Gist of Sri Rudram

Today is Shivaratri and it is an auspicious night for the worship of Lord Shiva. It is not Shiva’s ratri but our ratri for us to worship Shiva throughout the night. Generally Shivaratri is celebrated in the form of Shiva puja in the form of Rudra Abhisekam. As Shiva is supposed to Abhisekam priyah while Vishnu is supposed to be Alakara priyah and all those ornaments like pitambaram, gada, chakra etc. Therefore rudra abhisekam is done on Shivaratri and it can done in different ways. 
            We did rudra abhiskem today chanting one time Rudram and one time Chamakkam. This kind of worship is called namaka worship. Then you can chant Rudram eleven times and after the end of each round of Rudram you chant one chapter of Chamakkam and thus 11 times Rudram and once Chamakkam is called Rudram. Then the next higher grade is chanting Rudram 121 times (multiple of 11) – you can do it any way like one person chanting 121 times or 11 people chanting 11 times or 121 people chanting once – and chamakaam will be chanted 11 times. This type of worship is called Rudra Eka dhashinih. The next higher grade is chanting Rudram 121 times 11 which 1,321 times and this you can do in any manner (121 people chanting Rudram 11 times and if there are 1,321 people who know Rudram they can chant it once) and this kind of worship is called Maha Rudram (1,321 times rudram and 121 times chamakkam).  And if you can manage still higher as we have got one more. We must chant 1,321 times 11 which is 14, 541 times rudram. And we chant chamakkam 1,321 times. This is called athi rudram. Thus namakam is one time, 11 times is rudram, 121 times is rudram eka dhashini, 1,321 times is Maha rudram and 14,541 is athi rudram. Therefore you’ll find that in India especially South India they will chant Rudram or Rudram Eka Dhashini chanting rudram throughout the night. But we have not able to go higher than namakam (laughs). Since we have been chanting Sri Rudram each Shivaratri I thought I will briefly give you the meaning. We may spend our lifetime chanting Rudram without knowing what it contains. I’ll not go to elaborate level except furnish the salient features in this talk.

            Rudram is a very sacred mantra or prayer occurring in the Krishna Yajur Veda. It occurs almost in the middle of the yajurveda. It is considered not only most sacred in yajurveda but whole Vedas. Among all the shastra, the Vedas are supposed to be most sacred and among Vedas the Rudram is the most sacred and revered. And in the Rudram itself the “panchakshari” which occurs almost in the middle which is “Namah Shivayya”. And further the most auspicious part is in the middle which is “Shiva”. Since the word “Shiva” occurs in the Rudram and it means the “most auspicious one”, the most magala kalah this is considered to be most auspicious and sacred.

            And before chanting Rudram there are some preparatory mantra called “nyasa” mantrah. This is invocation of the deity on our own body. This is because when we worship we should also be as pure as the Lord at least at the time of puja! We purify the body by invoking various deities at various parts of the body. In Rudram we have two kinds of invocation. Before doing Rudram Eka Dhashini, Maha Rudram and Athi Rudram we do a bigger invocation called “Mahaanyasah”. This is one hour of chanting where we invoke the lord in different parts of the body. And we cannot do Mahaanyasah then we need a shortcut which is the vogue of Kali yuga  as we are always short of time! We have a shorter invocation which is called “Laghunyasah”. prajanane brahmā tiṣṭhatu | pādayor-viṣṇustiṣṭhatu | hastayor-harastiṣṭhatu | bāhvorindrastiṣṭatu | jaṭhare‌உagnistiṣṭhatu | hṛda’ye śivastiṣṭhatu | kaṇṭhe vasavastiṣṭhantu | vaktre sarasvatī tiṣṭhatu | nāsikayor-vāyustiṣṭhatu | nayanayoś-candrādityau tiṣṭetām | karṇayoraśvinau tiṣṭetām | lalāṭe rudrāstiṣṭhantu | mūrthnyādityāstiṣṭhantu | śirasi mahādevastiṣṭhatu | śikhāyāṃ vāmadevāstiṣṭhatu | pṛṣṭhe pinākī tiṣṭhatu | purataḥ śūlī tiṣṭhatu | pārśyayoḥ śivāśaṅkarau tiṣṭhetām | sarvato vāyustiṣṭhatu | tato bahiḥ sarvato‌உgnir-jvālāmālā-parivṛtastiṣṭhatu | sarveṣvaṅgeṣu sarvā devatā yathāsthānaṃ tiṣṭhantu | māgṃ rakṣantu |

