Music

The Best of Mahatma Das

All the recordings I did up to 2000 were released on cassette. When the cassettes were sold out, I didn’t reproduce them. When we came into the digital age, I contemplated putting everything on CD. Rather than incur the time and expense of doing this, and considering that these recordings had already been widely distributed, my engineer Krsna Caitanya suggested I do a Best Of Mahatma Das recording by making a compilation of all my music and putting it on one CD.

I took two or three of my favorites off each cassette recording and then had them digitally re-mastered. In order to fit the largest number of songs on the CD, some of tracks are only partial cuts of the song.

1)    Mangala Carana (from Heart and Soul)
2)    Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya (from Our Only Shelter)
3)    Bhagavad-gita (from Stay High Forever)
4)    Brahma-Samhita (from The Brahma Samhita)
5)    Siksastakam (from Heart and Soul)
6)    Prayers of King Kulaksekhara (from Our Only Shelter)
7)    Live Kirtana (from Stay High Forever)
8)    Live Kirtana (from Stay High Forever)
9)    Maha mantra (from Heart and Soul)
10)  Maha mantra (from Your Life Will Be Sublime)
11)  Krishnafest Kirtan (from Higher Dimensions)
12)  Maha mantra (from Our Only Shelter)
13)  Maha mantra (from Your Life Will Be Sublime)
14)  Maha mantra (from Heart and Soul)

Brahma Samhita and Isopanisad  (Mahatma Das)

1) Brahma Samhita Sanskrit
2) Brahma Samhita English
3) Isopanisad Sanskrit
4) Isopanisad English


The Brahma Samhita was recited by Lord Brahma at the beginning of creation in his mature stage of realization. It describes his vision of Krsna and the spiritual world.

You can find these prayers at:

http://www.dharmakshetra.com/sages/relaization%20of%20brahma.htm

I am chanting verses 29 through 59. I keep the original Sanskrit meter and add chords and instrumentation. It is such a powerful and mystical prayer that when I perform this live I notice how people are especially enchanted by it. I think they sense that it is not of this world (or maybe that it is taking me out of this world as I chant it).

This production actually came about by accident in 1989. In my home I would sometimes chant the Brahma Samhita while playing chords on the harmonium. Since I found it so enchanting to use these chords, while working on another project, Our Only Shelter, I took a break and recorded this chord progression for fun while my engineer was out.

By the time he returned I had the basic tracks recorded. Working on Our Only Shelter was tedious and time consuming, and since we both really liked what I had just done with the Brahma Samhita, we thought we would work on it for awhile as a diversion. (At that point, we had no intention of making it into a full project). Miraculously, we finished the music in a few hours. We loved it so much that we decided right there that I should sing the verses and release this as a separate production.

The next week I recorded the vocals, and since Dravida was living in San Diego at that time, he was kind of enough to read the translations.

I have never worked on a recording project that happened so effortlessly. And this is the funny part: it became my most popular recording.

Since it takes about forty minutes to recite the Sanskrit and English, it left room for another track. As a new devotee, we would often chant the Isopanisad, so I thought it would be nice to record all the verses to the melody we used to use. My idea was that by making the music attractive, devotees could repeatedly listen to it, and by doing so they would automatically memorize the verses.

As I said, the interesting thing about this production is that it became the most popular recording I ever made. I continually meet devotees who tell me how much they like the Brahma Samhita and how they always listen to it, play it for their Deities, etc. The funny thing is that its popularity so overshadowed my other music that many devotees don’t even realize I have five other recordings.

I travel a lot and it’s common for devotees to ask, “Are you the Mahatma Das who sings the Brahma Samhita” (as if I were some rock star or something)? It’s funny how a recording we did to divert ourselves from our work on Our Only Shelter became so popular.

Krishna Caitanya, the engineer (Bhakta Chris at the time), played an integral role in arranging and mixing the music.

Mahatma Das, Titiksava Karunika, Bhakta Mike  and the Krishnafest Band

Orginial westernized maha upbeat maha mantra melodies performed live by the Krishnafest Band and chanted by Mahatma Das and Titiksava Karunika.  Produced in 1992.

