10 / Techniques of Hearing and Memorizing
The beginning of Krṣṇa consciousness and devotional service is hearing, in Sanskrit called  śravaṇam . All people should be given the chance to come and join devotional parties so that they may hear. This hearing is very important for progressing in Krṣṇa consciousness. When one links his ears to give aural reception to the transcendental vibrations he can quickly become purified and cleansed in the heart. Lord Caitanya has affirmed that this hearing is very important. It cleanses the heart of the contaminated soul so that he becomes quickly qualified to enter into devotional service and to understand Krṣṇa consciousness.
In the  Garuḍa Purāṇa  the stress on hearing is expressed very nicely. It is said there: “The state of conditioned life in the material world is just like a man lying unconscious, having been bitten by a snake. This is because both such unconscious states can be ended by the sound of a  mantra .” When a man is snake-bitten he does not die immediately, but first becomes unconscious and remains in a comatose condition. Anyone who is in the material world is also sleeping, as he is ignorant of his actual self or his actual duty and his relationship with God. So materialistic life means that one is bitten by the snake of  māyā , illusion, and thus, without any Krṣṇa consciousness, he is almost dead. Now the so-called dead man bitten by a snake can be brought back again to life by the chanting of some  mantra . There are expert chanters of these  mantras  who can perform this feat. Similarly, one can be brought back into Krṣṇa consciousness from the deadly unconscious state of material life by hearing of the  mahā-mantra :  Hare Krṣṇa, Hare Krṣṇa, Krṣṇa Krṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare.
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