Krsna Kirtana Songs est. 2001 www.kksongs.org
Myriads of Tongues; One Name
Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu had predicted that chanting
will take place in all towns and villages. Bhaktivinoda Thakura pioneered the
idea of spreading Krsna Consciousness to the West. Bhaktivinoda Thakura wrote
many essays, books, and songs in Bengali as well as English, in order to preach
to the common person of the time. Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura wrote many
essays to preach Krsna Consciousness and ordered his disciple,
Abhaya-Caranaravinda Dasa, to preach the message of Sri Caitanya to the Western
nations. Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura’s disciple, better known as Srila
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, fulfilled this mission in such a way that
he not only preached in India and America, but he traveled around the world in
non-English speaking countries, yet was able to turn hearts to gold by having
people give up sinful activities, surrender to the Lord, and learn how to the
love the Lord. Even after the departure of Srila Prabhuapda in 1977, the mission
continues to grow all over the world, and the preaching of Krsna Consciousness
has become the most successful.
In collecting songs, a strong realization came about
the true diversity of Krsna Conscious songs. This article will encompass
languages of the world and how the language has been blessed to be of Krsna’s
service.
The most common language in devotional songs will be
Sanskrit or Bengali. As the Vedas, Puranas, Upanisads, and literature compiled
by Srila Vyasadeva are the most ancient scriptures, the language of the
scriptures, Sanskrit, will be the oldest. Most of the Puranas and other Vedic
literatures will have songs in glorification of the Lord. Even well after the
decline in Sanskrit as a spoken language, many scriptures such as scriptures by
the six Goswamis of Vrndavana, are in Sanskrit. Srila Jayadeva Goswami’s Gita
Govinda, Srila Rupa Goswami’s Stavamala, Srila
Raghunatha Das Goswami’s Stavavali, Visvanatha
Cakravarti Thakura’s Stavamrta Lahari,
Jiva Goswami’s Gopala Campu, and Gunaraja Khan’s Krsna Vijaya are
many examples of Sanskrit songbooks created after the Vedic period.
The other most popular language found in devotional
songs is Bengali. Because the Brahma Gaudiya Vaisnava sampradaya took place in
Bengal, as well as the appearance site of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His
associates, it is not unnatural that a great amount of devotional songs are in
the Bengali language. Initially, Bengali had a touch of Sanskrit flavor.
However, as time progressed, the pronunciation used in Bengali evolved into a
collection unusual ways of pronouncing words. Please visit KKSongs Bengali
Pronunciation to understand the difference in pronunciation scheme.
After Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu left the world in the 1500s, many of devotees
from His movement wrote devotional texts and songbooks in Bengali. The first
one was the Caitanya Caritamrta which was
written by Srila Krsnadasa Kaviraja. The Caitanya Caritamrta encompasses the
earthly pastimes of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Songbooks from authors like
Narottama Dasa Thakura (Prarthana, Prema Bhakti Candrika) and Bhaktivinoda Thakura (Baul Sangit, Gitamala, Gitavali, Kalyana Kalpataru,
Saranagati) consume
nearly 35% of songs found on KKSongs. Other Bengali devotees who wrote
devotional songs include Vrndavana Das Thakura, Locana Das Thakura, Govinda Das
Thakura, and Vasudeva Ghosh. In total, 57% of all devotional songs found on
KKSongs (1,013 songs total, up to
Ranking in second place is Braja Bhasa. The word
“Braja Bhasa” translates to “the language of Vraja.” When heard it sounds like
very classical or pure Hindi. Many Vrndavana based songs, as well as songs by
classical authors like Sura Dasa, Rai Dasa, and Mira Bai, are in Braja Bhasa.
Another language right next to Braja Bhasa is Hindi. Hindi is the official and
was the most commonly spoken language of
There are five bhajans in the language of Oriya.
Oriya is the language in the east Indian state of Orissa. Orissa is the home of
Jagannatha Puri, where the annual Sri Jagannatha Ratha Yatra takes place.
Naturally, most of the Oriya bhajans are glorifying Lord Jagannatha, although
there are two bhajans glorifying other aspects of Krsna tattva. Oriya bhajans
found on KKSongs are He Jagannatha Na
Jana Ki Mohara, Radha Krsna
Nama Citamani Ki by Gopala Krsna Dasa, Paramananda He
Madhava by Gaura Govinda
Swami, Jagabandhu
He Gosain and Jagannatha
He Kichi Magun Nahin Mun Tote which are both written by famous
Jagannatha devotee Salabega.
Still remaining in
One Nepali bhajan is
available to us glorifying Lord Hari. The song’s first words are Jaya Hari Jaya
Hari Jaya Jaya Hari. This song has a nice and simple form in lyrics
and meaning. There are hardly many devotional songs in Nepali, as many songs in
Nepali are geared towards Buddhism.
We move down to
Moving westbound, we hit
the western state of
Lastly, the most
contemporary bhajan in an old language is Yeh To Prem Ki
Bata Hai in Urdu. Urdu is a language which is spoken in
In discussing languages of
devotional songs, why should this topic be confined to
Spanish has become a prominent language in the
devotional world, as Atulananda Acarya and B.A. Paramadvaiti Swami translated
many Vaisnava songs into poetic form. Many Spanish speaking devotees which be
able relish the meaning of the Vaisnava songs in a new manner. It is not
uncommon to hear devotional songs chanted in Spanish in South American temples,
with respect to the authors of the original devotional works.
Of course, there may be more languages that are
fortunate to have devotional songs rendered in them. Krsna’s name is unlimited,
and so are all of the tongues that glorify his name. As the Krsna Consciousness
movement spreads and chanting of the holy name increases, more devotional songs
will arise and more foreign languages will at least bear one devotional song
through them. By Srila Prabhupada’s efforts, it is likely that a Swahili
speaking devotee, Bengali speaking devotee, an English speaking devotee, and a
Chinese speaking devotee will end up in the same room, and not understand what
class a devotee is saying in Russian, but once class is over, and they see the
Deities, everyone will offer obeisances, and chant and dance together, as if
they were all speaking the same language on the same platform. One face of the
world will glorify Prabhupada for Mangala Arati, while the other is glorifying
Prabhupada before the onset of Gaura Arati. Such is the beauty of this
worldwide institution of Krsna Consciousness.