Question: It is said that chanting means to request Radharani for Krishna’s service. On the other hand it is also said that out of all the services chanting 16 rounds is most important. So is this definition of chanting complete or do you think that there should be some other definition of chanting?
Answer by Romapada Swami: It was Srila Prabhupada’s teaching that the meaning of chanting the Mahamantra is, as you have stated, requesting Srimati Radharani to engage us in the service of Krishna. This description is perfect and complete. Yet, he also taught us that chanting is both the means and the end. Once when someone asked Prabhupada, ‘What do you hope to achieve by chanting all the time?’. Prabhupada replied that we hope to achieve more chanting, and that we continue to chant eternally.
In other words, chanting in itself is service. Kirtana is one of the nine limbs of devotional service. As far as the practicing stage of devotion that we are in, we serve by following the guidelines of the spiritual masters. Of all the services the acaryas have prescribed, such as reading scriptures, preaching, worshiping Deities etc., chanting the Holy Names of the Lord is the most important. This was directly declared by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya, in response to Sarvabhauma’s question “What is the single most important activity to be observed by a vaisnava?” And when one attains perfection in devotion, one is always chanting, always calling out to Krishna to be engaged in His service, even while performing other forms of service.
The definition you have quoted in your question does not lead to circular logic, but to more service, i.e. more chanting, along with other forms of devotional expression!
