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Maha mantra is Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare/ Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.

brahma jijnasa
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  • @SwiftPushkar: Thanks I had already checked that question but I am not satisfied with the answer as they have provided references from a site. I need specific information example from which Puran, chapter no and slok no. So that I can also check it. Many people claims that in Vayu Puran, Garuda Puran, Brahmanda Puran there are references but there is none as I read word to word in Sanskrit of Vayu Puran. I have not tried other puranas due to inconsistency. –  Jan 24 '18 at 03:18

2 Answers2

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Refer to this article by the Kamakotimandali :

According to it, the following texts either mention it or discuss things associated with it (like Pathoddhara of the Mantra-- getting the correct formation--whether Rama will come first or Krishna --- things like that):

  1. Sanat Kumara Samhita (which is a Pancharatra Agama), 2. Radha Hridaya (a Tantric work, not sure if this is a scripture or just a text like Nityotsava), 3. Agni Purana, 4. Ananta Samhita (which probably is another Panacharatra but not sure).

  2. Brahma Yamala (which is a Yamala Tantra) discusses it's correct rendering too, as per the article.

The pA~ncharAtra text sanatkumAra samhitA presents the mantroddhAra in the following fashion:

asyaiva kR^ishNachandrasya mantrAH santi trayo.amalAH |
siddhAH kR^iShNasya satpremabhaktisiddhikarA matAH ||
hare kR^iShNau dvirAvR^ittau kR^iShNa tAdR^ik tathA hare |
hare rAma tathA rAma tatha tAdR^ik hare manuH ||


rAdhA hR^idaya, a tAntric work, states the mantra as below:

grahaNAdyasya mantrasya dehI mantramayo bhavet |
tadahaM te.abhidAsyAmi mahAbhAgavatottama ||
hare kR^ishNa hare kR^ishNa kR^iShNa kR^iShNa hare hare |
hare rAma hare rAma rAma rAma hare hare ||


Agneya purANa states:

hare kR^ishNa hare kR^ishNa kR^iShNa kR^iShNa hare hare |
raTanti halayA vApi te kR^itArthA na samshayaH ||


ananta samhitA states the following:

hare kR^ishNa hare kR^ishNa kR^iShNa kR^iShNa hare hare |
hare rAma hare rAma rAma rAma hare hare ||
ShoDashaitAni nAmAni dvAtrimshad varNakAni hi |
kalau yuge mahAmantraH sammato jIvitAraNe ||

The following verse is found in brahma yAmaLa:

hare kR^ishNa padadvandvam kR^ishneti cha padadvayam |
tathA hare padadvadvaM hare rAma iti dvayam ||
tadante cha mahAdevi rAma rAma dvayam vadet |
hare hare tato brUyAt harinAma samuddharet |
mahAmantraM cha kR^iShNasya sarvapApapraNAshakam ||

EDIT:

The Mantra is also found in another Vaishnava Tantric scripture called the Radha Tantram. We find it in it's 1st chapter itself:

Sri Krishna says to Goddess Tripura Sundari:

SrinumAtar mahAmAye Viswabija Swarupini |
HarinAmno mAhAmAye kraman vada sureshwari || (verse28)

Roghly- O Mother you're the Viswabija (the seed from which universe erupts), please tell me the correct chanting for Hari NAmA.

Then Goddess says:

Hare krishna hare krishna krishna krishna hare hare |
Hare rAma hare rAma rAma rAma hare hare ||
DvAtrimshadaksharAnaiva kalau nAmAni sarvadA | (29,30)

So, after giving the correct Mantra, Goddess says- This 32-lettered Hari NAma Mantra protects in the Yuga of Kali.