So we invoke so many deities not only on our body but also in the surroundings also. And again another invocation. agnirme’ vāci śritaḥ | vāgdhṛda’ye | hṛda’yaṃ mayi’ | ahamamṛte” | amṛtaṃ brahma’ṇi And that is also invocation of the deity. So after invocation I have also become a mini-Shiva as it were. And only this purification one is supposed to do rudra abhiskem. The word “Rudra” itself has various different names. “Ruth” means dukham, Dukha Hathuh means the cause of sorrow like disease, death, famine etc. The “Drah” means “One who drives away.” Since Lord Shiva removes all the sorrows and the causes for sorrows, therefore HE is called “Rudra”. Therefore positively HE is called “Shiva” the most auspicious one. When you say HE is the “remover of sorrow” you say “Rudra” and by removing the sorrow what do you get?  Mangalah and Anandah. You call HIM “Shiva” as the bestower of Magalam and Anandah. Since Lord Rudra is glorified in this prayer, this is known as SRI RUDRAM. 
Otherwise they call it “shatha rudriyam” as in Kaivalya Upanishad and here “shatha” means hundreds and “rudriyam” means aspects or glories of Lord Rudra. Since this contains hundreds of glories or lilas of Lord it is called “shatha rudriyam”. Another name is “Rudra Upanishad” which also means “Rudram”. Another name is “Sri Rudra Suktam” and finally “namakam – all these are names of Sri Rudram (Shatha Rudriyam, Rudra Upanishad, Rudra Suktam, Namakkam etc). 
Before chanting “Rudra” we invoke the grace of Lord Shiva by meditating on him. Here the prayer or meditation mantra is beautiful as two aspects of the Lord are brought in. One aspect is Shiva as a personal God. That is what we get in the beginning śuddhasphaṭika saṅkāśaṃ trinetraṃ pañca vaktrakam | gaṅgādharaṃ daśabhujaṃ sarvābharaṇa bhūṣitam as Shiva is described as a person with three eyes, carrying Ganga, and jatta is there, and various ornaments are there, and Parvathi is also seated. This is for a beginner and for an advanced seeker sarva vyāpina-mīśānaṃ rudraṃ vai viśvarūpiṇam | Lord Shiva is not seating at one place but he is sarvathmatah in the form of virat swaroopam or vishwa rupah. In the later slokas the vishwa rupa is beautifully described āpātāḷa-nabhaḥsthalānta-bhuvana-brahmāṇḍa-māvisphurat- jyotiḥ sphāṭika-liṅga-mauḷi-vilasat-pūrṇendu-vāntāmṛtaiḥ. So the whole cosmos is taken as the cosmic Shiva lingah and the abshisekam is done by the moon’s rays that contain water droplets. This is maha yagna. We take a small lingam and meditate on it as a cosmic Viswa rupam before doing the abhisekam. brahmāṇḍa vyāptadehā bhasita himarucā bhāsamānā bhujaṅgaiḥ  ord Shiva’s body pervades the whole “brahmandam” (the cosmos). In another prayer we saw Jala Kala Kalasam Akasha Moorti, nakshatram pushpamalyam, graha kara kusum – the whole akasha is Shiva linga, the stars are the flowers, the sun and moon are the eyes, the ocean the base, pathalam or the lower world are the steps veda, vakram, shadagam and veda is the mouth of Lord Rudra. The difference between Shiva and Vishnu is there as long as you consider them as a personal god. Their forms, colour, abaranams, etc are different. The difference between Shiva and Vishnu is only at a lower level. Once we expand our minds to see Vishnu as “Vishwa rupa” and Shiva as “Vishwa rupa” then both Shiva and Vishnu are one and the same. Therefore at the end of Rudram we have Om Namo Bhagavate Rudraya Vishnavay Mruthyurme Paahi, they knew we would quarrel as whether Shiva is greater or Vishnu. Likewise in Vishnu Sahashranama they added Sarva Sharva Shiva to indicate that both are one and same. They are both nothing but Virat Swarupa. This is laghunayasa or the dhyana sloka.

