Use of Haribol, Apprehensions and Objections

Posted on March 20, 2010  
Filed under BVKS Sanga

From: Internet: “Vijay Rana”
Date: 18-Mar-10 22:37 -0700
For: BVKS Sanga
Subject: Use of Haribol, Apprehensions and Objections
————————————————————
Dear devotees and Guru Maharaj,
Please accept my humble obeisance at your lotus feet.
?
I have few doubts since long.

1. Call for Haribol or Hare Krishna maha mantra to welcome someone.

2. Apprehension to say Haribol. 2a. Particularly in loud cry as
encouragement.

3. Real objections to chant Haribol, Hariboli
?
Doubt 1. Call for Haribol or Hare Krishna maha mantra to welcome someone.
I understand (I may be wrong), traditionally people were welcomed at the
door by dipak or arati or in ISKCON, devotees were welcoming Srila
Prabhupada by Hare Krishna Kirtan.
?
But for welcoming someone on stage, people would say: ?We welcome Mr. ABC?.
Later, following foreign culture, they will say: ?We welcome Mr. ABC with a
bouquet.?
?
Later in ISKCON devotees also started similarly saying: ? ?We
welcome/appreciate/thank XYZ prabhu by chanting three times ?Haribol? ?.
Then some devotees modified it as: ? We welcome/appreciate/thank ABC prabhu
by chanting three times Hare Krishna maha mantra (whole).?
?
It seems some innovation, though we are taught to follow acharyas and not
add or delete anything to philosophy or traditions. If someone called onto
stage and meanwhile Hare Krishna maha mantra is chanted till the person
comes to stage, that is all right, but when we announce: ? We welcome/
appreciate /thank XYZ prabhu by chanting three times Haribol or Hare Krishna
Mahamantra? that seems very strange to me as if Haribol or Hare Krishna maha
mantra is some vastu/object which is called for in respect of someone, be it
a devotee, who is called onto stage and is engaged in his service.
?
Of course when Srila Prabhupada was welcomed at Airports by devotees,
devotees did not say: ?We welcome you, Srila Prabhupada, by Hare Krishna
maha mantra?, though they sang It.
?
Doubt 2. Apprehension to say Haribol.
I understand that some devotees have apprehension in saying ?Haribol?. Some
devotees say, Guru Maharaj does not like it. I ask them what exactly Guru
Maharaj does not like. I feel devotees are exaggerating or interpreting
differently, Guru Maharaj must be indicating something else.
?
I may be wrong, but I saw in vedabase, many times Haribol is used to address
/call / greet someone, and to express exclamation, ecstasy, ?joy,
excitement, loud cry for encouragement, etc.
?
Here are some quotes:
To address / call
Sarvabhauma: Jai, Jai, Jai, Haribol, Haribol, Haribol! Sati-mata, Sati, my
good wife, Sati-mata! Come immediately, Sati Mata, I have great news, come
immediately!!!
From: The Story of Amogh, CC, Madhya- Ch-15
?
To greet (as we use Hare Krishna to greet someone)
Child: Haribol! Haribol! Haribol! Haribol!
Prabhup?da: Haribol! Haribol! Haribol! (devotees chant japa)
Child: Haribol! (child makes sounds for some time)
Prabhup?da: Let him play.
From: Conversations , 1976 Conversations, August 1976, Evening Darshan,
August 10, 1976, Tehran
?
Excitement / Ecstasy / Joy
Nity?nanda, coming out of His trance, instantly recognised the voice of Sri
Caitanya and with utmost respect He chanted out aloud, ?Haribol!? and upon
seeing the face of Gauracandra was instantly swept away on a wave of ecstasy
that is impossible to describe. Roaring like a lion, Nity?nanda constantly
uttered, ?Haribol! Haribol! Haribol!? and fell to the ground like a stick,
paralysed by intense joy.
From: Chaitanya Bhagavat- Antya – CB 7- Pastimes with Sri Gadadhar Pandit
?
Raising His (Nitai) arms and saying, ?Haribol! Haribol! Haribol!? and
shedding tears from His two lotus eyes.
From: Sri Nityanand Charitamrita, Antya Khanda, Prayers to Nityananda, by
Vrindavan das Thakur
?
Advaita ?c?rya would walk behind the Lord and loudly chant ?Haribol!
Haribol!? again and again.
From: CC Madhya 13.87
?
chale-bale l???u kh?y sri-madhuma?gala ?| bagala b?j?y ?ra drya hari-bolo ||
From: Bhoga Arati, Bhakti Vinoda Thakur
?
It is said that when he was an infant in his mother’s arms he wept
continually, and when the neighboring ladies cried Haribol he used to stop.
From: TLC Prologue
?
When the Lord danced, He raised His arms and shouted, “Haribol! Haribol!”
From: TLC 1-Teachings to Rupa Goswami
?
The five-faced Lord ?iva embraces N?rada Muni and repeatedly makes loud
screams of ecstatic joy, while Lord Brahm? dances very ecstatically and
exclaims, “All of you chant ‘Haribol ! Haribol!’”
?
Purport by Srila Prabhupada:
And seeing Lord ?iva, he’s dancing with N?rada Muni, Lord Brahm? also
