Category Archives: Kirtan

Khoda Nitai!
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, March 2009, Leicester, United Kingdom, Lecture) One year, on Nityananda’s appearance day, I was in Sydney and something happened. We were having a long kirtan, before that we had some bhajan, aarti and abhishek, so it was getting quite long! The drummers had brought their special drums, so they were into it and […]

Ajāmila Got A Second Chance / Appearance Day Śrīla Jayadeva Gosvāmī
Bhakti Charu Swami

INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESS Founder-Ācārya: His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda The following lecture on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam Canto 6, Chapter 2, Verse 17, was given by His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami on 22 January 2014 in Iskcon Juhu – Mumbai, India. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Today was Śrīla Prabhupāda’s class. We just listened to the Śrīla […]

KIRTAN 101: Śrīla Prabhupāda’s style of kirtan–the magic is in the mantra
→ Nityananda Chandra Das' Blog, ISKCON Dallas

Śrīla Prabhupāda’s kirtan leading was always very meditative, deep, and focused.   He would often end in a crescendo but it was steady, long, and unrushed. 

“Gaura Gopala: I was right next to Prabhupada through the whole ceremony, playing the drum. He particularly liked to sing one tune through the whole time. He put his hands up in the air. He was dancing.” Ref. VedaBase => SPL 44: Let There Be a Temple

”It was clanging and banging. Kīrtana should be sweet and melodious.”

We had a kīrtana at the Rāma-līlā grounds, 1976 March, and Dīnanātha was leading, and tens
of thousands were attending and chanting. After the program Śrīla Prabhupāda and I were alone
in the back tent waiting for his servant and the car. As you know, he would often ask rhetorical
questions, and he asked me, “So, what did you think of the kīrtana?” Understanding this was
just a lead-in to his giving me an instruction, I answered with a bland “It was OK.”
Śrīla Prabhupāda’s definition to me then was as follows: “No, it was not nice. It was clanging
and banging. Kīrtana should be sweet and melodious. Come let us go to the ashram and have
kīrtana.”
And so we went — Śrīla Prabhupāda, his servant, Baradrāj, and myself. Except for his servant,
the three of us sat in his room and Baradrāj played harmonium on the request of Śrīla
Prabhupāda, and we had a long kīrtana. . . . On Śrīla Prabhupāda’s signal, the kīrtana ended. He
looked at me, smiling, shaking his head a little, and said, “So . . . sweet and melodious.” And
then he moved on with the rest of preaching and hearing. I had heard him say, and heard that
he also said, sometimes stopping kīrtana, “No screaming and shouting.” [remembrance by
Tejiyas dāsa, 12 Nov 2002]

I personally feel that if one becomes more focused on the Holy Name of Krishna with love and worry less on changing the melody their leading of kirtan will become more and more ecstatic.   This is especially in the case of those who are new to leading kirtan or who are not regular kirtan leaders.  In their nervousness or anxiety, they change the melody, perhaps thinking that others are bored.  This changing of melody may happen over 6 times in just a 15 minute period.  (BTW I not talking about the different parts of a melody but rather changing to completely different melodies)  Whereas kirtan stalwarts such as Indradyumna Swami, BB Govinda Swami, Madhava Prabhu and others keep it very steady and focused.  

Once I noticed a devotee chant Hare Krishna for the 30 minute Sandhya Ārati for a total of 2 minutes.  First he sang the standard Gaura Arati song and then the Hare Krishna Mantra for 2 minutes. (he also completely changed to different melodies within that 2 minute period)  Then he stopped chanting the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra because he wanted to leave enough room for Jāya’ing at the end of the 1209860-Jayakirtan.   Śrīla Prabhupāda never was Jāya’er himself, so it is not actually necessary to do a Jāya session at the end of kirtan.  But the main thing is not to Jāya at the expensive of the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra.   It is called the Maha Mantra for a reason, it is the greatest mantra.   So my basic advice to new kirtan leaders is to keep steady the melody, even the parts of the melody should be steady, don’t shift it back and forth every few mantras and then run out tricks 2 minutes later.  

In the past I have given advice to new kirtan leaders for the arati as follows.  Chant the first part of the melody at least 10 times, then second at least 10 times.  Then you can go back to the first part and pick up the tempo.  The rest is up to you but starting if off like this is a good foundation. 

So all the best to you.  One simple item to test the efficacy of the one’s kirtan is to see if it creates smaraṇaṁ, even on a material level.  Will those who have heard it have it dancing through their minds throughout the rest of the day?  From śravaṇaṁ & kīrtanam comes smaraṇaṁ, rememberance. 

BTW here is a link to the Harinama Sankirtan Handbook by Indradyumna Swami

New Year’s Eve Party at New Vrindaban
→ New Vrindaban Brijabasi Spirit

by Lilasuka dasi The small, but sweet celebration at the Radha Vrindaban Chandra temple this New Year’s Eve welcomed 2014 in a gentle, melodious way. The evening began with a beautiful swing ceremony – “Jhulana Yatra”- where the guests and residents present took turns gently swinging the festival RVC deities, accompanied by a kirtan of […]

Gaura Purnima 2014 Sponsorships
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With great pleasure, ISKCON Mayapur invites devotees worldwide to celebrate the Gaura Purnima festival 2014 at Sri Dham Mayapur. On the 27th of February Kirtan Mela will begin, followed by the festival inauguration, various festivities, Navadwipa Mandala Parikrama, and the grand celebration of Gaura Purnima on the 16th of March. Gaura Purnima 2014 Festival Schedule   […]

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New Vrindaban’s Transcendental “Throwback Thursday” – 12/19/13
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It’s time for New Vrindaban’s Transcendental Throwback Thursday! Each week we highlight an earlier era in the history of ISKCON New Vrindaban and ask our readers to identify devotees in the photo. This week there are ten people who can be named. Extra credit if you spot the special “accessories” one of them is wearing. Post […]

Audio Albums – Support Kadamba Kanana Swami & KKSBlog
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Kadamba Kanana Swami has been attracting people everywhere with his empowered singing for years. Since 2000, several recordings have been made and the first CD produced was an album called Vaisnava Seva. The latest albums from 2013 are “Waves of Mercy” and “Live at Heart & Soul Yoga“. But did you ever hear about “Kirtana […]

A Pilgrim’s Story of New Vrindaban and “the real deal”
→ New Vrindaban Brijabasi Spirit

Read this inspiring story about two people’s  recent visit to New Vrindaban: “My fiance and I are working on a travel blog as we journey across the US. One of the places we stopped was New Vrindaban. We just posted about our incredible time there in my blog. The story is called “My Sweet Lord: […]

Vaisnavi Holy Name Retreat
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The Second Vaisnavi Holy Name Retreat at Ekachakra By Devaki devi dasi All of us chant the maha-mantra, but how much are we struggling to come to the platform of purely chanting the holy name. This struggle is so important for we all contend with constant stimulation from our mobile phones and the Internet that […]

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