I joined Krsnafest in 1992 when daily devotees were chanting on the mall in Washington, DC. Each day hundreds and hundreds of high school kids would chant and dance with the devotees. How did this happen? We were doing upbeat kirtan with keyboards, guitars and drums and this naturally attracted them. Plus, the Krsnafest brahmacaris were expert at encouraging people to chant and dance. The kids loved the kirtans and would often say it was the most amazing thing they had ever done. Naturally they would ask if we had recordings of what we were playing. So we took a day and made a live recording of the main kirtans we were playing at the mall that season.

Titiksava Karunika spent a few weeks with Krsnafest that year so we were fortunate to have him sing and play guitar on this recording. He also helped with the recording along with Tapasya. The production was then given to Bhakta Mike (who also leads one kirtana) who took care of the mastering and the production of the cassettes.

Gunagrahi Maharaja is on drums, Dhirodatta  on bass, Dwija Mani and Titkasava Karunika on guitar, Bhakta Mike, Sankarsana, and myself play keyboards. All these devotees chant as well as Badarayana and Sacinandana.

The production fully imbibes the spirit of Krsnafest live in Washington, DC, a program that attracted thousands of young people to Krsna consciousness with its lively kirtans and dynamic presentation of Krsna consciousness.

Sung by Mahatma Das

 

Original and traditional melodies for the maha mantra and other prayers sung by Mahatma das and accompanied by mellow westernized contemporary orchestration. Produced in 1989.

1)    Pranams to Srila Prabhupada, Panca-tattva mantra, maha mantra
2)    Om namo bhagavate vasudevaya, maha mantra
3)    Prayers of King Kulashekara, maha mantra (verse and translation below).
4)    Maha mantra

In the late 80’s major breakthroughs were being made in music technology. Synthesizers were able to play sounds of real instruments and be controlled and manipulated by computers in ways only previously imagined. At the same time, multi-track recorders were becoming commonplace. These breakthroughs became impossible for me to ignore, and I bit the bullet and invested in some synthesizers, a computer, music software and an 8-track recorder.

Since this was just the beginning of the era of computers controlling synthesizers, there were all kinds of bugs to workout. As we set up our studio, we spent endless hours getting everything to work. We even had to buy a second computer to run a new software program because we ran into so many glitches with the original software we were using. It’s was both agony and ecstasy. The ecstasy was that we could do things never before possible. Now from our studio we could create multi-track orchestrations to frame the maha mantra. But the agony was getting everything to work. It was common for us to spend hours on the phone talking to technicians helping us troubleshoot. It got so bad that on many occasions Krsna Caitanya wanted to quit (along with chanting the maha mantra, we often chanted the mantra, “stupid computer”).  But we persisted, finally worked out the kinks, and in the end were able to produce a nice recording.

Having a full orchestra play the backing for a kirtan had long intrigued me.  Now I had a shot at it, albeit without a real orchestra. The orchestrations are quite simple, but they add the mood I wanted to create.

On the third song, the Prayers of King Kulasekhara, I use the same melody Srila Prabhupada used to chant this song. The kirtan following this prayer is one of my all-time favorites. While chanting, I tried to enter the mood of King Kulasekhara who was praying to remember Krsna at the time of death.

Surprisingly, many mothers have told me how much their children love this recording and how it calms them down (it is very mellow). In fact, several mothers told me that they use this recording to put their kids to sleep at night.


Prayers to King Kulasekhara

kåñëa tvadéya-pada-paìkaja-païjaräntam
adyaiva me viçatu mänasa-räja-haàsaù
präëa-prayäëa-samaye kapha-väta-pittaiù
kaëöhävarodhana-vidhau smaraëaà kutas te

"My Lord Kåñëa, I pray that the swan of my mind may immediately sink down to the stems of the lotus feet of Your Lordship and be locked in their network; otherwise at the time of my final breath, when my throat is choked up with cough, how will it be possible to think of You?"

