HYMN TO THE GLORY OF SHIVA

taken from http://www.hindudharmaforums.com

Om namah parvati pataye



Hara hara hara Mahadev



Gajananam bhuta-ganadhi-sevitam

Kapittha-jambu-phalacaru-bhaksanam

Umasutam soka-vinasa-karakam

Namami vighne-svara-pada-pankajam



0M! SaIutations to Parvati's consort, Hara, Hara, Hara, Great God (Shiva).

O Elephant-faced (Ganesh), served by ghosts and other attendants, Eating sweet wood-apples and blackberries, Uma's son, the destroyer of sorrows,

O remover of obstacles, I how to your lotus feet.



Sri puspadanta uvaca.



1. Mahimnah param te

parama viduso yadyasadrsi

Stutir brahma dinam

api tadava sanna stvayi girah,

Atha vacyah sarvah

svamati parina mavadhi grnan

Mama-pyesah stotre

hara nirapavadah parikarah



Sri Pushpadanta said:



If it is unseemly to praise You when ignorant of the extent of' Your greatness, then even the praises of Brahma and others are inadequate. If no one can be blamed when they praise You according to their intellectual powers, then my attempt to compose a hymn cannot be reproached.



2. Atitah panthanam

tava ca mahima vanmanasayor

Atad vyavrttya yam

cakita mabhi dhatte srutirapi,

Sa kasya stotavyah

katividha gunah kasya visayah

Pade tvarvacine

patati na manah kasya na vacah.



Your greatness is beyond the reach of mind and speech. Who can properly praise that which even the Vedas describe with trepidation, by means of' 'not this, not this'? How many qualities does He possess? By whom can He be perceived? Yet whose mind and speech do not turn to the form later taken by Him (saguna) ?



3. Madu sphita vacah

paramam amrtam nirmitavatas

Tava brahman kim vag

api suraguror vismaya padam,

Mama tvetam vanim

guna kathana punyena bhavatah

Punam ityarthe'smin

puramathana buddhir vyavasita.



O Brahman! Do even Brihaspati's praises cause wonder to You, the author of the nectarlike sweet Vedas? 0 destroyer of the three cities, the thought that by praising Your glories I shall purify my speech has prompted me to undertake this work.



4. Tavaisvaryam yat taj

jagadudaya raksa pralayakrt

Trayivastu vyastam

tisrsu guna-bhinnasu tanusu,

Abhavyanam asmin

varada ramaniyama ramanim

Vihantum vyakrosim

vidadhata ihaike jadadhiyah.



O Giver of boons! Some ****** people produce arguments—pleasing to the ignorant but in fact hateful— to refute Your Divinity, which creates, preserves and destroys the world, which is divided into three bodies (Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva) according to the three gunas, and which is described in the three Vedas.



5. Kimihah kinkayah

sa khalu kimupaya stribhuvanam

Kimadharo dhata

srjati kimupadana iti ca,

Atarkyais varye tvay

yanavasara duhstho hatadhiyah

Kutarko’yam kanscin

mukharayati mohaya jagatah.



To fulfil what desire, assuming what form, with what instruments, support and material does that Creator create the three worlds?…. This kind of futile argumentation about You whose divine nature is beyond the reach of intellect, makes the perverted vociferous, and brings delusion to men.



6. Ajanmano lokah

kimavayava vanto'pi jagatam

Adhisthataram kim

bhavavidhir-anadrtya bhavati,

Aniso va kuryad

bhuvana janane kah parikaro

Yato mandastvam prat—

yamaravara sanserata ime.



O Lord of gods! Can the worlds be without origin, though they have bodies? Is their creation possible with­out a creator? Who else but God can initiate the creation of the worlds? Because they are fools they raise doubts about Your existence.



7. Trayi sankhyam yogah

pasupati matam vaisnavamiti

Prabhinne prasthane

paramidamadah pathyamiti ca,

Rucinam vaicitryad-

rju kutila nana pathajusam

Nrnam eko gamyas-

tvamsasi payasa marnava iva.



Different paths (to realisation) arc enjoined by the three Vedas, by Sankhya, Yoga, Pashupata (Shaiva) (doctrine and Vaishnava Shastras. People follow different paths, straight or crooked. according to their temperament, depending on which they consider best, or most appropriate—and reach You alone just as rivers enter the ocean.



