Remembering Shiva when you wake up

 

Shiva Pratah Smarana Stotram
Attributed to Adi Shankaracharya

SHIVA

It is good to remember the Lord in the early morning. These three verses serve to remember the Lord. They are easy to remember.

शिवप्रातःस्मरणस्तोत्रम्
Shiva Pratah Smarana Stotram

प्रातः स्मरामि भव भीति हरं सुर ईशं

गङ्गा धरं वृषभ वाहनम् अम्बिका ईशम् ।

खट्वाङ्ग शूल वरद अभय हस्तम् ईशं

संसार रोग हरम् औषधम् अद्वितीयम् ॥१॥

Meaning

In the early morning, I remember the Lord, who takes away my fear of worldly bondage. He is the Lord of Devas. He holds river Ganga on his head. He rides a bull. He is the Lord of Uma Devi. He holds staff with a skull at the top and a trident in his hand that grant boons and protection from fear. He is the Lord who is the medicine for the ailment of worldly existence. He is one without a second.

Meaning in Tamil

அதிகாலையில், உலக பந்தங்களைப் பற்றிய என் பயத்தை அகற்றும் இறைவனை நான் நினைவில் கொள்கிறேன்.

அவர் தேவர்களின் இறைவன். அவர் கங்கை நதியை தலையில் வைத்திருக்கிறார். அவர் ஒரு காளையில் சவாரி செய்கிறார். அவர் உமா தேவியின் இறைவன். அவர் தலைமேலே ஒரு மண்டை ஓட்டையும், மற்றும் கையில் ஒரு திரிசூலமும் கொண்டு உள்ளார். அது வரங்களையும் பயத்திலிருந்து பாதுகாப்பையும் வழங்குகிறது. அவர் சம்சார  பந்தங்களுக்கும் மாயை என்னும் நோய்க்கும் மருந்து. அவர் தனக்கு மேல் ஒருவர் இல்லாதவர்.

Meaning of Words

प्रातः in the early morning;

स्मरामि: I remember;
भव = worldly existence and its bondage ;
भीति = fear ;
हर = taking away;
सुर = Devas;
ईशं: the Lord;
गङ्गा धरं - who holds river Ganga [on his head];
वृषभ - a bull;
वाहन - vehicle
अम्बिका - Devi Ambika (Uma Devi )
ईश – Lord;
खट्वाङ्ग - a club or staff with a skull at the top;
शूल - spear, त्रिशूल – trident;
वरद - gives the wishes;
अभय – giving fearlessness भय - fear;
हस्त – hand;
ईश – the Lord;
संसार – bondage of worldly existence;
रोग – ailment;
हरम् - remover;
औषधम् -medicine;
अद्वितीयम् - one without a second;

Notes:

River Ganga on his head:
King Sagara is the ancestor of King Rama, the hero of Ramayana. He decided to perform an Ashwamedha Yagnya which is intended to establish his supremacy over all the nearby kingdoms. It was a practice to let a king's horse to roam about in the nearby lands. Any one who wants to challenge the power of the king will have to capture the king's horse. King of Heavens, Indra became jealous of Sagara because anyone who performs 100 Yagnya can became the lord of heavens unseating the existing Indra. He decided to steal Sagara's horse. He took hold of the horse and tied it to a pole in sage Kapila's hermitage. King Sagara sent his army of 60,000 (reportedly his sons) in search of the horse. They found the horse in Kapila's hermitage. They thought he was the culprit and tried to assault him. The sage, coming out of his intense meditation was angered and used his yogic powers to burn all of them to ashes. King Sagara begged forgiveness from the sage. The sage told him that the dead persons would receive salvation if he brought river Ganga from heaven to the earth and purified the dead with the river water.

The king's great-grand-son, Bagiratha, performed severe penance and brought Ganga to the earth. The earth was unable to contain the water flow. The begged Lord Shiva for a solution. The Lord contained the river on his head and let it flow from there. King Bagiratha performed the purification ceremony and the dead persons attained salvation.

Trident in his hand:
There are some stories and reasons given for the trident in his hand. None of them seem to be plausible. Some of these are three Naadies: Ida, Pingala and Shuhumna. Then three gunas: rajas, tamas and satvic. Another theory is that the trident represents a group of three Himalayan mountain peaks of western Kumaun known as Trishula. There are three impurities: the ego, karma and ignorance. The three blades in the trident eliminate the three impurities (Malas). These impurities can be removed only with the grace of the Lord. Only this seems somewhat acceptable.

Trident

Sunset on Trishula Peak

Staff with a skull at the top (खट्वाङ्ग):
According to Puranas (Kurma, Varaha, Shiva, Skanda, and Vamana), Lord Shiva cut off one of the heads of Brahma because of his arrogance. In expiation of this sin Lord wandered the world as a beggar with the skull of the slain as a begging bowl. In the sculptures the skull is shown on the top of his staff.

Staff and skull

Story behind Shiva riding a bull:
Nandi is the sacred bull gatekeeper, and vehicle of Shiva. Image of Nandi is found facing the shrine at the entrance of all Shiva temples. The worship of Shiva and Nandi can even be traced back to the Indus Valley Civilization based on the famous 'Pasupati Seal' that depicts a seated figure, which is usually identified as Shiva, and there were many bull-seals found in Mohenjo daro and Harappa.

Nandi got the divine-knowledge of Agamic and Tantric wisdom taught by Shiva, from goddess Parvati. He taught that divine-knowledge to his eight disciples, who originated the Nandinatha Sampradaya,

Shiva on bull

Goddess daughter of mountain:
"Parvati is the daughter of king Himavan, lord of the mountains and the personification of the Himalayas. Parvata (पर्वत) in Sanskrit means mountain; "Parvati" implies "of the mountain".

