Shivamahimna Stotram upto 29 th Sloka- A Free Rendering into English by Sri V.V.B.Rama Rao

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A Free Rendering into English

of

Pushpadanta's Shivamahimna Stotram

A Paean to Lord Shiva's Power and Glory

V.V.B.Rama Rao

 

I remember with gratitude the blessings of His Holiness

Mahamandaleswar,

Parama Poojya Vidyanandagiri Maharaj of hallowed memory,

of Kailash Ashram, Rishikesh,

He made available to devotees an excellent exegesis of the great

paean in Hindi..

But for His Divine blessing, I could not have attempted this arduous

task.

 

Introduction

 

Pushpadanta was a king of the divine species of Gandharvas, renowned

for their powers of delectable singing. This Gandharva used to steal

flowers for his daily worship of the Supreme Being, Lord Shiva from

the flower gardens of a king's flower gardens. Once the king came to

know about this. He caused `nirmalya' to be thrown in the

Gandharva's way in order to spell ruin on him. It is believed

that `nirmalya' flowers used once in worship, when crossed on the

way, would render the transgressor lose all his brilliance.

Unknowingly, Pushpadanta walked over the strewn flowers and suffered

the loss of his brilliance. He was shocked, but being a blessed

devotee, he realized why that happened. He composed his monumental

Shivamahimna Stotram in expiation of his sin. Pleased, Lord Shiva

blessed him and Pushpadanta regained his brilliance. The recitation

of this great paean, or listening to it sung by a devotee would

absolve the listener of his sins and leads him to the refuge of the

Supreme Being, Lord Shiva.

 

Sloka.1

 

Compositions describing the glory of Lord Shiva can never be

exhaustive for His Power and Glory are is impossible to describe in

all their infinite variety. Even angels and deities would find it a

baffling task. Still composers like me are free from blame for

attempting in total devotion the impossible. Inspired by the Supreme

Being, I offer this at His feet.

 

Sloka 2

 

The Vedas themselves are unequal to describe in entirety the nature

and qualities of the formless divine and the divine with form,

nirguna and saguna. But the devout and the blessed, learned or lay,

who contemplate and realize the Supreme Being cannot desist from

singing Your praise in humility, which endears them to You.

 

 

 

Sloka 3.

 

O Lord! The rich treasure of Vedas, the most sublime, musical and

nectar-like would fill with wonder even Brihaspati, the preceptor of

the angels and deities. With Your blessing I venture to attempt to

sing Your manifold powers and glory. My attempt itself is inspired by

Your Divine grace and I draw courage and strength from the mere

thought of Your compassion.

 

Sloka. 4

 

O Shambhu! The ever auspicious and doer of good, giver of all! You

are the splendid combination of the three attributes, sattwa, rajas

and tamo gunas and the unique one combining in Your self the three

deities entrusted with the three acts of Creation, Sustenance and

Destruction. The thickheaded and the faithless attempt to mislead

people around presenting the glorious and the most beautiful beliefs

and grace as disagreeable.

 

Sloka. 5

 

Atheists and the dull-witted with their garrulousness and devious

logic doubt and question as to how it would be possible for one

without a body, substance or equipment to create sustain and destroy

three worlds. With no understanding they prattle and mislead the

ignorant and the weak-minded.

 

Sloka. 6

 

O Mahadeva! The faithless tossed by doubts ask as to how You could

create the fourteen worlds with neither implements nor substance.

 

Sloka. 7

 

The faithless unbelievers wonder as to how to choose among the

various darshanas (systems of philosophy like Sankhya, Yoga etc) and

doctrines like Paashupata in Shaivism and Pananchraatra in

Vaishnavism, little realizing that all paths lead to the one and

only ultimate goal, the absolute peace which You are! Don't the

sacred Ganga and all the rivers run to the same destination, the

ocean?

 

Sloka. 8

 

Wouldn't You strike all the angels and deities aghast with Your

extraordinary richness and limitless divine powers! The wealth of

your tantra powers is in Your persona with an old bull for your

mount, axe, tiger hide, sacred ash, serpents, cot-leg, skull-cup for

your appurtenances. You bless deities like Indra with treasures of

divine powers! Those with devotion to You are not enticed by or

attracted to the mirage of affluence and bliss.

