Bhagavad Gita 18.65 and chanting 64 rounds daily!

[Paramananda das]

dear devotees
Please accept my humble obeisences
All glories to the lotusfeet of Srila Prabhupada
And all glories to Nitai Gaurangas divine lotusfeet!
And all glories to all devotees in ISKCON!

Srila Prabhupada writes:
TEXT 65
man-mana bhava mad-bhakto
mad-yaji mam namaskuru
mam evaisyasi satyam te
pratijane priyo 'si me
SYNONYMS
.
TRANSLATION
Always think of Me and become My devotee. Worship Me and offer your homage unto Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are My very dear friend.
PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada
The most confidential part of knowledge is that one should become a pure devotee of Krsna and always think of Him and act for Him. One should not become an official meditator. Life should be so molded that one will always have the chance to think of Krsna. One should always act in such a way that all his daily activities are in connection with Krsna. He should arrange his life in such a way that throughout the twenty-four hours he cannot but think of Krsna. And the Lord's promise is that anyone who is in such pure Krsna consciousness will certainly return to the abode of Krsna, where he will be engaged in the association of Krsna face to face. This most confidential part of knowledge is spoken to Arjuna because he is the dear friend of Krsna. Everyone who follows the path of Arjuna can become a dear friend to Krsna and obtain the same perfection as Arjuna.
These words stress that one should concentrate his mind upon Krsna--the very form with two hands carrying a flute, the bluish boy with a beautiful face and peacock feathers in His hair. There are descriptions of Krsna found in the Brahma-samhita and other literatures. One should fix his mind on this original form of Godhead, Krsna. He should not even divert his attention to other forms of the Lord. The Lord has multi-forms as Visnu, Narayana, Rama, Varaha, etc., but a devotee should concentrate his mind on the form that was present before Arjuna. Concentration of the mind on the form of Krsna constitutes the most confidential part of knowledge, and this is disclosed to Arjuna because Arjuna is the most dear friend of Krsna's.


Ramanuja's Commentary
Manmana bhava is a divine command that means to always have Lord Krishna completely and blissfully in one's thoughts, to absorb oneself in Him. This is also established in the Vedic scriptures where we find in the Taittiriyaranyaka Upanisad III.XII beginning vedaham etam stating: The Resplendent Supreme Lord more radiant then thousands of suns is realised by absorbing the mind in Him by meditation. Realising Him Him one attains moksa liberation from material existence. There exists no other path to immortality. This devotional absorption in Lord Krishna is of such magnitude and intensity that its meditation becomes a vision and the vision becomes an ever flowing current of devotion that is so vivid that the experience actually enters the realm of reality.
Mad-bhakta is to offer all one's loving emotions to Lord Krishna enthralled by love overflowing with enthusiasm, exuberance and excitement.
Mad-yagi is to worship Lord Krishna with love. To install Him in one's heart as their personal worshipable diety. Such worship is the performance of the entire services that a liege administers to His sovereign on a daily basis upon waking untill sleeping. Yagi comes from yajana which is synonymous with pujana or worship and denotes aradhanam the most equisite loving worship. Therefore it is not a mere dry, formal observation of ceremonial ritual enacted out of duty. It is love flowing from the heart. It is a testament of devotion from the eternal svarupa or one's immortal spiritual form. Mad yagi should be interpreted as offering one's self to Lord Krishna as a brother, as a parent or as a beloved with a heart full of love.
Mam namaskuru is to enshrine Lord Krishna in the heart with the utmost, love, devotion and faith. Namas comes from namanam meaning obeisance. Such obeisance is not a mere habitual genuflexion; but a sublime expression of sincere gratitude and humility that constitutes an emotion of love felt internally.
If a blessed devotee of Lord Krishna arrives at this exalted vista of bhakti or exclusive loving devotion then the Supreme Lord will not hesitate to have their eternal individual association with Him in the immortal spiritual worlds. This is the truth that He Himself promises. It should never be interpreted as being just a metaphor or mere flowery prose. Such a hypothesis would not be genuine and incorrect.
Wherever there is a heart that has so much love for Lord Krishna then there is as much love from Lord Krishna back to them. Lord Krishna's love is such that He finds it impossible to bear the separation from such surrendered and dedicated devotees and therefore without delay He personally brings them to Him directly in their eternal spiritual body even while their physical body is concluding its last life in material existence.
So it should be clearly and emphatically understood that the Supreme Lord Krishna's solemn promise to His surrendered devotees is the total truth and nothing other than truth for which He pledges to vouch safe for His devotees for all eternity.

