# When, Where, and How Often There are no hard and fast rules for chanting the holy name. One can chant anywhere and anytime—in the street or on the subway, in the home or in the office. The Lord's holy name must be heard, glorified, and remembered always and everywhere. --- ## One Can Chant Anywhere and Anytime **The Lord's holy name must be heard, glorified, and remembered always and everywhere:** ![[sb/2/2/36#purport|In the process of glorifying the Lord there should be no restriction of time and space. This is called sanātana-dharma or bhāgavata-dharma. Sanātana means eternal, always and everywhere...the Lord's holy name must be heard, glorified and remembered everywhere in the world. That will bring about the desired peace and prosperity so eagerly awaited by the people of the world]] —SB [[sb/2/2/36|2.2.36]] Purport --- **Kṛṣṇa consciousness can be cultivated anywhere and everywhere by chanting the mahā-mantra:** ![[sb/3/31/21#purport|One does not need any material arrangement to cultivate Kṛṣṇa consciousness. One can cultivate Kṛṣṇa consciousness anywhere and everywhere, provided he can always think of Kṛṣṇa. The mahā-mantra...can be chanted even within the abdomen of one's mother. One can chant while sleeping, while working, while imprisoned in the womb or while outside. This Kṛṣṇa consciousness cannot be checked in any circumstance]] —SB [[sb/3/31/21|3.31.21]] Purport --- **One can chant the holy name anytime and anyplace:** ![[cc/antya/20/18|Regardless of time or place, one who chants the holy name, even while eating or sleeping, attains all perfection]] —Cc. [[cc/antya/20/18|Antya 20.18]] --- **There are no hard and fast rules for remembering the holy names:** ![[cc/antya/20/16|...there are no hard and fast rules for remembering [the holy names]...]] —Cc. [[cc/antya/20/16|Antya 20.16]] --- **One can chant Hare Kṛṣṇa anywhere:** **We have only to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare / Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare twenty-four hours daily. There is no fast rule and regulation. We can chant in the street or on the subway, in our home or in our office.** —*The Path of Perfection* --- ## Other Instructions on Time and Place **Nāma-saṅkīrtana can be performed at home, with friends, or in public:** At a public kīrtana one person can chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, while a group listens, and at the end of the mantra, the group can respond, and in this way there is a reciprocation of hearing and chanting. **This can easily be performed in one's own home, with a small group of friends or with many people in a large public place.** —*The Perfection of Yoga* --- **Upon rising in the early morning one should immediately chant the holy name:** ![[cc/madhya/24/331#purport|In the early morning hours (known as brāhma-muhūrta) one should get up and immediately chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, or, at least, "Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa." In this way, one should remember Kṛṣṇa...By chanting, one immediately becomes auspicious and transcendental to the infection of material qualities]] —Cc. [[cc/madhya/24/331|Madhya 24.331]] Purport --- **Either in danger or happiness, a devotee constantly chants the mahā-mantra:** ![[sb/4/12/21#purport|The chanting of the holy name of the Lord is perfect; even though one does not know how to please Lord Viṣṇu or His associates, simply by sincerely chanting the holy name of the Lord, everything becomes perfect. A devotee, therefore, either in danger or happiness, constantly chants the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. When he is in danger he is immediately relieved, and when he is in a position to see Lord Viṣṇu or His associates directly, by chanting this mahā-mantra he can please the Lord. This is the absolute nature of the mahā-mantra. Either in danger or in happiness, it can be chanted without limitation]] —SB [[sb/4/12/21|4.12.21]] Purport --- ## One Must Chant the Holy Name Constantly **The chief object of constant remembrance is the holy name of the Lord:** ![[cc/madhya/8/252|Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu asked, "What should all living entities constantly remember?" Rāmānanda Rāya replied, "The chief object of remembrance is always the holy name of the Lord, His qualities and pastimes"]] —Cc. [[cc/madhya/8/252|Madhya 8.252]] --- **Following the Lord's order, a devotee chants His holy name incessantly:** ![[cc/antya/7/103|The order of Kṛṣṇa is to chant His name incessantly. Therefore one who is chaste and adherent to the husband Kṛṣṇa must chant the Lord's name, for she cannot deny the husband's order. Following this religious principle, a pure devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa always chants the holy name]] —Cc. [[cc/antya/7/103|Antya 7.103-8]] --- **Kṛṣṇa, in the Bhagavad-gītā, recommends constant chanting:** ![[bg/9/14|satataṁ kīrtayanto māṁ yatantaś ca dṛḍha-vratāḥ / namasyantaś ca māṁ bhaktyā nitya-yuktā upāsate]] —Bg. [[bg/9/14|9.14]] The engagement of the great souls, freed from delusion and perfect in their realization of God, is described here: **satataṁ kīrtayantaḥ māṁ—they are always (satatam) chanting (kīrtayantaḥ) My glories** and—nitya-yuktā upāsate—always worshiping Me (Kṛṣṇa). —*The Science of Self-Realization* --- **One should chant the holy name of the Lord constantly:** ![[sb/4/24/70#purport|The word asakṛt is significant, for it means not just for a few minutes but continuously. That is the instruction given by Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu in His Śikṣāṣṭaka. Kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ: "The holy name of the Lord should be chanted twenty-four hours daily"]] —SB [[sb/4/24/70|4.24.70]] Purport --- **One should aspire to chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra constantly:** ![[cc/antya/3/137#purport|Sadā means "always." Haridāsa Ṭhākura says, nirantara nāma lao: "Chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra without stopping"]] —Cc. [[cc/antya/3/137|Antya 3.137]] Purport --- **A devotee always has a taste for chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa:** A devotee always has a taste for chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa: "Oh, very nice. Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare / Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare." This is taste. Of course, this taste takes time to awaken, but when Rūpa Gosvāmī was chanting he was thinking, **"I have only one tongue and two ears. What can I appreciate of chanting? If I could have millions of tongues and trillions of ears, then I could relish something by chanting and hearing."** —*Teachings of Queen Kuntī* --- **To always remember Kṛṣṇa and never forget Him is possible by constantly chanting the holy name:** ![[cc/madhya/22/113#purport|This is possible when one chants the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. Therefore one must strictly chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra twenty-four hours daily]] —Cc. [[cc/madhya/22/113|Madhya 22.113]] Purport --- **Constant chanting of the mahā-mantra is the means for continuously remembering Kṛṣṇa:** Kṛṣṇa consciousness means that one always lives with Kṛṣṇa on that spiritual planet, Goloka Vṛndāvana, and that one is simply waiting to give up this material body. **We can chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare / Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare twenty-four hours daily. There are no rules and regulations. One can chant in the street, in the subway, or at his home or office. There is no tax and no expense. So why not take to it?** —*Beyond Birth and Death* --- **An advanced devotee (madhyama-bhāgavata) is distinguished by his constant chanting:** ![[cc/madhya/16/71#purport|A person who is always chanting the holy name of the Lord is to be considered a first-class Vaiṣṇava...An intermediate devotee is greatly attracted to chanting the holy name, and by chanting he is elevated to the platform of love]] —Cc. [[cc/madhya/16/71|Madhya 16.71-72]] Purport --- **Pure devotees in the renounced order should have no other occupation than chanting the holy name:** ![[cc/antya/6/223#purport|Pure devotees in the renounced order, however, who fully surrender to the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, should chant the holy name of the Lord with great love and faith, always thinking of Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet. They should have no other occupation than chanting the holy name of the Lord]] —Cc. [[cc/antya/6/223|Antya 6.223]] Purport --- **[← Back to Śrī Nāmāmṛta](wiki/compile/sri-namamrita)**