Shivaratri day talk -2

Panchaksari and Mrutunjaya Mantra

Shivaratri is considered to be an auspicious day by all vaidikas and asthikas. In the Puranas there a lot of stories about the significance of Shivaratri. And according to one story, Lord Vishnu and Lord Brahma wanted to find the limits of Lord Shiva. Vishnu decided to go in search of Shiva’s feet and Brahma wanted to find out Shiva’s head and both of them tried their level best but were unable to find the limits. And at that Lord Shiva appeared in front of them as Lingathpati and blessed both of them on this Shivaratri day. And Shiva said that you will not be able to find my limits as I am the limitless Parameshwara. Lord Vishnu took the varah rupam because He wanted to find out the feet of the Lord. He saw that it was not on earth and so he decided to bore and bore. He was not able to find the feet of the Lord but he did one good thing : he openly confessed that he was unsuccessful in his mission. Lord Shiva appeared and said: even though you were not able to find my feet, you spoke the truth. And therefore, for telling the truth I will give you one prize. Out of compassion and consideration, Lord Shiva appointed Lord Vishnu as the ruler/controller/sustainer of the world. To find the head, Brahmaji took Hamsa (swan) rupam and he also was not able to find it. He committed this mistake. He spoke untruth and so Lord Shiva cursed him saying that you will not be widely worshipped. And to that Shiva who gave a high position to Vishnu and who cursed Brahmaji, let my mind and heart dwell on Samba Brahman. Samba means along with Amba (Parameswari). Through this story two ideas are conveyed. One is philosophical that the Lord is limitless, Anantha Rupa and whatever form we assign to the Lord is temporary and for the sake of worship. The real form of the Lord in fact is formless. There is a moral significance to the story too. Vishnu got a higher status because of Satyam and Brahmaji lost the pujya status because of untruth. So, the moral is Satyam vada and asatyam mavada. This appearance of Lord Shiva from Shiva Linga is auspicious which is also used as a symbol of Shiva puja. So on Shivaratri we do upasana, rathri jagran, and Shiva puja. And in this day Rudram Abhisekam is considered very auspicious. In our tradition, Sri Rudram is supposed to be chanted daily. A grihastha has to chant five things regularly- Upanishad from one’s own saka, Bhagavat Gita, Vishnu Sahasranama, and Rudram. Rudram chanting is not only significant for a grihastha but also to a sanyasi. In fact, a sanyasi is supposed to give up parayanam of Saguna Eshwara. He must also stop chanting Veda, not to do any Japa. He has to do only Upanishad, Bashyam, Maha Vakya, Japam and Omkara Japa alone. Even though he is not supposed to chant, he is allowed one thing. What is that? Rudram. In Kaivalya Upanishad it is said that a sanyasi must chant Rudram all the time or at least once a day. So chanting Rudram is very auspicious and on Shivarathri day it is extremely good. Even Shravanam of Rudram is auspicious if one does not know how to chant. The very word Rudram means sarva papa nashanam. Rud means either sorrow or the cause of sorrow. What is the cause of sorrow? Pappam and Ajnanam. And dra means eliminator. Therefore, Rudra means Pappam or Duhkam eliminator. Lord Shiva gets the name because He removes sorrow, its cause (pappam) and the cause of pappam (ignorance). And the glory of Shiva is talked about in Sri Rudram. Lord is called Rudram and the mantra is called Sri Rudram. Here the Lord is described in His virat swarupam. In the eleventh chapter of Gita, Lord Krishna is glorified in His Viswarupam. And Sri Rudram Lord Shiva is described in His Viswarupam. Not only is the Lord described, we get so many namaskarams. Lord in every form… in the form of stones…..in the form of leaves…. In the form of man, animal, sun, moon, star etc. In all these forms, Lord Shiva is prostrated again and again. That is why, we get namah so many times. That is the reason Sri Rudram is also called as Namakkam. Having done so many namaskaras, we don’t want to waste it but instead encash it immediately. Because we are so commercial and business minded and therefore immediately after Rudram we have Chamakkam also. Chamakkam means I want all these benefits and in this we include everything. Not only material benefits but also higher benefits like Chitta Shudhi and ultimately we ask for moksha too. All the four purusharthas are included in the Chamakkam so that everyone can fulfill his or her wish. So on Shivaratri they keep chanting both Sri Rudram and Chamakkam.

In Rudram there are two well-known mantras. I will give you the meaning of this mantras. One is the well known Panchaksari mantra. The mantra occurs in Krishna Yajur Veda. In the Krishna Yajur Veda there are seven chapters and in the middle one ( that is, the fourth chapter) Rudram occurs. Krishna Yajur Veda is considered like a garland and in the middle we have the fourth chapter. In the middle of the fourth chapter, we have Rudram. And in the middle of Rudram, we have Namo Shivayacha. The name Namo Shivayyacha occurs. Among the fourteen Sciences, Vedas is the greatest Science. (four Vedas, 6 Veda angas, Puranam, Dharma Sastram, Nyaya, and Mimamsa). Therefore fourteen Sciences are enumerated in the scriptures.