Sridhara Swami says the soul can have direct communion with Krsna:"

Sridhara Swami's Commentary
Now the essence of all confidential knowledge contained in Srimad Bhagavad- Gita will be revealed by the Supreme Lord. Dedicate your mind to Lord Krishna. Be solely devoted to Lord Krishna. Give humble obeisance to Lord Krishna. Offer joyful propitiation to Lord Krishna. Living life in this way one will surely attain direct communion with Him by the spiritual wisdom bestowed by His Grace. One should not have any doubts about this for it is reality. Lord Krishna is extremely affectionate to His surrendered devotees. That is why He personally promises this eternal benediction which bequeaths both the purpose and the goal of material existence for the highest benefit of His devotees for all times.


In the age of Kali there is no better way than chanting: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

Lord Caitanya has advised us to chant 64 rounds daily ,Srila Prabhupada set the ISKCON standard for minimum,lets not forget the minimum part, the very bare minimum as 16 rounds ,
http://nimaipandit.ning.com/profiles/blogs/gbc-proposal-to-chant-64

Srila Madhavacarya also talks about this direct communion with Krsna:
Madhvacarya's Commentary
Now Lord Krishna reveals the essence, the most confidential of all knowledge within Srimad Bhagavad Gita which will secure permanent release from samsara the perpetual cycle of birth and death, guarantee moksa or liberation from material existence and propel spiritual ascendance unto eternal communion with the Supreme Lord.

also Kesava Kasmiri (who is Nimbarkacarya himself that appeared to have darshan of Lord Gauranga) talks about this direct communion with Krsna:

Kumara Vaisnava Sampradaya:

Nimbaditya
Kesava Kasmiri's Commentary
The Supreme Lord Krishna reveals the secret with the instruction to fix the mind upon Him. Concentrate upon Him with one-pointed focused in bhakti or exclusive loving devotion. This instruction is to be practically applied by dedicating all actions prescribed by the ordinances and injunctions of the Vedic scriptures unto Him. Whatever prescribed Vedic activitiy offered to the Supreme Lord Krishna or any of His avatars or incarnations and expansions as revealed in the Vedic scriptures is considered devotion which will lead to direct communion with Him eternally. It should not be erroneously misconstrued that one can offer actions that are prohibited in the Vedic scriptures as that would be inconscienable and offensive. It is seen that followers of Kali Ma offer meat to her in sacrifice; but if some ignornant fool offered meat to Lord Krishna they would be condemned to suffer in hellish condition for such a great offense as it is prohibited to offer Him at any time under any circumstances foods that are not in sattva guna the mode of goodness and flesh from any source is always in tama guna the mode of ignorance.
Worshipping the Supreme Lord exclusively by prescribed Vedic activities in the form of offering material possessions, or in the form of executing tapah or austerities or as simple as performing the blessed and purifying Ekadasi vrata which is fasting twice a month from all grains on the 11th day of the waxing and waning moons and which grants unalloyed devotion to Lord Krishna.
For offering worship with material things such as pure cow ghee, gold, silver, marble, etc. is possible only if one is wealthy; but even if one is poor Lord Krishna will happily accept a fruit, a flower or just pure water from His devotees according to their capacity. Offerings in the form of austerities forebearing hunger and thirst, cold and heat, etc. in the natural course of following one's own prescribed Vedic duties. The offerings of yoga or facilitating communion with the Supreme Lord are the repitition of sacred mantras, exercises controlling the breath, the mind and the senses along with asanas or postures. The offerings of wisdom are reciting and chanting the verses of the Upanisads, the Puranas, Srimad Bhagavad-Gita, Vishnu-Saharanama the Thosand Names of Vishnu, etc. The offering of learning is studying and learning and for those more qualified teaching the meaning and conclusion of the Vedic sciptures to others.
Now in order to avoid any complacency Lord Krishna instructs to bow down to Him with regularlity fully with all the eight limbs of the body touching the ground for men. For women it should be only the knees, head and hands touching the ground as a womens breast should never touch the floor. So dedicated a devotee will advance by means of such devotion. The perfomance of millions of ritualistic ceremonies cannot compare to the results Lord Krishna's devotees receive from bhakti. To receive the full result one should have concentrated devotion with undivided attention to Lord Krishna alone. Although the Supreme Lord is extremely difficult to propitiate even by Brahma, Shiva and the demigods who often consider themselves independent; but to His surrendered devotees He is so easy to please that even with only fresh water He is amply satified if it is offered with devotion.
After investigating and scrutinising the Vedic scripture intensely and reflecting and pondering over them repeatedly the consensus concluded by the wise and sagacious is that one should concentrate their mind and energies on meditating on the nama or name, rupa or form, guna or qualities and lila or divine pastimes of the Supreme Lord Krishna. Always remembering Him and never forgetting Him attain immortality. The sage Medhavi stated in Moksa Dharma: I am that enlightened person, non-violent, true to the self, with senses controlled, free from passion and anger, equipoised and tranquil and in this way I shall overcome death like the immortals. Undoubtedly one should abandon anything internal or external which causes attachment in the mind and distracts it from meditating fully on the Supreme Lord and remain blissfully absorbed in this state until the final moment of death. The muktas or liberated souls who have achieved this state while still alive have declared that if one can control the mind in this way after some time it locks and one is free to establish themselves in the atma or immortal soul within the etheric heart which gives liberation granting direct communion with the Supreme Lord.
The misguided and malicious atheists of mundane intelligence and degraded impulses, such deluded living entities are unable to behold the wide open gateway to moksa or liberation from material existence that is accessible to all humanity. All their endeavours and attempts to understand the inconceivable is for them in vain because they have eternally cursed themselved for denying the existence of the magnanimous and compassionate almighty Supreme Lord.

