From Hare Krishna With Love (an ocean of mercy is flooding the earth)

Sankarshan Das | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1999)
• Original Release Date: October 25, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• ASIN: B00003OTHZ
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #468,686 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Uselessly

2. Safe Passage (Hare Krishna Take Off)

3. Prayers in Great Longing

4. When Will That Day Be Mine

5. Hare Krishna Heaven

6. Adore Adore Ye All

7. Chanting in Fiji

8. Sweet Hare Krishna

9. Govinda, the Original Person

10. Vrindavan (the Sweetest Place on Earth)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Hapless Sincerity, Little Musicality, February 25, 2002

By 

"wildrosepath" (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: From Hare Krishna With Love (an ocean of mercy is flooding the earth) (Audio CD)

This CD is well-intentioned, and many people seem to love it and benefit from it. Sankarshan Das's voice does sound somewhat like Roy Orbison's. Many of the lyrics are sung in English, which some new listeners may find more accessible than Hindu. The general feel of the music is similar to that found on Christian radio, so this music may be sufficiently "familiar' to serve as a bridge for traditional Christians seeking a broader spiritual practice. Finally, for those interested in the Krishna Consciousness movement (Hare Krishnas), this CD appears to be a very pious and doctrinaire expression of the Krishna beliefs.

But oh lord is this music exasperating. Robert Frost once wrote: "I should not want to silence any song." He obviously had not listened to this CD. If you are not a fan, chances are you WILL want to silence these songs, perhaps by throwing your CD player off a tall building. Most of this CD has almost no musicality (Track 3 is a lovely song). The background instrumentation is cheesy -- there's a sort of electronic harpsichord that sets my teeth on edge, and a synthetic keyboard that sounds like plastic Zamfir. The songs are generally insipid, syrupy, and monotonous, enlivened only by occasional quirks such as a bizarre chord change or awkward rhythm change. Sankarshan's voice is very inconsistent in technique -- or rather, in lack of technique, as he appears to have had no training in either Eastern or Western singing: the voice wavers up and down his narrow range, thickening and thinning, going in and out of vibrato, occasionally off key, sometimes verging into a sort of nasal whine (the pleasant Roy Orbison moments notwithstanding). To my ear, it also appears that Sankarshan's voice was not always recorded very skillfully; there are moments when you can just see those little meter needles skittering over into the red zone as he pumps up the volume. With cheesy instrumentation and haphazard vocals, this CD generally conveys (to me) only an utterly hapless sincerity, not joy or transcendence.

I must admit that I have kept this CD. Somehow I just cannot bring myself to reject an offering of love, which this work undoubtedly is. The CD's homeliness is almost endearing. But unless your path to enlightenment is one of masochism, don't put yourself in my predicament. Instead, buy JAI UTTAL's stunning CD "NECTAR," or anything by KRISHNA DAS (both available on Amazon). Those two artists are every bit as spiritual and sincere as Sankarshan Das, and they produce beautiful music.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bhakti Shakti Par Excellence, January 15, 2001

By 

Paul Tanner (San Diego, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: From Hare Krishna With Love (an ocean of mercy is flooding the earth) (Audio CD)

Having been into Indian spirituality since the 60's with a jump start from Ram Dass, I've really come to deeply appreciate the music of Krishna Das. But now thanks to Amazon.com I've discovered Sankarshan Das.

Although Sankarshan's premier CD, "From Hare Krishna With Love", presents traditional bhajans in a non-traditional way I simply love them. Krishna Das also does this on Pilgrim Heart in a song where Sita asks Hanuman "Where did you get that ring?" Somehow my Western musical roots run very deep within my pschye and I really enjoy getting bhakti in style that reminds me more of the Beatles than Ravi Shankar. After all, didn't George Harrison do that on My Sweet Lord?

So the bottom line as far as I'm concerned is, "Get your Bhakti any way you can." And if Sankarshan Das does that for you the way he's done it for me, then this CD is worth far more than Amazon's asking price. Proceed. Enjoy.

Bye for now.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Ocean of Mercy is Overflowing, March 23, 2000

By 

Vikram Bansal (Piscataway, New Jersey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: From Hare Krishna With Love (an ocean of mercy is flooding the earth) (Audio CD)

The bhajan (devotional songs) collection "From Hare Krishna With Love" by Sankarshan Das is very inspiring and emotionally uplifting. It features two enchanting, original melodies of the Hare Krishna Mantra as well as the songs of fully enlightened spiritual masters beautifully sung in English and Bengali. Sankarshan has skillfully arranged traditional devotional songs in a novel and unique way to make them appealing to the general public while at the same time keeping them wholly consistent with the great spiritual heritage they represent.

He soars to great heights of devotional bliss (taking us with him) while singing his original melody for the poem "Adore Adore Ye All" written in the 1936 by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Sankarshan was the first to put this classic poem to music. Although it was originally recorded by the Murari Band, now in its enhanced and complete rendition it is even more satisfying.

The mystical Sanskrit mantras of the ancient Brahma Samhita, composed by Lord Brahma at the beginning of the creation, are sung captivatingly with obvious devotion in "Govinda, the Original Person". And last but not least, the track "Vrindavan" transports the listener directly to the forests of Vraja, the sublime realm which exists far, far beyond the confines of time and space.

Sankarshan's all-auspicious offering of love and devotion to his guru, to Lord Krishna, and to his listeners is I am sure a great boon for the upliftment of a suffering humanity.