that what is destined shall happen ,therefore his only responsibility is to perform actions .
After chanting the holy names of Narayana and getting absorbed in his devotion , one can surely realise that he is the supreme controller of everything .He is the root cause of all causes .Therefore the feelings of happiness and sadness are just like the seasons which arrive and disappear, based on the actions performed by us ,which are inturn controlled by the supreme Lord ,Narayana.