these commnetaries are found at http://www.bhagavad-gita.org/Gita/verse-18-61.html

but not Srila Visvanath Chakravati Thakuras purport:

Commentary by Sri Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakur
The phrase bhava mad-bhakto means "Being my devotee, think of me." The Lord says this to exclude the other possibilities. He does not mean, "Be a jnani or be a yogi and meditate on me."
Or the phrase man-mana can mean: "Give your mind as a gift to me, Syamasundara, with moon-like face, with shining locks of hair and beautiful eye brows, raining nectar in the form of glances of sweet mercy."
And then bhava mad bhaktah can mean, "And give all your senses such as the ears to me. Perform worship of me (bhava mad bhaktah) using all the senses with such services as hearing, chanting, seeing my murti, cleaning and anointing my temple, picking flowers, and offering me garlands, ornaments, umbrella and camara."
And then the Lord says, "Give me objects such as gandha, flowers, incense, lamp and naivedya. Be my worshipper. Perform my worship." (mad yaji).
And then Lord says, "O, just give my respects, (mam namaskuru) Falling on the ground with the whole body, offer respects, by touching the body to the ground with eight limbs." "Of these four - thinking of me, serving me with senses, worshipping me with items and offering respects to me - do all of them or any of them, and you will attain me (mam eva esyasi). Make an offering of your mind, your senses, or items of worship unto me, and I make an oath to you (te satyam): I will give myself to you."
The word satyam implies something of which there is no doubt. According to the Amara Kosa, satyam means an oath and truth.
"Well, the people born in the land of Mathura make such oaths in every sentence."
That is true. In that case, under oath (pratijane) I declare, "You are dear to me. No one cheats a person dear to himself:

If we see this vers Bhagavad Gita in light of chanting 64 rounds it makes very much sense.
This very soon leads us to Niskama bhakti and pure devotional service above the 3 Gunas with direct communion with Krsna.Lord Caitanya has clearly stated :
In Shri Chaitanya-bhagavata, Antya Khanda 9.121-122, Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu instructed everyone on whose worship and service He will accept:

(121) prabhu bale,-"jana, 'lakshesvara' bali kare?
prati-dina laksha-nama ye grahana kare"
...
"Do you know who is a laksesvara? He is someone who chants one laksa or 100,000 holy names (64 rounds of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra) everyday."




shri gaurasundera balibena-"jini pratidina laksha-nama grahana karibena, tanharai grihe bhagavan sevita hana.

Shri Gaurasundera spoke as follows-"The Supreme Personality of Godhead accepts service only in the home of those who chant one hundred thousand names daily.

Again I like to quote HH Mahanidhi Swami:

Mahanidhi Swami on Laksha Naam

"Following the perfect example of his predecessors, Shrila Prabhupada tried to introduce a daily standard of 64 rounds for his initiated disciples in the early days. The disciples responded to Prabhupada's order with silence and astonishment. They argued about the shortage of time, and some flatly rejected ... saying "impossible." Perhaps this is the time when Shrila Prabhupada uttered his famous quote, "Impossible is a word in a fool's dictionary." Out of compassion for his struggling followers, Shrila Prabhupada relented, and reduced the minimum daily quota to sixteen rounds. And that became the standard for initiation.

But why should we just chant sixteen rounds of japa and stop? Who wants to be considered "fallen" in the eyes of his grandfather? Stand up and fight. Maintain the high standard of our exalted spiritual tradition coming down from Lord Chaitanya. The merciful Lord of love, prema purusottama Shri Chaitanya, is so easily offering all perfections for a mere few rounds in trade. By the movement of a few fingers one can achieve the most valuable treasure in creation. The golden avatara of unlimited compassion, Lord Gauranga, is extending His soft sweet hand to eat from ours-purified by Tulasi's touch and a count of sixty-four.

