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Question: Why Isn't Just One Japa Round Sufficient?

Please accept my humble obeisances.

Since the Hare Krishna mantra is so powerful, why isn't one round of japa chanting equal to sixteen rounds? Why are we told to chant more and more, if it is so powerful?  Why isn't merely one round sufficient, if it is so powerful? I understand that because we are not pure repeated chanting is required to purify us. But still I have a doubt: Why just one round is not sufficient, if all powers are there in Krishna's name?

Thanks & Regards,
Akshay S.
 

Answer: A Lot of Dirt Requires a Lot of Cleaning

Why would one even have to chant one round? One pure utterance of the two syllables "Krish-na" is sufficient to deliver the sincere chanter from millions and billions of lifetimes of sinful activities and transport him back to the spiritual sky for reviving his original loving relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the source of all existence. But the difficulty is that our chanting is not of a very high quality.

You have understood correctly that it is because of our impurities that we require to utter Lord's holy names at least 16 rounds daily. Krishna has instructed us that we are to chant His holy names constantly 24 hours daily. Because we are not able to do this the spiritual master mercifully gives us the concession that we can become fully Krishna conscious by chanting at least 16 rounds daily of the Hare Krishna mantra on japa mala beads along with the strict avoidance of illicit sex, meat eating, intoxication, and gambling. In short, when you have got a lot a dirt, a lot of cleaning is required.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari