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.

Dhyana Slokas of Sri Rudram

Shivaratri is considered to be a very auspicious day. The word “Shiva” itself means the auspicious one. Therefore Shivaratri means “night of auspiciousness” during which we worship Shiva. HE is the embodiment of auspiciousness, who is the embodiment of Mangalam, and who is the embodiment of Ananda. By worshipping Shiva today we can attain all the purusharthas – artha, kama, dharma and moksha. And on this day Shiva puja is done in the form of rudra abhisekham. Sri Rudram is supposed to be a very sacred mantra occurring in the Vedas. Sri Rudram is the glorification of Lord Shiva who is none other than Rudra, which means one who removes all sorrows or pains from one’s mind. “Ruth” means “dukham” and “dra” means “remover”. So the very meaning of Rudram is ‘remover of sorrow” and so we chant Rudram and do abhisekham today. The glory of Rudram is mentioned in Kaivalya Upanishad: a person becomes free from pappas and sins he has committed. Rudram not only sets us from our sins but also give us all the four purusharthas. We chant some Dhyana slokas before chanting rudram and these verses are used for the meditation on Lord Shiva. These prayer verses are beautiful verses and with beautiful meaning. So I thought I will give you briefly the meaning of the dhyana sloka today.

            These Dhayana Slokas of Rudram is beautiful as Lord Shiva is described in three different ways depending upon the stage of the seeker, depending upon the maturity of the devotee the Lord HIMSELF is seen from three different perspectives. All the three angles are given in the dhyana slokas and we’ll discuss them.

            The first way of looking upon the Lord as a human being, as a person. A beginner looks upon the Lord as a person (as a personal god). Therefore the initial description of the Lord is as a person with hands and legs, asanams and ornaments etc. But once the devotee is evolved enough then he has to change his perspective. The Lord should not be seen as one particular person but Lord must be seen as total creation endowed with all the forms of creation. This is called viswa rupa ishwaraha. Once we have evolved sufficiently then we have to go beyond the viswarupa also. We have to learn to appreciate the same Lord as formless, attribute less, the absolute nirgunam Brahman. In Sanskrit the first stage is “eka rupa” bhakti, the Lord in one particular form. The second stage is “anaka rupa” bhakti, the Lord in manifold form and ultimately the “arupa” bhakti where the Lord is formless. Every devotee has to start as “eka rupa” bhakta and here the devotee has a lot of options. You can choose your personal god as personal gods are many with different names and forms. You can choose Shiva as your Ishta Devata, you can choose Vishnu as your Ishta devata, you can choose Devi as Ishta Devata – all of them you see as a person in the beginning. But once I do sufficient puja then the very same Shiva or any personal God I learn to look upon as the very creation. Viswa, prapanja, eka rupah shariram as Viswarupah. Thus for a Shiva Bhakta, Shiva becomes the whole creation or the whole creation is nothing but Shiva. Similarly for a Vishnu bhakta starts with Vishnu rupam initially with Shankar, gada, chakra etc and he should also evolve to see Vishnu as the very creation. Then all the bhaktas – whether Shiva bhakta or Vishnu bhakta – must go to the final goal stage where he sees Vishnu or Shiva or Devi as Sachithananda nirgunam Brahman which is the ultimate devotion. 

           The beauty is when we are in the beginning stage there will be differences between Shiva and Vishnu and Devi because the forms are different, the weapons are different, the vahanams are different. Therefore in the first stage every personal god is different from the other. But once you go to the second stage where you see the Lord as the very creation then there cannot be any difference between Vishnu and Shiva because Vishnu represents the whole creation, Shiva also represents the whole creation. How many viswarupams are possible? Viswarupam can only be one and in this stage there is no difference between Shiva and Vishnu. Similarly when you go to nirgunam Brahman stage there cannot be any difference between Shiva or Vishnu or Devi. We start with difference but ultimately we end in non-differences. So initially alone we have got quarrels “Whether Shiva is bigger or Vishnu is bigger” or “whether Shiva worships Vishnu or Vishnu worships Shiva” do both of them worship the devi. So all the quarrels are only when the devotee is in the first stage of personal gods. Veda affirm that we should not grade Brahma or Shiva or Vishnu and if we do so then it is a big sin. And if a person grades gods as superior or inferior etc then he is doing a papam and the Lord will give that person a punishment with “stomach pain”.  So if you don’t want “stomach ache” you should desist from comparisons and grading! I am not saying but shastra: if you rank Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva as “uttama” or “madhyama” (inferior superior etc) then you will be condemned to pains in the stomach. Therefore remember all the three are one and the same, one god seen in three different forms.

            All the three levels of Bhakti is there in the dhyana sloka. We will briefly see the meaning of the sloka.