Among the fourteen Sciences, the Vedas are considered the greatest Science. And among the Vedas, the most sacred is Rudram ( the eleventh sections of Rudram are considered the most auspicious in the entire Veda). And in the Rudram, the pancaksari. In the namo Shivayya, what is the middle portion? The very word Shiva means the auspicious one. It is derived from the word Sho. He removes all the inauspiciousness, all the amangalams. One who eliminates all these is Shivah. And to that Lord Shiva, I offer my prostrations. This is the meaning of the word nama shivayya. This is saranagathi mantra and merely by chanting this mantra, a person gets a lot of phallam. But if you see the significance of this mantra we get much more. Surrender to Shiva means surrender to the laws or order of the universe. The universal law of Dharma and the universal law of Karma is the Lord. And therefore, every time I say namo shivayya I am surrendering to the law of karma. Whatever experience I get in my life will be according to my karma alone. It is totally according to the justice alone. There is nothing unfair that comes to me. Therefore, when I see that everything is according to the will of the Lord and I get whatever I deserve according to the law of karma. I must never refuse to accept my karmaphallam. I never should resist the karmaphallam that comes. Therefore, whatever happens in my life is Shiva Prasadah (or Eshwara Prasadah). So what is one’s attitude while receiving Prasadah? After the end of the puja, if you get vibhuti you don’t complain that they are giving useless ash. You don’t look upon it as valueless ash but you look upon it as Eshwara Prasadah. And if you like pongal and if you receive that as prasadam you receive it with the same attitude. There is no dvesha towards vibhuti and there is no raga towards pongal. Neither dvesha nor Raga. Avoidance of hatred and attachment and I welcome everything. Welcoming experiences is one thing but welcoming and accommodating people is the most difficult thing. Right from the husband and the wife. Whoever is my husband I accept. And children are born or not born, I accept it as Lord’s will. All the children are boys or girls, I accept. Children are wonderful, I accept. Handicapped children I accept. Whatever happens to me I accept. Acceptance of my karmaphallam is called saranagathi. And namo Shivayya is Saranagathi mantra. The moment I accept the advantage is Shantih. And therefore this mantra is one important mantra of Rudram. This is called Pancaksari (mantra with five letters).

There is another mantra equally famous and that is the mrutunjaya mantra. Thriyambakkam yajamahay sugandhim pustti vardhanam Urthva rukha miva bhandanath Mrutyur mukshiya mammruthath. A beautiful mantra, which is all comprehensive. In this we get all the purusharthas. They talk of two mangoes in one stone. Here four purusharthas in one mantra.

Thriyambakam Yajamahey : Yajamahey means I worship. I offer prostrations to Lord Shiva. What kind of Lord? There are three descriptions of Lord Shiva and each description is beautiful. One is Pusttivardhanam. Pustti means nourishment. Material nourishment. We take that as the first thing because everyone asks for material nourishment in the beginning, which is known as artha purushartha and kama purushartha. The first thing I need in life is security. Food, clothing, and shelter are the basic things that everyone asks for - which is artha. Then I would like to have some comfort. A fan…thenAC. How long can I work? I would like to have a TV, regular TV programmes are not good, so a cable connection. Some nice programmes come, I want a VCR to record and watch later. This Shivaratri programme I can record and see it later. Now it is oliyum and oliyum. After artha we look forward to kama. Artha and kama together is called Pustti and therefore Veda says – if you are interested in external things, come to me. Once basic needs are fulfilled and a person develops some faith in the Vedas then Vedas says that Pustti alone is not sufficient but you should have something subtler. And Pustti is subjected to arrival and departure and when they go away you will have duhkam. Therefore, what is the next thing? Something superior. Money and people will follow you only in this janma. Even the dearest one will quietly withdraw and after some time will not even remember you. First they will miss you for some time and later get adjusted and if you write a letter from heaven – shall I come back? They will say: we have adjusted and you be there only. All this love and adjustment only come to this! Therefore after death what does really help one? Dharma alone. The Punya karma one has done is more shasvatham than all these friends and relations. And that is described in Suganthim. One who is fragrant. Lord Shiva is one with fragrance. Immediately we might think that He also uses some local perfumes. Here we are not talking about physical fragrance. The real fragrance of a person is his character. Local fragrance can diffuse only to a few feet while the noble character, which is the real fragrance, spreads all over. That is the beauty. And who says it? The Vedas. When a tree has blossomed its fragrance will spread all around and in the same way when a person does noble action, that character really spreads. Lord Shiva is the embodiment of Dharma and I worship that Lord so that I too will have Dharma or punya karma (noble actions or values). When I chant Chamakkam, I may get a lot if wealth. I will not use it for my own use but share it with others. This is called Dharma purushartha. So through suganthim, dharma purushartha is indicated.


