SREE RUDRAM

Sree Rudram forms part of Yajurveda-Taitreeya samhita. Sree Rudram consists of namakom and chamakom - names derived fromn the repetitive 'namah' and 'chama' in the mantras. In Rigveda also Rudra samhita finds a place. Sree Rudram is the outpourings of rishies by observing Nature and recognising identity of the Supreme in everything in Nature. Sree Rudram is also known as satarudriyam because it has been fomed out of 100 mantras of Yajur veda and other vedas. The word meaning of Rudra is 'terrible' 'terrific' 'dreadful'. Rudra represents a group of Gods 11 in number and Lord Siva is said to be the head of that group.Sri Sankara has said that Rudrah is one who makes all beings cry at the time of cosmic dissolution or it could also mean one who gives 'rud' or speech or one who drives away 'ru' or sorrows. In Sivapurana it is stated that Siva the Supreme Reality is called Rudra in as much as the Lord removes all sorrows and their causes. Siva also means 'pure one' - gunatheetha.

Rudra is described as omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. He is also described as the implicator to destroy eveil forces and a Divine warrior to protest us from danger. He is also known as Triyambaka among many other names such as Avyaya, Mahadeva, Pasupathy, Shambu, Shankara, Mayaskara, Ugra and Soma.

The chanting of Sree Rudram by focussing on the meaning would be more beneficial. Also the swara has importance and it is to be chanted without break, in a comfortable pace (neither very slow nor fast) In Lahunyasam it is said that one should meditate himself as Siva - Sivoham, and place the devadas in different organs of the body.This is the crux of the vedanta darsanam - adwaitha bhava and Aham Brahmasmi.

Brahman, the Supreme Spirit - appear as Trinity, Viswam,and jeeva in different forms such as fisherman, gambler, cheater, thief and highway robber.. In the Nyasa portion of Rudra prasnam, it is declared that Lord Sankarshana only has expressed Himself as Lord Rudra. (sankarshana means attracting each other;drawing together) In Srimad Bhagavatha, in two places, in the story of Banasura war and in the story of Chitrakethu, there is mention about 'sankarshana'. By the term 'sankarshana' we may surmise that it is attracting and drawing together Siva and Sakthy. The Supreme Truth expresses in the dwaitha form as Siva and Sakthy which the wise should see as One. The form Ardhanareeswara also conveys the same meaning.


The first aunuvaka of Sree Rudram is an appeal to Lord Rudra to cool down his anger against the enemies ; from 2nd to 9th anuvaka, His omnipotence, Omniscient and Omnipresence is praised and in the 10th there is prayer to fulfil one's desire and in the 11th it is propitiation to Rudra ganas. Thus there are 11 anuvakas of namakam as well as 11 anuvakas of chamakam. Namakam is followed by chamakam in the ordinary course when chanted once. Otherwise after chanting namaka once, the first anuvaka of chamakam is chanted. Thus when namakam is chanted 11 times, chamakam is chanted once. This chanting of 11 times is known as rudraekadasi. 11 such rudraekadasi is lahu rudramand 11 lahurudram is maharudram and 11 maharudram is adhirudram.

In the very first anuvaka there is a prayer to grace us with atma tatwam.The various epithets with which Rudra is meditated upon are analysed below in brief:

Bhishak (1-5) Rudra is praised as Bhishak (Doctor-par-excellence). Even the very rememberance of Him would releive us of all diseases - physical as well as psychological. "Yetasya dhyana mathrena sarva roha upachamanath ayam chikitsa". There is a tmil poem - a free translation is: Even if our body is cut open by (surgical) knife we have utmost respect for the surgeon" Similar is our love and respect towards the Universal Doctor Rudra whose apparent punishment is for our ultimate good..

Udainam gopa athrisan: (1-8)Even the uneducated yadava clan devoid of any knowledge of veda or sastra get the darsan of Lord Rudra when they have sradha and bhakthy.

Stenanam pathy - Leader of the thieves; thaskaranam pathy - leader of the highway robbers. He is allegorically a thief to steal our possession of ego and mind. Another interpretation is even in a thief we have to see Iswara. Thief in the vyavaharic sense is jeeva bhava with malina guna and in the pararamarthika sense he is Iswara
"Acceptance" is a great understanding to be developed in order to have peace of mind. "Accept others as they are. Don’t pass opinion; even don’t attempt tp correct ; don’t entertain the 'holier than thou attitude" Only to drive this point Rudra is described dwelling even as a thief and high-way robber.
Coveting the wealth of others is to be discouraged so as to maintain a healthy society; but the covetor should not be hated.In this context we may recollect the Isavasya Upanishad "ma gritha kasya siddhanam" which is interpreted in two ways - as 'whose is wealth' or 'covet not others wealth'. Material wealth is not brought along with us when we take birth nor can we take that possession when we depart. In that sense 'whose is wealth' has to be understood.

Gratsebhya (4-3) meaning:attached to sensual pleasure;

Virubhebya - Viswaroopebhya (4-6) He is seen as distorted as well as He is seen covering the entire Universe (A great philosophiocal truth) In the analogy of Ocean and waves, waves are the distorted appearance and Ocean a cosmic appearance - viswaroopam. He is vyakthi (individual wave) vyaktha (ocean) and avyaktha (Iswara).

Punchishtaya (hunter catching birds by his net); Nishathebya - fisherman; Mrigabhya - hunting animals; swabhya - dog; swapathy - protector of dogs - B,Geetha 5-18 conveys the same thought which described atmagnani who has the vision of equanimity towards a brahmin, an elephant, a dog and also who eats the flesh of the dog.

