(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 13 January 2014, Mayapur, India, Lecture: Kirtan Academy 1)
Kirtan happens on the pure transcendental platform. It is an interesting combination of Krsna’s name and a particular melody, a particular raga, which brings out a mood.
It is said that there are sixteen-thousand, one-hundred and eight ragas that are spiritual because there are sixteen-thousand, one-hundred and eight gopis.
Actually every living entity has its own raga, everyone has his own way of singing. Sometimes, we say that some people sing “off” but that is not a fact; they just have their own raga in their own musical scale. So, every living entity has its own raga, the birds have their own raga and all the animals have their own ragas but the sixteen-thousand, one-hundred and eight gopis have their ragas which are spiritual.
So these ragas are known to some in the material world but not to me! I don’t come from a raga background; I come from a rock background and it does happen to me that raga turns into rock – what can I do!? It’s like, somehow or other, it seems to happen to me sometimes but I have always quoted something which is like the Krsna consciousness “Fifth Amendment”:
nāmnām akāri bahudhā nija-sarva-śaktis tatrārpitā niyamitaḥ smaraṇe na kālaḥ etādṛśī tava kṛpā bhagavan mamāpi durdaivam īdṛśam ihājani nānurāgah, (Siksastakam, verse 2)
That basically, there are no hard and fast rules in this chanting so therefore I claim innocence; I am not responsible, rock will do as long as it will connect us to Krsna. Rupa Goswami says that whether it is Vedic or just a practical thing from this world, whatever is favourable for the service of Krsna, is accepted.
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Srila Prabhupada once stated that we can sing the Hare Krishna mantra ” in the tune of our own country”