The third one is triyambhakam. Lord Shiva is triyambhakam. Ambhakam means eye (chakshu). Triyumbhakam means the one with three eyes. The significance of this is one is surya and the other is chandrah. And the third one is agni. In the daytime we are able to see things because of the sun. sun is therefore considered to be one illuminator. During the night we are able to see because of the moon. Therefore, it is the second illuminator. On amavasya night, there is no sun or moon to illuminate the earth. If you have to see, we use fire alone. Don’t say tubelight and all. In those days, fire was an illuminator. Therefore, these three are illuminators of the world and are considered the eyes of the Lord Shiva, who is Viswarupa Eshwara. This is one significance.

There is another significance also. According to this, the two eyes are considered to be the material eyes. Laukika Chakshuh by which we experience the external world. The anathma is nama rupa prapanja, the mithya pranpanja is experienced by these eyes. If you have to see the Satya Vastu, the Satya Brahma, the Athma Svarupa which is inherent and through the whole creation, this ordinary eyes will not be sufficient. We require Divya Chakshuh, Jnana Chakshuh which is nothing but Athma Jnanam alone. Only self knowledge destroys this samsara. With Athma Jnanam alone, all our limitations are destroyed…. Destroys all our desires. And this significance is revealed by the old puranic story. In one story, Lord Shiva burns manmatha through his third eye. Who is manmatha? He is Kama Devathah. Kama means desires. Lord Shiva burnt manmatha means He destroyed all the desires. It is possible only through Jnana Chakshuh. Jnanam alone can destroy all the desires which is symbolized by Manmatha Dahanam. Kama is called Manmatha because it makes the mind restless – churns the mind and therefore desires are called manmatha. Therefore, if you worship Lord Shiva, He will bless us with the third eye. Third eye means that you will understand Vedanta and not that you will get a third eye literally. Only means that one will get an opportunity to study Vedanta and get self-knowledge.

Then there is another significance – Thripura Dahanam. We have the story of asuras because they had three cities made by maya, the architect of asuras. One is a golden city, another a silver city and the third was an iron city. These asuras were ruling these cities and doing all kinds of akramams. And Lord Shiva was prayed for and He come to the rescue. Since these asuras were very powerful the other Gods that Shiva cannot single handedly defeat them. And they all volunteer to help Lord Shiva, like how the monkeys volunteered to help Rama. The earth itself became the chariot, sun and moon the wheels of the chariot, the Himalays became the bow and Vishnu the arrow. Brahmaji became the charioteer and all the oceans became the quiver to hold the arrows. The four Vedas became the four horses of the chariot and the snake became the strings that tie the bow. All these people were ready to assist Lord Shiva. He climbed the chariot. The asuras came and the Lord opened the third eye. The whole thing was finished. All of them were waiting for the show to start. Before the programme could start, it was over. So Thripura Dahanam took place by kavalam Thrithiya Chakshuh. The philosophy is thripuras are sharira trayam, the pancha trayam, the guna trayam, the bhanda trayam, the tapat trayam. They are all represented by the three cities and the Lord destroyed them by the third eye. Through gaining self-knowledge, we remove all the gunas and we will become guna thithah. And therefore to become guna thithah, we should worship Lord Shiva. That is called moksha purushartha.

Pustti vardhanam gives artha-kama. Suganthim Shiva gives Dharma and trayabakam Shiva gives moksha. Many people are afraid of moksha. Because moksha means freedom and I have to get away/get detached and viragyam. I have to get away from all my near and dear ones and I want to hold on to. And therefore, I will not ask for moksha and all I want is prosperity, wife, and children. Because of this strong attachment even if Shiva wants to give us moksha, we are not ready to take. Therefore, O Lord make me detached without shedding tears. Just as a white velari fruit. Before it is ripe, it sticks to the creeper. But when the fruit is ripe the detachment is spontaneous and natural. Similarly, the family is the creeper and I am the raw fruit now. Family life is only to make me a ripe one. And what is the sign of ripeness? I must get detached from all these parivarams and I must get attached to Parameshwara. O! Lord make me ripe so there is no fear. In the case of the valeri fruit, there is a significance also. In the case of all other fruits, the fruits fall from the tree. But in the case of valeri, the creeper falls off. It is a heavy fruit and it falls on the ground. And the creeper gets detached and falls off once the fruit becomes heavy. Once a person gets viragyam, the family members themselves will say good-bye. Meaning all the samsaram will naturally drop off. Artha desire will drop off, kama will drop off, and dharma will drop off. Family and ritual will drop off. So you don’t have to ask- when should I drop all this? All this will happen naturally. And O! Lord, let me not be away from immortality anytime. May I become away from mortality. This is a very beautiful mantra - mrutunjaya mantra. These two occur in the Rudram. If a person cannot chant the whole Rudram, he or she should atleast chant Mrutunjaya mantra…. If there is no time for that, then at least Namo Shivayya… and if there is not time for that also, then Shiva. And if there is no time for that, then you deserve a kuttu.