Daily Rounds
By Maha-nidhi Swami
Chanting a fixed number of rounds of Hare Krsna maha-mantra japa is the most urgent necessity and important engagement of a devotee’s each and every day. It should be completed before anything else. There are many Vaisnavas in Vrndavana who will not even drink a drop of water until they finish 64 rounds.
Unfortunately, for many devotees this vital activity is often relegated to a secondary position while other concerns like body, family cares and tasks at hand take priority. Under illusion, one wakes up in the morning thinking, “I have many pressing things to do. I must make e-mails, phone calls, read the newspaper and watch the televised news. What’s the hurry, I have all day to chant my rounds.”
Chanting Krsna’s holy names, the very life breath of the soul, becomes a mere trifling thing to do at some other time. Pity-how what should be done first is done last! In describing the word determination, Srila Prabhupada said that chanting the holy names of Krsna is more important than eating and sleeping. "If you cannot finish sixteen rounds, then you must not sleep on that day and you must not eat. Why do you not forget to eat? Why do you forget chanting Hare Krsna? This is negligence, aparadha, offense. Rather you should forget your sleeping and eating and finish sixteen rounds. This is called determination." (Spt 28/1/74).
To please Guru, Gauranga and Krsna, purify the heart, and attain perfection on the path of devotion one must chant a fixed number of rounds daily. It only takes about two hours to finish sixteen rounds. Some devotees, due to mental purity and practice from the present and past lives, finish sixteen rounds in one hour.
