Posted By: Administrator
Śhiva panchākṣhara sthothram
Composer:
Ādhi Śhankarāchārya
Language: Sanskrit
Meanings
- Word by word: Team Ambalam
Meanings
- Overall: Translated by P R Ramachander.
Alignment, Diacriticals & consequent spelling changes, Language
& grammar editing, if any and necessary, of existing meaning: Team Ambalam
Rāga: Nāṭṭai
Nāgendhra hārāya thrilochanāya,
bhasmāṅga rāgāya maheśhwarāya,
nithyāya śhudhhāya dhigambarāya,
thasmai nakārāya namah śhivāya. 1
Nāgendhra
- the king of snakes;
Hārāya
- who wears as garland;
Thrilochanāya - Who has three eyes;
bhasmāṅga - who wears ash all over him
Rāgāya
–happily;
Maheśhwarāya-
who is the greatest lord;
nithyāya - who is forever;
Śhudhhāya - who is the purest
Dhigambarāya - who wears the directions
themselves as dress
thasmai nakārāya namah śhivāya - namah -My salutations; to the letter 'na'
(nakara), which is Śhiva.
My salutations to the letter 'na' (nakara), which is Śhiva, who wears
the king of snakes as a garland, has three eyes, who wears ash all over
happily, the greatest god, who is the purest and who wears the directions as a dress.
Rāga: Malayamārutha / Māṇḍ
Mandhākinī salila chandhana charchithāya,
nandhīśhwara pramathha nāthhha maheśwarāya,
mandhāra puṣhpa bahu puṣhpa supūjithāya,
thasmai makārāya namah Śhivāya. 2
Mandhākinī
– River Gaṅgā;
salila
–waters;
chandhana-
sandal;
charchithāya-has applied;
nandhīśhwara-the
bull Nandhi;
pramathha nāthhha-the overlord;
maheśwarāya- who is the greatest lord;
mandhāra-name of a flower;
puṣhpa- flower/s;
bahu puṣhpa- many flowers;
supūjithāya - who is worshipped;
thasmai
makārāya namah śhivāya - My salutations to the letter 'ma', which is Śhiva.
My salutations to the letter 'ma', which is Śhiva, who is bathed by
waters of the Gaṅgā, who applies sandal paste all over him, who has lord Nandhi
as his chieftain, who is the greatest lord,
and who is worshipped by mandhāra and many other flowers.
Rāga: Śhivaranjani
Śhivāya gauri vadhanāravindha,
sūryāya dakṣha dhwara nāśhakāya,
śhrī nīla kanṭhāya vruṣha dhhwajāya,
thasmai śhikārāya namah śhivāya 3
Śhivāya
– Śhiva;
gauri
– Pārvathi;
vadhanāravindha-
lotus like face;
sūryāya – the sun to;
dakṣha
- Dakṣha, the father of Sathi
dhwara
nāśhakāya – destroyer of sacrifice;
śhrī nīla kanṭhāya – one with the blue throat;
vruṣha
dhhwajāya – with the bull on his flag;
thasmai śhikārāya namah śhivāya - My salutations to the letter 'shi' , which is Śhiva.
My salutations to the letter 'shi, which is Śhiva, who is peace
personified, who is like Sun to the lotus- face of Gauri, who destroyed the
fire sacrifice of Dhakṣha, who has a blue neck and who has a bull in his flag.
Rāga: Valachi
Vasiṣhṭa kumbhodhbhava gauthamādhi
Munīndhra dhevārchitha śhekharāya
chandrarka vaiswanara lochanaya
thasmai vakārāya namah śhivāya 4
Vasiṣhṭa - Vasiṣhṭa;
Kumbhodhbhava
– Agasthya (supposedly born out of a pot);
Gauthamādhi – Gauthama and other sages;
Munīndhra – great sages or leaders amongst sages;
Dhevārchitha
– worshipped by the Dhevas;
Śhekharāya – Śhiva;
chandra– the moon; arka – sun;
vaiśhwānara - fire;
lochanaya
– as his eyes;
thasmai vakārāya namah śhivāya - My salutations to the letter 'va' , which
is Śhiva
My salutations to the letter 'va' , which is Śhiva, who is worshipped
by great sages like Vasiṣhṭa, Agasthya and Gauthama, as
also the Dhevas, and who has the sun, the moon and the fire as his three eyes.