 

 

 

Sloka.9

 

O Slayer of Demon Tripura! Some call the world one without beginning

and end. Some say it is not transient; some say it real, some say it

is unreal. All these surprise me but through these very beliefs I

sing your praise without any hesitation or shyness. For the garrulous

also happen to be stubborn.

 

Sloka 10

 

O Gireesa! Your form with effulgent brilliance, Your pervasive

light and inconceivably limitless hugeness could not be assessed or

seen even by Brahma and Vishnu who tried to see the top and the

bottom of the shape. They could find neither the end nor the

beginning. But when once they sent up ardent prayers didn't You in

Your infinite love for the devout reveal Yourself! For those who

seek refuge in you wholehearted and with a sense of total surrender

there could never be any dearth of Your blessings!

 

 

Sloka. 11

 

Lord of the Mountain! Ravana conquered all the three worlds and made

himself invincible, with no enemies or contenders. With his itch for

battles and victories, he had twenty shoulders and ten heads. With

intense and unwavering faith he offered his own heads as offering to

you. Was not that the reason for his prowess and courage!

 

Sloka 12

 

With his extraordinary devotion and worship and the powers You

bestowed on him, Ravana could shake Your abode, the Kailash mountain.

But didn't You, with the tip of Your little finger, when you crushed

him, he could not find shelter. The one ungrateful would be enticed

in moha, the undesirable sinful attachment.

 

Sloka 13

 

O Wish fulfilling Deity! It was with Your grace that the demon

Banasura could subdue even Devendra, who had limitless wealth and

power. Being obedient toYou would lead anyone to sublimity and

height of glory.

 

Sloka 14

 

O three eyed Supreme! While the deities and demons were churning the

ocean up came kalaakoota, the dire and deadly poison that would have

burnt all the three worlds. With Your compassion You swallowed it in

and retaining the poison in your throat saved the creation with the

result that Your throat turned blue and left a stain there. You were

given

 

 

the appellation of Neelkanth, the blue throated one. That very stain

marks You out as the greatest, the most powerful and noble. That

very stain is extremely praiseworthy for it could dispel the fears of

all the deities and save all the worlds.

 

Sloka 15

 

O the Lord of the Universe! Manmadha, the love deity, the one who

for the victory of the universe could shoot his arrows on anyone,

remained just a memory for You burnt him down by opening Your third

eye for belittling You by thinking that You would be won over by his

proud arrow. Little did he realize that You were jitendriya, the one

who conquers his own sensory organs.

 

Sloka 16:

 

While You were at Your cosmic dance, Tandava Nrutya, with the tread

of Your feet, suddenly the earth and the sky fall into utter

befuddlement. In Vishnu's realm, space, the stars and planets break

down when Your huge club-like shoulders hit them. With the strokes

of Your matted plaits of hair, the borders of Indra's kingdom,

heaven, suffer often. Saviour of the Universe! The Tandava You

perform for welfare surprisingly creates the contrary effect.

 

Sloka 17:

 

The effulgence of the flow of the Holy Ganga pervades and is

reflected as little flakes of foam exceedingly brighter than the very

stars. Those little droplets in the shape of the oceans built the

world as a circular group of islands. This is proof of Your Divinity,

Your extra-ordinary power and glory.

 

Sloka 18:

 

With Earth as chariot, Brahma as charioteer, Sumeru Mountain as the

bow, the Sun and the Moon as wheel and Vishnu as arrow You charged to

kill the demon Tripurasura. Was any help or any appurtenances really

necessary for You to blow away that demon, a mere straw! Was it not

Your whim to play giving Your obedient followers a sense of

participation!

 

Sloka 19:

 

O Destroyer of Demon Tripura! While Sri Mahavishnu was worshipping

Your feet as usual with a thousand lotuses, he suddenly found that he

was short of one lotus. That very moment, in his sublime and

unparalleled devotion he plucked the lotus of his own eye and offered

it to complete the worship. Was it not for that, pleased as You

were, You had given him the charge of the sustenance of all the three

worlds and blessed him with the Sacred Discus, the powerful weapon,

Sudarshana Chakra!

