the essence

smartavyah satatam visnur vismartavyo na jatucit
sarve vidhi-nisedhah syur etayor eva kinkarah
Padma Purana

“Krishna is the origin of Lord Visnu. He should always be remembered and never forgotten at any time. All the rules and prohibitions mentioned in the sastras should be the servants of these two principles.”

Purport by HDG. Srila Prabhupada:

This verse is a quotation from the Padma Purana. There are many regulative principles in the sastras and directions given by the spiritual master. These regulative principles should act as servants of the basic principle—that is, one should always remember Krishna and never forget Him. This is possible when one chants the Hare Krishna mantra. Therefore one must strictly chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra twenty-four hours daily. One may have other duties to perform under the direction of the spiritual master, but he must first abide by the spiritual master’s order to chant a certain number of rounds. In our Krishna consciousness movement, we have recommended that the neophyte chant at least sixteen rounds. This chanting of sixteen rounds is absolutely necessary if one wants to remember Krishna and not forget Him. Of all the regulative principles, the spiritual master’s order to chant at least sixteen rounds is most essential.

One may sell books or enlist life members or render some other service, but these duties are not ordinary duties. These duties serve as an impetus for remembering Krishna. When one goes with a sankirtana party or sells books, he naturally remembers that he is going to sell Krishna’s books. In this way, he is remembering Krishna. When one goes to enlist a life member, he talks about Krishna and thereby remembers Him. The conclusion is that one must act in such a way that he will always remember Krishna, and one must refrain from doing things that make him forget Krishna. These two principles form the basic background of Krishna consciousness.