Jaya Śacīnandana, Nitāi Gaurāṅga, and Prabhu Nityānanda

“Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Kīrtana Standards,” installment 24

Śrīla Prabhupāda told us we should chant the full Pañca-tattva mantra—śrī kṛṣṇa caitanya prabhu nityānanda śri advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi gaura-bhakta-vṛnda. To this he gave emphasis again and again. Nonetheless. . .

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura (in 1885) wrote of the day when devotees from abroad would join with the Bengali devotees and chant “Jaya Śacīnandana.”

When Śrīla Prabhupāda visited the ISKCON temple in Baltimore, where the main Deities were Gaura-Nitāi, Śrīla Prabhupāda said:

So this benediction is offered by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who has very kindly come here, Nitāi-Gaura. So you take advantage of His mercy. You are very fortunate that Nitāi-Gaura is here. If you simply chant Nitāi-Gaura and dance, then you’ll become happy. There is no difficulty. There is no difficulty. And you are chanting, “Jaya Śacīnandana.” This simple chanting, “Jaya Śacīnandana,” “Hare Kṛṣṇa,” this chanting and dancing, yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtanair prayaiḥ yajanti hi sumedhasaḥ. This is not I am manufacturing. It is the injunction of the śāstra. In this age, simply by chanting and dancing, yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtanair prayaiḥ, you get complete spiritual service.

So I am very glad you are taking care of Nitāi-Gaura so nicely, They are so nicely dressed. So continue these activities, and even if you cannot do anything, simply chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and dance and “Jaya Śacīnandana.” That will make your life perfect.¹

Similarly, Śrīla Prabhupāda sometimes approved the chanting of “Nitāi Gaurāṅga,” as we find in this conversation in Tehran:

Devotee: [Is it all right] to chant the names of Nitāi-Gaurāṅga before we encourage them so much to chant the mahā-mantra?

Prabhupāda: No. Why not? Now, what is the difference, Nitāi-Gaurāṅga and Hare Kṛṣṇa? Nitāi-Gaurāṅga and Hare Kṛṣṇa, there is no difference. Nitāi-Gaurāṅga is also nice. Whatever he finds convenient, let him chant.²

While sitting with Śrīla Prabhupāda at an airport in New York in July of 1976, Śrutadeva Dāsa, though not wanting to disturb Śrīla Prabhupāda, had a question about something he had heard some Bengali devotees chant.

So I finally got up the nerve and said, “Srila Prabhupada, sometimes the devotees in Mayapura chant ‘sri krsna caitanya prabhu nityananda – prabhu nityananda prabhu nityananda.’ Is that all right?” Srila Prabhupada turned to look at me and with his beautiful, deep transcendental voice said, “Yes.”⁴

So Śrīla Prabhupāda gave some latitude, and during his physical presence his disciples, while mainly chanting the Pañca-tattva mantra and Hare Kṛṣṇa, would sometimes chant in these ways.

Notes:

1 Lecture, Baltimore, July 7, 1976.

2 Conversation, Tehran, March 14, 1975. See, however, Śrīla Prabhupāda’s instructions in the section “Better the simple thing.”

3 Personal communiciation, January 22, 2015. Śrutadeva wrote me, “However, not wanting to create a stir or set a bad example, I only chant this on Lord Nityananda’s Appearance Day.”