newby question

[Guest guest]

what is a good translation of om namah shivaya (and why shivaya

instead of simply shiva)? I see the mantra everywhere, and have used

it without worrying too much about the translation, but my intellect

keeps bugging me for one...

Thanks all

Mike

[Guest guest]

, "Mike Hickey"

<mhickey84 wrote:

>

> what is a good translation of om namah shivaya (and why shivaya

> instead of simply shiva)? I see the mantra everywhere, and have

used

> it without worrying too much about the translation, but my intellect

> keeps bugging me for one...

> Thanks all

> Mike

>

 

Dear Mike, Om is the root mantra for all Vedic mantras. Om is not a

word but a vibration - the primordial vibration so it does not have a

meaning as such. Even the BIble says - "In the beginning was the Word

and the Word was God." This Word is OM. Namah means prostrations or

salutations. Shiva means auspicious and shivaya means the auspicious

one but I am less sure about this one. So it roughly means - I bow to

the auspicious one.

Om or Aum is made up of 3 syllables - A - representing awake state, U

representing dream state and M representing deep sleep state. When you

chant Aum Aum continuously, there is a gap or the underlying

substratum or medium on which the 3 syllables are imposed. This

substratum (called adhistanam in Sanskrit) is the fourth state -

called Turiya in Sanskrit. It is the transcendental state. It is

Atman. It is the Spirit. It is the ultimate. It is Siva(pure and

auspicious). It is Vishnu (all pervading). The mandukya upanishad

calls it - Sivam, Shantam, Advaitum.

 

I request the knowledgeable members to correct me if I mis-stated

something.

 

regards,

Om Namah Sivaya