Kaivalyashtakam

Kaivalyashtakam is one of my favorite hymns.  Many saint-poets of India did not attach their names with their poems or hymns. This is one such hymn. The saint-poets think that God inspired them to write poems or hymns, or these poems or hymns revealed to them from within, therefore they are not the authors. It is a great example of selflessness.

Gita Press, Gorakhpur has done a great service to humanity by publishing Hindu scriptures with excellent printing and binding. Also, the prices of these scriptures are most reasonable. The Kaivalyashtakam is hymn # 72 in the collection of hymns, called “Stotra Ratnavali”, published by the Gita Press, Gorakhpur.

Kaivalyashtakam is a hymn with simple Sanskrit words, but it is very poetic and it expresses the fundamental principles of spirituality. The refrain in this hymn is “Harer Naamaiva Kevalam”, which means that ‘repeating the name of Hari (God) is the only important thing for spiritual life.’

Sri Ramakrishna learned Vedanta philosophy from a great spiritual teacher Totapuri. Following the Vedantic meditation under the guidance of Totapuri, Sri Ramakrishna attained the Nirvikalpa Samadhi within a couple of days. Nirvikalpa Samadhi is the highest state in spirituality. In this Samadhi one’s mind completely merges with the Ultimate Reality, called Brahman. In that state, one remains in a continuous blissful state and that person has no consciousness of his/her body and mind and space and time.  Totapuri was amazed to find that what took forty years of spiritual practices for him, that Nirvikalpa Samadhi, Sri Ramakrishna attained in a few days.

However, next day, Totapuri was amused to see that Sri Ramakrishna was chanting Mother Kali’s name and clapping his hands. He was thinking why Sri Ramakrishna is behaving like a beginner in the spiritual path after attaining the Nirvikalpa Samadhi.  Totapuri wanted to express this thought to Sri Ramakrishna, so he said to him in a light tone, “What? Are you making chapatis (Indian bread made by hands)?” Sri Ramakrishna said, “I am taking the name of God.”  Totapuri believed in God without form and he did not find it necessary to go to the temple, or take the name of God with a form, or worship such God and perform any rituals for his spiritual progress. We know that later he had a severe stomach ache. He sat in meditation and started thinking, “I am not the body, I am not the mind, I am Atman, I am Consciousness, I do not have any pain.” But, his meditation on the formless Brahman could not lift up his mind beyond his stomach pain. Out of frustration, he decided to drown himself in the river Ganga. At that time, he had a vision of the Universal Mother who showed him that She is the power of Brahman and everything happens according to Her wish. His heart was filled with devotion. He understood the significance of chanting the name of the Mother. Thus, Sri Ramakrishna and Totapuri taught us the significance of chanting God’s name. Saints who have realized God say that chanting God’s name is enough to attain everything in the spiritual path.

Sri Ramakrishna also said that when a person sings musical notes ‘Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni, and upper Sa”, then one cannot stay on the upper Sa note for a long time. After some time one has to come down to the lower notes. Similarly, one cannot remain in the Nirvikalpa Samadhi for a long time. After some time, one has to come down to the body-mind level. Now, when we are aware of our body, our name, and form, then God also has a name and a form.  At that level chanting of God’s name is the most effective way to focus our mind on God.

Name and form are inseparable. This way  ‘Nama’ (God’s name) and  ‘Nami’ (the form of God represented by that name) are inseparable. If we chant ‘Rama’ then the form of Lord Rama comes to our mind and if we think of the form of Lord Rama, then the name ‘Rama’ comes to our mind. In India people chant  ‘Rama Nama Satta hai’, meaning the name of Rama is the Ultimate Truth. Since Rama as God is the Ultimate Truth, the name of Rama is also the Ultimate Truth. This is also the meaning of “Harer Nmaiva Kevalam’.

