Thursday, October 16, 2008

Om Jai Shiv Omkara

For a considerable period of time now, I have wanted to learn Sanskrit. And the reason is very simple. More than anything else, I have always had this curiosity to know what exactly I mean when I'm reciting those Hindu prayers. I know for a fact there are many around me who just repeat stuff by rote but do not know what or why they are singing a particular aarti / bhajan.

For instance, just today I got really curious about a particular passage in the aarti 'Om Jai Shiv Omkara'. I asked a couple of people around me who I know to be extremely pious and take the name of the Lord regularly. Surprisingly, they couldn't come up with an answer. Not that I'm in the least disrespecting or doubting their piety, but I would have at least expected them to satiate my curiosity about a couple of verses that they repeat daily.

Anyway, Google bhagwaan ki jai ho! I've gone through a couple of pages of search results for "om jai shiv omkara translation" and the best one thus far is still the first result on Google. However, I'm somehow not convinced that this is the only translation / explanation available for this aarti. In case you do know of any other source, do let me know. I would be extremely grateful.

Om Jai Shiv Omkara

Victory to Śiva, Who is the Lord, Who is Hara (absolver), and Who is Oṃkāra. Brahma and Viṣṇu are always Sadāśiva and He has Gańgā as a consort. Victory to Śiva, Who is Oṃkāra.||1||

Victory to Śiva — Who is adorned with one, four and five heads, and with a seat of Swan, Garuḍa and Bull as Brahma, Viṣṇu and Śiva — and Who is Oṃkāra.||2||

Victory to Śiva — Who is looking nice with two, four and ten arms, and Who is enticing the world in all the three forms as Brahma, Viṣṇu and Śiva — Who is Oṃkāra.||3||

Victory to Śiva — Who has garlands of Akṣa (beads), flowers and skulls, and Who has sandalwood-tilaka, musk-tilaka and the Moon at the forehead as Brahma, Viṣṇu and Śiva — Who is Oṃkāra.||4||

Victory to Śiva — Who has white, yellow and tiger-skin apparel, and Who is attended by Brahmādika, Sanakādika and Bhūtādika as Brahma, Viṣṇu and Śiva — Who is Oṃkāra.||5||

Victory to Śiva — Who holds Kamaṇḍalu, Cakra and Śūla, Who creates, nourishes and destroys the world as Brahma, Viṣṇu and Śiva — Who is Oṃkāra.||6||

Only the unwise think Brahma, Viṣṇu, and Śiva as different. Actually they all are adorned inside the Praṇava-Akṣara (ॐ). Victory to Śiva, Who is Oṃkāra.||7||

‘‘Śivānandasvāmī’’ says — Those men who sing this Āratī of formless Śiva achieve their desires. Victory to Śiva, Who is Oṃkāra.||8||

Poet: Śivānandasvāmī

Source:

Translator: Animesh Kumar

(Source: Stutimandal.com

Link here)

6 comments:

infinite_thoughts said...

who creates,nourishes and destroys the world.....
~in awe~

Anonymous said...

îsHâ vâsyamidaM sarvaM yat kiñcac jagatyâM jagat,
tena tyaktena bhuñjîthâ mâ gRidhaH kasya sviddhanam.

I have been reading these verses from Isha Upnishad, the very first of them, since I was in school (10 years back). Everytime I read it it gives avowal of how true the nature of universe described in these verses are!

It means at a very high level something like this:
All this is for habitation by the Lord, whatsoever is individual universe of movement in the universal motion. By that renounced thou shouldst enjoy; lust not after any man's possession.

These lines happen to be so contemporary seeing the nature of world today! Alas what a shame that people (maybe many of your friends) have forgotten these lines , in their prosaic and mundane nature of things around them!

Anonymous said...

Indeed I remember Vivekananda saying that: "All the religion of the world have one voice, one thing in common and preaches one thing, that is Renunciation. World is like a great gymnasium where a person takes birth to perfect himself."

Anonymous said...

Later on the verses describe the consequences as in:
asûryâH nâma te lokâ andhena tamasâvRitâH,
tâMste pretyâbhigacchanti ye ke câtmahano janâH.

Which at high level means:
Sunless are those worlds and enveloped in blind gloom whereto all they in their passing hence resort who are slayers of their souls.

R said...

heyy!!!

am back...
will now go read ur post!!

:)
nice to be back again!!!

Shekhar said...

infinite_thoughts: Yeah, I expected you to like it. :)

scd & k3: Just one word: AWESOME !!!

raam pyari: Wow!!! Namaste !! Feels great to see you back here. :))