Q. I’ve been a BTG subscriber for the past three years. Even though I am not a full-time Krishna devotee, I manage to chant eight rounds a day. As I am still in my college years, I always get attracted by material comforts. I want to know if material comforts are obtainable through chanting. If they are, then is such chanting an act of sin? Will we get punished by doing so?

A. We shouldn’t chant Hare  Krishna to fulfill material desires. The goal of chanting Hare Krishna is pure love for Krishna, which is fully satisfying. The maha-mantra means “O Lord, O energy of the Lord, please engage me in Your service.” We’re supposed to chant Hare Krishna with the understanding that by awakening our Krishna consciousness, we’ll be completely happy. Besides, a devotee knows that Krishna will automatically take care of his material needs. We don’t need to ask Krishna for such things.

One of the offenses in chanting is to cherish our material attachments. Naturally in the beginning we will have attachments, but we should chant for purification, not for other things. Krishna can give us eternal life in His association. To chant with some other motive is like a foolish person’s asking a millionaire for a trinket.