On the margin – Rāma mantras

“Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Kīrtana Standards,” installment 26

---

In a letter to Mukunda Dāsa (later Mukunda Goswāmī), June 6, 1967, Śrīla Prabhupāda appreciated a recording by his early disciples in San Francisco of Śrī rāma jaya rāma jaya jaya rāma and other kīrtanas (and a song by Hayagrīva Dāsa about “Nārada Muni, eternal spaceman”). And again in San Francisco, at the end of a lecture on September 10, 1968 (the Sunday before Rāma-vijayotsava), Śrīla Prabhupāda had his devotees chant in kīrtana Śrī rāma jaya rāma jaya jaya rāma.

Yet as mentioned earlier, Hayagrīva writes that on another occasion in 1967 in San Francisco when devotees were chanting Śrī rāma jaya rāma jaya jaya rāma Śrīla Prabhupāda remarked, “One Hare Kṛṣṇa is worth two thousand Jaya Rāma’s. So why are you wasting time?”¹

Tamal Krishna Goswāmī writes in his memoir Servant of the Servant that in the early days in San Francisco, before he was initiated, on the appearance day of Lord Rāmacandra Śrīla Prabhupāda taught the devotees the chant Raghupati rāghava rājā rāma patita-pāvana sītā rāma.²

On the other hand, Lokanāth Mahārāja recounts the following incident from 1973 in Juhu, Bombay, on the day before Rāma-navami, Lord Rāmacandra’s appearance day. Lokanāth Mahārāja announced the program the temple would hold the next day:

I encouraged everyone to attend, enticing them with the prospect of huge celebrations for the Appearance Day of Lord Rāmacandra. Laying the foundation of the cornerstone of the new temple was going to coincide with the celebration of Rāma-navamī. I thought that since it was Rāma-navamī, we could do something different like singing raghupati rāghava rājā-rām, patita-pāvana sītā-rām and chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa. In my excitement I announced, “We will have Rām Dhun tomorrow.” [A dhun is a bhajana or kīrtana.]

Almost immediately I heard Śrīla Prabhupāda’s voice objecting, “What is this Rām Dhun? We will have Hare Kṛṣṇa kīrtana.”

Śrīla Prabhupāda was not interested in Rām Dhun because it had been popularized by his contemporary, Mahatma Gandhi, in the 1930’s, who eventually became known by the media as “the saint among politicians.”

Mahatma Gandhi had deviated from the original Dhun. His new version was “raghupati rāghava rājā-rām, patita-pāvana sītā rām. īśvara allāh tero nām, saba ko sanmati de bhagavān.” Śrīla Prabhupāda had said that Gandhi’s aim with the Dhun was to appease and unite the Hindus and Muslims and to gain the support of the Indian population. This deviated Dhun was not in the mood of pure devotional service.

I remember seeing a letter wherein Śrīla Prabhupāda had indicated that he had no problem with the first two lines of the Rām Dhun “raghupati rāghava rājā-rām, patita-pāvana sītā-rām.”³ However, he always felt that it was better to adhere to the singing of the mahā-mantra. My spiritual master had shown me mercy by correcting me. We need to maintain the authenticity and purity of our sampradāya, as followers of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He always said that as Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas, the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra was a mantra for all occasions.

Śrīla Prabhupāda was citing from the Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa where it is stated that “the pious results achieved by chanting 1000 holy names of Viṣṇu is equal to chanting one name of Rāma and chanting the holy name of Rāma thrice, can be attained by only one utterance of the holy name of Kṛṣṇa.” Thus, any festival could be successfully celebrated with the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra.⁴

Hari Śauri Dāsa similarly recounts an incident that took place in Vrindāvan on Rāma-navami in 1976:

At mid-day ārati some devotees were singing over the microphone a mantra glorifying Sītā Rāma: “Raghupati rāghava rāja rāma, patita pāvana sītā rāma.” They were also chanting some other mantras.

Śrīla Prabhupāda sent me into the temple with the message that they stop. He wanted them to simply chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, since it automatically includes Lord Rāma. He said that other mantras were not necessary.⁵

In the early years—up till 1969—we hear of Śrīla Prabhupāda supporting or encouraging the occasional chanting of these Rāma mantras. After that: The mahā-mantra includes all.

---

Notes:

1 The Hare Krishna Explosion, Chapter 9.

2 Servant of the Servant, p. 21.

3 The letter Lokanāth Mahārāja refers to was likely a letter to Kṛṣṇa Dāsa dated February 13, 1969, in which Śrīla Prabhupāda wrote: “Regarding the Raghu Pati Raghava song, we are not concerned with this song because it had a political motive; it is not pure devotional service. Gandhi was a great statesman in the garb of a saintly person, so that the Indian population would blindly follow him. But his motive was political and we are therefore not very interested with it. However, you can sing the first two lines, (Raghu Pati Raghava Raja Ram, Patita Pavana Sita Ram).”

4 In Conversation with Śrīla Prabhupāda, Chapter 2.

5 A Transcendental Diary, Volume 1, Chapter 11. April 9, 1976.