Now I will quickly go through the contents of Rudram. It consists of 11 chapters, we call it eleven anuvakam (sections or chapers). In this the first anuvakam and the last two anuvakam are prayers seeking the grace of the Lord. In these three sections – 1, 10, and 11- we are asking for Ishwara Kripa and Ishwara Anugraha. We see them later. I shall take the middle portions first. From the second anuvakam to the nineth anuvakam it is the glorification of the Lord Shiva. These are Shiva Mahima Stotram or Shiva Shruthi or Ishwara Shruthi. In these sections Shiva’s glories are seen from different angles. In Rudram we find three aspects beautifully brought out.

            One glory is Sarva Ishwarathpm, Lord Shiva is the Ishwara of all. The god for all gods. Sarvasham pathihi and Sarvasham Ishwarah, in Vedantic jargon the “nimitta karanam” is highlighted. The Lord has the intelligent creator and the lord has the protector of the universe.

            The second aspect that is highlighted Sarvathma Kathvam of Lord Shiva which means HE alone is appearing as everything in creation. Previously we said that HE is the Lord of all which means people are different and Lord is different. There is bhedam. Now we say that the Lord does not protect the world standing separately as the LORD HIMSELF is there in the form of the world. This is Viswarupa we get in the Bhagavat Gita of the eleventh chapter, what we get in the Purusha Suktam is conveyed in the Rudram as Sarvam Shiva mayam jagat. This I call Sarvathmakatvam.

            Then comes the final and the subtlest aspect and that is the sarva antharyami thvam. The Lord is the inner essence or nirgunathvam, sarva athisttanam of everything. So there are three stages: Sarvasham Ishwarah, Sarva Rupah, Sarva Antharyami. 
            Now I will quote from the rudram just to show how these three aspects are brought out. Sarvasharathvam we get in the second anuvakam Namo hiranya bahave , senanye ,dhisaam cha pathaye  nama, HE is the Lord of all quarters  pasunaam pathaye namo nama HE is the lord of all pasus, meaning all animals including human beings and therefore HE is pushupathih. padheenaam pathaye nama, HE is various margas – Karma, Upasana, Jnana – which are the sadhanas prescribed in the scriptures. annanaam pathye nama , HE is the lord of annam (food)  and thereafter pushtanaam pathaye nama, HE is the lord of nourishment. kshetranaam pathaye nama, HE is lord of lands (fields) of the fourteen worlds. vrukshaanam pathaye, kakshanaam pathaye , oushadinaam pathaye, patheenam pathaye, sathvanaam pathaye, HE is the lord of forests, oceans and all of them. Then interestingly Rudram HE is not only the lord of good things, HE is the lord of so called negative things also. When you say “lord” HE is absolute.

            In the third section Rudram talks about varieties of thieves. Like leaders of thieves, dacoits, cheats etc. The Lord is all of them!  sthenaanam pathaye means thief, thaskaraanam pathaye  means another kind of thief, sthayoonam pathaye , aranyanam  pathaye means  the thief in the forest like Veerapan. Shiva is the lord for all of them…laughs. Mushnathaam, prukrunthanaam, kulanchaanaam means army people and all that. That HE is the lord of everything.

            Then the next aspect is “Sarvaatmakah” we get in the next section. Ganebhyo ganapathibyascha vo namo nama, Viroopebhyo Viswaroopebhyascha vo namo nama, Mahadbhya  kshullakebyascha vo namo nama, HE is in the form of all ganams meaning groups of people. And if there is a leader for a group then HE is also Shiva. Mahadbhya means bigger one while kshullakebyah means smaller one. Radhibhyo aradhebhyascha, Radhebhya radha pathibhyscha means one who drives the chariot or all the drivers. Kshathrabya sangraheethrubyacha, Sthakshabhyo rathakarebhyascha , Kulalebhya kamaribhyascha, HE is carpenter also. Next time you get angry with a carpenter, remember this. Carpenter is also Shiva, pot maker is also Shiva, Ikshukrudbhyo, those who make arrows and also those who make bows. Mrugayubhya swanibhyascha, HE is also the dog leader who drags the animal after a kill. It is Shiva dragging Shiva.

