Srila Prabhupada on sweet kirtan

[Guest guest]

Of note to you perhaps is an instruction that Srila Prabhupad

gave many many many times, mostly to leaders, but on occasion

to groups of devotees. He with held this instruction from

general assemblies, my understanding being that he did not

want to discourage devotees from chanting, even when the

chanting was not properly done. This instruction I have

noted is one of Srila Prabhupads pet peeves, one of the

things that annoyed him the most of all the ways that

kirtan was being "done".

 

We had a kirtan at the Ram lila grounds, 1976 March and

(The following is from a letter by Tejiyas Prabhu)

 

Dinanath was leading, and tens of thousands were attending

and chanting. After the program Srila Prabhupad 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 thinkg of the

kirtan?" Understanding this was just a lead in to his

givine me an instruction I answered with a bland "it was

OK".

 

Srila Prabhpads definition to me then was as follows:

 

"No it was not nice, it was clanging and banging.

Kirtan should be sweet and melodious [my note ref from Gaura Arati]

Come let us go to the ashram and have kirtan"

 

And so we went, Srila Prabhupad, his servant, Baradraj, and myself.

Execept his servant, the three of us sat in his room and Bararaj

played harmonium on the request of Srila Prabhupad, and we had

a long kirtan. On S.P's signal the kirtan ended. He looked at

me, smiling, a little shaking his head, 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 kirtan, and saying "No screaming and shouting"

 

So kirtan is not, clanging and banging, screaming and shouting.

Kirtan is sweet and melodious.

 

The beautiful song to glorify the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

If a small ray of the beauty of that song would enter the heart

then one would be so over flooded with love of the Supreme

Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna, that one could only sing

his holy names, and the name of his divine consort, with

sweetness and melodiousness.