Rudri - 6 - The bird's eye view

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comfortable. =========================== Yesterday we talked

about Rudra and why we want to praise him. Today we will have an

overview of what the Rudrashtadhyayi is all about. The

Rudrashtadhyayi , while called the “Eight Chapters in Praise of

Rudra” actually contains nine chapters. The last or the ninth

chapter was added in later and is called the Shantyadhyayah or the

chapter that conveys the blessings of peace. Here is a synopsis of

the text in Swamiji’s own words. He says, in the introduction to the

Rudri, “The first chapter is a prayer to receive the samkalpa, or

determination and focus of mind of

Shiva. The second chapter praises Shiva in His omnipresence. The third

chapter is a blessing for the spiritual warrior within us, to prevail

in battle and defeat our own enemies. In the fourth chapter we praise

Shiva as the light of wisdom. In the fifth chapter we bow to Shiva in

all His forms.

0pt">In the sixth chapter we ask for His blessings. In the seventh

chapter we make offerings to His various manifestations. In the

eighth chapter we recite many of His divine characteristics that are

within us. In the ninth chapter we ask for peace and offer peace to

all existence.”

FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN"> Chapter Five has become

especially famous as the Naamakam, because the verses contain special

names of Shiva to which we bow in devotion and offer our oblations.

Chapter Eight is known as the Chamakam, because it contains a list of

characteristics and qualities that are within us, and after each

quality “cha” is inserted, meaning “and”. Therefore it is called

Chamakam.” The Rudri is sometimes referred to as the “Rudram

Chamakam”, where Rudram refers to Chapter 5, and Chamakam refers to

Chapter 8. It is interesting to note that two famous mantras find

their origin in this text. The first is the Mahamrityunjaya mantra ,

two versions of which are found in the sixth chapter. The second and

the most famous mantra of them all is Shiva’s bija – “Namah Shivaya”

which has its origin in Chapter 5 (See Chapter 5, Verse 117 as a

“homework” ) Tomorrow, we will look into the way Swamiji has

organized the text, and how we can combine the chanting of this text

alone or within a beginner/expanded puja. JAI SHIVA Nanda