 

 

 

Sloka 20:

 

Parameshwara! You are ever ready and eager to bestow the fruit for

performing fire rituals like Yagnas and Yagas as soon they come to

completion: not the one who leads the performance or presides over

the ritual. All those who have faith and all those true believers

truly believe that the bestower is the Supreme Being, You. Without

worshipping You nothing can be gained by the mere performance of a

jad, lifeless, ritual. With the knowledge and understanding of the

Vedas and shastras, performances according to those in firm faith in

You alone Your blessing.

 

Sloka 21:

 

Parama Shiva! You are the one gives refuge to those without any other

hope for the mere asking. Prajapati is the lord of those wearing the

body performing fire rituals with competence and skill. With sages

and seers as the conductors with strict adherence to the scriptures,

with Brahma and other deities as audience and spectators, the

performance by Daksha came to nothing. The simple reason is that

Daksha Prajapati failed in his duty of offering worship to You, the

Supreme Being. When basic duty is forgotten, would not the

performance fail to end in utter destruction!

 

Sloka 22:

 

O the Supreme Maintainer of the Holy Law! Once Brahma was enamoured

by his own creation Sandhya and wanted union with her. The damsel

with a sense of shame transformed herself into an animal. When Brahma

himself took the form of an animal, did You not in Your frightful ire

take a bow and arrow to discipline him? This led to Brahma taking the

form of the star Mrigashira in the firmament and still You as a

skilled marksman stand close to him as the star Arudra observing him.

 

Sloka 23:

 

Paragon of discipline and acme of self-control! When Paravati,

naturally the most beautiful, was aided by Manmadha who shot his

arrow, in a trice You reduced him to ashes. Then, impressed by her

devotion, You made Parvati, arthangini, Your half. What if the

unknowing think that You are uxorious!

 

Sloka 24:

 

O Destroyer of desires foul! Playing blissfully in a graveyard with

souls unearthly, ash-smeared, wearing an animal hide, a mendicant

with a skull in Your hands, You are seemingly inauspicious. But are

You not the one who blesses devotees with the fruit they pray for!

For your devotees Your appearance and appurtenances are ever

auspicious and welfare giving.

 

 

Sloka 25:

 

O Mahadev! I realize that You are the very form of that very bliss,

which those performing praanaayaama as laid down in the scriptures to

retain the movement of life force with the universal soul experience

personally. Those who experience that bliss have their eyes filled

with tears and their bodies have divinely caused horripilation. In

such a blessed state of mind they would be taking dips continuously

in the lake of nectar with inward bliss.

 

Sloka 26:

 

O Deva! The learned see in You (ashtha moorti) the eight icons. You

are Wind, You are Water, Your are Sky, You are Earth, You are Fire,

You are the Soul and so on in the constricted vocabulary at their

disposal. It can be more appropriately declared that there is

absolutely nothing in this vast universe that is not You, Your

creation or Your manifestation.

 

Sloka 27:

 

Oh Deva! Refuge to the seekers! Omkara, the pranava naada inheres

the three sounds `a' `u' and `m'; the three Vedas, Rig, Yaju and Sama

and the three states of Wakefulness, Dream and Sleep as also

Creation, Being, and Destruction. The sound also includes in itself

the Creator Brahma, the Sustainer Vishnu and the Destroyer Shiva. OM

thus perceived represents YOU in all Your effulgence and power.

 

Sloka 28:

 

O Mahadev! Only the Holy Scriptures and the Vedas can describe You

fully. You are the basis for creation, bhava, destroyer sarva, the

and one who punishes and disciplines, rudra, the lord of the beings,

pashupati, the annihilator of ignorance and sin ferociously, ugra,

the ones dealing out strong and frightful punishments, mahaan,

bheemaa and eesaana. By the eight names seers and saints like Narada

and the scriptures like the Vedas rightly extolled You. I am too

small and insignificant to describe You exhaustively. I prostrate

and offer my salutation toYou as the form of effulgent light.

 

Slokla 29:

 

O Lord! My salutation to You. You are very near and very far too:

near to the knowing ones, jnaanis and far, far away to the ignorant

and faithless, pervading the entire universe. You are the tiniest

among the tiny and the most voluminous among the voluminous: I offer

salutation toYou again and again. O Three eyed one! O the most

pristine! O the one without beginning or end! I saluteYou again and

again, the One and All, the Present and the Non-present and the

Complete and Perfect and the Supreme too!