Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare
According to eternal śāstras such as the Vedas, Upaniṣads, Purāṇas and Saṃhitās, the transcendental name (nāma brahma), hare kṛṣṇa hare kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa hare hare hare rāma hare rāma rāma rāma hare hare is the mahā-mantra (supreme mantra) for deliverance in Kali-yuga1. The primary occupational duty (dharma) of this age is to chant and perform saṅkīrtana of this sixteen word mahā-mantra.
The name of Bhagavān is directly the form (svarūpa) of Bhagavān. Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa has filled His names with His sweet form, His sweet pastimes and all of His potencies. Bhagavān is the possessor of His name and is called nāmī. Although He (nāmī) and His name (nāma) are nondifferent, in certain circumstances, the mercy of nāma brahma exceeds that of nāmī brahma. By His causeless mercy Svayaṃ Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa appears in the form of nāma to deliver the conditioned souls. One who is most fortunate takes dīkṣā in the śrī hari-nāma mahā-mantra from a bona fide guru who himself is constantly absorbed in śrī hari-nāma. In this way he worships Śrī Bhagavān by performing congregational chanting of His names (saṅkīrtana), daily chanting a fixed number of names (japa), and remembering Śrī Bhagavān’s name (smaraṇa). Śāstra states that in Kali-yuga it is more glorious to perform nāma saṅkīrtana loudly than to perform nāma smaraṇa or japa.
1 A yuga is defined as being one age within a cycle of four ages, in the life of a universe. They are named Satya, Treta, Dvāpara and Kali. Each age has consecutively less good qualities, longevity, auspiciousness, etc. The final, most degraded age is Kali-yuga (the age of quarrel and hypocrisy), in which we are now living. This age lasts for 432,000 years of which 5,000 have already passed.
ātmānañca punāty-uccair japan śrotṛn-punāti ca
“A person who chants śrī hari-nāma loudly is one hundred times superior to one who chants quietly. The person who chants quietly only benefits and purifies himself, whereas one who chants loudly also benefits and purifies all who hear him, such as animals, insects, birds, trees and creepers. Such entities cannot chant, but they can be delivered from the ocean of birth and death simply by hearing this hari-nāma.”
Thus, in this age of Kali, the crest-jewel of all kinds of sādhana is to perform saṅkīrtana of the sixteen word hari-nāma mahā-mantra. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is Pāvana-Avatārī, the most merciful avatāra who purifies Kali-yuga. He therefore instructs us to perform śrī hari-nāma saṅkīrtana—kīrtanīya sadā hari. (Śrī Śikṣāṣṭaka 3)
The Bṛhad Nāradīya Purāṇa clearly states:
kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva nāsty eva gatir anyathā
“To make spiritual progress in Kali-yuga there is no other way, there is no other way, there is no other way than by chanting the holy name, chanting the holy name, chanting the holy name.”