What Should We Do When We Feel Tired While Chanting?
Every day, sitting down to focus on 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna Maha-Mantra is a great challenge. Though chanting is the most accessible way to connect with Krishna in this age of Kali, at times, we may not feel His presence.
Once, I had conducted an exercise for devotees where they were asked to assess how many rounds they actually could hear attentively on a daily basis. Various options were given:
- Most of the mantras in all 16 rounds.
- Around 50% of mantras.
- 10-20 mantras each round
- Barely a few mantras.
- Entire chanting goes without even hearing a single mantra.
The responses varied, but most of the devotees responded for 3rd, 4th and 5th option.
Should we really expect purification of heart with a lower level of chanting? Can we easily attain Krishna’s grace by putting no or little efforts? It is quite difficult.
How can we ensure that our chanting becomes a deeply fulfilling experience every single day?
Trying or Tiring?
Have you ever felt exhausted even before beginning your chanting? If yes, then need not worry. You are not alone. Many devotees face this challenge.
Even when we are tiring, we must not give up trying! Krishna is the most gentle personality. Does He not understand our struggles? He surely does! He appreciates our tiny efforts, even when chanting feels difficult. He wants us to keep trying, and not give up.
Even if the process seems tiring, our determination to chant pleases Krishna.
The Avanti Brahmana was determined to succeed in his life by taking the shelter of Krishna and His devotees.
etāṁ sa āsthāya parātma-niṣṭhām
adhyāsitāṁ pūrvatamair maharṣibhiḥ
ahaṁ tariṣyāmi duranta-pāraṁ
tamo mukundāṅghri-niṣevayaiva
I shall cross over the insurmountable ocean of nescience by being firmly fixed in the service of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. This was approved by the previous ācāryas, who were fixed in firm devotion to the Lord, Paramātmā, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. SB 11.23.57
Śrīla Prabhupāda gives the example of the tiny sparrow who lost her eggs in the ocean. She was determined to retrieve them, and seeing her perseverance, Garuda himself appeared to help. Similarly, if we keep trying, Krishna will surely help us overcome our struggles in chanting.
Crying or Cozying?
The time we set aside for chanting is not meant for casual coasting along. Rather, it is meant for putting a sincere effort. We must cry out to Krishna with urgency and intensity.
If there is one time in the entire day when we must be the most intense, it should be during chanting. Every single day, we need to beg and cry for Krishna’s mercy. Śrīla Gour Govinda Maharaja often said that we have opened a “crying school” in Bhubaneswar. We are all beggars—seeking Krishna’s love, and begging for the mercy of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī – prema bhikari. Such crying is the topmost stage in transcendence.
Doing or Dying?
Sometimes, our chanting may resemble the struggles of a dying fish. It flutters for some time only to die. Such a chanting is devoid of Krishna’s presence.
We cannot afford to chant in this way. If we do not try and cry for Krishna’s grace, we will spiritually die.
Forgetfulness of Krishna, even for a moment, is the greatest loss and the greatest tragedy.
sa hānis tan mahac chidraṁ
sa mohaḥ sa ca vibhramaḥ
yan-muhūrtaṁ kṣaṇaṁ vāpi
vāsudevaṁ na cintayet
“If even for a moment remembrance of Vāsudeva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is missed, that is the greatest loss, that is the greatest illusion, and that is the greatest anomaly.” (Vishnu Purana)
We must make a firm decision: Do we want to try and cry for Krishna? Or die without Him?
Without Krishna, there is no life. Without Krishna, there is no existence. Without Krishna, there is no happiness.
Therefore, a devotee keeps trying and crying—again and again—for Krishna’s grace while chanting the Hare Krishna Maha-Mantra, and doesn’t let his or her spirit die, whatever obstacles may come.
