Srila Prabhupada’s Kirtana Standards
Title: Srila Prabhupada’s Kirtana Standards: A Handbook
Author: Jayadvaita Swami
Publisher: Bhaktivedanta Library Services
Publication Date: 2023
Format: Paperback
Page Count: Approximately 256 pages
The congregational chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra was brought to the West in 1966 by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who would soon become the Founder-Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.
For the process of congregational chanting, known as kirtana, what were the standards Srila Prabhupada set? What instructions and guidelines did he give? What did he teach by his example? What did he say about the spiritual purposes of kirtana and about its spiritual essence? Srila Prabhupada represented a long-established spiritual tradition. How did he represent that tradition, in particular when transplanting it from India, introducing it to new people in markedly different modern cultures in different parts of the world?
Through research in Srila Prabhupada's books and letters, and through testimony from Srila Prabhupada's direct disciples, the author (himself a direct disciple) addresses these questions. Far from being merely a theoretical discussion, the book offers instructions from Srila Prabhupada on particulars of what he wanted his followers to do and not do.The book is especially intended for members of the Society he founded and led. Yet other devotees of Krishna kirtana may also wish to know and follow the standards set by Srila Prabhupada, who spread the chanting of Hare Krishna all over the world.
