The Upanishads and worship of the Maha Mantra in the tradition of Gaudiya Vaishnavism

The author researches the widely used practice of the so-called maha-mantra (the “great mantra”) while offering short prayers in the tradition of Gaudiya Vaishnavism, It is based on the Upanishads, such as Kali-santarana-Upanishad and Chaitanya-Upani shad . The author evaluates the existing original commentaries. As “classical” may be considered the interpretations those by Brahmayogin Ramachandrendra Sarasvati (XVIII century) and Suhotra Tapovanachari (1950–2007) on the KaliSandaranaUpanishad and those by Bhaktivinoda Thakura and Madhusudana dasa Babaji on the ChaitanyaUpani shad . The article provides a translation of both texts from Sanskrit into Russian, supplied with comments and other explanations. The methodology used is based upon V. I. Rudoy concept regarding the polymorphic nature of Sanskrit textual culture.