Mukunda Mala Stotra 31 – 4: The spade that digs out the buried treasure

Transcript

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Kundmala Stotra, verse 31, part 4, samucit tamasaha sanga niryanamantram, this is the mantra that samucit, accumulated tamasaha, the darkness, the ignorance, sanga niryan, the mass of that darkness, niryan is to drive away, to eliminate from the consciousness. So the holy name is the mantra that drives away the darkness that has been accumulated over multiple lifetimes in our consciousness. So this darkness is the darkness of bodily consciousness, darkness of the material enjoying mentality, and this obscures us from realizing who we are and where our happiness actually is.
So we forget that we are the soul, and we forget that real happiness is found in remembering and serving Krishna. Intellectually, we may try to cultivate the memory of our spiritual identity and of the reality of spiritual happiness, but that intellectual cultivation in and of itself is not sustainable. It is essential for us to use our intellect, to study ourselves whenever our mind starts pulling us down, but just intellectual cultivation is not sustainable.
We need practical experience, we need devotional realization of what we are trying to cultivate with our intellect. And the holy name offers us that. When we try to chant attentively, most of the time we are just battling with the mind, trying to concentrate on the holy name.
But there are occasions, even if there are few, when we are able to, in a natural flow, without much effort, absorb ourselves in the holy name. And on those few occasions when we experience shelter, solace and joy in the holy name, on those occasions we start realizing that actually there is a whole level of existence that I have missed out on till now, that this sublime and sweet level of existence, of remembrance of Krishna and of absorption in Krishna, is something that I neglect and forget in the muss and fuss of my daily life. But the holy name gives us the glimpse and the experience of that higher life, and the holy name holds the potential of converting that glimpse and brief experience into a constant, ever-increasing experience of ecstasy.
So, by this way, by slowly but surely eradicating that sangam, that accumulated mass of ignorance, of darkness, the holy name helps us return to our eternal life. So, although those extraordinary experiences may be rare, but we know that by daily following the practice of chanting, we are removing, layer by layer, that thick, near-impenetrable covering of ignorance that is obscuring our spiritual vision and our spiritual happiness. So, every single day that we are chanting, the holy name is like a powerful spade that is actually throwing away the dirt, that is covering the treasure, just like a deep underground buried treasure needs to be undug.
Similarly, our latent spirituality and divinity and devotion are buried deep in our consciousness. And every single day that we chant the holy name, we are removing the dirt, the mud that is covering it. And sometimes we get a glimpse of the shining gold that is there, believe me.
But as we remove that spade, that dirt, every single day that we are doing that, we are actually coming closer to the gold. And by contemplating on that, we can get inspiration to chant every single mantra attentively and fervently.