Kena Upanishad (3.12)has a reference to Uma-Haimavati, now a very common alternate name for Parvati, as follows:

स तस्मिन् एव आकाशे स्त्रियम् आजगाम बहु शोभमानाम् उमां

हैमवतीं तां ह उवाच किम् एतत् यक्षम् इति ॥ १२॥

Indra, in the same place in the sky, saw a woman of great beauty, Uma, Himavan's daughter and asked her, "who is this spirit?"

Only the later epics of Ramayana and the Mahabharata present Parvati as Shiva's wife.

The Puranas tell the tale of Sati's marriage to Shiva against her father Daksha's wishes. The conflict between Daksha and Shiva gets to a point where Daksha does not invite Shiva to his yagna (fire-sacrifice). Daksha insults Shiva,  Sati goes on her own to the yagna. Daksha insults her also. Ashamed, she immolates herself at the ceremony. This shocks Shiva, he asks his Ganas to punish Daksha and destroy his yagna. It is to be noted that Siva did not go to the yagna nor did he personally destroy the yagna. He then caused Parvati to be born as daughter of Himavan and then he marries her again.

प्रातर् नमामि गिरिशं गिरिज आर्ध देहं

सर्ग स्थिति प्रलय कारणम् आदि देवम् ।

विश्व ईश्वरं विजित विश्व मनोभिरामं

संसार रोग हरम् औषधम् अद्वितीयम् ॥२॥

Meaning

In the Early Morning, I worship the Lord of the mountain who has Goddess daughter of mountain, as one-half of his body,

He is the cause of the creation, maintenance and dissolution of the universe. He is the primordial Lord of universe who conquers the world with his delightful nature.

He is the medicine to cure the disease of worldly existence and he is the One without a second.

Meaning in Tamil

அதிகாலையில், மலையரசன் பெற்ற  தெய்வ மகளான உமையை   உடலின் ஒரு பாகமாகக் கொண்ட மலையின் இறைவனை வணங்குகிறேன். பிரபஞ்சத்தின் உருவாக்கம், பராமரிப்பு மற்றும் அழிப்பிற்கு அவர்தான் காரணம். அவர் தனது மகிழ்ச்சிகரமான தன்மையால் உலகை வெல்லும் பிரபஞ்சத்தின் ஆதிகால இறைவன். அவர் சம்சார  பந்தங்களுக்கும் மாயை என்னும் நோய்க்கும் மருந்து. அவர் தனக்கு மேல் ஒருவர் இல்லாதவர்.

Meaning of Words

प्रातर् - in the early morning;

नमामि - I worship;
गिरिशं - Lord of the mountain, गिरि = mountain, ईशं - Lord;
गिरिजा – mountain born (गिरि + जा ) Devi Parvati ;
अर्ध- half;
देह – body;
सर्ग - creation;
स्थिति - maintenance;
प्रलय – dissolution;
कारण - cause ;
आदि - primordial ;
देव - God;
विश्व – universe;
ईश्वर – Lord;
विजित - conquered ;
विश्व – universe;
मनोभिराम - pleasing, delightful;
संसार – bondage of worldly existence;
रोग – ailment;
हरम् - remover;
औषधम् -medicine;
अद्वितीयम् - one without a second;

प्रातर् भजामि शिवम् एकम् अनन्तम् आद्यं

वेदान्त वेद्यम् अनघं पुरुषं महान्तम् ।

नाम आदि भेद रहितं षड् भाव शून्यं

संसार रोग हरम् औषधम् अद्वितीयम् ॥३॥

Meaning:

In the early morning, I worship Lord Shiva who is the one without a second, infinite and primordial,

He is known only through Upanishads. He is blameless, original Man (cosmic being or self). He is great;

He is undifferentiated in terms of names and forms. He is without the six stages of birth, existence, growth, maturity and death.

He is the Lord who is the medicine for the ailment of worldly existence. He is one without a second.

Meaning in Tamil

அதிகாலையில், நான் ஒரு வினாடி, மறுபிறப்பற்ற, முடிவில்லாத மற்றும் ஆதிகாலமில்லாத சிவனை வணங்குகிறேன்,

அவர் உபநிஷதங்கள் மூலமாக மட்டுமே அறியப்படுகிறார். அவர் குற்றமற்றவர்,  அவரே ஆதி மனிதன் . அவர் சிறந்தவர்;

அவர் பெயர்கள் மற்றும் வடிவங்களின் அடிப்படையில் வேறுபடுத்தப்படவில்லை. அவர் பிறப்பு, இருப்பு, வளர்ச்சி, முதிர்ச்சி மற்றும் இறப்பு ஆகிய ஆறு நிலைகள் இல்லாமல் இருக்கிறார்.

அவர் சம்சார  பந்தங்களுக்கும் மாயை என்னும் நோய்க்கும் மருந்து. அவர் தனக்கு மேல் ஒருவர் இல்லாதவர்.

Meaning of Words

प्रातर् - early morning;

भजामि – I worship;

शिव - Lord Shiva;

एक – one;

अनन्त - infinite ;

आद्य – primordial;

वेदान्त – Upanishads;

वेद्य – known;

अनघ – blameless;

पुरुषं - primeval man;

महान्तम् – great;

नाम – name;

आदि - beginning with;

भेद – difference;

रहित – without;

षट् - six;

भाव – manner;

षट् भाव – six stages of birth, existence, growth, maturity and death;

शून्य – void;

संसार रोग हरम् औषधम् अद्वितीयम् - meaning as in the previous verse;

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