KIRTAN 101: Śrīla Prabhupāda’s style of kirtan–the magic is in the mantra

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 kirtan.   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

Videos from the Sadhu Sanga Festival

HH Indradyumna Swami Kirtan at the Sadhu Sanga Festival and dancing by HH Giriraj Swami

Initiation of Sadhu Sanga Das by HH Indradyumna Swami and talk by HH Giriraj Swami (someone kept calling so the video was cut at some intervals)

Wimberly Texas, the site of the Sadhu Sanga Retreat. The bridge to the hotel was a waterfall. Many beautiful scenes in Wimberly.

Valentine's Day - the day I became a monk

In 1999 on Valentine's Day I decided to join the temple as a full time brahmacari, a full time monk. So actually Valentine's day is one the most important day of my life.

This years Valentine's Day was also a great blessing. Our temple was blessed with association of His Holiness Indradyumna Swami as well as his famous disciple Sri Prahlad Prabhu. They were both guests of honor at our TKG Academy fundraiser. This event was wonderful. It first began with an amazing play by the youth of the gurukula. This play, His Holiness Bhaktimarga Swami is called "The Witness", it is the story of Lord Sakshi Gopal who is portrayed very nicely by Sakshi Gopal Das

This was followed by a great mrdanga presentation by Virabhadra, Sri Rupa, Haridas, and Kapil. This is the first time that had ever even done such a presentation.

Then His Holiness Indradyumna Swami spoke for about 15 minutes about the significance of gurukula, Krishna Conscious schooling which was then followed by amazing feast featuring foods from six different international festivals, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanuka, Diwali, Ramadan, and Chinese New Year.

This dinner was made more delightful by the wonderful kirtan led by Sri Prahlad Prabhu which is found on the on the top of the blog. Enjoy! Anandam buddhi vardanam!
Hare Krishna
Your humble servant,
Nityananda Chandra Das
ps. If anyone would like to see more videos or get DVD it can found here http://Rupa.com also to learn more about His Holiness Indradyumna Swami and his transcentental adventures please see http://www.traveling-preacher.com

ps.s see Benloka's new Valentine's video about "What is Love" an interview with His Holiness Jayadvaita Swami

ISKCON Dallas Gaura Purnima Celebration 2008

Come join the Dallas devotees in celebrating the Appearance Day of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu on Friday, March 21st, 2008. Highlights of the program will include: new outfit for Sri Sri Radha Kalachandji, classes and kirtans by H.H. Giriraj Swami and H.H. Indradyumna Swami, downtown noontime Maha Harinama, evening neighborhood parade with Gaura Nitai, and a free feast.

For full schedule, or more information, www.radhakalachandji.com, info@radhakalachandji.com, or 214-827-6330 x 216.