Is there a difference

July 19, 2003

Is there a difference between greeting somebody with "Haribol" and "Hare Krishna"??? Is it that you say one to somebody younger than you and the other to older persons? what is the difference?

Thank you for your help

yasodanandana · July 19, 2003

there's no rules, both are trascendental and good for everyone

Guruvani · July 19, 2003

When I left ISKCON and joined with Bhakti Sudhir Maharaja in a group of devotees that were taking siksha from Sridhar Maharaja, I was told back then that greeting senior devotees by saying "Haribol" was not proper etiquette as it is a way of ordering somebody to chant Hare Krishna. It is the same thing as meeting a senior devotee and telling him "chant Hare Krishna". It might be more appropriate for an older devotee to say that to a junior devotee but it is not really a customary Vaishnava greeting anyway.

The "haribol" greeting was not a greeting that has been passed down through the parampara. Usually, when Prabhupada greeted somebody it was with a "Hare Krishna" not with a "Haribol".

The "Haribol" greeting was probably an ISKCON slogan that was introduced by some American devotees. We do not see in the Chaitanya Charitamrita where devotees are greeing each other with "Haribol". We do have references where Lord Chaitanya would chant "HaribolHaribol" in his Sankirtan.

I personally don't use the "Haribol" greeting as I think it was an ISKCON slogan introduced by the hippy disciples of Srila Prabhupada and was nothing tha Prabhupada actually taught his disciples as a proper greeting.

We never hear Prabhupada end a lecture with "haribol" or greet a guest or disciple with "haribol". Prabhupada would most often just say "Hare Krishna". That is my greeting. I just say "Hare Krishna". The "Haribol" slogan was Mahaprabhu's slogan and it is hard to find in the Chaitanya Charitamrita where anyone but Mahaprabhu has used this slogan.

livingentity · July 19, 2003

similar to that.

I was also told to greet someone with Hare Krsna and when the departing say Haribol to help remind them to chant the Lord's Names.

However, I often find myself using Haribol as I greeting also. Didn't Prabhupada say something about this once when He noted the over-use of the word?

yasodanandana · July 19, 2003

guruvani:"When I left ISKCON and joined with Bhakti Sudhir Maharaja in a group of devotees that were taking siksha from Sridhar Maharaja, I was told back then that greeting senior devotees by saying "Haribol" was not proper etiquette as it is a way of ordering somebody to chant Hare Krishna. It is the same thing as meeting a senior devotee and telling him "chant Hare Krishna". It might be more appropriate for an older devotee to say that to a junior devotee but it is not really a customary Vaishnava greeting anyway."

i agree (correcting my mistake), it is logic, i cannot say "chant hare krsna" to a senior devotee

for the hippy origin of haribol greeting...

i have heard this greeting practiced by senior devotees of some maths in india, and, used as a greeting, in a 1960 movie on chaitanya mahaprabhu (not a bona fide source....... only for demostrating that it is older than hippies;))

beeing a "little" fan of prabhupada biographies i can say that his greeting was surely "harekrsna"

July 19, 2003

Text: Srila Bhaktivinoda Thâkura

Melody: Srila Bhaktivinoda Thâkura

Singers: Anand Aadhar & Sakhya Devi

RÂDHÂ-KRISHNA BOL

Chant, chant "Radha-Krsna!" Everyone chant!

(1)

râdhâ-krsna 'bol bol bolo re sobâi

When Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityananda

(ei) sikhâ diyâ, sab nadîyâ,

came dancing through Nadia,

phirche nece 'gaura-nitâi

they gave these teachings:

haribol, bolo bolo bolo re sobâi.