The word saṅkīrtana means “complete kīrtana.” It has external and internal meanings. The external meaning consists of the physical activities and conditions that comprise the performance of kīrtana. Śrī Jīva defines these external meanings as bahubhir militvā kīrtanaṁ saṅkīrtanam ity ucyate: “When many people come together and loudly glorify the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa, it is known as saṅkīrtana.”
We have already heard how loud chanting is superior to quiet chanting. When loud chanting is done congregationally, however, it is “superlative because it awakens a sense of wonder in the heart.” Śrīla Prabhupāda also includes preaching, book distribution, and discussing topics of Kṛṣṇa as saṅkīrtana. When done alone, these acts are called kīrtana, but with others “that is called saṅkīrtana.”
The other meaning of “complete kīrtana,” the internal meaning, comprises fixed mental discipline, or full attentiveness, and mature attraction for both the process of chanting and for Kṛṣṇa Himself. Kṛṣṇa speaks of this internal mood in the Gītā: “Always chanting My glories, endeavouring with great determination, bowing down before Me, these great souls perpetually worship Me with devotion.”
With these words Kṛṣṇa personally notes those things that constitute worship of Him through constant kīrtana: full endeavour, determination, reverence, and — above all — pure devotion. By definition, then, mechanical chanting, inattentive chanting, and chanting devoid of love disqualify our kīrtana from being considered complete, despite the presence of external elements like dancing. Devotees who chant without offence but lack affection for Kṛṣṇa may take birth on the same planet as Kṛṣṇa, but only those devotees who chant with love attain the Lord’s direct company.
Only loving service attracts Kṛṣṇa. At the stage of prema we can perceive that Kṛṣṇa is not different from His name, and only then can our chanting be called saṅkīrtana in the full sense of the word. Ṭhākura Bhaktivinoda says, nāma-kara bahir haya / nāma nāhi haya: “Merely reciting the external syllables of the holy name does not mean that one is actually chanting the holy name.”
Kṛṣṇa’s immortal words during His meeting with the gopīs at Kurukṣetra distinguish devotional service with love from devotional service without it, describing how the results of each are different: Mayi bhaktir hi bhūtānām amṛtatvāya kalpate / diṣṭyā yad āsīn mat-sneho bhavatīnāṁ mad-āpanaḥ: “Rendering devotional service to Me qualifies any living being for eternal life. But by your good fortune — “You have developed a special loving attitude towards Me, by which you have obtained Me.”
Again, immature devotion qualifies one for loving devotion, which then qualifies one for Kṛṣṇa’s company. Lord Caitanya and His followers, most notably Śrīla Prabhupāda, taught us both the mood and the activities that constitute saṅkīrtana. Embracing their example, we too can qualify ourselves to meet Kṛṣṇa.
Lord Caitanya describes one who chants pure nāma-saṅkīrtana in this way: “One can chant the holy name of the Lord in a humble state of mind, thinking oneself lower than the straw in the street. “One should be more tolerant than the tree, devoid of all sense of false prestige and ready to offer all respects to others. In such a state of mind one can chant the holy name of the Lord constantly.”
H.H.Sivarama Swsmi, Nava Vraja Mahima, volume 8, part 1, chapter 26.
