Kali-Saṇṭāraṇa Upaniṣad | |
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The 16 word Maha-mantra in Kali-santarana Upanishad
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Devanagari | कलिसन्तरण |
Title means | To overcome the effects of Kali Yuga |
Linked Veda | Krishna Yajurveda |
Verses | 2 |
Philosophy | Vaishnava |
The Kali-Santarana Upanishad (Sanskrit: कलिसन्तरणोपनिषद्, IAST: Kali-Saṇṭāraṇa Upaniṣad), also called Kalisantaraṇopaniṣad, is a Sanskrit text attached to the Kṛṣṇa Yajurveda. It is a minor Upanishad of Hinduism.
The Upanishad was likely composed before about 1500 CE, and it was popularized in the 16th century by Caitanya in the Gaudiya Vaishnavism tradition. The short text presents two verses called the Maha-mantra, containing the words "Hare", Krishna and Rama. The word Hare or goddess Radha is repeated eight times, while the other two are Hindu gods who are repeated four times. The text asserts that audible chanting this mantra is a means to wash away all the tribulations of the current era.
Kali (Sanskrit: कलि) means "the present age" (out of four in Hindu cosmology), while Santarana (Sanskrit: सन्तरण) means "conveying over or across". The title means the knowledge that conveys or carries one across the present age.
The text is one of the Vaishnava Upanishads, completed before about 1500 CE, and comprises two verses called the Maha-mantra. The modern era Kali-Santarana Upanishad is the earliest known Hindu text where this widely known mantra appears. It was popularized by one of the Bhakti movement leaders Caitanya Mahaprabhu in the 16th century. The Maha-mantra enunciated in this Upanishad is world-famous through the Hare Krishna (ISKCON) movement.
In Vaishnava etymology the word Hare refers to Hara (literally, captivating, carrying away), personifying goddess Radha who is the Shakti of Krishna ("nada shakti") and remembers her as the one who stole the mind of Krishna. The word Hare, or Radha, is repeated eight times in the Kali-Santaraṇa mantra and is a reminder of her love for the divine Krishna. Popular in Gaudiya Vaishnavism denomination of Hinduism, its devotees assert that the effect of reciting this mantra in Kali-Santaraṇa text is to imbue the pleasure principle emanating from the very innermost part of one's being, feel transcendental ecstasy and revive deep consciousness, remembering the love of God, and to getting rid of the harmful influence of the Kali Yuga. The Gaudiya Vaishnava have traditionally asserted that this mantra should be recited audibly because the sound liberates the reciter and the listener.