Some devotees take a vow to chant lots of rounds and keep chanting all day – is that ok?
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Question. Some devotees take a vow to chant, say 32 rounds or 24 rounds or some extra rounds and thus they spend all day with their mala and we are doing their daily work just to complete.
Now actually there are different devotees who may be inspired by different things in Bhakti. And some devotees may be inspired by practical services, some devotees may like to go and distribute books. Some devotees may go and like to preach, some devotees may like to worship the deities.
Now whatever we are inspired by, we can try to do it and do it as much as possible. So how, what one prioritizes in one’s spiritual life and how one balances the other commitments in one’s life with one’s prioritization of a particular limb of Bhakti, that is something which has to be done according to Deshi Kaalapatra, according to individual circumstances, time. So for example, during Karthik which is going on, some devotees may want to do some intense or extra Bhakti activities.
That is fine. But we shouldn’t use extra chanting as an excuse for not being responsible in whatever services or whatever commitments we have. Now whatever commitments we have, we do them and then we can also chant extra along with that.
Or if we want to chant extra, then we should make proper arrangements so that those commitments are taken care of in some other way, maybe by delegating to someone else, maybe by entrusting to, passing on the responsibility to someone else. But it shouldn’t be that in the name of extra chanting we don’t do what is expected for us to do. This doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t chant extra.
Certainly if we can absorb ourselves in the holy name, then chanting extra is wonderful. But the point is, it is not just chanting extra. It is that we should be able to connect with Krishna, absorb ourselves in Krishna through chanting.
When that is happening, then that is good. And different devotees can find different ways in which they will be able to best absorb themselves in Krishna. So we don’t have to make a mandate or an absolute judgment that those who chant extra are more advanced or those who chant extra, you know, they are sahajiyas.
We don’t have to make any absolute judgment like that. Either way, pro or against. You see that different devotees can be inspired by different things in bhakti.
And whatever they are inspired by, they can do that. But they do it in a way that doesn’t neglect their other responsibilities. That other things can also be managed and they can do that extra as well as manage their other things.