Rickross
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    Thanks. The answer is quite informative and wide, well researched. – Suresh Ramaswamy Jan 24 '18 at 07:25
  • @Rickross: Thanks for the answer. Could you please provide me link where I can download any of the books-Ananta Samhita, Sanatkumara Samhita, Brahma Yamala, Radha Hridaya Tantra. In Agni Purana, this mantra is not there as I have taken much pain in reading the pages every day, the book is in Sanskrit, I used to read every slok word by word every day,checking if there is one word from mantra but nothing. So I need to check if other claims are true. I hope you can understand. –  Jan 24 '18 at 18:09
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    It is not so easy to say that "it is not found in Agni Purana"..because there are more than one manuscripts available for every scriptures.. so it may not be found in the one u have read, but it can be there in the others.. .. Regarding the other texts--- it's hard to find them online as they are all Tantra scriptures, which are not much available on internet..Brahma Yamala is not to be found for sure.. @SudevMuraleedharan Anyways, u can trust the site i am quoting from. – Rickross Jan 25 '18 at 05:53
  • @Rickross I don't understand what do you mean by more than one manuscripts, a granth always remains same, chapters, slokas etc. Ex Bhagawata puran, the slokas or verses or mantras are always same but only the explanation differs from person to person. So please explain as I this is complete new to me. –  Jan 25 '18 at 18:07
  • @Rickross: Please also let me know why you are so sure that the quoted site can't be wrong. –  Jan 25 '18 at 19:12
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    That's a authentic site.. that's why.. you can go through the articles they have given, and try to figure it out urself.. @Salvation – Rickross Jan 26 '18 at 06:00
  • @Rickross Ok agreed about the site but please let me know about having more than 1 manuscript of a Puran or Samhita or Upanishads. It looks impossible to me. Mantras, verses, Slokas doesn't have a version. –  Jan 26 '18 at 06:09
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    No, there can be several (mostly minor) changes as per manuscripts.. Some manuscript discovered in Bengal for example may have more or less content compared to the manuscripts which are discovered in Varanasi ... There are can be such examples.. So, it is not so easy to say that it is not found in Agni Purana.. If they are quoting that means it's there in the recension or version they are using.. so, we have to accept it..@Salvation – Rickross Jan 26 '18 at 06:13
  • A humble request to you, if possible for you, can you please answer my another question-what is the correct procedure to chant Narasimha 32 letter maha Mantra. A new thread is created for this question, you can find it by searching. Thanks in advance. –  Jan 26 '18 at 06:23
  • How to pronounce the mantra should be learned personally from the Guru..Like he speaks it and you learn by listening to it.. Otherwise it is difficult to teach or learn.. but anyways i will see if i can answer.. @Salvation – Rickross Jan 26 '18 at 06:38
  • @Rickross I know the pronunciation of that Mantra but I don't know the procedure-requires initiation or not, can be chanted anywhere and anytime like Hare Krishna maha Mantra. –  Jan 26 '18 at 06:40
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    Ok i will check ur question.. and see if i can answer it.. @Salvation – Rickross Jan 26 '18 at 06:42
  • Thanks for the answer. I just want to say something what I often hear from some people. Thus some people say that Sri Caitanya, ie Gaudiya Vaishnavas, changed the word order of the mantra. There is no proof that Sri Caitanya changed the word order in the mantra. It's just a speculation of some people that he changed supposedly original mantra "Hare Rama ..." to "Hare Krishna ...". There is no proof he did that thing. It's seen in the above quotations that there are scriptures in which mantra starts with "Hare Krishna ...". Sri Chaitanya chanted like that, he did not change anything. – brahma jijnasa Feb 06 '19 at 23:13
  • @brahmajijnasa The Radha Tantram gives the correct version .. it also gives the Rishi-Chandah-Devata .. so thr shd not be any doubts.. people say many things but that's due to their ignorance and also due to the fact that Hindu scriptures is like an ocean.. people do not even know the names of certain scriptures let alone reading them – Rickross Feb 07 '19 at 05:01
  • Yes, some people like to speculate and they think the maha mantra is mentioned only in the Kalisantarana Upanishad, while completely unaware of all those other sources, Tantras, Agamas, even Agni Purana, etc, in which the mantra has been mentioned since time immemorial. – brahma jijnasa Feb 07 '19 at 19:56
  • I heard from a friend that according to the Radha Tantra, the Devta of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra is Tripursundari! Is it true? –  Apr 11 '19 at 13:20
  • Yes that is true ..@SuryaKantaBoseChowdhury – Rickross Apr 12 '19 at 05:39
  • Could you please tell the numbering of the verses you quoted from Sanatakumara samhita and Agni Purana. These two are easily accessible, so please tell their numbering – Bingming Sep 07 '23 at 07:41
  • I was quoting from an article of Kamakotimandaali.. since they have not mentioned the exact verse numbers I also was unable to mention them @Bingming – Rickross Sep 07 '23 at 08:58
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The Hare Krishna maha mantra is mentioned in the Padma Purana as well, at least twice, though not in full but just in brief to give us a thought that it's a reference to the maha mantra. Padma Purana is available at archive.org website, it's translated in English and published by Motilal Banarsidass during 1950s.

Padma Purana Motilal Vol. 3 through Vol. 10, Uttarakhanda chapter 204, pages 3044-3045, says about some devotee of Lord Vishnu:

The virtuous one, free from perturbation, went at will, muttering 'Hare Rama, Hare Krishna'.

Padma Purana Motilal Vol. 3 through Vol. 10, Uttarakhanda chapter 209, pages 3067-3068:

Teach the parrot and the sārikā the series of names of Vishnu (like) 'Rama Rama; Hare Krishna'.

The sārikā is a bird species.

brahma jijnasa
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