Now, let us look at the meaning of the eight stanzas of the Kaivalyashtakam and develop a love for chanting God’s name. The word    ‘Ashtakam’ means a collection of eight stanzas. Many hymns have been composed with eight stanzas and we find the word ‘Ashtakam’ attached to the title of the hymn.

Stanza – 1:

Meaning:
God’s name is the sweetest among all the sweet things,
God’s name is most auspicious among all auspicious things,
God’s name is most purifying among all purifiers,
Chanting God’s (Lord Hari’s) name is most important in the spiritual life.

Comments:

In life, all sweet things lose their sweetness at some point. Change of the situations or change in the things themselves or change of the mind-set makes the worldly things lose their sweetness. Only chanting God’s name with proper understanding makes it sweeter and sweeter every day.

Chanting God’s name brings all the good in our life. It brings us peace of mind, gives us the inner strength to go through the sufferings of life, and brings inner satisfaction.

Chanting God’s name develops a love for God and this love for God destroys lust, greed, anger, jealousy, and other impurities from our mind.

Chanting God’s name gives us everything that spirituality offers.

Stanza – 2:

Meaning:

Everything from Brahma, the creator of the universe, to the blade of grass is covered by Maya.

Chanting God’s name is the Ultimate Truth, that is the Ultimate Truth, and again I repeat, that is the Ultimate Truth.

Chanting God’s (Lord Hari’s) name is most important in the spiritual life.

Comments:

Whatever we perceive through our senses have a beginning and an end. They are constantly changing. Worldly things look different than they actually are. We get trapped by their external glories. These temporary things cannot give us permanent happiness. If we consider the worldly things or worldly situations as permanent, then we suffer when these things change or we lose them. If we understand that the worldly things and situations are impermanent and they may change at any moment or vanish, we prepare ourselves to accept the change, and then we can live in the world with sanity.

Our body and mind constantly change, but our Atman under whose background we perceive these changes is permanent. It is the support of our bodies and mind. Similarly, in the world, all things are constantly changing, but the support of the world, Brahman, is not changing. It remains the same and in the background of Brahman, we perceive the changes in the world. Our true nature is that Atman which is the same as Brahman. That is the only truth.

We can directly realize this Atman or Brahman by focusing our mind within ourselves in meditation. But, it is very difficult for most people. The other way is to focus our minds on the forms of God, or the forms of incarnations of God, or the forms of the realized beings. Since the name and form are inseparable, by chanting God’s names, or incarnations’ names, or realized beings’ names, we become one with them and through them, we realize our true divine identity. Thus, chanting God’s names lead us to the highest goal of spirituality.

Stanza – 3:

Meaning:

One who teaches us to chant God’s name, he/she is our spiritual teacher, our father, our mother, and our sibling.

Chanting God’s (Lord Hari’s) name is most important in the spiritual life.

Comments:

Father, Mother, spiritual teacher, and siblings think for our good. They wish that we are in good health; we study well, have an excellent job, earn lots of money, have a happy family life, and acquire name, fame, power, and the highest position in the world. No doubt, these are good wishes. But, all these things give us temporary happiness. Since the worldly happiness and miseries go together, we cannot have happiness without miseries. This stanza says that among them those who teach us to chant God’s names are the best well-wishers. Because, chanting God’s name will give us eternal happiness, satisfaction, and everything that we are actually looking for in the world.

Stanza – 4:

Meaning:

There is no guarantee which one will be our last breath.
Therefore, chant God’s name from childhood.

Chanting God’s (Lord Hari’s) name is most important in the spiritual life.

Comments:

Life is unpredictable and very short. Time flies very fast. So, we have to start chanting God’s name from childhood, if we really want to enjoy the precious fruits of our spiritual efforts. If we have missed it in our childhood, then we have to start chanting God’s name as soon as we have realized its importance. People think that when we finish our worldly duties and retire, at that time, we will take the name of God. But, it does not work that way. As Swami Brahmananda has said that it is like on a hot summer day, a person is waiting on the shore for the waves to stop, so that he/she can jump in the ocean to cool down. Waves will not stop. We have to jump in. Also, whatever our interests are at present, the same interests will continue when we retire. We cannot all of a sudden develop spiritual interest when we retire.

