Kali Santarana Upanisad and chanting 64 rounds

[Paramananda das]

Please accept my humble obaisences

all glories to Sri Guru and Gauranga

All glories to Srila Prabhupada

 
 
Kali Santarana Upanishad

In the Kali-santarana Upanishad (1-11) (One of the 108 principal Upanishads), the maha-mantra is established as the only means of deliverance in Kali-yuga:

hari om. dvaparante narada brahmanam
jagama katham bhagavan gam
paryatana kalim santareyam iti. [1]

"Hari Om! After travelling all over the world, Shrila Narada Muni approached Lord Brahma (his own father and guru) during the time when Dvapara-yuga was about to end. He asked him, “O Lord! How will all the living entities be able to deliver themselves from the most degraded age of Kali which is about to begin.”

sa hovaca. brahma sadhu prishto’smi
sarva shruti rahasyam gopyam tac
chrinu yena kali samsaram tarishyasi.[2]

Lord Brahma replied, “You have asked the most important and relevant question for the benefit of humanity. I will tell you now the most concealed secret of the Vedic literatures, with the help of which everyone can easily cross this most dangerous age of Kali.

bhagavata adi purushasya narayanasya
namoccharana matrena nirdhta kalir bhavati [3]

“Simply by chanting the transcendental names of the original enjoyer and the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Narayana, all the sins will be cleansed in Kali-yuga.”

narada punah papraccha tan nama kim iti.[4]

Narada Muni again asked,“Which are those specific names of the Lord which are most effective in Kali-yuga?”

)

sa hovaca hiranyagarbah
hare krishna hare krishna, krishna krishna hare hare.
hare rama hare rama, rama rama hare hare; [5]

iti shodashakam namnam, kali-kalmasha-nashanam;
natah parataropayah, sarva-vedeshu drishyate. [6]

Lord Brahma replied, “The sixteen words-Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna
Krishna, Hare Hare; Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare-are especially meant for completely destroying all the contamination of Kali. To save oneself from the contamination of Kali-yuga, there is no alternative in all theVedas except the chanting of this sixteen-word mantra.

)

iti shodasha kalasya jivasyavarana vinashanam;
tatah prakashate para brahma medhapaye
ravi rashmi mandali veti. [7]

“This maha-mantra consisting of sixteen names of Krishna is the destroyer of the (16-layered) illusory covering of all the living entities. Only when the coverings are destroyed, Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead will appear in the heart of the living entities, just like the sun appears with full intensity when the clouds are removed.”


punar narada prapaccha bhagavan kasya vidhi-riti [8]

Shrila Narada again inquired from Lord Brahma-“What are the procedures and rules for chanting this maha-mantra?”

tam hovaca nasya vidhi-riti
sarvada shuci-ashucira va pathan
brahmanam salokya samipya
sarupatam sayujyatam eti. [9]

Lord Brahma replied, “There are no rules and regulations to chant this maha-mantra. It should be chanted always irrespective of whether one is in a pure or impure condition.

yadasya shodashikasya sardha trikotir japati.
tada brahma hatyam tarati vira hatyam.
svarna steyat puto bhavati. pitrideva
manushyanam apakarat puto bhavati. [10]

“When one chants the 16 names of the maha-mantra 35 million times (sardha trikotir), he absolves himself of the sins of killing a brahmana or a kshatriya, stealing of gold or engaging in harmful activities towards one’s forefathers or other living entities.

please note to chant 35 million times with 16 rounds a day will take  3 year, 64 rounds one will do so in 1 years,Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Prabhupada mentions that unless one chants 100.000 names
of the Maha mantra daily (around 64 rounds) ones mind will be full of Jnana and karma, it is in his purports to antya lila chapter 9 of Caitanya Bhagavad, and such a person he compares to a nondevotee, that is heavy.
 .
I hope this does not disturb anyone, but it is a serious matter for those eager to advance in KC

sarva dharma parityaga papat sadyah sucitamapnuyat. sadyo mucyate sadyo mucyate ity upanishat. [11]

“By chanting the maha-mantra, one becomes quickly purified from all sins accumulated due to rejecting all of one’s duties in our past lives. Thus the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, is the only means, the only means, the only means of thoroughly and immediately purifying oneself in Kali-yuga. Thus ends the Kali-santarana Upanishad.”

Srila Prabhupada tried to introduce 64 rounds in ISKCON but some devotees where bargaining with Srila Prabhupada so he reduced it to facilitate his neophyte disciples,thus it has become the minimum standard ,Srila Prabhupada encouraged more chanting :

The Hare Krishna Explosion, p. 63, by Hayagriva dasa, Palace Press 1985.

"Now that you have beads," Swamiji says the next morning, "you should chant sixty-four rounds every day." "Sixty-four rounds?" To pronounce every word of the mantra distinctly, we require five minutes to chant a round. Sixty-four rounds would take over five hours. "Impossible!" we say. "We'll never have the time." "All right," Swamiji says. "Thirty-two rounds." "Impossible," we say. "We'll never be able to do it. It's way too much." "All right," Swamiji says. "Sixteen rounds. No less."

Srila Prabhupada says it can be done in 5 hours 

your humble servant
 Paramananda das

[Paramananda das]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLPXPf1Anvo