beads, chanting on
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Imported quote 15182 Although Madhavendra Puri was not interested in eating and sleeping, his interest in chanting the maha-mantra was as acute as if he were an aspiring transcendentalist rather than a paramahamsa. This means that even in the paramahamsa stage, one cannot give up chanting. Haridasa Thakura and the Gosvamis were all engaged in chanting a fixed number of rounds; therefore chanting on beads is very important for everyone, even though one may become a paramahamsa. This chanting can be executed anywhere, either inside or outside the temple. Madhavendra Puri even sat down in a vacant marketplace to perform his chanting. As stated by Srinivasa Acarya in his prayers to the Gosvamis: nama-gana-natibhiḥ. A paramahamsa devotee is always engaged in chanting and rendering loving service to the Lord. Chanting the Lord's holy names and engaging in His service are identical. As stated in Srimad-Bhagavatam (7.5.23), there are nine kinds of devotional service: hearing (sravanam), chanting (kirtanam), remembering (visnoḥ smaranam), serving (pada-sevanam), worship of the Deity (arcanam), praying (vandanam), carrying out orders (dasyam), serving Him as a friend (sakhyam), and sacrificing everything for the Lord (atma-nivedanam). Although each process appears distinct, when one is situated on the absolute platform he can see that they are identical. For instance, hearing is as good as chanting, and remembering is as good as chanting or hearing. Similarly, engaging in Deity worship is as good as chanting, hearing or remembering. The devotee is expected to accept all nine processes of devotional service, but even if only one process is properly executed, he can still attain the highest position (paramahamsa) and go back home, back to Godhead.
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