13 / The Mahā-mantra
The importance of chanting  Hare Krṣṇa ,  Hare Krṣṇa ,  Krṣṇa Krṣṇa ,  Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma ,  Hare Rāma ,  Rāma Rāma ,  Hare Hare  is very strongly stressed in the Second Canto, 1st Chapter, 11th verse, of the  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  in the following way: Śukadeva Gosvāmī tells Mahārāj Parīkṣit: “My dear King, if one is spontaneously attached to the chanting of the  Hare Krṣṇa mahā-mantra , it is to be understood that he has attained the highest perfectional stage.” It is specifically mentioned that the  karmīs  who are aspiring after the fruitive results of their activities, the salvationists who are aspiring to become one with the Supreme Person, and the  yogīs  who are aspiring after mystic perfections can achieve the results of all perfectional stages simply by chanting the  mahā-mantra . Śukadeva uses the word  nirṇītam , which means “it is already decided.” He was a liberated soul and therefore could not accept anything which was not conclusive. So Śukadeva Gosvāmī especially stresses that it is already concluded that one who has come to the stage of chanting the  Hare Krṣṇa mantra  with determination and steadiness must be considered as having already passed the trials of fruitive activities, mental speculation and mystic  yoga .
The same thing is confirmed in the  Ādi Purāṇa  by Kṛṣṇa. While addressing Arjuna He says, “Anyone who is engaged in chanting My transcendental name must be considered to be always associating with Me. And I may tell you frankly that for such a devotee I become easily purchased.”
In the  Padma Purāṇa  also it is stated: “The chanting of the  Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra  is present only on the lips of a person who has for
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