Then it gets interesting: bṛhate ca varṣī’yase ca namo’ vṛddhāya’ ca saṃvṛdhva’ne ca namo agri’yāya ca prathamāya’ ca nama’ āśave’ cājirāya’ ca namaḥ śīghri’yāya ca śībhyā’ya ca nama’ ūrmyā’ya cāvasvanyā’ya ca nama’ḥ strotasyā’ya ca dvīpyā’ya ca namo” jyeṣṭhāya’ ca kaniṣṭhāya’ ca nama’ḥ pūrvajāya’elderly people, younger people, standing people, sitting people, laying people, those with pains …..all are Shiva. All these are enumerated and it is said that Lord Shiva alone is everything. So sarvathma bhavah.
Then comes the last “sarva antharyami”. namo’ dundubhyā’ya cāhananyā’ya ca , Dhndubi is a drum and Shiva is inside that! …(laughs). You use a stick to make a sound to the drum and who is inside the stick? Lord Shiva. srutyā’ya ca pathyā’ya ca nama’ḥ kāṭyā’ya ca, Shiva is pathi which means marga, inside the well also Shiva is there, inside rivers also, inside sara (means lake), in the dry land also Lord Shiva, in the wetlands also, in the grassy land Shiva is there, in the grass less land also he is there, in the dust also HE is there, meghyaya cha HE is the clouds also, vidyutyā’ya ca nama īdhriyā’ya cātapyā’ya ca namo vātyā’ya ca reṣmi’yāya ca namo’ vāstavyā’ya ca vāstupāya’ ca, HE is the prithvi also, HE is the prarna also which is leaf. Therefore Shiva is in everything possible, HE is all of them. In what rupam? Satchitananda swarupam.

            Now I will conclude with the prayer part that I left out. We seek the blessings of Lord Shiva in the first portion and the last two portions. The prayer is interesting and it is like a child’s prayer. Imagine the devotee is standing before Rudra and HE has many aspects like Pancha vaktram, etc and one of the aspects is “gora rupam”. HE is terrible to look, Shiva has got a bow and arrow (Pinakam), then there is a quiver and there are arrows with the sharp tips coming out. And Lord Shiva is an embodiment of “manyayu” (anger). Now when a devotee sees such an image, he is extremely scared and afraid. nama’ste rudra manyava’ utota iṣa’ve nama’ḥ, first I prostrate to your anger! Then he takes each aspect one by one. “O, Lord! When I see your bow I am terribly scared. When I see the arrows I am terribly frightened. When I see your gora rupa I am frightened. So for my sake you have to change your form. yā te’ rudra śivā tanūraghorā‌உpā’pakāśinī, you please show your agora rupa. So please show me your Shiva rupa and please ensure you don’t harm me in any manner. I plead and you must imagine Shiva saying, okay, okay. Inspite of Shiva’s acceptance the devotee is not satisfied. When I see your bow which is already strung, I get scared because YOU may suddenly use it. Therefore I suggest YOU please unstring it. pramu’ñca dhanva’nas-tvamubhayorārtni’ yorjyām, Please keep the bow and string in your hand but loosen the strings. Then imagine Shiva saying,” Sure, I will do that.” By this time the devotee sees the sharp arrows. The tip of the arrow is jutting out from the quiver. The devotee is scared of that as he says yāśca te hasta iṣa’vaḥ parā tā bha’gavo vapa. I suggest YOU keep the arrows upside down so that I don’t get to see the sharp side. Then Shiva says I WILL DO THAT. Then vijyaṃ dhanu’ḥ kapardino viśa’lyo bāṇa’vāgm uta even if the arrows are upside down it is so sharp that YOU may take it anytime and use it. I am afraid. Therefore I suggest that YOU take the arrow and rub the tip of it and make it blunt. Lord, please blunt the arrow and then YOU may keep it. Shiva says,” Okay, I will do it.”

