How much nectar is there in the holy names of Krishna? Just imagine if you had an entire warehouse full of the most delicious relishable foods of many, many varieties from all over the world and were given full freedom to enjoy all of it. How much could you enjoy it? Not that much. But if you had millions of tongues and millions of stomachs, you could enjoy every single morsel of it. In this connection Srila Rupa Gosvami states, "I have only one tongue and two ears. What can I appreciate of chanting? If I could have millions of tongues and trillions of ears, then I could relish something by chanting and hearing."
The point is that there is an inconceivable ocean of nectar in the holy names of the Lord. We just have to somehow or other tap into the nectar. The way to do this is the regularly chant every day at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra on japa beads while simultaneously avoiding the ten kinds of offenses as follows:
(1) To blaspheme the devotees who have dedicated their lives for propagating the holy name of the Lord.
(2) To consider the names of demigods like Lord Shiva or Lord Brahma to be equal to, or independent of, the name of Lord Vishnu. (Sometimes the atheistic class of men take it that any demigod is as good as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vishnu. But one who is a devotee knows that no demigod, however great he may be, is independently as good as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore, if someone thinks that he can chant "Kali, Kali!" or "Durga, Durga!" and it is the same as Hare Krishna, that is the greatest offense.)
(3) To disobey the orders of the spiritual master. (This means you must be fully surrendered to a bona fide spiritual master.)
(4) To blaspheme the Vedic literature or literature in pursuance of the Vedic
version.
(5) To consider the glories of chanting Hare Krishna to be imagination.
(6) To give some interpretation on the holy name of the Lord.
(7) To commit sinful activities on the strength of the holy name of the Lord.
(It should not be taken that because by chanting the holy name of the Lord one can be freed from all kinds of sinful reaction, one may continue to act sinfully and after that chant Hare Krishna to neutralize his sins. Such a dangerous mentality is very offensive and should be avoided.)
(8) To consider the chanting of Hare Krishna one of the auspicious ritualistic
activities offered in the Vedas as fruitive activities (karma-kanda).
(9) To instruct a faithless person about the glories of the holy name. (Anyone
can take part in chanting the holy name of the Lord, but in the beginning one
should not be instructed about the transcendental potency of the Lord. Those
who are too sinful cannot appreciate the transcendental glories of the Lord,
and therefore it is better not to instruct them in this matter.)
(10) To not have complete faith in the chanting of the holy names and to maintain material attachments, even after understanding so many instructions on this matter.
It's also offensive to be inattentive while chanting.
Anyone who claims to be a devotee of the Lord must carefully guard against the above offenses in order to quickly achieve the supreme success, pure love of Krishna, Krishna prema.
It is recommended that as far as possible one should chant his daily quota of at least 16 rounds in the early morning hours before sunrise. This time of the day is known as Brahma-muhurta. It is at this time of day that one can chant with the best focus of mind and thus reap the greatest rewards.
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