śuddhasphaṭika saṅkāśaṃ trinetraṃ pañca vaktrakam |
gaṅgādharaṃ daśabhujaṃ sarvābharaṇa bhūṣitam
         

This is the first stage where we look upon Lord Shiva as a person. And what is HIS complexion? Suddhaspatika Sankasam, Shiva is very, very fair. Mrs. Shiva, Parvathi, is dark. Maybe this is to show that there should not be any fights over black and white! Shiva is as fair as a crystal. Then trinetram, HE has three eyes represented by the sun, the moon and the fire. The sun and moon represent the ordinary eyes. Agni the third eye represents knowledge. In the mythology you’ll find that Lord Shiva with the third eye destroyed everything including Manmatha (god of kama) and HE also destroy tripurantaka asuras etc. Philosophically the third eye represents Janani Agnih. When we mean Lord destroys Kama we mean HE destroys all our petty desires. IF we have the third eye of wisdom like Shiva we can also burn Kama, kroda, loba, etc. Tripura rakshasas represent the three sharirams, the three gunas, and the three avasthas. With the help of the third eye a person destroys all the sharirams (sthula, sukha and karam). In short, HE destroys samsara, thereby HE destroys all our problems. Pancavaktrakam – the Lord who has five faces or five heads.  Four heads on four sides and one head looking up (you should not ask where is the place!). The five heads are enumerated in the Vedas in the well known mantra sandyo jatham prapadh is the first one, vamadevayah is the second,  agorabyo is the third one, tat purushaya is the fourth one, eshanah is the fifth. The fifth head is very important for those people who seek self-knowledge, all the apara vidya and also para vidya. It is from the standpoint of eshanah that we look upon Lord Shiva as Dakshinamurthy. Lord Shiva is the authority of Vedas. Then Gangadaram means is one who has got Ganga devi or Ganga river on his jatta. From Lord Shiva head only Ganga is blessing all people. Philosophically Ganga represents brahma vidya or self-knowledge. There are a lot of similarities between Ganga and self-knowledge. Both originate from the Lord’s head. Ganga is a perennial river not like our local Madras river that dry up, similarly the tradition of self-knowledge is also perennial. Ganga flows from higher plane to lower plane, atma-vidya too flows from guru in the higher plane to sishya in the lower plane. If you dip into Ganga it refreshes your body and mind, similarly if you dip in brahma vidya (self-knowledge) you like refresh yourself. Ganga has got various ghats (steps). You should approach only through the ghats otherwise you’ll be swept away. Ganga is a powerful river. There are lot of rocks and it;s ice cold. Even a powerful swimmer cannot swim in this river. So if you want to have a bath you must go to a ghat. Likewise if you want self-knowledge you must follow a tradition of approaching a guru. You insist on self-efforts like using translation it will only cause confusion. There are so many common features and the Lord is called Gangadarah. Dasabhujam – the Lord who has ten hands which are stretched in all the ten directions (four main quarters, four secondary quarters and then up and down).  Sarva bharana Bhushitam – One who has many ornaments on HIS body. All the ornaments of Shiva are made up of snakes!

nīlagrīvaṃ śaśāṅkāṅkaṃ nāga yaṅñopa vītinam |
vyāghra carmottarīyaṃ ca vareṇyamabhaya pradam             

Nilagrivam is the one who is blue necked and one who swallowed the poison to save the whole world. Sasankankam is one who has got moon on HIS head. Philosophically the moon represents the time principle for we determine “thiti” and kala from its movement. Therefore Shiva has Kala under HIS control.  nāga yaṅñopa vītinam – HE has got the sacred thread which is another snake.  vyāghra carmottarīyaṃ ca is the tiger skin that HE is wearing as a dress. Varenyam means that HE is the goal of all the people as HE is the nature of Ananda. Abaya pradam is ONE who gives protection, refuge to all the devotees.       

kamaṇḍal-vakṣa sūtrāṇāṃ dhāriṇaṃ śūlapāṇinam |
jvalantaṃ piṅgaḷajaṭā śikhā muddyota dhāriṇam

HE has got Kamandalu and aksha mala and that’s why HE is the representative of all sanyasis. Shivaratri is considered to be very sacred as many take sanyasa deeksha on this auspicious day. Shiva represents tyaga and Vishnu represents bhoga. Shiva has got jatta and HE does not even have a proper dress. Shiva represents the sanyasi parampara. HE has got sulapaninam to destroy all the asuras. Jvalantam is ONE who is shining, one who is bright. Pingalajatta means jatta  is golden yellow in colour as it is not washed (there is no shampoo etc) and it has become brawny colour. And sikha that is standing upward like a plane and one who is keeping Ganga jalam in HIS matted hair.       

vṛṣa skandha samārūḍham umā dehārtha dhāriṇam |
amṛtenāplutaṃ śāntaṃ divyabhoga samanvitam

HE is amrutham as abhisekam is indicated, HE is ananda and HE is one who has Uma devi as the second half of HIS body. Even after sanyasa HE has got a peculiar problem for he cannot leave his wife. Wherever HE goes Uma devi will also come. And one who is seated on a divine simhasanam that is the Himalayas. And one who has all the bhoga as Himalayas have all the gold, gems etc.

digdevatā samāyuktaṃ surāsura namaskṛtam |
nityaṃ ca śāśvataṃ śuddhaṃ dhruva-makṣara-mavyayam

