Queen Kuntī prays for her attraction to flow spontaneously toward Lord Krishna without diversion or distraction, just as the Ganges flows naturally toward the sea.

The purpose of our chanting is the same:

1] To attract Krishna by our sincere endeavor and
2] To become attracted to His holy name and His charming personality.
Ultimately, the goal is to reach the vast ocean of Krishna’s love.

Those who desire material enjoyment remain satisfied in the small puddles of sense gratification. The jñānīs, trying to negate their senses, attempt to dry up the river altogether. But devotees want their life-current to flow powerfully and steadily until it merges into the ocean of Krishna’s mercy.

When we chant our sixteen rounds, we are offering a daily prayer to come closer to Krishna, to feel His affection, and to deepen our relationship with Him. Yet, instead of reaching the ocean of Krishna’s grace, we often find ourselves drifting toward the rivers of mental concoction or sense gratification. Kali-yuga is the age of distractions. There are countless avenues that pull our attention away.

Therefore, it becomes essential to block these diversions and let the river of our life continue its natural course toward Krishna’s embrace.

Rivers Missing the Ocean???!!

Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura’s life-current repeatedly flowed toward the tributary of sexual attraction. At one point, he decisively cut off that tributary and redirected his entire flow into the ocean of Krishna’s love.

Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya had allowed his life-current to dry up due to the desert of impersonal philosophy. Mahāprabhu’s grace touched him, restoring the flow and making him surge like a vibrant river toward Krishna’s ecstatic ocean.

Bharata Mahārāja had almost reached the ocean of Krishna’s love, only to suddenly divert into a side stream of material attachment. It is almost unimaginable — like a river just about to meet the ocean suddenly turning away – that too in a total opposite direction. But that is what happened. Only after two more lifetimes did he finally reach Krishna’s ocean of grace.

Do Obstacles Matter?

It is not that the Ganges doesn’t experience obstacles. She paves her way through those impediments to ultimately unite with the ocean. Similarly, our life-current may face many challenging circumstances – bad health, heartbreaks, distrust, betrayal and so many things. Yet, a devotee does not create a dam with those obstacles. He or she gets doubly energized to undertake sincere efforts to cross over the obstacles to reach Krishna’s grace.

The life of Pandavas was filled with impediments and reversals. Yet, they never allowed their life-current to drift from Krishna’s oceanic grace.
Rupa and Sanatana Goswami faced so many impediments to join Mahaprabhu’s mission. Never did they take a U-turn in their aspirations to attain the ocean of Mahaprabhu’s mercy.
Prabhupada had to undergo a lot of struggle to establish Krishna Consciousness in the West. But, his ‘mati’ (intelligence), ‘rati’ (attraction) and ‘gati’ (destination) were fixed on serving his spiritual master, desiring to connect everyone with Krishna’s ocean of mercy.

Examining Our Daily Flow

Every day during chanting, we must ask ourselves: Where is my river flowing today?

Am I completely dry, struggling even for a drop of devotion?
Do I have some water, yet allow countless tributaries to steal my flow?
Or am I creating a dam of the superficial obstacles, and let the water become stagnant, never to reach the ocean?
Or is my river moving steadily toward the Karuṇā-sindhu — the ocean of Krishna’s compassion?

Chanting is meant to carry us closer to Krishna. Therefore, distractions must be treated as temporary obstacles. The Ganges also faces countless obstructions, but her goal is fixed: she must reach the sea.

Strengthening our Purpose

Prabhupada would say – Maya appears strong because our purpose is not strong. But when our resolve becomes firm, māyā’s influence wanes. Each day’s chanting becomes a golden opportunity to enter the ocean of Krishna’s infinite grace — where we can play, rejoice, and even drown in divine bliss.

In the Damodarastakam, Satyavrata Muni writes,
itīdṛk-sva-līlābhir ānanda-kuṇḍe
sva-ghoṣaṁ nimajjantam ākhyāpayantam
By Your personal pastimes, You plunge the devotees into an ocean of nectar.

The devotee thus becomes immersed in the ocean of transcendental joy. Such a devotee no longer seeks liberation. Going back to Godhead no longer remains his goal. He or she is already living in the spiritual world, situated perfectly in Krishna’s loving grace and embrace.