1. The Twenty-six Qualities of a Devotee
2. Verses Describing the Qualities of a Devotee
3. The Names of Krsna in the Bhagavad-gita
4. The Tweny-five Qualities of Srimati Radharani
5. Lord Caitanya Sings Sweetly (Sri Nama)
6. The Ten Incarnations of Vishnu (Sri Dasavatara-stotra)
7. Oh Lord of the Universe (Jagannatha Swami)
8. Dance, Dance, Dance (Radha Krsna Bol Bol)

(words to these songs are in separate files)

While Arci devi dasi was working at the Back To Godhead mail order department, parents would regularly inquire from her about new material for kids. So she asked me if I could produce songs for children and she gave me a few ideas. I told her I would and that I had been thinking about this for years.
While on a trip to Texas, my wife Jahnava and I further discussed the project with Tapasvini, the then head of the temple children’s school in Houston. She gave us the idea to use music to teach sastra. I immediately appreciated the idea and knew it would be a fun and easy way for our children to learn the scriptures, both in Sanskrit and English.
After returning from Texas, I discussed the project with Krsna Kanti Prabhu, a professional recording engineer who had done a similar project for a Christian group. He gave me useful information that I put into practice. Shortly after, I recorded the first song, The Twenty-six Qualities of a Devotee, with the Los Angeles temple school students. We did this as a test run. The children and parents loved it, so we knew we were on the right track.
Just after this, I went to Vrndavana for three months. While there I wrote another seven children’s songs. After returning, I relocated in Dallas, upgraded my studio, arranged the music for the songs with the help of Krsna Caitanya and recorded the vocals with the help of my wife, several devotee singers, and the Dallas temple school students
When the original recording went all over the world in the late 90’s, something interesting happened: moms loved them as well. So, although this was intended for kids (we went out of our way to have kids sing), devotees of all ages can enjoy the songs.  And the benefit of listening is that you automatically memorize sastra, bhajans and prayers.

Narration
Jahnava devi dasi
Lead Vocals
Mahatma dasa: Verses, Sri Nama, Qualities of Radharani,  Names in the Gita  
Vrakesvara Pandita dasa: Radha Krsna Bol Bol
Jahnava devi dasi: Qualities of a Devotee,  Names in the Gita,
Indranilamani  devi  dasi: Dasavatara-stora, Qualities of Radharani
Dallas Gurukula: Jagannatha Swami

Background vocals
Candravali devi dasi and Indranilamani devi dasi: Radha Krsna Bol Bol
Los Angeles Gurukula - Gaura Nitai, Krsna Sakti, Sumukhi, Sita:  26 Qualities  of a Devotee
Dallas Gurukula – Radhika, Jahnavi, Gayatri, Amrita, Radha Kunda, Bhadra, Kaliya Krsna, Sesa: All other songs  

All songs and music written, arranged and played by Mahatma dasa except for :
Dasavatara-stotra: Sarvatma dasa and Antonio Artese
The 26 Qualities of a Devotee: Michael Caulton and Mahatma dasa
Radha Krsna Bol Bol: Krsna Caitanya dasa and Mahatma dasa

Adaptations of songs and verses in English by Mahatma dasa.

Engineered and  recorded by Mahatma dasa
Mixed and mastered by Mahatma dasa and Bhakta Raoul

Thanks to Arci devi dasi who inspired this project, Tapasvini devi dasi and Krsna Kanti Prabhu who gave the ideas, Krsna Caitanya Prabhu (my engineering instructor) and his wife Vaisnavi devi dasi who let me live in their house while I was working on the music, Nandulala Prabhu in Los Angeles and Dharma dasa in Dallas, both who allowed me to set up my studio in their homes, Indranilamani devi dasi for her time and enthusiasm, the Dallas devotees for their support and cooperation, and my wife Jahnava devi dasi who made many sacrifices to allow me the time needed to work on this project.

Mahatma Das, Rasamanjari dasi and the Krishnafest Band

Eight original westernized maha mantra melodies performed live by the Krishnafest Band using modern instruments. Chanted by Mahatma Das, Rasamanjari Dasi and the Krishnafest Band. Performed between 1994 and 1999 and produced in 2002.  