joined, and he began to say, “All of you, kindly chant haribol, haribol!” In
this way, gradually the king of heaven, Indra, he also joined with great
satisfaction and began to dance and chant, “hari hari bol.”
From: Ma?gala-Vibh?na-Ekat?l?-4, Srila Bhakti Vinoda Thakur
?
2a. Apprehension particularly in loud cry as encouragement.
Also in war different war cries are used to invoke and increase the
enthusiasm of soldiers like, Jay Sri Rama or Jaya Bajarang Bali by devotees
of Hanuman or Har Har Mahadev by Shaivites or Sat Sri Akal by Sikhs. More
shorter they are, more effective?they are. By Gaudiya Vaishnavas ?Haribol?
as a loud cry is to encourage / enthuse devotees for something like kirtan
or book distribution or cleaning or any other seva.
?
Now after book distribution when someone?s name or score is announced,
anchor call for long Hare Krishna maha mantra. Is it appropriate as a loud
cry to encourage someone? Should it not be very short to shout like
Haribollllllllllii..with more emphasis on middle letter? In English Hurrayi,
Weldonei, Bravoi, etc, they are very short words but very effective and
similarly ours is Haribol, very short but more effective to encourage. Whole
Hare krishna mantra is not short and hence no possibility of putting weight
on particular letter in the middle to invoke enthusiasm.
?
Doubt 3: Objections:
I found some objections to Haribol from Vedabase arei
?
As Srila Prabhup?da sat on the small stage, Lokan?tha Mah?r?ja led his men
in an exuberant kirtan. After singing the standard prayers and the
mah?-mantra, he began chanting “gaura-nity?nanda bol, haribol, haribol;
gaura-sriadvaita bol, haribol, haribol; gaura-sri gad?dhara bol, haribol
haribol … with a lot of emphasis on the response of haribol, haribol.
Srila Prabhup?da suddenly signalled him from the stage to stop it; he
apparently didn’t like it, although he didn’t say why.
From: A Transcendental Dairy Vol-4, TD 4-4, New Delhi, August 30, 1976
?
After the temple darshan in the evening there is always a big kirtan during
?rati, especially with Lokan?tha Mah?r?ja and his men here, as they are
extremely enthusiastic chanters. However, they have developed a style of
kirtan that is a little different from the ISKCON norm. When the kirtan
reaches its climax, they gather around in a group and start singing
‘nit?i-gaura haribol, haribol, haribol, haribol.’ They get completely
carried away with chanting haribol. Sometimes they go on for five or ten
minutes singing back and forth, ‘haribol, haribol! haribol, haribol!
Sometimes it even goes on longer than the chanting of the mah?-mantra. Some
devotees are not happy about it, although no one can fault their enthusiasm.
?
Harikesh Swami objects to it quite strongly, and this evening he went into
the garden to ask Srila Prabhup?da’s opinion. Since we have never heard
Srila Prabhupada sing this mantra, Harikesh had doubts it was actually a
bona fide practice. Prabhup?da had stopped Lokan?tha’s kirtan at the pandala
in Delhi, but at that time he gave no reason why.
?
Now this evening, Prabhup?da, although not too upset by it, made it clear
that such chanting was not approved by him. He told us that we should mainly
chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra. He said ‘nit?i-gaura haribol’ is all
right, because they are bona fide names of the Lord, but the real point is
that we should strictly follow only what the ?c?ryas have given. This is the
process.
He said that the ?c?ryas only chant all five names of the Pancha-tattva, not
just two. So although there is no offence in chanting the names of
GauraNit?i, if we deviate and chant our own made-up mantras then this is
guror-Avajnya, or disobeying the orders of the spiritual master, and the
line of ?c?ryas. To make advancement in spiritual life one must always
follow the line of ?c?ryas.
From: A Transcendental Dairy Vol-4, TD 4-5, Sri Vrindavan Dham
?
I have also heard from other devotees, ? Srila Prabhupada says: ?Ours? is
Hare Krishna movement and not Haribol movement? ? but could not find any
reference. Some devotee can help me in this regard.
?
I have mixed my doubts with my opinions (which may be wrong), please ignore
it and clear my doubts. I ask for forgiveness for giving my own opinions.
But devotees please correct me with Srila Prabhupada? and Guru Maharaj?s
words.
?
Your servant,
?
Vijay Krishna das.

——————————————————–
To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send an email to:
BVKS.Sanga-Owner@pamho.net

Facebook Twitter Digg

Copyright © 2012 · All Rights Reserved · BVKS · This site is created, managed, and maintained by the disciples of His Holiness Bhakti Vikasa Swami