Stanza – 5:

Meaning:

God always resides where the devotees chant God’s name with devotion.

Chanting God’s (Lord Hari’s) name is most important in the spiritual life.

Comments:

Sri Ramakrishna said that a devotee’s heart is God’s dwelling place. This stanza simply tells us where we can find God. We can truly feel God’s presence where sincere devotees chant God’s name. God, residing in the hearts of such devotees, manifests even outside in that environment. When we truly love God, we can feel the spiritual vibrations in such an environment.

Stanza – 6:

Meaning:

Oh! It is painful, it is terrible, and it is most painful when we give up chanting God’s name for short-lived worldly pleasures.  It is like giving up a jewel, in order to get a mere piece of glass.

Chanting God’s (Lord Hari’s) name is most important in the spiritual life.

Comments:

Chanting God’s name gives us inner peace and strength of mind. It also keeps our minds clear about what we think, speak, and act. Thus, we can live a sane life with awareness. Our life will be a blessing to ourselves and to others also. A person finds a big difference between a life lived on the spiritual background compared to a life lived to fulfill worldly desires without any spiritual background. One is like living in a nice, cool, comfortable place and the other is like living in a hot scorching sunny place having no shelter. A life lived only to fulfill worldly desires is more filled with problems, anxieties, dissatisfaction, sorrows, and frustration than joy and satisfaction. When people get used to the sufferings of life, they think that it is the only way to live. It is true that only fortunate people develop a love for God and love to chant God’s name.

Stanza – 7:

Meaning:

O my ears! Always listen to God’s name.

O my tongue! Always repeat God’s name and sing God’s glories.

Chanting God’s (Lord Hari’s) name is most important in the spiritual life.

Comments:

We have to occupy all our senses and mind to think of God. This can be done in various ways. This stanza indicates that let our ears listen to God’s names, tongue sings God’s glories, hands clap giving rhythm to our singing, eyes visualize God’s form, and legs take us to the holy places or to our prayer-room or to a quiet place where we can sing God’s glories. We can offer all our work to God and make them as worship to God. We can offer our whole life to God by doing God’s work.

Stanza – 8:

Meaning:

God’s name gloriously dwells above all in the world as ever pure Sat-Chit-Ananda (Existence, Knowledge, and Bliss Absolute) making the joy of the whole world as mere straw.

Chanting God’s (Lord Hari’s) name is most important in the spiritual life.

Comments:

Upanishad says that the joy of the whole world is a very small fraction of the bliss of God-realization.  Even by going a little bit closer to God, we can feel a big positive change in our life. It is like on a hot summer day if we got closer to an ocean we feel the cool breeze and experience joy.

Sri Ramakrishna says, “’ Distaste in taking the name of God!’ Because of the ignorance and impurities of the mind if distaste develops in taking God’s name, then there is no chance for us to save ourselves from the miseries of the world. On the other hand, if in our life we develop a little bit of taste in taking God’s name, then there is a great hope to save ourselves from the miseries of life. So, develop taste in taking God’s name. Repeat God’s name regularly. Repeat the name of Durga, Krishna, Hari, or any name of God which you like. By repeating God’s name, ‘Anuraga’, (intense love for God) develops day by day. Then one experiences bliss and becomes fearless. This intense love for God definitely will remove the ignorance and impurities of the mind and definitely one receives God’s grace.”

Let us sing this hymn, reflect on its meaning, mold our life accordingly, and enjoy the unlimited eternal bliss in our life.

I thank Jyoti and Chintal Shah for singing Kaivalyashtakam hymn and a dhoon for this post. Listen to it, sing it, think about its meaning, and experience spiritual joy.