8. Mahoksah khatvangam

parasu rajinam bhasma phaninah

Kapalam cetiyat

tava varada tanto pakaranam,

Surastam tamrddhim

dadhati tu bhavad bhru pranihitam

Na hi svatma ramam

visaya mrga trsna bhramayati.



O Giver of boons! A great bull, a wooden handrest, an axe, a tiger skin, ashes, serpents, a human skull and other such things—these are all You own, though simply by casting Your eyes on gods You gave them great treasures which they enjoy. Indeed one whose delight is in the Self cannot be deluded by the mirage of sense objects.



9. Dhruvam kascit sarvam

sakala mapara stva dhruva midam

Paro dhrau vyadhrauvye

jagati gadati vyasta visaye,

Samaste’pye tasmin

puramathana tair vismita iva

Stuvan jihremi tvam

na khalu nanu dhrsta mukharata.



O Destroyer of the demon Pura, some say that the whole universe is eternal while others say that all is transi­tory. Others still, hold that it is eternal and non-eternal — having different characteristics. Bewildered by all this, I do not feel ashamed to praise You; indeed my loquacity is an indication of my boldness.



10. Tavaisvaryam yatnad

yadupari virincir-hari-radhah

Paricchettum yatav

anala manala skandha vapusah,

Tato bhakti sraddha

bhara-guru-,grnad-bhyam girisa yat

Svayam tasthe tabhyam

tava kim anuvrttir na phalati.



0 Girisha, when You took the form of a pillar of fire, Brahma trying from above and Vishnu trying from below failed to measure You. Afterwards, when they praised You with great faith and devotion, You revealed yourself to them of Your own accord; does not surrender to You bear fruit?



11. Ayatnad apadya

tribhuvana mavaira vyatikaram

Dasasyo yadbahun

abhrta ranakandu paravasan,

Sirah padmasreni

racita caranam bhoruhabaleh

Sthiraya stvad bhaktes

tripurahara visphur jitamidam.



0 Destroyer of Tripura, it was because of that great devotion, which prompted him to offer his heads as lotuses to Your feet, that the ten-headed Ravana was still with arms and eager for fresh war after he had effortlessly rid the three worlds of all traces of enemies.



12. Amusya tvatseva

samadhigata saram bhujavanam

Balat kailase'pi

tvadadhi vasatau vikramayatah,

Alabhya patale

'pyalasa calitangustha sirasi

Pratistha tvayyasid

dhruva mupacito muhyati khalah

But when he (Ravana) extended the valour of his arms-whose strength was obtained by worshipping You- to Kailas, Your abode, You moved the tip of Your toe, and he did not find a resting place even in the nether world. Truly, when affluent the wicked become deluded.



13. Yadrddhim sutramno

varada paramo ccairapi satim-

Adhas cakre banah

parijana vidheya tribhuvanah,

Na taccitram tasmin

varivasitari tvac caranayor

Na kasya unnatyai

Bhavati srirasas tvay yavanati.



0 Giver of boons, since Bana was the worshipper of Your feet is it to be wondered at that he had the three worlds at his command and put to shame the wealth of Indra? What prosperity does not come from bowing down the head to You?



14. Akanda brahmanda

ksaya cakita devasura krpa

Vidheya syasidyas

trinayana visam sanhrta vatah,

Sa kalmasah kanthe

tava na kurute na sriya maho

vikaro’pi slaghyo

bhuvana bhaya bhanga vyasaninah.



0 Three-Eyed One, who drank poison out of compassion for gods and demons when they were distraught at the sudden prospect of the destruction of the universe, surely the dark blue stain on Your throat has beautified You. Even deformity is to be admired in one who is given to freeing the world of fear.



15. Asiddhartha naiva

kvacid api sadeva suranare

Nivartante nityam,

Jagati jayino yasya visikhah,

Sa pasyann isa tvam

Itara surasadharana mabhut

Smarah smarta vyatma

Na hi vasisu pathyah paribhavah



O Lord, the god of love, whose arrows never fail in the world of gods and men, become nothing but an object of memory because he looked on You as an ordinary god (his body being burnt by Your look of wrath). An insult to the self-controlled is not conducive to good.