One who is surrounded by dig devatas and one who is worshipped by all suras and asuras. Until now you got description of Shiva as a personal god. Now the sloka give a different and higher angle of nirgunal brahma swarupam. nityaṃ ca śāśvataṃ śuddhaṃ dhruva-makṣara-mavyayam and these are all definitions of formless Brahman. It is nitya, (eternal), sasvatam (changeless), suddham (pure), druvam (without any movement), aksharam (without any distraction) and avyayam (without any taint). According to the level and maturity of the seeker we can see Shiva as personal god or we can see Shiva as nirgunam Brahman. Then having given these two aspect the dhyana sloka gives the third aspect, that is anaka rupam or vishwa rupam.      

sarva vyāpina-mīśānaṃ rudraṃ vai viśvarūpiṇam |
evaṃ dhyātvā dvijaḥ samyak tato yajanamārabhe

The very same lord is not seated in Kailasa but HE is the form of whole vishwa or cosmos and who is all pervading and who is the ultimate lord. Here we have to reverse the order, first eka rupa then anaka rupa and finally arupa. Having meditated on Shiva in one form or the other according to the maturity of the devotee thereafter rudra abhisekham should be done. First we have to meditate and only then do the rudram puja.

There are two more dhyana slokas and those two I will briefly discuss.

āpātāḷa-nabhaḥsthalānta-bhuvana-brahmāṇḍa-māvisphurat-
jyotiḥ sphāṭika-liṅga-mauḷi-vilasat-pūrṇendu-vāntāmṛtaiḥ |
astokāpluta-meka-mīśa-maniśaṃ rudrānu-vākāñjapan
dhyāye-dīpsita-siddhaye dhruvapadaṃ vipro‌உbhiṣiñce-ccivam

This is a beautiful sloka whee Shiva is seen as a jyotih linga, a shining linga which is pure like sphatikam. We have different kinds of linga. In fact the pancha bhootas are seen as five lingas: prithvi linga, jala lingam, agni linga, vayu linga and akasha lingam to show that everything is the Lord. In this sloka Lord Shiva is seen as Akasha lingam. If you look at the sky it also looks like a linga with a curvature. An akasha in which all the lokas, the entire brahmadam is there. From pathala to nabhasthalanta upto brahma loka. The total cosmos (the 14 lokas) are located in the aksaha and the akasha is the linga. If the akasha is the linga then who will do the abhisekam? You cannot do it with the local 1 litre or 2 litre of milk! The sloka says that the abhisekam is done by purnendu chandrah. According to mythology when the moon emits rays it is also emitting some water also. Because of the water content the moon rays are cool. That moon emits amruta jalam on a full moon day that pervades the whole space. And that is coming from the moon partum for the akasha lingam or cosmic linga. Therefore on every full moon day rudra abhisekam is taking place.

            And what kind of Lord is HE? He is ekam, misam, manisam. He is one absolute ultimate God we should worship by constantly chanting the Sri Rudram mantram. One should worship Shiva for dhyaya, dipsita, sidhaya dhruvapadam. For attaining all the four purusharthas. The people are many and their desires are not one but many. Suppose I say: choose one boon from the Lord not everyone will opt for moksha. Some will ask for relief from water problem, another person will say that his stomach pain should go or this and that. By chanting Rudram one can ask for any purushartha from Shiva who is abhishekam. One should worship that Shiva who is ever changeless. Dhruvapadam means nirguna swarupam (changless).

brahmāṇḍa vyāptadehā bhasita himarucā bhāsamānā bhujaṅgaiḥ
kaṇṭhe kālāḥ kapardāḥ kalita-śaśikalā-ścaṇḍa kodaṇḍa hastāḥ |
tryakṣā rudrākṣamālāḥ prakaṭitavibhavāḥ śāmbhavā mūrtibhedāḥ
rudrāḥ śrīrudrasūkta-prakaṭitavibhavā naḥ prayaccantu saukhyam

brahmanda vyaptadeha, here one Lord Shiva is worshipped in eleven different forms. They are all pervading in nature, they are snow white like vibhuti, they all have serpa abaranam (snake as ornaments). All have necks dark in colour from poison and all of them have got moons (shashikala) in their eleven heads. All of them have got bows and arrows as their weapons (ścaṇḍa kodaṇḍa hastāḥ) to destroy the asuras.

            Tryaksa, all of them are three-eyed and all of them have rudraksha mala. They all remove fear from the minds of the devotees. All the eleven are different aspects of the one and the same Shambu. And if you want to know the glory of the Lord Shiva śrīrudrasūkta-prakaṭitavibhavā the source of knowledge is Sri Rudram. Those whose glories are mentioned in the Sri Rudram of the eleven lingas, may all these rudras bless us with happiness and all the four purushartas. That is why after chanting rudram we chant chamakkam indicating all our desires. Remember chamakkam includes not only material desires but also spiritual desires also. We are asking vivekam, vairagyam, shashta sampathi, mumukshatvam, sadhana chatustaya sampathi we are asking for self-knowledge, we are asking for moksha. That is why chamakkam is required for all of us. Therefore chanting rudram and chamakkam we can ask for any purushartha. On this auspicious day when we chant we will be blessed in the path of moksha ultimately.