How can you chant so many rounds!

[Paramananda das]

PAMHO
AGTSP
One devotee wrote me:
Malati said you are a hardliner, is that true ? I can not chant 64 rounds, I got things to do. My response: " Malati ? Prabhupada disciple? Well not everyone can and will chant 64 rounds, so Srila Prabhupada put it to minimum 16 ,and one should try to increase the minimum 16 but at least make it minimum 16 nothing less"

http://nimaipandit.ning.com/profiles/blogs/did-srila-prabhupada-cha...

The fact is I am not chanting so much it is the bare minimum given by the most merciful Lord Gauranga .
How can we do so many things in devotional service ? How can we take a bath in minus 30 Fahrenheit river in Northern Sweden during the winter of 1980 and distribute Srila Prabhupadas books all day long , how can we distribute Srila Prabhupadas books in 120 degrees Fahrenheit in South India and places like Las Vegas, Nevada? It takes determination, lots of it ,devotion and dedication, and lots of love for Srila Prabhupada,Lord Caitanya and Radha Krishna.Devotional service is not a cheap thing.

kṛṣṇa-bhakti-rasa-bhāvitā matiḥ
krīyatāḿ yadi kuto 'pi labhyate
tatra laulyam api mūlyam ekalaḿ
janma-koṭi-sukṛtair na labhyate

TRANSLATION
"'Pure devotional service in Kṛṣṇa consciousness cannot be had even by pious activity in hundreds and thousands of lives. It can be attained only by paying one price — that is, intense greed to obtain it. If it is available somewhere, one must purchase it without delay.'"
A devotee aspires to get purified and fully please Srila Prabhupada and Lord Caitanya.
So if Lord Caitanya asks for 64 rounds why should we hesitate?If there is a will there is a way.Exuses are many
to follow is another thing.
Letter to: Indira (Iris Mendoza), Ekayani (Esther Mendoza), San Francisco, 17 December, 1967:
"I am very glad to learn you are chanting 48 rounds. Actually it is all right that one should chant 64 rounds, even 16 rounds, so if one is able to chant more than 16 rounds
up to 64, it is very good. You fix up your rounds. Try to increase it but never
decrease it."

Try to increase it never decrease it,Srila Prabhupada is very specific and is encouraging this devotee to reach 64 rounds.

Letter to: Bhaktijana, Los Angeles, 12/2/1968:
"I shall advise you again to chant always, increasing the counting, namely, 16 rounds is generally prescribed, but for the time being you can stop all other activities
and increase the chanting to 64 rounds."

Shrimad-Bhagavatam 4.24.70 purport:
"That is the instruction given by Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in His Shikshashtaka 3. Kirtaniyah sada harih: [Cc. adi 17.31] "The holy name of the Lord should be
chanted twenty-four hours daily." Therefore in this Krishna consciousness
movement we request the devotees to chant at least sixteen rounds on their beads
daily. Actually one has to chant twenty-four hours daily, just like Thakura
Haridasa, who was chanting the Hare Krishna mantra three hundred thousand times
daily. Indeed, he had no other business."
Shri Chaitanya-caritamrita Antya-lila 3.137 purport:
"Surrender is the ultimate instruction of the Bhagavad-gita, but for one who cannot surrender to the lotus feet of Krishna, it is better to chant the Hare Krishna mantra
constantly, under the instruction of Haridasa Thakura.
In our Krishna consciousness movement we are teaching our followers to chant the Hare Krishna mantra continuously on beads. Even those who are not accustomed to this practice
are advised to chant at least sixteen rounds on their beads so that they may be
trained.[...] Sada means "always." Haridasa Thakura says, nirantara nama lao:
"Chant the Hare Krishna mantra without stopping." [...] One's real duty is to
surrender to the lotus feet of Krishna, but if one is unable to do so, he should
adopt this process, as introduced by Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and His most
confidential servant, Namacarya Shrila Haridasa Thakura. This is the way to
achieve success in Krishna consciousness."

The Nectar of Devotion, Vrindavana, 20/10/1972:
"Just like we have asked our students to finish sixteen rounds chanting minimum. Sixteen rounds is nothing. In Vrindavana there are many devotees, they chant 120 rounds.
Like that. So sixteen rounds is the minimum. Because I know in the Western
countries it is difficult job to finish sixty-four rounds or 120 rounds, like
that. Minimum sixteen rounds. That must be finished."
Letter to Purusottama, Mumbai, 23/10/1973:
"Because we have got many duties, [text missing] ...we minimized the amount to 16 rounds, otherwise [text missing] ...minimum is 64 rounds, but Western people cannot
[text missing] ...this. So 16 rounds must be executed."

Srila Visvanath Chakravarti Thakura in his Anuraga valli, describes how a devotees prays to Krishna to have
unlimited mouth to chant Hare Krishna.So at least with this one mouth we should chant as much as possible.
When Prabhupada was once in a hospital bed and woke up seeing his disciples there, sitting he said,:"Why are you sitting idly there chant Hare Krishna"
your servant
Payonidhi das
PS it not that no western devotees can do it, so many chant 64 rounds, Haridasa Thakura gave initiation to a prostitute and asked her to chant 192 rounds and she did every day,and never went back to her old ways .