Are we so lazy, fallen and foolish that we wil let the divine magic pass by us while mumbling to ourselves, "Impossible! Impossible! Impossible!" Take strength from Shri Guru and Gaurahari and kick out the word "impossible" from your dictionary. The number of rounds "should be increased" from 16 a day, to 20, to 32 and then 64 per day. But never decrease the number of rounds. Sixty-four rounds is Mahaprabhu's magic number

Now if we look at
Bhagavad Gita 9.14 we find this:
TEXT 14
satatam kirtayanto mam
yatantas ca drdha-vratah
namasyantas ca mam bhaktya
nitya-yukta upasate

TRANSLATION
Always chanting My glories, endeavoring with great determination, bowing down before Me, these great souls perpetually worship Me with devotion.
PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada
The mahatma cannot be manufactured by rubber-stamping an ordinary man. His symptoms are described here: a mahatma is always engaged in chanting the glories of the Supreme Lord Krsna, the Personality of Godhead. He has no other business. He is always engaged in the glorification of the Lord. In other words, he is not an impersonalist. When the question of glorification is there, one has to glorify the Supreme Lord, praising His holy name, His eternal form, His transcendental qualities and His uncommon pastimes. One has to glorify all these things; therefore a mahatma is attached to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
One who is attached to the impersonal feature of the Supreme Lord, the brahmajyoti, is not described as mahatma in the Bhagavad-gita. He is described in a different way in the next verse. The mahatma is always engaged in different activities of devotional service, as described in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, hearing and chanting about Visnu, not a demigod or human being. That is devotion: sravanam kirtanam visnoh, smaranam, and remembering Him. Such a mahatma has firm determination to achieve at the ultimate end the association of the Supreme Lord in any one of the five transcendental rasas. To achieve that success, he engages all activities--mental, bodily and vocal, everything--in the service of the Supreme Lord, Sri Krsna. That is called full Krsna consciousness.
In devotional service there are certain activities which are called determined, such as fasting on certain days, like the eleventh day of the moon, Ekadasi, and on the appearance day of the Lord, etc. All these rules and regulations are offered by the great acaryas for those who are actually interested in getting admission into the association of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the transcendental world. The mahatmas, great souls, strictly observe all these rules and regulations, and therefore they are sure to achieve the desired result.
As described in the second verse of this chapter, this devotional service is not only easy, but it can be performed in a happy mood. One does not need to undergo any severe penance and austerity. He can live this life in devotional service, guided by an expert spiritual master, and in any position, either as a householder or a sannyasi, or a brahmacari; in any position and anywhere in the world, he can perform this devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead and thus become actually mahatma, a great soul. "

Srila Prabhupadas purport is very clear:"always engaged in chanting the glories of the Supreme Lord Krsna"
Our personal note is Lord Caitanys associates all had this drdha-vratah and would never fail to chant 64 rounds, this should be our goal also .Never fail for even one day to chant 64 rounds.
Srila Visvanath Chakravati Thakura has written in his Anuraga valli :

atmastu nityam shata-deha-varti
dehastu nathastu sahasra-vaktrah
vaktram sada rajatu laksha-jihvam
grihnatu jihva tava nama-kotim (3)

O Natha (Oh Krsna), may my soul perpetually possess hundreds of bodies, may each body possess
thousands of mouths, and may each mouth have hundreds of thousands of tongues
upon which Your millions of names will dance.

yada yada madhava! yatra yatra
gayanti ye ye tava nama-lilah
tatraiva karnayuta-dharyamanas
tas te sudha nityam aham dhayani (4)

O Madhava, my special supplication is that I be present before Your deity form or
anywhere else, with thousands of ears with which to perpetually drink the nectar of
Your devotees’ kirtana of Your nama, rupa, guna and lila.

At least with this one tongue and one heart ,one mind and intelligence lets chant Hare Krsna as much as possible:

karnayutasyekshana-kotir asya
hrit-kotir asya rasanarbudams tat
shrutvaiva drishtva tava rupa-sindhum
alingya madhuryam aho! dhayani (6)

May each of my millions of ears be accompanied by millions of eyes, may each of those
eyes be accompanied by millions of hearts, and may those millions of hearts be
accompanied by millions of tongues. Then those millions of ears will perpetually hear
the glories of the ocean of Your beauty, those millions of eyes will perpetually receive
darshana of that beauty, those millions of hearts will perpetually embrace it, and those
billions of tongues will incessantly drink its nectar.

with all love at my command , I offer my obeisances to all Krsnas devotees.
I pray from all level of devotees to give me strenght to constantly chant Hare Krsna and be happy!
your humble servant
Payonidhi das