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The meaning of Hare in the

Hare Krishna Mahamantra

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Harir harati paapaani dushtta-cittairapi smruthaa l Aniccannapi samprashto dahatyeva hi paavakahaa ll The Lord Sri Hari destroys, burns away, forcibly takes away, as if abducting from us, all our sins even if we were to think of Him with an evil heart (e.g. Hiranyakashyapu, Ravana, Kamsa, Shishupala). This is just like the property of the fire. The fire burns (whether one likes it or not) even if one touches it unintentionally, or unwillingly (aniccan api). “Hare” is the vocative case (used when calling someone) of the noun Hari. The devotee is calling out the Lord Sri Hari loudly while chanting the Hare Krishna Mahamantra. The word 'Hare' also has another meaning, as follows.

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Svaroopa-prema-vaatsalyair Harer harati yaa manah l Haraa saa kathyate sadbhih SriRaadhaa Vrshabhaanujaa ll

Srimati Radhika, the daughter (implied by the suffix ‘jaa’) of King

Vrushabhaanu, is talked about by the great souls (sadbhih) as being Haraa,

since she steals (harati), or is able to forcibly take away, the mind of Hari,

Krsna, by her beauty (svaroopa), her unalloyed love (prema) and her intense

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affection (vaatsalya) for Him. Haraa, in the form of address (vocative case),

also becomes 'Hare'.

Thus, Raadhaa, or Haraa, is able to attract even Krishna. This sloka

mentions three of Her sublime qualities – Swaroopa, Prema, and Vatsalya –

by which She is able to do this. The usage of the pronouns “yaa” and “saa”,

and the “aa” sounds in “Radhaa” and “Vrushabhanujaa” all signify a female.

http://gauranga1.tripod.com/id50.html

The above explanation is due to Gopala Guru Goswami, an associate of

Caitanya Mahaprabhu and disciple of Swaroopa Damodara.

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Vijnyaapya Bhagavat tattvam cidghanananda vigraham l

Haratyavidyaam tat kaaryam atho Harir iti smrutahaa ll

He is known and remembered as the Lord Sri Hari, since He takes away

(harati), removes, ignorance (avidyam), and reveals the very essence

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(tattvam) of the Supreme (Bhagavat) bliss and the transcendental blissful

(cidghanananda) form (vigraham) of the Lord.

A further of Hare is revealed by the following, see link below. The Lord's divine qualities are revealed in the Mahamantra.

http://www.veda.harekrsna.cz/encyclopedia/sastras-studies2.htm

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Harati tri-vidham taapam janma-koti-shatodbhavam l Paapam ca smarataam yasmaat tasmaad Haririti smrutah ll

The Lord is known as Hari because He takes away the sins of those who

remember Him and also takes away the three types of sufferings

(adhyatmika, adhibhautika, adhidaivika) that have been accumulated over

millions and millions of births.

Swami B.G. Narasingha

Jun 4 2008 - Krishna Talk 79

Now read the response to the following question and further remarks in

response to the same at the link below. Extracted below is only a small

portion of the remarks.

http://gosai.com/writings/the-maha-mantra

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Question: Is there a difference between the Gaudiya Vaisnava conception of the

maha-mantra and the conception of the maha-mantra found in other sampradayas, such as the Ramanujas, Madhvas, Nimbarkas and Vallabhas?

Narasingha Maharaja: Yes. In fact the Gaudiya conception of the maha-mantra is

exclusive and stands distinct from all other sampradayas. The Gaudiya conception

is exclusive in that it surpasses even the greatest expectations of the Vedas

(liberation) and affords one the highest fulfillment of the ultimate goal of life. This is not simply party spirit propaganda or sampradaya jingoism, but an

ontological fact.

The conception of the maha-mantra as a whole, as well as each of its constituent

parts (Hare, Krsna and Rama), are uniquely different in Gaudiya Vaisnavism than

in any other spiritual tradition of India.

The Names in the maha-mantra are Hare, Krsna and Rama. The followers of the

Sankaracarya school, as well as those of the Ramanuja and Madhva schools,

conceive the Name of Hare to be the vocative case of Hari. Thus for them ‘Hare’

means Narayana, ‘Rama’ means Ramacandra and ‘Krsna’ means the avatar of

Narayana [not Krsna the avatari, or source of Narayana].

Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in his Golden Avatar

The followers of Sankaracarya have adopted this version of the maha-mantra and the

Vaisnava sampradayas of South India have also adopted the same. ‘Hare’ in all these

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sampradayas means Hari, or Narayana. In all circumstances their way of thinking is

about liberation (mukti) and not actually about bhakti (devotion). Moreover, the

followers of Sankaracarya are sometimes found to chant the maha-mantra and give

more attention to the maha-mantra than the Ramanuja sampradaya or the Madhva

sampradaya. The Kali-santarana Upanisad and the maha-mantra are accepted by all

these sampradayas, yet the maha-mantra is of little importance to them.

Only the Gaudiya Vaisnavas stake everything on the maha-mantra.

The following links are also recommended for complimentary reading.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/68222940/Hare-Krishna-Mahamantra-Story-Kali-

Santarana-Upanishad

http://theharekrishnamovement.wordpress.com/2011/04/23/hare-krishna-mantra/

http://www.veda.harekrsna.cz/bhaktiyoga/intro.htm

http://sriprahlada.com/latest-news/why-maha-mantra-kirtan

http://www.iskcondesiretree.net/forum/topics/powerful-meaning-of-the-hare