శివస్తుతి

 

गौराङ्ग अर्धाङ्ग गङ्गा तरङ्गे।

योगि महायोग का रूप राजे॥

gaurāṅga ardhāṅga gaṅgā taraṅge |

yogi mahāyoga kā rūpa rāje ||

Oh Shiva! Thou hast made Gauri, Thy Consort as Thine half body part along with the current (wave)

of Ganga |

Thou art the form of King Yogi among the great Yogis||

Deeper Spiritual Meaning:

Shiva is considered to be ardhanarishvara meaning the one who has half of his body as male and the other half as female. In Vedanata, the male aspect of the Cosmos is considered to be the Unmanifested Cosmos (the eternal Nothingness) and the female aspect is considered to be the Manifested Cosmos. Among the great Yogis, the Yogi who realizes this aspect of the Manifested and the Unmanifested Cosmos and who is in constant awareness of the Unmanifest or anchored in the Unmanifest at the same time being also present in the Manifest is a King among the great Yogis.

बाघ छाला मुण्ड माल शशि फाल करताल।

कालेक ढिमि ढिमिक ढिमि ढमरू बाजे॥

ताडेक ढिमि ढिमिक ढिमि ढमरू बाजे॥ (alternative)

bāgha chālā muṇḍa māla śaśi phāla karatāla |

kāleka ḍhimi ḍhimika ḍhimi ḍhamarū bāje ||

tāḍeka ḍhimi ḍhimika ḍhimi ḍhamarū bāje॥ (alternative)

Thou art clad in tiger skin, wearing garland made of skulls, having moon on your forehead and beat time by clap of Thy hands|

Thou art playest the Dhamaru making the sounds of Dhim Dhim Dhim ||

Deeper Spiritual Meaning:

Shiva is seen as clad in tiger skin, wearing a garland made of skulls, has moon near the forehead, plays the Dhamaru that makes the sounds Dhim Dhim Dhim and stills the time just by clapping hands. The tiger is considered to be vasanas or the sense tendencies. One should be involved in it but not attached to it. The skin depicts the detached attachment that Shiva has towards sense tendencies. Shiva wears garland made of skulls. These skulls are considered to be the skulls of many Brahmas (Creators). The deeper spiritual aspect is the Yogi who can be in the state or awareness of Unmanifest and the Manifest at the same time knows the past, present and future of every manifested particle of the Cosmos and is so much aware of similar to that of any individual who wears a garland. Skull is depicted to be the recorder of all the thoughts of any individual. Moon is depicted for coolness or stillness, thus a Yogi is always anchored in stillness. Dhamru is depicted for creation and dissolution. With each sound of dhim, dhim, dhim the creation or manifestation is happening and the pause in between each sound the dissolution of the manifested Cosmos into the Unmanifested is happening. Thus a Yogi is in constant awareness of the Unamnifested and the Manifested Cosmos. Such a Yogi can still the time just by clapping the hands, which means the Yogi stills the time in a flash of a second goes beyond time concept and remains in stillness all the time.

अम्बराम्ब गान्धार दिगम्बर जटा जूट।

फणिधार भुजङ्गेश अङ्ग विभूति छाजे॥

ambarāmba gāndhāra digambara jaṭā jūṭa |

phaṇidhāra bhujaṅgeśa aṅga vibhūti chāje ||

Thou art the Omnipresent celestial being with matted locks of hair |

Thou art the lord of snakes and wear snake on your neck and smear the sacred ash all over your body||

Deeper Spiritual Meaning:

Shiva is seen with matted locks of hair, with snake around neck and body smeared with sacred ash. Snake is depicted to have no ears but can listen to all the vibrations through its body. Ash is only thing that is left after everything is burnt and is devoid of all properties. Shiva is also called as digambara (दिक् + अम्बर = दिगम्बर ) - meaning the one who has all the directions as clothes, which mean the one who is Omnipresent. A Yogi who is in constant awareness of Nothingness can perceive everything that is being manifested as that Yogi is Omnipresent and at the same time not attached to any properties of the manifested Cosmos.

वाणी विलासतूय दाता विधाता।

जाता सकल दुःख सदाशिव विराजे॥

vāṇī vilāsatūya dātā vidhātā |

jātā sakala duḥkha sadāśiva virāje ||

While the Creator sitting with his Consort Vani writes everyone's fate |

Thou art the One who can erase every sadness (separation from the One) in the one who becomes aware of Thy presence within themselves||

Deeper Spiritual Meaning:

Vani is Brahma's Concert. Brahma is the Creator who writes. Every manifested being or particle writes their fate by their thought process and the attachment that is created towards that thought process and is the creation for all entanglements and sadness. All those individuals who want to burn their fate or the conditional thinking (karma), they have to meditate and enter into the stillness born out of the meditation and anchor themselves in that eternal Nothingness. As Shiva is none other than that eternal Nothingness any individual who anchors themselves in that eternal Nothingess, Shiva is seated in them.