Shri
Chaitanya Upanishad - Atharva Veda
In the Shri
Chaitanya Upanishad-Atharva Veda (11-14), the maha-mantra is glorified:
(11) sa eva mula-mantram japati, harir iti krishna iti rama iti.
“The Supreme Lord (who will appear in Kali-yuga as Lord Gauranga) will chant a
mantra consisting of His own names Hari, Krishna, and Rama (i.e. the
maha-mantra: Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama
Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare).
(12) harati hridaya-granthim vasana-rupam iti harih. krishih smarane tac ca
nas tad-ubhaya-melanam iti krishnah. ramayati sarvam iti rama ananda-rupah.
atra shloko bhavati.
“These three seed names of the maha-mantra of the Supreme Lord (Hari,
Krishna, and Rama) may be explained in the following way: {1} ‘Hari’ means He
who removes (harati) the knot of material desire in the hearts of the living
entities; {2} ‘Krishna’ is composed of the two syllables ‘krish’ and ‘na’.
'Krish' means He who attracts the minds of all living entities, and ‘na’ means
the supreme transcendental pleasure; and {3} ‘Rama’ means He who is the
personification of all transcendental bliss.
(13) mantro guhyah paramo bhakti-vedyah.
“The maha-mantra is the topmost and most confidential of all mantras. It can
only be understood when one engages in the pure devotional service of the
Supreme Lord.
(14) namany ashtav-ashta ca shobhanani, tani nityam ye japanti dhiras. te
vai mayam atitaranti, 'nanyah paramam-mantram parama-rahasyam nityam
avartayati.
“Those who seriously desire to make progress in spiritual life should
continually chant these sixteen beautiful names (maha-mantra) of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, and in this way they will cross beyond the bondage of
the illusory enery in this material world. There is no other mantra which is as
powerful as this supremely great and most confidential of all mantras, which
has directly descended from the spiritual world.”