Aum namah Sivaya: Encyclopedia II - Aum namah Sivaya - A Hindu Śaivite view on the Aum namah Śivāya mantra

Aum namah Sivaya - A Hindu Śaivite view on the Aum namah Śivāya mantra

The meaning of the Namah Śivāya mantra was explained by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami:

"Namah Śivāya is the most holy name of God Śiva, recorded at the very center of the Vedas and elaborated in the Śaiva Agamas.

Na is the Lord's concealing grace, Ma is the world, Śi stands for Śiva, Va is His revealing grace, Ya is the soul. The five elements, too, are embodied in this ancient formula for invocation. Na is earth, Ma is water, Śi is fire, Vā is air, and Ya is ether, or akasha. Many are its meanings.

Namah Śivaya has such power, the mere intonation of these syllables reaps its own reward in salvaging the soul from bondages of the treacherous instinctive mind and the steel bands of a perfected externalized intellect. Namah Śivāya quells the instinct, cuts through the steel bands and turns this intellect within and on itself, to face itself and see its ignorance. Sages declare that mantra is life, that mantra is action, that mantra is love and that the repetition of mantra, japa, bursts forth wisdom from within.

The holy Natchintanai proclaims, Namah Śivāya is in truth both Āgama and Veda. Namah Śivāya represents all mantras and tantras. Namah Śivaya is our souls, our bodies and possessions. Namah Śivāya has become our sure protection."

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "A Hindu Śaivite view on the Aum namah Śivāya mantra", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki