Janārdana: (break?) ...like Satya-yuga for example. Was the chanting of the name of Kṛṣṇa effective as it is in this age or is there another method prescribed as being more effective?
Prabhupāda: According to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam there are different processes in different ages. But each process is as good as in any age. It is not that the chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa is in this age very effective and it was not effective in the Satya-yuga. It is not like that. The real process is described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
- kṛte yad dhyāyato viṣṇuṁ
- tretāyāṁ yajato makhaiḥ
- dvāpare paricaryāyāṁ
- kalau tad dhari-kīrtanāt
- (SB 12.3.52)
Kalau tad dhari-kīrtanāt. It is not that people were not chanting in the Satya-yuga, in Satya-yuga this holy name of Kṛṣṇa. It is not that. But in this age the process adopted in the Satya-yuga, dhyāyataḥ, meditation, that is not possible. In the Satya-yuga, kṛte yad... Because people were living at that time one-hundred-thousands of years. And it is said that Mahāmuni Vālmīki, he meditated for sixty-thousands of years.
So unless you have got sufficient life, the meaning is that meditation process is difficult and you must have sufficient time to practice it and then come to the standard point of meditation. But in this age such kind of perfection in meditation is not possible. Therefore in this age especially recommended that you sit down together and chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. It is very easy. Anyone and everyone can take part in it. There is no necessity of education, of pre-qualification. And because in this age people are very slow, very unfortunate, badly associated, so many (dis)qualification they have got at the present moment.
Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu has introduced according to śāstra, according to the indication of the śāstras, just like in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and in other Purāṇas, and other Vedic scriptures this is recommended. In Kali-santaraṇa Upaniṣad, in Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa, in Vāyu Purāṇa, this chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare, Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare is recommended. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu simply introduced it as a great propaganda. That is. Otherwise, this is recommended in every age. There are many devotees, they were chanting. But the process of meditation is not possible. Therefore simply on the basis of this process one can attain the highest perfectional stage.