Neelagreeva: The story of Lord Siva drinking the poison is well known. The interesting aspect of it is that despite consuming it, Siva is eternally living whereas Devas although had amritham to consume, were destroyed when the kalpam came to an end.

Grisvaya cha- vamanaya cha; brigade cha: Vamana as we know is one of Vishnu's incarnation, Brigat is the cosmic formand Grisva meaning very small so that He can be accommodated in our heart.

Urmayaya cha (5-4) He exists as waveas well as "avasvanyaya" - exists in calm water. In the analogy of Ocean and waves, water is the Absolute Reality and Ocean is the relative reality and the wave is a delusion - prathibhasam. Brahman - Iswara and Jeeva respectively represented as water, ocean and wave.

Katyaya (7-1), soothyaya, sarasyaya, koopyaya, varshaya, megyaya - all these are very beautifully depicting that Reality existing as water in a meadow, in the river, in a tank, in a well, in the rain, in the cloud etc.

Pasupathy: Pasu-pathi-pasam is the core of the Saiva siddhanta; Pasu representing the mortal beings, pasam representing the three doshams - ego, maya and karmaand pathy representing Siva - personification of that Supreme Spirit (Brahman as per Vedantic concept). Pasupathy is therefore the sentient intelligent and blissful master leading the mortals to His Will. Mortals are bound by ego, maya and karma (mummalam) which is also His Will!

Chambhave cha - Mayobhave cha - sensual pleasure and eternal happiness (moksham)

Nama Sivaya: (8-1-11) This panchakshara mantra is extolled as jewel of Sree Rudram. It is aptly placed in the middle of sree rudram.

Atharyaya cha: Action caused by desire and anushtana karmas as prescribed in sastras: Karmas are done through anthakarana which is enlivened by jeeva. Jeeva instead of standing aloof as a jeeva skshy (after giving lifre power to anthakarana) gets attached to anthakarana and suffer consequently. Here Rudra is praised as karma with desire and karma with disciplined desire. Both are bondage only.

Kaparthine cha - with braided and matted hair (Sivas followers prefer to appear with matted hair; it is said that this is due to a curse caused by sage Brigu ( who pronounced a counter-curse to that of Nandideva) that all the devotees of Siva would be known as kapalis appearing with matted hair and roaming half-naked wearing skulls as garland.
Siva and Sivaa (Siva and sakthy)representing Being and Becoming - Being has its expression in becoming and becoming attaining perfection in Being. Both Being and Becoming are synthesized. "Siva-sakthya yukto yathi bhavathy (sowndarya lahari) emphasizes the power of Sakthy although Sakthy and Siva are not two.In the Arthanareeswara stotra, both Siva and Sakthy haveen praised giving equal importance!
"sambheya gowrartha sareerakayai; karpoora gowrartha sareerakaya - Tammilakayai cha jadadharaya;namasivayai cha nama sivaya."

In the 10th anuvaka one prays for the protection of children, for long life, for protecting one's possessions
such as cows and horses. Then in the 11th aunvaka, prayer to Rudra ganas - "thebya namasthe mridaganthu (let Him make us happy)Then in the concluding part of six verses "triyambakam yajamahe…. Tryambakam is that Lord with three eyes of Gnana, vignanana and pragnanana. The ordinary meaning of the mantra is 'as the fruit urva gets ripe it gets detached from the stem; similarly one gets freed by physical death and attains immortality by His grace (mrithyor ma amritham gamaya)Another meaning is that when the ripe fruit falls down, immediately the spring stem gets coiled to the main stem - jeeva shedding the bondage joins the source - Brahman.

Ayam me hastha - ayam me bhagavatha - my hand is Bhagavath swaroopam; it is more important than Bhagavan Himself because it is instrumental for doing pooja to the Lord.

Namakam is followed by Chamakam. Here it is not actually a prayer to get this and that. It is an expression of gratitude and contentment of what one has been blessed with. 'I have enough to propitiate you with yagnas; I have the mental readiness to offer food; I have purity; I have enjoyment; I am blessed with a healthy body; I have material wealth in abundance; I have trust in you ; Indras in different forms bless me; Then certain numbers like 'eka chame' 'thisra cha me' are mentioned. They denote the tatwams for e.g. 1 prakrithy; 3 gunas; 5 elements; 7 gnanendriyas, mind and intellect; 4 purushartham' 20 gross elements, tanmatras etc.

Madhu manishye; madhy janishye… I shall do everything sweet; let devas help me lest should I slip from the virtues. Let my pitrus also help - peace peace peace.

Satyojadam prapatyami…..In this mantra the last three epithets Rudra, Maheswara and Sadasiva represent the elements fire, air and eather and their functions are samhara, thirodanam and Anugraham respetively. In the Pranava OM they represent makaram, nadam and bindhu. (akaram and ukaram relate to Brahma and Vishnu and their functions are creation and sustenance)

In the Sivakavasa stotram, Lord Siva is praised as the Ultimate Reality. Some of the praises: mooladharaikanilayaya, tatva--ateethaya , niramayaya , nissangaya, nirvikalpaya, sakala lokaika sakshine
Paramashantha swaroopaya, tejoroopaya, Nitya-suddha-buddha-paripoorna satchitanandaya - OM NamahSivaya.

Although there may be different opinions whether Siva is a dravidian God worshipped by Saiva siddantins or Siva is another name for Rudra adopted by vedic aryans, one truth is accepted by both that Siva represents the ultimate reality . Siva linga is the expression of rupa-aroopa of that Ultimate. As we continue to meditate on that Lingam, the form enters the formless. There is a view that Brahman the formless expresses as Siva a reflection in Maya and that Siva is the first cause of the prapancham. Apart from Siva the Prapancham is not. Siva is the first cause, Sakthy is the instrumental cause and Maya is the material cause.