              By this time the devotee thinks that my request is not correct. Because even though the Lord may remove them for my sake, I must request the Lord for my protection from various dangers from outside. And Lord has to protect me from these dangers then HE must have all HIS weapons. Now the devotee says,” I am taking back all my prior requests. Even here the devotee is weak minded and unsure. He says,” You keep the bow strung, let there be arrows and let them be sharp. Now my prayer is Please do not use it against me. Lord, I have a list of enemies and please finish all of them. ane’śan-nasyeṣa’va ābhura’sya niṣaṅgathi’ḥ | yā te’ hetir-mī’ḍuṣṭama haste’ babhūva’ te dhanu’ḥ | tayā‌உsmān, viśvatas-tvama’yakṣmayā pari’bbhuja | nama’ste astvāyudhāyānā’tatāya dhṛṣṇave” | ubhābhyā’muta te namo’ bāhubhyāṃ tava dhanva’ne. Paribhuja means please save me. I prostrate and salute your hands. I salute your arrows and kindly do not use against me. 

            It has an important use and I’ll tell you. pari’ te dhanva’no hetirasmān-vṛ’ṇaktu viśvata’ḥ | atho ya i’ṣudhistavāre asmannidhe’hi tam. I have a hit list of enemies which is called “aarah”. Please use all your arrows to them, hurl your arrows to my enemies …(laughs). There is a similar prayer at the end also. mā na’stoke tana’ye mā na āyu’ṣi mā no goṣu mā no aśve’ṣu rīriṣaḥ | vīrānmā no’ rudra bhāmito‌உva’dhīr-haviṣma’nto nama’sā vidhema te, O Lord, you protect us and all the people belonging to the family and especially protect our servants with your bow and arrows. Even the servants are mentioned to show the importance, they knew it even then! Let them not fall sick, viran mano means servants. And if there are pregnant women let them be protected. The child within the womb be protected, the husband be protected. Let all those people be protected, O lord. Let the animals be protected, like pets.

            In the end it says namo’ rudhrebhyo ye pṛ’thivyāṃ ye”‌உntari’kṣe ye divi yeṣāmannaṃ vāto’ var-ṣamiṣa’vas-tebhyo daśa prācīrdaśa’ dakṣiṇā daśa’ pratīcīr-daśo-dī’cīr-daśordhvās-tebhyo namaste no’ mṛḍayantu te yaṃ dviṣmo yaśca’ no dveṣṭi taṃ vo jambhe’ dadhāmi. I worship the Lord Rudra who is in infinite forms. Who is in the northern direction with hundreds of forms, southern direction in hundreds of forms. For all of them I offer my prayers and prostrations. And what do I want? I want to destroy all my enemies. So finish off “whoever I hate and whoever hates me”. This appears a terrible boon, we say our true enemies are not outside but they are inside as in raga, dvesha, kama, kroda, mada, matsarya etc. O Lord destroy all of them. Give me sadhana Chattustayai Sampathi. Once I have purity of my, what is my next request? trya’mbakaṃ yajāmahe sugandhiṃ pu’ṣṭivardha’nam | urvārukami’va bandha’nān-mṛtyo’r-mukṣīya mā‌உmṛtā”t. Then I can work for moksha for how long will be caught in the snares of samsara.          

And how should I be liberated? There is a beautiful example. Just like urvaruma, the valeri pazham, say a type of cucumber. The fruit will be strongly connected to the creeper. The fruit does not come away from the creeper. As the fruit grows the original creeper breaks and goes away. O, Lord I am like the valeri pazham and because I am not ripe I am strongly attached to the creeper like father, mother, wife, child and all of them. Actually in the old age the attachment seems to be stronger. O, Lord I should mature and I should not give up, let them give me up. This is best way of sanyasa. O Lord give me such a situation that I will be naturally free from all these bonds. And I will attain immortality. And oneness with you. With the last prayer for moksha and chitta shudi the rudram is concluded.

Rudram is a very sacred mantra for all seekers especially Vedantic seekers. That’s why in Kaivalya Upanishad it is said that even a sanyasi should chant rudram. Therefore Rudram is one mantra that is good for brahmachari, ghrista, vanaprasta, and sanyasis. There are five things we should chant daily: Asvashasa is whatever veda he belongs to, some chanting of any Upanishad, Bhagavat Gita, Vishnu Sahasranama, Rudram, and Purusha Suktam. Rudram is very sacred and on Shivaratri it is very very sacred. And we have done that abhisekam today and let Shiva bless us with all mangalams.