Krishnafest was a program aimed at attracting people to Krishna consciousness through lively soft rock kirtans using guitars, portable electronic drums and keyboards. Krishnafest attracted many devotee musicians and would perform at festivals and colleges. But it was most well known for its kirtans every summer at the mall in Washington, DC, a place where every day thousands of high schools students would get to hear the holy names for the first time in their lives. Wherever we performed, our objective was to get people to chant and dance with us. With our encouragement, people really got into it (especially at festivals that sold beer!)

After Krishnafest officially ended, several of the former Krishnafest members were living in Dallas, Texas. I was also staying there and when there was opportunity to perform, we would resurrect the Krishnafest Band. The difference now was that many of the performances were done at Kalachandji’s restaurant and the goal wasn’t to get people to dance (since they were eating). These recordings are more mellow than the one’s we recorded at outdoor festivals and colleges.  

Rasamanjari dasi, a singer and guitarist who had played in a band before joining Iskcon spent several years in Dallas and would often chant with the Krishnafest band. She leads some of the kirtans on this production (and also plays guitar).

Gunagrahi Maharaja is on congas, Dhirodatta on guitar and bass, Dwijamani on guitar, Misra Bhagavan also plays bass and Rajesh played tablas.  

The back-up singers are Gunagrahi Maharaj, Dhirodatta, Dwijamani, Jai Nitai, and Indranilamani.

I never intended to release these recordings. I would just give copies to the band members. When they would play them devotees would ask for copies. So I decided I would go through all the recordings (about twenty hours) and pick the best from everything we did and release it as the last Krishnafest Band offering.

Original and traditional maha mantra melodies accompanied by synthesizers and chanted by Mahatma Das, Krsna das Kaviraj, and Brihat Mrdunga. Recorded in San Diego in 1986

When I became a devotee in 1970, I donated my guitar to the temple and resigned to give up my long cherished desire to write songs, play in a band, and spend endless hours in a recording studio producing records (my other guitar, which would be a bit of a collector’s item today, was stolen a few months before I joined the temple). I thought I had buried these ambitions forever until one day in 1986, a synthesizer and 8-track recorder landed in my lap. Not only that, a devotee recorder engineer and a devotee who purchased one of the first drum machines on the market were both ready and willing to help me produce my first album.

For years I thought it would be wonderful to record the maha-mantra with music that is attractive to the western mind. I sensed that this would get more people to chant. I visualized the music to be like a frame, something to enhance the beauty and attraction of the maha mantra.

With this in mind I decided to take advantage of this equipment. I had been performing “westernized kirtans” live at public places for the past few years, so I had plenty of material to record.

This was the first “official” recording I made as a devotee. It was unique at the time since other than Krsna Prema Prabhu, no one had recorded kirtans or bhajans using synthesizers and drum machines.

I intended this project to be solely for non devotees. Many temple guests would tell me how the music really got them to into the chanting, so I was satisfied that its purpose was served. But something unforeseen happened: all kinds of devotees were telling me how much they liked it (I couldn’t control who purchased it). I was thinking to myself, “But I didn’t produce this for you, you are not supposed to like it. This is not traditional kirtan. This is just to get non devotees into the chanting.”

This response came as a total surprise to me (even senior devotees and leaders told me they listened to my recordings). Originally, I had no plans to record anything after this, but because so many devotees encouraged me, I decided to make recording one of my regular services.

This is a simple production, but the bliss I and the other devotees who chanted with me were experiencing comes through the recording.

I produced many recordings after this, but one of my favorite songs remains the fourth song on this project. This is an Indian raga that takes on a special quality by adding chords (chords are not used in traditional Indian music). The best way to describe this kirtan is that it’s halfway between the East and the West. This blend gives it a unique quality.

I played the keyboard, a Roland Juno 6 (I think) loaned to by Parikit Prabhu, a great devotee musician (expert in classical and rock guitar and sitar). The 8-track recorder was loaned to me by Jessie Horner, Parikit’s roommate when they both were attending UCSD. Yogananda played and programmed the drum machine (this was all new stuff in 1986) and Jayatu, a former recording engineer, recorded and mixed the project.