If someone is criticizing you for becoming a devotee of Krishna then do not worry, you are not alone. Many sincere devotees have faced this problem or are facing this problem.
There will always be someone who will discourage us when we will want to become serious in our devotion to Krishna. But now we know that Krishna is our best well-wishing friend. He is the only one who can give great joy to our heart. And he is the only one who can relive us from all the sufferings and save us from all the dangers.
We have tried so many things in our life to satisfy our heart and to free our mind from fear and anxiety, but nothing worked. But when we began practicing devotion to Krishna especially chanting the Hare Krishna Mahamantra, we started experiencing what we had always been longing for – never ending satisfaction and happiness.
Chanting is Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s wonderful gift to us.
Benefits of Chanting
Chanting the names of Krishna:
- Purifies our heart of all the impurities.
- Burns our past sins which is the root cause of our sufferings.
- Helps us to connect to Krishna.
Lust, greed, pride, anger, envy, illusion and false ego are the impurities which keeps us away from Krishna and constantly troubles us. The sins which we committed in past – either in this life or previous life – are the reasons that we go through different sufferings in this world.
And there is no material means which can purify our heart of these impurities or give us relief from sinful reactions.
But Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu who is none other than Krishna says that chanting is so potent that it cleanses our heart of all impurities and relives us from all the sins. As chanting begins purifying our heart, we start relishing the names of Krishna which now appears as nectar.
“Glory to the Sri Krishna Sankirtana, which cleanses the heart of all the dust accumulated for years and extinguishes the fire of conditional life, of repeated birth and death. This sankirtana movement is the prime benediction for humanity at large because it spreads the rays of the benediction moon. It is the life of all transcendental knowledge. It increases the ocean of transcendental bliss, and it enables us to fully taste the nectar for which we are always anxious.” Sri Siksastakam, Text 1
Once we develop taste for chanting, nothing of this world distracts us anymore. This is the reason that devotees like Haridas Thakura would chant 192 rounds daily because he experienced great joy in chanting.
Criticism does not bother a sincere devotee
And this is the reason that we too do not want to give up chanting because we know that a day will come when we too will begin relishing Krishna holy names.
When that happens, we will attain freedom from material bondage, forever we will never again have to suffer. And by the grace of Krishna, one day we will attain love of Krishna too.
Such a blissful future is knocking at our door, so why we will give up devotion to Krishna, why we will stop chanting the names of Krishna. And why we will be bothered about someone who is criticizing us for becoming a devotee of Krishna.
We should take a vow to not again get distracted by the false promises of this temporary world. And we should do our best to always remain connected to Krishna by never giving up chanting the names of Krishna i.e. the Hare Krishna Mahamantra.
Three Reflections
- We should not be bothered about someone who is criticizing us for becoming a devotee of Krishna.
- Chanting is so potent that it cleanses our heart of all impurities and relives us from all the sins.
- Once we develop taste for chanting the names of Krishna, we will attain freedom from material bondage and forever we will never again have to suffer.
Ask Yourself
- Is someone criticising you when you are chanting the names of Krishna?
Action Item
- Develop friendship with a devotee who encourages you to chant the names of Krishna.
