The student learns...

Walking in the footsteps of a great is a special joy reserved for few. And uncovering a path which has been previously explored by someone and was thus far hidden from you means that the joy reaches another level altogether. The serendipity of stumbling upon something which was left there precisely to help you can bring a smile to your face. The student always remembers what he learnt by doing or discovering something himself rather than learning by rote.

The Shiva Panchakshara Stotram took me a few weeks to memorise. The stotra praises Lord Shiva and each stanza ends bowing to the five letters (hence 'Panchakshara') that constitute Namah Shivaya.

It isn't that the meanings or the words are difficult to understand. What I was grappling with, however, was the order in which the stanzas were to be recited.

Till one morning, while I was reciting the said stotra during my morning prayers, it struck me like lightning: as a mnemonic clue, the first word of each of the stanzas begins with the letter in the order in which it appears in Namah Shivaya.

The thrill of excitement that I experienced with this discovery cannot be expressed. More than the fact that I will never get the order of the stanzas wrong, I was super kicked about the fact that I had discovered this clue on my own: no elder or website or book had alluded to this hidden fact.

For benefit of the readers, here is the text of the Shiva Panchakshara Stotram:

Nagendra Haaraaya Thrilochanaaya
Bhasmaanga Raagaaya Maheshvaraaya
Nityaaya Suddhaaya Digambaraaya
Tasmai Nakaaraaya Namah Shivaaya.

Mandaakini Salila Chandana Chaarthitaaya
Nandeesvara Pramatha Naatha Mahesvaraaya
Mandaara Pushpa Vahu Pushpa Supoojitaaya
Tasmai Makaaraaya Namah Shivaaya

Shivaaya Gauri Vadana Aravinda
Sooryaaya Dakshaadhvara Naashakaaya
Sree Neelakantaaya Vrisha Dhvajaaya
Tasmai Shikaaraaya Namah Shivaaya

Vasishta Kumbhodbhava Gautamaaya
Muneendra Devaarchita Sekharaaya
Chandraarka Vaishvaanara Lochanaaya
Tasmai Vakaaraaya Namah Shivaaya

Yajna Swaroopaaya Jataadharaaya
Pinaaka Hasthaaya Sanaatanaaya
Divyaaya Devaaya Digambaraaya
Tasmai Yakaraaya Namah Shivaaya.

Panchaaksharam Idam Punyam
Yah Pateh Shiva Sannidhau
Shivaloka Mavaapnothee
Shivena Saha Modate

Shivratri 2012

A quick scribble before I head to the office.

Hope everyone had a beautiful Shivratri yesterday.

Personally, had a wonderful day. Prayed and pulled off a long fast: 30 hours without food or water. It wasn't as tough as I thought it would be, albeit was feeling a little heavy in the head in the evening.

Here is a picture of the mandir at my home right after the aarti I did in the evening:

Rage

Shiva has two extreme aspects attributed to him.

One is the quiet meditating sage.

This post is not about that.

This post is about when Shiva dances the Tandava. Rage or fury is one of the purest forms of emotion. It courses through your body with unimaginable force; a force which unleashed can scorch anything which dares stand in its path. The full blast of energy that Shiva's third eye can generate cannot be put into words. Simply put, nobody survives it... not the innocent, nor the guilty; neither the angel nor the the devil.

Na punyam na paapam

Na sukhyam na dukhyam

Na mantro na tirtham

Na vedam na yagya

Aham bhojanam naivya bhogyam na bhokta

Chidananda roopa Shiv-o-ham Shiv-o-ham

Beyond the concepts of 'paap' and 'punya',

Beyond the concepts of 'sukh' and 'dukh',

Neither to be found in 'mantras' or 'tirthas'

Nor to be attained by 'vedas' or 'yagyas'

I am THAT Shiva.

Originally meant in a very different sense, the above couplet ironically also applies to Shiva when he is angry. Sometimes, it is just necessary for the world to burn. Forests of pleasure which no longer promise fruits of happiness must be burnt down. Deep, very deep love signifies unquestioning passion. And the more energy and love that was invested in building the forest, the more anger and fury required to burn it down.

But it is a necessary evil. Without it, one just cannot go on. Not because one looks to a brighter, better future (that will inevitably follow) and certainly not because one wants to get rid of the rage, but just because there is rage right now which one must live. Right now is the time to clench one's fist and smash through every stone, every obstacle which either stands in your way or has been foolishly hurled in your direction.

Yes. Shiva is also about peace and prosperity.

Someday, I hope I shall be able to write about that too. Amen.

Ardhanareshwar

Just couldn't go to sleep without sharing this awesome visualization of the Ardhanareshwar that I came across on Twitter some days ago.

A Prayer

1991

"Repeat after me," Mom said, "Om Mrityunjay Mahadev..."

"Om Mrityunjay Mahadev...," I repeated like a parrot.

Calcutta (as it was known back then) had still not shrugged off the days of "load-shedding" and it was during one such evening during a power failure that Mom decided I was old enough to start learning Sanskrit shlokas.

I still remember the dark room, Mom sitting on a sofa and asking me to repeat the shloka aloud. After about 5 times, I confidently declared that I'd memorized it completely. Like all mothers, Mom knew that it would take a lot more than just five repetitions for me to "know it by heart". She made me repeat the shloka a couple of hundred times over the next few weeks for it to get firmly embedded in my consciousness.

2008

I was in Bangalore (as it was known back then ~sighs~) and staying alone in my one room apartment in Koramangala. I haven't ALWAYS been regular with my daily prayers, but do get curious about religion from time to time. Add to that, I've always been fascinated by the personality that is Shiva. I don't remember where, but I chanced upon Neelima Chitgopekar's book on Shiva.

Whilst browsing, I was merely reading aloud the many shlokas which were scattered through the length of the book when something strange happened. One particular shloka, which I hadn't ever heard in its entirety, let alone memorized, struck a chord somewhere. As I went back and forth over it, I realized that I started singing the shloka in a particular metre.

I was puzzled. Where was this coming from? How was I being able to anticipate the next few verses of a hymn which had never been taught to me?

It took me a while to figure out that I had known this shloka since my childhood. All my growing up years, I had heard Mom repeat the shloka while doing her morning and evening puja. And yes, the shloka was repeated in the exact same metre that I was repeating it in now. I had never paid any particular attention to her while she prayed; I would be reading a book or running around the house like any normal kid. But somewhere, the shloka had stuck inside my head and today it was all coming back to me.

I realize I have been very fortunate in my life to have some fantastic teachers. I keep bumping into new ones even today, and boy am I grateful I do.

But the one teacher who I owe it most to is my Mom.

"Guru Govind dono khade, kake lagu paaye?

Balihaari guru aapki Govind diyo bataaye."

The Lord and my teacher both stand in front of me,

I know not whom to offer obeisance first.

The answer to which is, dear teacher,

You were the one who showed me the path to the Lord.

Mom, you continue to inspire me.

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)