```json
{
    "title": "Japa Thoughts: Mercy and Works in Chanting",
    "url": "https://wavesofdevotion.com/2010/11/02/japa-thoughts-mercy-and-works-in-chanting/",
    "datePublished": "2010-11-02",
    "dateModified": "2010-11-02",
    "language": "en-US",
    "description": "October 28, 2010 Sri Govardhana Japa Thought IV: I try to hear the mantra But my efforts fail I add heart to my chant And beg for mercy The mantra…",
    "author": "Dhanurdhara Swami",
    "publisher": "Waves of Devotion"
}
```

# Japa Thoughts: Mercy and Works in Chanting

**October 28, 2010**

 Sri Govardhana

***Japa* Thought IV:**

I try to hear the mantra

 But my efforts fail

 I add heart to my chant

 And beg for mercy

 The mantra becomes clear

 Beyond my own strength

 With effort I chanted

 By mercy I succeed

***Japa* Thought V:**

Mercy and Works in Chanting:

Hearing the mantra is not simply the result of our effort. It is also the reciprocation of Krishna to our effort.

Effort is needed, but only to make us realize that effort alone is not sufficient. We need Krishna's mercy and must beg for it.

Relationship between effort and mercy: Without sincere, disciplined effort how will we give our heart to the name? And without giving our heart to the name, how will we attract Krishna's mercy?

Sacinandana Swami sometimes tells a story about the advice an old *sadhu* gave him: The *sadhu* chided him, “Are you chanting the mantra, or is the mantra chanting you?” “Chanting the mantra” means hearing the mantra by the power of one's concentration alone. “The mantra chanting you” means the mantra appearing by its own will to one who calls out with dependence and humility.