Rāga: Yamankalyān
Yakṣha swarūpāya jaṭhādhharāya,
pināka hasthathaya sanathanaya,
divyaya devaaya digambaraya,
thasmai vakārāya namah śhivāya. 5
Yakṣha
swarūpāya – to the one who has the form of Yakṣha
jaṭhādhharāya – one who wears matted locks
pināka hasthathaya – to the one who holds the spear in his hand;
sanathanaya
– to the eternal one;
divyaya – to the divine one;
devaaya
– to the god;
digambaraya
– to the one who wears the directions as a garment.
thasmai yakārāya namah śhivāya. - My
salutations to the letter 'ya', which is shiva,
My salutations to the letter 'ya' , which is Śhiva, who takes the form
of yaksha,
who has a tufted hair, who is armed with spear, who is forever filled with
peace, who is godly, who is the great god and who wears the directions
themselves as dress.
Phalasruthi
Panchākṣharamidham puṇyam,
ya paṭheth śhiva sannidhou,
śhivalokam avāpnothi,
śhivena saha modhathe .
Panchākṣharamidham
- these five letters;
puṇyam
– meritorious;
ya paṭheth – whosoever reads;
śhiva
sannidhou – in the presence of Śhiva;
śhivalokam – the world of Śhiva;
avāpnothi – obtains;
śhivena saha – with Śhiva;
modhathe - enjoys;
Whoever repeats this Śhiva panchākṣhara sthothra composed with
the five holy letters before lord Śhiva, he attains that supreme abode of his
and enjoys the eternal bliss.
Note: In Hindhuism, many of us
consider the word Śhivam as whole without any division. Pūrṇam, Maṅgalam are
its other synonyms. In other words, auspiciousness and perfection.
It refers
to lord Śhiva, who is perfection personified and does not depend on any
external resources to attain that perfection. Naturally because of
this self-perfection, Śhiva is in a state of eternal bliss.
Panchākṣhara, the supreme manthra of the
Śhaivites, is referred as the holy five syllables. In the state
of Thamizhnāḍu, this panchākṣhara has a special connotation. It is
extolled as the thirumūlar thirumanthiram. Thirumūlar extols the
five (pancha) sacred syllables na ma śhi va ya thus:
●
Na-the concealing grace ("waiting" for
the individual to mature).
●
Ma-the three mālās (chains) of Āṇavam (primal
ignorance/ego), Karma (cause & effect) and Māyā (illusory or temporal
nature of existence).
●
Shi-Śhiva
●
Va - the revealing grace (spiritual awakening).
●
Ya=the soul (jīvāthma)
Still dissatisfied, Thirumūlar goes one step
further and give this explanation: "His feet are the letter na.
His navel is the letter ma. His shoulders are the letter śhi. His mouth, the
letter va his radiant cranial center aloft is ya. Thus is the five-lettered
form of Śhiva."
This five letter mantra stands in the middle of
the Vedhas, the śhatha rudhrīyam or rudhra sūktham. The Vedha samhithā,
hails lord Śhiva, as the lord of the three worlds, and salutes him as
"namah: śhivāya cha śhivatharāya cha"
The
subtle meaning of this supreme mantra of all Śhaivaites is that "by
negating my ahaṅkāra (my ego), I am realizing that everything in me is
his".
In
Kriṣhṇa Yajur Vedha (Thaittirīya samhithā 4.5.8). The importance of this
manthra is expressed thus:
Namastharāya namah śhambhave cha mayobhave cha,
namah śhankarāya cha mayaskarāya cha,
namah śhivāya cha śhivayatharāya cha.
Meaning:
"Homage to the source of health and to the
source of delight; homage to the maker of health and to the maker of delight;
homage to the auspicious and to the more auspicious."
