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Revision as of 10:45, 15 November 2010
The Shri Rudram (Sanskrit श्री रुद्रम्), to which the Chamakam (चमकम्) is added by scriptural tradition, is a Hindu stotra dedicated to Rudra (an epithet of Shiva), taken from the Yajurveda (TS 4.5, 4.7).[1][2]. Shri Rudram is also known as Sri Rudraprasna, Śatarudrīya, and Rudradhyaya. The text is important in Vedanta where Shiva is equated to the Universal Brahman. The hymn is an early example of enumerating the names of a deity,[3] a tradition developed extensively in the sahasranama literature of Hinduism. By the first few centuries CE, the recitation of the Śatarudrīya is claimed, in the Jābala Upanishad, to lead to immortality.[4] The hymn is referred to in the Shiva Purana.[5]
The text is also famous for its mention of the Shaivite Panchakshara ("five-syllable") mantra (Sanskrit: Namaḥ Śivāya), which appears in the text of the Śatarudrīya in the eighth anuvaka.[6] The text also contains the mantra Aum Namo Bhagavathe Rudraya.Through the chanting of Sri Rudram, Lord Siva's various attributes and aspects are invoked and worshipped. Chanting the Rudram is considered to be of great benefit. The Rudram chanting can be done with or without the accompaniment of a Vedic yagna ritual. When accompanied with the Vedic fire ritual, it is called the Rudra Yagnam. It is said that Lord Shiva, after Bhasmasura was killed with the help of Lord Maha Vishnu, performed the Tandava Dance and then Performed the "Rudra Yagna" for the Betterment of Humanity, this Place where the Rudra Yagna was performed is where the "Sri Kalahasti" Temple stands now, this temple also has one of the 5 (Pancha bhootha - Vayu, Agni, Jala, Akash, Prithvi)lingas called Vayu linga.
Text
It consists of two texts from book four of the Taittiriya Samhita (TS 4.5, 4.7), which is a recension of the Krishna Yajurveda.
Shri Rudram or the Namakam (chapter five) describes the name or epithets of Rudra, which represent his aspects. Additionally, the devotee asks for the benevolent aspect of Shiva to be invoked rather than the terrible aspect and requests forgiveness of sins. The Chamakam (chapter seven) asks for the fulfilment of wishes. Each part consist of eleven anuvaka or hymns. Traditionally Rudra is assigned the number 11, and among the thirty three deities of the Vedic pantheon, eleven are considered forms of Rudra.
Shri Rudram
The anuvakas of Shri Rudram correspond to the eleven hymns of TS 4.5, with the final anuvaka extended by an additional eight verses, including the Mahamrityunjaya Mantra. The central Shaivite mantra, Aum Namah Sivaya is also derived from the Shri Rudram, it appears (without the aum) in TS 4.5.8.l.
Chamakam
The second part of the text, corresponding to TS 4.7, asks God for fulfillment of wishes. The repeated phrase, cha me literally means, "and to me [be this granted]", accompanied by a list of desirables which are primarily necessary appurtenances for Vedic sacrifices.
The original context of the Chamakam is the piling up of the fire-altar of the Vedic religion. The hymn invokes, apart from Agni and Vishnu at the beginning, a pantheon of Vedic deities that are successively linked with Indra to enable the yajamana or sacrificer/patron to successfully perform Vedic fire sacrifices or yagnyas, such as the Agnishthoma, Somayaga, and the Ashwamedha. The Chamakam can be interpreted both as a preparatory for a physical external sacrificial ritual, or the inner, possibly yogic sacrifice involving pranic control, since the yogic "vital airs" are explicitly mentioned as sacrificial adjuncts in anuvaka, or stanza 10.
Interpretation
The interpretations of the text commonly taught today are clearly Vedantic, while the Vedic texts at the time of their composition were probably intended for the context of ritual sacrifice.
The President of the Ramakrishna Mission, at Chennai, in commentating on the foreword to Swami Amritananda's translation of Sri Rudram and Purushasuktam, stated that "Rudra to whom these prayers are addressed is not a sectarian deity, but the Supreme Being who is omnipresent and manifests Himself in a myriad forms for the sake of the diverse spiritual aspirants." Sri Rudram occurs in the fourth Kanda of the Taittirya Samhita in the Yajur Veda.
Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami explains in the lexicon section of his book, Dancing with Siva, that "Sri Rudram is a hymn to the wielder of awesome powers. It is a preeminent Vedic hymn to Lord Siva as the God of dissolution, chanted daily in Siva temples throughout India."
Smarta interpretation
The prayer is commonly interpreted to show that Vishnu is another aspect of Shiva and to accordingly hold that Vishnu and Shiva are one and the same God from an Advaitan or Smarta viewpoint. Interestingly, the Vishnu sahasranama, in a similar manner, states Shiva is an aspect of Vishnu. The fifth anuvaka states (see Sanskrit for pronunciation details):
- Original text (TS iv.5.5)
- namo bhavāya cha rudrāya cha namaḥ śarvāya cha paśupataye cha
- namo nīlagrīvāya cha śitikaṇṭhāya cha
- namaḥ kapardine cha vyuptakeshāya cha
- namaḥ sahasrākṣāya cha śatadhanvane cha
- namo giriśāya cha śipiviṣṭāya cha
- Translation (Arthur Berriedale Keith, 1914):
- Homage to Bhava and to Rudra.
- Homage to the Lord of all sentient-beings.
- Homage to the blue-necked one, and to the white-throated.
- Homage to the wearer of braids, and to him of shaven hair.
- Homage to him of a thousand eyes, and to him of a hundred bows.
- Homage to him who haunteth the mountains, and to Çipivista.
Swami Amritananda, of the Ramakrishna Mission and many others[citation needed] suggest that Rudra is associated with Vishnu in the invocation namas [...] shipivishtaya. (shipivishta appears most frequently as an epithet of Vishnu in the Yajurveda.)
However, Amritananda has also cited other ancient commentators who have stated that the line could mean:
- one who resides in the place abounding in devadaru trees.
- one who is in the form of the sun.
- one who has entered into the beings as inner controller.
(his translation of Sri Rudram and Purushasuktam, pgs. 66-67.) Amritananda has cited commentaries of Sayana and others in the writing of his work. His rendering "in the form of Vishnu" is a common Vedantic interpretation, since the literal meaning of shipi-vishta is an epithet meaning "pervaded by rays".
Notes
- ^ For an overview of the Śatarudriya see: Kramrisch, pp. 71-74.
- ^ For a full translation of the complete hymn see: Sivaramamurti (1976)
- ^ For the Śatarudrīya as an early example of enumeration of divine names, see: Flood (1996), p. 152.
- ^ Jab. U. 3.66 cited by: Flood (1996), p. 152.
- ^ For mentions in the Shiva Purana see: Flood (1996), p. 152.
- ^ For notability and text namaḥ śivāya see: Sivaramamurti, pp. 1, 24.
References
- Flood, Gavin (1996). An Introduction to Hinduism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-43878-0.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - Kramrisch, Stella (1981). The Presence of Śiva. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-01930-4.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - Sivaramamurti, C. (1976). Śatarudrīya: Vibhūti of Śiva's Iconography. Delhi: Abhinav Publications.
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External links
