Text 31] Instructions for Civilized Human Beings 231
brahmeti paramatmeti
bhagavan iti sabdyate
‘Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this non-
dual substance Brahman, Paramatma or Bhagavan.” Unless one is fully
convinced of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one has the tendency
to become an impersonalist yogi searching for the Supreme Lord within
the core of his heart (dhydndvasthita-tad-gatena manasd posyanti yam
yoginah). Here the chanting of omkdra is recommended because in the
beginning of transcendental realization, instead of chanting the Hare
Krsna mahd-mantra, one may chant omkara (pranava). There is no dif-
ference between the Hare Krsna mahda-mantra and omkara because both
of them are sound representations of the Supreme Personality of God-
head. Pranavah sarva-vedesu. In all Vedic literatures, the sound vibra-
tion omkara is the beginning. Om namo bhagavate vasudevaya. The dif-
ference between chanting ormkdra and chanting the Hare Krsna mantra
is that the Hare Krsna mantra may be chanted without consideration of
the place or the sitting arrangements recommended in Bhagavad-gita
6.11):
Sucau dese pratisthapya
sthiram dsanam aétmanah
naty-ucchritam ndtinicamn
cailajina-kusottaram

“To practice yoga, one should go to a secluded place and should lay kusa
grass on the ground and then cover it with a deerskin and a soft cloth.
The seat should neither be too high nor too low and should be situated in
a sacred place.”” The Hare Krsna mantra may be chanted by anyone,
without consideration of the place or how one sits. Sri Caitanya Maha-
prabhu has openly declared, niyamitah smarane na kdlah. In chanting
the Hare Krsna mahd-mantra there are no particular injunctions regard-
ing one’s sitting place. The injunction niyamitah smarane na kdlah
includes desa, kala and patra—place, time and the individual. Therefore
anyone may chant the Hare Krsna mantra, without consideration of the
time and place. Especially in this age, Kali-yuga, it is very difficult to find
a suitable place according to the recommendations of Bhagavad-gita. The
Hare Krsna mahd-mantra, however, may be chanted at any place and
any time, and this will bring results very quickly. Yet even while
