Hare Krsna!
AGTSP
Which is better
Someone who ONLY chants the whole day
OR
Someone who chants (committed rounds) and doing other devotional services..
I am eager to know the answer..
Hari Bol!!
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Replies
Devotees do not try to be the best.
They try to do whatever in their capacity for the pleasure of the Lord.
Chanting whole day long is the best.
But if one can do that.
Because there is no much meaning in other things. Only Holy Name is enough.
But because we have so many material desires and needs we cannot just sit and chant whole day long.
But we have to be very respectful to those who can do that.
Only few selected souls do that.
Your servant,
NoD 12: Further Aspects of Transcendental Service
Rendering Service to Devotees
In the Padma Purāṇa, there is a nice statement praising the service of the Vaiṣṇavas, or devotees. In that scripture Lord Śiva tells Pārvatī, "My dear Pārvatī, there are different methods of worship, and out of all such methods the worship of the Supreme Person is considered to be the highest. But even higher than the worship of the Lord is the worship of the Lord's devotees."
A similar statement is in the Third Canto, Seventh Chapter, <ql:query,"[headings verse="" number,="" sb="" 3.7.19]"="">verse 19, of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: "Let me become a sincere servant of the devotees, because by serving them one can achieve unalloyed devotional service unto the lotus feet of the Lord. The service of devotees diminishes all miserable material conditions and develops within one a deep devotional love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead."
In the Skanda Purāṇa there is a similar statement: "Persons whose bodies are marked with tilaka, symbolizing the conchshell, wheel, club and lotus—and who keep the leaves of tulasī on their heads, and whose bodies are always decorated with gopī-candana—even seen once, can help the seer be relieved from all sinful activities."
A similar statement is found in the First Canto, Nineteenth Chapter, <ql:query,"[headings verse="" number,="" sb="" 1.19.33]"="">verse 33, of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: "There is no doubt about one's becoming freed from all reactions to sinful activities after visiting a devotee or touching his lotus feet or giving him a sitting place. Even by remembering the activities of such a Vaiṣṇava, one becomes purified, along with one's whole family. And what, then, can be said of rendering direct service to him?"
In the Ādi Purāṇa there is the following statement by Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself, addressed to Arjuna: "My dear Pārtha, one who claims to be My devotee is not so. Only a person who claims to be the devotee of My devotee is actually My devotee." No one can approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead directly [<it+>Cc. Madhya <ql:query,"[headings verse="" number,madhya="" 13.80]"="">13.80]. One must approach Him through His pure devotees. Therefore, in the system of Vaiṣṇava activities, the first duty is to accept a devotee as spiritual master and then to render service unto him.
Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī affirms that all the quotations given in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu from different scriptures are accepted by the great ācāryas and devotees of the Lord.
http://vedabase.com/en/cc/adi/7/76
CC Ādi 7.76
harer nāmaiva kevalam
kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva
nāsty eva gatir anyathā
SB 6.3.22
etāvān eva loke ’smin
puṁsāṁ dharmaḥ paraḥ smṛtaḥ
bhakti-yogo bhagavati
tan-nāma-grahaṇādibhiḥ
Translation:
Devotional service, beginning with the chanting of the holy name of the Lord, is the ultimate religious principle for the living entity in human society.
Purport:
As stated in the previous verse, dharmaṁ bhāgavatam, real religious principles, are bhāgavata-dharma, the principles described in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam itself or in Bhagavad-gītā, the preliminary study of the Bhāgavatam. What are these principles? The Bhāgavatam says, dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo ’tra: in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam there are no cheating religious systems. Everything in the Bhāgavatam is directly connected with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Bhāgavatam further says, sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhokṣaje: the supreme religion is that which teaches its followers how to love the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is beyond the reach of experimental knowledge. Such a religious system begins with tan-nāma-grahaṇa, chanting of the holy name of the Lord (śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam). After chanting the holy name of the Lord and dancing in ecstasy, one gradually sees the form of the Lord, the pastimes of the Lord and the transcendental qualities of the Lord. This way one fully understands the situation of the Personality of Godhead. One can come to this understanding of the Lord, how He descends into the material world, how He takes His births and what activities He performs, but one can know this only by executing devotional service. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā, bhaktyā mām abhijānāti: simply by devotional service one can understand everything about the Supreme Lord. If one fortunately understands the Supreme Lord in this way, the result is tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti: after giving up his material body, he no longer has to take birth in this material world. Instead, he returns home, back to Godhead. That is the ultimate perfection. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gītā (8.15):
mām upetya punar janma
duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam
nāpnuvanti mahātmānaḥ
saṁsiddhiṁ paramāṁ gatāḥ
“After attaining Me, the great souls, who are yogīs in devotion, never return to this temporary world, which is full of miseries, because they have attained the highest perfection.”
SRILA PRABHUPADA DEFINED BHAKTI AS DEVOTIONAL SERVICE. SERVICE MEANS ACTIVITY. SERVINONG KRSNA ACTIVELY IS NON DIFFERENT FROM CHANTING HIS HOLY NAME. WE CANNOT SAY THAT ONE WHO IS ALWAYS CHANTING IGNORING THE SERVICE GIVEN BY HIS SPIRITUAL MASTER IS BETTER. IF THAT WAS THE CASE THEN SRILA PRABHUPAD WOULD NOT HAVE TAKEN TROUBLE TO TRAVEL TO AMERICA AT AN ADVANCED AGE. HE WOULD HAVE PEACEFULLY CHANTED IN VRNDAVAN. BUT HE ENGAGED IN ACTIVE SERVICE OF PREACHING UNDER THE ORDER OF HIS SPIRITUAL MASTER.