Shiva Mantra

Shiva Mantra

(i) The Tripura Tapini Upanishad of the Atharva Veda tradition,  describes the great Mantra of Lord Shiva which gives the worshipper the stature equivalent to that of Lord Shiva. To quote—“The Lord (Shiva) replied, ‘You must worship the God who vanquishes death with the help of the Anushtup Chanda ‘Trayambak’ etc.  It has been said from the beginning that the monosyllablic word OM is a representative of the Lord (the supreme transcendental Brahm) who is universal and uniformly all-pervading, all-incorporating and all-encompassing. Hence, those who worship the Lord with Mantra ‘OM Namaha Shivaaye’ of the Yajur Veda are able to attain the exalted stature equivalent to Lord Rudra. He is rewarded with auspiciousness. [This Mantra briefly means ‘Salutations to the Lord represented bythe word OM! I bow before Lord Shiva who is this particular supreme transcendental Lord’. You must be fully enlightened about it. [That is, a spiritual aspirant who knows the profound import of this great Mantra uses it for offering worship to the Lord in order to attain the supreme state of enlightenment that gives him salvation and emancipation.

(ii) The Tripura Tapini Upanishad of the Atharva Veda tradition, describe the great Mantra of Lord Shiva in his divine form as Trayambak. The full Mantra is ‘Trayambakam Yajaamahe Sugandhim Pushti-vardhan  Urwaaruk-miv Bandhanaan-mrityor-mukshi-yeti Mamritaat’

(iii) The Sharav Upanishad of the Atharva Veda,  describes the glories of Lord Shiva as follows—“We bow reverentially and pay our obeisance to the great Lord known as Rudra who can burn to ashes the entire world by the fierce spurt of fire emanating from the third eye located in his forehead1, and is so gracious that he re-creates it once again after punishing it (for its sins and misdeeds by reducing it to ashes), and then offers it his protection.  Lord Maheswar, the Great God (‘Ishwar’) and Lord of all the other gods, is truthful, is eternal, unchanging, steady and always omnipresent everywhere, is a (neutral and dispassionate) witness to all and everything (that is happening in this creation), is eternally blissful and happy, has no comparison or parallel in this creation, and is indescribable and incomprehensible. The Lord or Bhagwan is also known as ‘Girish’ as he is the Lord of mountains. [This is because the symbolic abode of Shiva is said to be on the higher reaches of snow- covered Mt. Kailash. The reason for Shiva living in mountains is that he is the greatest Yogi or ascetic, and for an ascetic it is prescribed in the scriptures that he makes mountains and forests his abode. This is to help him in his meditation and contemplation or other forms of spiritual exercises. Mountains are places that give serenity, solitude, peace and tranquillity to the soul. They are the natural habitat for those who wish to pursue spiritual path of meditation and contemplation because they provide the aspirant with the perfect environment that fits their spiritual needs. Besides this, the mountains are metaphors for areas on earth where the positive energy of the consciousness is at its peak—and this is physically depicted in the form of high peaks of mountains that almost touch the sky.]

We say that the Lord lives there or anything else about the Lord only because we imagine it to be so, as it is just not possible to know about him. Everything in existence comes to an end in a regular cycle and in a sequential order when the time comes. Therefore, everything is impermanent, mortal and perishable, and hence false and illusionary. [This is because if they would have been real and truthful then they would have been permanent and immortal, as ‘truth’ never ends and it is constant.]

OM salutations! We pay our obeisance and greatest of respect to that Great Lord known as Mahadev (literally the great God or Lord) holding the ‘Shul’ (the invincible and strong spear or any sharp pointed weapon, here meaning the trident held by Shiva) who devours everything and brings them to an end. [That is, Shiva is the Authority that concludes this creation.]

At the same time our obeisance and greatest of respect are meant for the same  Lord Maheshwar (literally the great Ishwar or God or Lord) known as Rudra (or Shiva) who is ever so merciful, gracious, benevolent and munificent on all .

Shiva is the only truthful, eternal and imperishable entity that remains infinitely constant, steady and unchanging, that is immutable and indivisible. Except Shiva everything else is un-truth, illusionary and false. That is why besides the other exalted God known as Vishnu, the aspirant should meditate and contemplate only upon Lord Shiva who is the Lord (like Vishnu) who can help the aspirant to break free from all the fetters that shackle him down and prevent his liberation and deliverance from this ensnaring world.

We pay our sincere obeisance and the greatest of respect to Maheshwar (the great Lord God) who provides liberation and deliverance from the formidable snare of this world which is very difficult to break free from, as well as is the Lord who devours everything in this world.