When chanting is the yuga dharma why does Rupa Goswami give five potent forms of devotional service and not give exclusive emphsis on chanting?

From Jagannath Kirtan P:

Transcript

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Question From Jagannath Kirtan Prabhu If the Yuga Dharma Is chanting of the holy names Then why Rupa Goswami Gives the five most potent forms Of devotion service and doesn’t Give exclusive importance to the Holy names Answer The Yuga Dharma Is the Most Potent way of Developing our relationship With Krishna In this Kalyuga At the same time The goal Is to develop our relationship with Krishna Now In one sense we say in bhakti the Ends and the means Are the same We chant now Here in the material world as sadhakas And we will chant in the spiritual world When we become siddhas At the same time the difference Is not just in the Intensity or the Attentiveness with which we chant the holy names That is definitely there But the difference is also in How much more we love Krishna How our relationship with Krishna Has developed So The Development of relationship With Krishna Is based on understanding Krishna As a person And relating with him as a person So the other four Potent forms of devotion service Hearing Bhagavatam, associating with devotees Going to holy places Worshipping the deity All these Are also extremely potent ways By which we develop our relationship with Krishna So Our goal is Not just to Chant Hare Krishna Our goal is to chant Hare Krishna And develop love for Krishna So love for Krishna can be developed Through all these other processes also In very potent ways So we are not exclusivist The yuga dharma doesn’t mean that All other dharmas are banned All other dharmas are subordinated Not rejected So in fact Bhaktivinod Thakur even says Naam akshar bhai hai naam nahi hai That if somebody is simply ritualistically Uttering the holy names That person is not actually chanting the holy names He is actually not contacting Krishna through the holy name So why is that? Because it is not just a ritualistic utterance Of some sound vibration That is important A parrot can do that, a tape recorder can do that But what is important is The Attitude with which the chanting happens And the change in attitude That happens because of chanting The increased love for Krishna that develops So Some devotees chant Lot of rounds But we see that sometimes They are very irritable They are proud They feel neglected And they complain So now If the chanting of the holy names Is not leading to the blossoming Of one’s consciousness In love for Krishna Then It would well be That one’s extra chanting Might become An excuse For not taking the responsibility Of developing our relationship with Krishna This can seem to be a scandalous statement But as I said Bhaktanath Thakur does say that Just the utterance of the holy name is not the holy name So the point is That some people may suggest Any problem comes with chant, chant, chant And such people don’t take up responsibilities Either in their services In their relationships With other devotees Or in whatever Obligations they have in the community And they just keep chanting So such people What is happening is the extra chanting Or they may say Only chanting, nothing else is required The exclusive chanting May well lead to Their Becoming Materially and spiritually responsible In the name of chanting Chanting becomes as I said An excuse for not taking Responsibility for developing one’s Relationship with Krishna So Rupa Goswami protects us from this danger Then he emphasizes That yes Chanting is the Yuga Dharma But we want to develop our Relationship with Krishna And to understand what is the name That we are chanting We need to hear the Bhagavatam To understand the person Whose name we are chanting We need to worship the deity To understand How that person is to be loved We need to associate with devotees And to Understand where that person Stays and what that person does In his home We need to visit the holy places And worship Krishna over there In those sacred Spots Where he has performed pastimes So our overall goal is to Develop a relationship with Krishna And chanting is the most potent Means for developing that relationship At the same time We are not exclusivists Who just say that chanting is everything Chanting is everything in the sense that By proper chanting Everything will result But the chanting has to be proper And for the chanting to be proper The other process of devotional service Also play a very important role Thank you