Vedasara Shiva Stotram

वेदसार शिवस्तोत्रम्

Vedasāra Śivastotram

All 5 verses

Verse 1

पशूनां पतिं पापनाशं परेशं गजेन्द्रस्य कृत्तिं वसानं वरेण्यम् । जटाजूटमध्ये स्फुरद्गाङ्गवारिं महादेवमेकं स्मरामि स्मरारिम् ॥१॥

Study note

Editorial Advaita reflection

Word breakdown

पशूनां पतिं पापनाशं परेशं: Lord of beings, destroyer of sin, the supreme Lord.
गजेन्द्रस्य कृत्तिं वसानं वरेण्यम् ।: Wearing the hide of the king of elephants, most worthy of choice.
जटाजूटमध्ये स्फुरद्गाङ्गवारिं: With Ganga's waters sparkling amid his matted locks.
महादेवमेकं स्मरामि स्मरारिम् ॥१॥: The one Mahadeva, enemy of Love; I remember him.

Pashupati who destroys sin is the Self that was never bound yet appears to free the bound. Remembering the one Mahadeva turns the mind from the seduction of objects toward the stillness beyond desire.

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Verse 2

महेशं सुरेशं सुरारातिनाशं विभुं विश्वनाथं विभूत्यङ्गभूषम् । विरूपाक्षमिन्द्वर्कवह्नित्रिनेत्रं सदानन्दमीडे प्रभुं पञ्चवक्त्रम् ॥२॥

Study note

Editorial Advaita reflection

Word breakdown

महेशं सुरेशं सुरारातिनाशं: The great Lord, lord of gods, destroyer of the enemies of the gods.
विभुं विश्वनाथं विभूत्यङ्गभूषम् ।: The all-pervading one, lord of the universe, adorned with ash on his limbs.
विरूपाक्षमिन्द्वर्कवह्नित्रिनेत्रं: The odd-eyed one, with moon, sun, and fire as his three eyes.
सदानन्दमीडे प्रभुं पञ्चवक्त्रम् ॥२॥: Ever-blissful; I praise the five-faced Lord.

The five faces encompass the five elements and the five functions of cosmic manifestation, yet the Lord praised is ever-blissful awareness itself. Ash on the limbs marks the impermanence of all that appears on the eternal.

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Verse 3

गिरीशं गणेशं गले नीलवर्णं गवेन्द्राधिरूढं गुणातीतरूपम् । भवं भास्वरं भस्मना भूषिताङ्गं भवानीकलत्रं भजे पञ्चवक्त्रम् ॥३॥

Study note

Editorial Advaita reflection

Word breakdown

गिरीशं गणेशं गले नीलवर्णं: Lord of the mountain, lord of hosts, blue-throated in the neck.
गवेन्द्राधिरूढं गुणातीतरूपम् ।: Mounted on the king of bulls, whose form is beyond the gunas.
भवं भास्वरं भस्मना भूषिताङ्गं: Existence itself, radiant, with limbs adorned by ash.
भवानीकलत्रं भजे पञ्चवक्त्रम् ॥३॥: United with Bhavani; I worship the five-faced one.

Beyond the gunas yet united with Bhavani, Shiva is the unchanging Self and Shakti its creative power, never truly separate. Worship of the five-faced Lord is worship of consciousness and its manifestation as one.

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Verse 4

शिवाकान्त शंभो शशाङ्कार्धमौले महेशान शूलिञ्जटाजूटधारिन् । त्वमेको जगद्व्यापको विश्वरूपः प्रसीद प्रसीद प्रभो पूर्णरूप ॥४॥

Study note

Editorial Advaita reflection

Word breakdown

शिवाकान्त शंभो शशाङ्कार्धमौले: O beloved of Shiva, O Shambho, O wearer of the half-moon on your crest.
महेशान शूलिञ्जटाजूटधारिन् ।: O great Lord, O bearer of the trident and matted locks.
त्वमेको जगद्व्यापको विश्वरूपः: You alone pervade the world; you are the form of the universe.
प्रसीद प्रसीद प्रभो पूर्णरूप ॥४॥: Be gracious, be gracious, O Lord of perfect form.

The prayer for grace acknowledges that the all-pervading Vishvarupa is not grasped by effort alone. When the devotee sees the Lord as the whole universe, the sense of a separate self seeking favour dissolves into fullness.

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Verse 5

परात्मानमेकं जगद्बीजमाद्यं निरीहं निराकारमोंकारवेद्यम् । यतो जायते पाल्यते येन विश्वं तमीशं भजे लीयते यत्र विश्वम् ॥५॥

Study note

Editorial Advaita reflection

Word breakdown

परात्मानमेकं जगद्बीजमाद्यं: The one supreme Self, the primal seed of the universe.
निरीहं निराकारमोंकारवेद्यम् ।: Without desire, without form, knowable through Omkara.
यतो जायते पाल्यते येन विश्वं: From whom the universe is born, by whom it is sustained.
तमीशं भजे लीयते यत्र विश्वम् ॥५॥: That Lord I worship, into whom the universe dissolves.

The essence of the Veda culminates here: the formless Self known through Om is origin, sustainer, and final absorption of the cosmos. Worship is the mind's return to the seed from which it never truly departed.

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