Friend of the Fallen

The Golden Volcano of Divine Love
Shrila Swami B.R. Sridhar

Although it is the duty of justice to seek qualifications, mercy has no such limits. Divine mercy does not care for any qualifications, but is always ready to compensate the weak and unfit. Only one thing is required: our sincere eagerness to receive mercy. In Chaitanya-caritamrta it is said:

krsna-bhakti-rasa-bhavita matih
kriyatam yadi kuto�pi labhyate
tatra laulyam api mulyam ekalm
janma-koti-sukrtair na labhyate

�Pure devotional service to Krishna cannot be obtained by performing pious activities even for millions of births. It can be purchased only by paying one price: intense eagerness. Wherever it is available, one must purchase it immediately.� No qualifications from one�s previous life will help one to attain Krishna consciousness; only eagerness and faith are important.

And what is the effect of Krishna consciousness?

bhidyate hrdaya-granthis
chidyante sarva-samsayah
ksiyante casya karma�i
mayi drste �khilatmani

�Our inner aspiration for rasa, ecstasy, is buried in the heart and the heart is tied down and sealed. But hearing and chanting the glories of  Krishna breaks the seal of the heart, and the heart awakens and opens to receive Krishna: the reservoir of pleasure, ecstasy Himself (raso vai sah, akhila-rasamata-murtih).�

with repeated respects to the maharajs, swami, and prabhus
lowerthanarat

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Prescribed number of rounds of Nityananda Gauranga

Nityananda! Gauranga! Hare Krishna!

Question:

"However just for completeness can you please tell me where you have found the information of the prescribed chanting of 10 Nityananda, 10 Gauranga and 1 Mahamantra etc. ... so I then have evidence from Acarya or Shastra to support it?"

Answer by Swami Gaurangapada:

"One of the minimum quantities of the Holy Name of the Lord which one can chant daily is 1008 or 1000. Lord Gaura Krishna would certainly be satisfied with a garland offering of at least 1008 of each of His principal Names daily. This much minimum quantity of Names daily will give a tangible and noticeable benefit to the chanter which would in turn inspire the chanter to continue and gradually increase one's chanting. Of course, one benefits by chanting even one Name of the Lord, but still some minimum reasonable quantity (for at least 15 minutes) daily ensures tangible and steady increase of spiritual interest of the chanter. If one chants lesser, for example like 5 minutes daily, then such a chanter may require more time to grasp the nature of Bhakti. As you must be knowing, there are Sahasra (1000) Names for daily chanting. So chanting a minimum of 1000 Names daily is a scripturally authorized process for beginners. And 10 rounds each of Nityaananda and Gauraanga Mantraraajas daily, enable the chanter to complete 1080 of each Name daily which is a little more than 1000. Also, one round of Hare Krishna Mahaamantra is 16 x 108 = 1728 Names of Lord Krishna, is again more than the minimum quantity of 1000 Names. Though, I have to say that Shrila Sacchidananda Bhaktivinoda Thakura gives the minimum daily quota of one granthi or four rounds for the Hare Krishna Mahaamantra in the Hari Naama Chintaamani. Unfortunately the problem is that the four rounds of Hare Krishna Mahaamantra itself would take a new beginner around 30 minutes to complete which may be a little too much from them right at the beginning (considering the situation of the people in the present times) in addition to the 10 rounds each of the Nityaananda and Gauraanga Mantraraajas. We don't want them to reject the process altogether right at the beginning because it is too difficult for them. So 10 rounds each of the Nityaananda and Gauraanga Mantraraajas and 1 round of the Hare Krishna Mahaamantra seems to be suitable solution which they could easily complete within a time of anywhere between 15 to 30 minutes daily and which would be the most amount time these new beginners would be inclined to give daily. We can always inform them of the higher levels of chanting like 10-10-4, 10-10-10 and 16-16-16 which is Shrila Prabhupada's standard. So that they know and are thus inclined to increase their chanting when they find spiritual taste in the Holy Names. And with the Nityaananda and Gauraanga Mantraraajas, they certainly will, since no offenses are considered by Them."

Yours,
Matus

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