20241110 Kīrtana Rules and Regulations

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānanda-mādhavam śrī caitanya īśvaram
Harihi oṁ tat sat

Jayapatākā Swami: I could speak in Bengali but I will continue in the same line as the previous speakers. We are having a meeting of the Māyāpur kīrtanīyās. Śrīla Prabhupāda wanted a kīrtana to go on all the time. But, His Holiness Jayadvaita Mahārāja said that how he used to come to Māyāpur to hear the kīrtana. But now, he doesn’t find it as it used to be. In Bangladesh at Puṇḍarīka Dhāma, they have a 24-hour kīrtana. One Mahārāja was seated there listening to the kīrtana. After about 45 minutes to an hour he asked me a question, “What are they singing?” They only chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, but he could not understand what they were chanting! That was the thing that Śrīla Prabhupāda prohibited. The kīrtana has so much sur (melody), emotion, that you cannot hear what they are actually singing!

One time, I had a kīrtana competition here. Śrīla Prabhupāda was listening. He said, they are just chanting, “ṭākā, ṭākā, ṭākā!” And Śrīla Prabhupāda was very sensitive to people chanting inaudible or unauthorized kīrtana. Now the kīrtana here, I don’t think it is so much like that. But like for Rāma Navamī or Rādhāṣṭamī, some special kīrtana like, “Jaya Rādhe!” or “Jaya Śrī Rāma!”, Śrīla Prabhupāda would tolerate. But other days, he wasn’t accepting it.

Now, we wanted to have a ‘Kīrtana Academy’ in Māyāpur. Our kīrtana should be exemplary. And of course we have mṛdaṅga, karatālas, but the kīrtana itself should be authorized. To a large degree, you are all doing very nice. So I am very glad that His Holiness Candramouli Mahārāja and His Holiness Jayādvaita Swami have spoken about kīrtana. We want the kīrtana should be attractive to the people. But at the same time, we should hear the mantra. When I see some of our kīrtanīyās, who go overseas, they sometimes do something improper. But they are always being watched. So we hope that you all be very exemplary in your kīrtana. So His Holiness Jayādvaita Mahārāja told you how Śrīla Prabhupāda was leading kīrtana. We hear how the holy name is so powerful. So, it should be just that people can hear the holy name and have their hearts changed! Hare Kṛṣṇa!