Mantra: Mantra that Helps Conquer Death  

By M V MEHTA

For the living, death is certain and for the dead, birth is certain. Since death is definite for all embodied beings, the Bhagavad Gita enjoins the seeker to aspire for that state of attainment, after which there is no return or rebirth.

This will mean an immortal state because while birth leads eventually to death, the unborn does not die. Among the paths leading to the deathless state, Krishna discusses jnana -yoga, the path of contemplation, and karmayoga , the path of action. All actions, he says, finally culminate in knowledge.

For the common man, whose senses and desires are rooted in this world and who craves desired results, the shrutis - the Vedas and the Upanishads - prescribe various types of yajnas . Among the yajnas , the Maharudrabhisheka is accorded high status.

This brings us to the Mahamrityunjaya mantra , the instrument that unfailingly conquers death: Om Triyambakam Yaja-mahe Sugandhim Pushti Vardhanam Urvarukam Iva Bandhnat Mrityor Mukhshiya Ma Amrutat - We propitiate the God of three eyes ( Surya, Chandra and Vahni or Fire), whose grace and compassion waft afar as perfume and who nourishes by increasing the yield of food grains and wealth. We pray to Shiva to free us from death (from the birth-death cycle) as a ripe fruit is separated from the plant, but, not to detach us from immortality.

Mrityunjaya is amongst the many names of Lord Shiva. Rudra Shiva is known as the destroyer of the Universe at the time of pralaya - final internalisation of the created Universe into its source which is Brahman. Because of this role of Shiva, he is also called Mahakal and, as one of the twelve Jyotirlingas , is present in Ujjain as Mahakaleshwara .

Superficially, worshipping the destroyer as the means of attaining immortality appears to be contradictory. However, Shiva as Rudra is one of a conglomerate of Ekadesh Rudras and Krishna in the Gita identifies himself with Shankar (Shiva) among the Rudras.

At the time of creation the formless, attributeless, infinite Brahman through the interpolation of his own Maya assumes three forms subservient to the three Prakratic Gunas or modes: Brahma the Creator ( rajas ), Vishnu the Preserver ( satvas ) and Mahesh the Destroyer ( tamas ). These three manifestations of Brahman , the Trimurti , act according to their gunas (modes) and Brahman subsumes them, but being infinite it is not confined within this triad.

Encompassing this trinity, Brahman extends far beyond that and remains unknowable by mind or speech. This is why Shruti refers to it as Tat and subtracts all identifiable and knowable entities in the Universe as Neti, Neti (not this, not this) and sticks to Tat which is only visible to and experienced by a Jivanmukta (self-realised soul).

Tat is found in the Vedic mahavakya Tat tvam asi - That thou art, in the Guru Stotra as Tat padam darishitam yene - Guru through whom the tat state was exposed to enlighten the shishya and to which the Gita directs the seeker (ch 15): Tatah padam tat parimargitayam .

Lord Shiva is addressed to in these terms in the Gayatri Mantra : Om Tat purushaya vidmahe Maha-devaya dhimahi tanno rudrah prachodayat - that Tat Purush we hold in our hearts, we meditate on Mahadev , may Rudra propel our intellects to Him. Shiva is therefore propitiated as the infinite and all-encompassing Brahman - Tat - wherein all merge ultimately and attain immortality.

That is why Lord Shiva is worshipped as Mrityunjaya whose grace guides the seeker to immortality. Just as the Gayatri mantra pays obeisance to the Sun, the Mahamritunjaya seeks Shiva’s blessings to achieve immortality.

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See also: Mantra, God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)