Harer Namashtakam 8 – Let the world go to the background and let the holy name come the foreground of consciousness

trina-kritya jagat sarvam   rajate sakala param

cid anand mayam shuddham harer namaiva kevalam

It makes the entire universe seem insignificant as a blade of grass; it splendorously reigns supreme over all; it is full of eternally conscious divine ecstasy; it is supremely pure—The holy name of Sri Hari alone is everything.

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Mathurashthakam, verse 8 trinakritya jagat sarvam rajate sakala param chidanandamaya shuddham harer naameva kevalam trinakritya jagat sarvam This whole world is reduced to the level of insignificance of a trul, of a blade of grass, of a piece of straw. rajate sakala param rajate, this rules sakala param, above everything else. chidanandamaya shuddham What is this glorious holy name having as its nature? Shuddham is completely pure and chidanandamaya is of the nature of eternal ecstatic consciousness.
harer naameva kevalam Such is the glorious holy name. So here, the effect of the holy name on one’s paradigm shifting is described in this verse. Normally for most of us, the world that we live in, our everyday activities and anxieties and aspirations are the prominent reality.
And our relationship with Krishna, returning back to the spiritual world to be in with Him and even our identity as a soul is like a background reality. We know it is there and it is like an important part of our life, but it is not what is in the foreground of our consciousness. And because of this, even when we are doing our devotional activities, we think more of the world.
But as we keep connecting with the holy name by regularly chanting attentively, and as we start experiencing the shelter in the holy name, the security that we experience by chanting on a daily basis, the strength, the confidence, we start getting realization that how everything in this world may change, but Krishna is eternally available to me through His holy name. And the experience of Krishna’s presence, His potency, His love, they become more and more real to us as we chant attentively. And the more we realize and experience the reality of Krishna and His love for us, then Krishna and our relationship with Him start coming in the foreground of our consciousness.
And by this, the ups and downs of the world, the pulls and pushes of the world start going in the background. And that doesn’t mean we become irresponsible or negligent, but that simply means that we don’t get worked up about them too much. We understand that no problem in this world is so dreadful that it is going to last forever.
And no problem and no pleasure in this world is so wonderful that it is going to last forever. Whereas my relationship with Krishna is going to last forever. Therefore, no pleasure or problem is worth letting myself be distracted from Krishna.
And in this verse, the summit of this consciousness is expressed in the way that, as compared to the holy name, the whole world is considered insignificant by one who has perceived the holy name in the true glory. So we are far from that realization, but we can know that actually we have been through so many lives, and even in this life we have been through so many situations which when they existed, appeared life-shaping or world-shattering to us. But now they are just incidents of the past which are fading memories in our consciousness.
So similarly, whatever is troubling or occupying our mind right now will go into insignificance in the future. Therefore, when we understand that Krishna is the primary reality of my life, then gradually the world goes into the background and we give Krishna foreground place in our mind. And that journey of bringing Krishna to the foreground and letting the world go to the background begins by at least letting Krishna have the foreground place in our consciousness during the time which we are trying to exclusively devote to Him.
So to the extent we let Krishna take the foreground and pervade our consciousness during chanting by attentively hearing His holy name, to that extent gradually we will start this journey of the internal paradigm shift which is what is being reflected at its pinnacle in this verse. Thank you.