Purpose Behind Hearing and Chanting

Hearing and chanting leads to constant remembrance. Hearing and chanting is done in the association of those who like to hear and chant, but even more so in the company of those who like to hear and chant because they understand the purpose behind that hearing and chanting. The purpose behind hearing and chanting is to re-establish, in a profound way, our loving exchange with the Supreme object of love, the Personality of Godhead, whom we have forgotten, although we have an eternal relationship with Him. The association of devotees is imperative for aspiring devotees. It is not optional. One can’t learn this process on one’s own. It’s not to be done that way. By design, it’s not to be done that way. It won’t be effective that way. It will be effective in this way: by loving exchanges. The nature of loving exchanges Rupa Goswami has described in his Upadesamrta, translated by Srila Prabhupada as Nectar of Instruction.

Adapted from a lecture by His Holiness Romapada Swami on SB 11.3.30 titled “Remembrance of Krsna Through Our Loving Relationships with His Devotees’, given in December 2011 in Chicago.