OM NAMAH SHIVAYA Om Namah Shivaya (Sanskrit Om Namaḥ Śivāya ॐ नमः शिवाय) is a popular mantra in Shaivism. Its translation is adoration (namas) to Śiva, preceded by the mystical syllable Aum. It is also called Panchakshara, the five-syllable mantra (viz., excluding the Aum). It is part of the Shri Rudram Chamakam, a Hindu prayer taken from the Black Yajurveda, and thus predates the use of Shiva as a proper name, in the original context being an address to Rudra (the later Shiva), where śiva retains its original meaning as an adjective meaning auspicious, benign, friendly, a euphemistic epithet of Rudra. The meaning of the Om Namaḥ Śivāya mantra was explained by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami: Namaḥ Śivāya is the most holy name of God Śiva, recorded at the very center of the Vedas and elaborated in the Śaiva Agamas. Na is the Lords concealing grace, Ma is the world, Śi stands for Śiva, Va is His revealing grace, Ya is the soul. The five elements, too, are embodied in this ancient formula for invocation. Na is earth, Ma is water, Śi is fire, Vā is air, and Ya is ether, or Ākāśa. Many are its meanings.Namaḥ Śivaya has such power, the mere intonation of these syllables reaps its own reward in salvaging the soul from bondage of the treacherous instinctive mind and the steel bands of a perfected externalized intellect. Namaḥ Śivāya quells the instinct, cuts through the steel bands and turns this intellect within and on itself, to face itself and see its ignorance. Sages declare that mantra is life, that mantra is action, that mantra is love and that the repetition of mantra, japa, bursts forth wisdom from within. The holy Natchintanai proclaims, Namaḥ Śivāya is in truth both Āgama and Veda. Namah Śivāya represents all mantras and tantras. Namaḥ Śivaya is our souls, our bodies and possessions. Namaḥ Śivāya has become our sure protection. —Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami
Posted on: Fri, 26 Sep 2014 04:14:20 +0000
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