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I have done some study of the Rudra Prasna from the books available with me and also from web resources and have prepared a sort of translation-cum-notes for the first few anuvakas. I present here a part of it. The typing is quite time-taking for me; there may be typos as well as other mistakes/errors. I request feedback, favourable as well as critical so that I can improve the work.
Sree Rudram
Sree rudram or rudra praSna forms part of the fifth prapAThaka of the fourth kANDa of the thaittiriya yajussamhita. The word “nama:” occurs several times (183 to be exact) in it and hence this mantra is also known by the name of ‘namakam’. In the seventh prapAThaka of the same kANDa the words “ca me” occur many times and so it is known as ‘camakam’. (There is another group of hymns in the R^gvEda known as rudrasUkta.)
In the namakam, the devotee mentally prostrates before Lord rudrA with each chanting of the word “nama:” while, in the camakam, he implores the Lord to give him all the material necessities of life with the words “ca me” (and …to me).
Since rudra is prayed to in His various forms, this rudram is also known as ‘Satarudreeyam’; ‘Satam’ is used here not in the sense of ‘one hundred’ but ‘many’.
Sri Rudram consists of 37 Riks and 130 Yajus in various chhandases or metres.
In the text ‘mahARNava karmavipAka’ of sage Satapatha, there is reference to four types of abhishEka approved by the vEda, viz., rudram, EkAdaSa rudram, mahArudram and atirudram. Reciting namakam once followed by one anuvAka of camaka is called rudram; reciting namakaanuvAka of camaka, thus completing one full recital of camaka, (11 namaka and one camaka), makes one EkAdaSarudram. Eleven EkAdaSarudram-s (namaka 121 times + camaka 11 times) makes one rudraikAdaSinee or laghurudram. Eleven rudraikAdaSinee-s or laghurudram-s make one mahArudram and eleven mahArudram-s make one atirudram (recital of namaka 14641 times plus chamaka 1331 times). These (rudraikAdaSinee or laghurudram, mahArudram, and athirudram) are performed for the welfare of the family, the country and the world respectively.
There is one view that the R^shi who gave us the rudram must have experienced the form of rudrasamhAramUrthi at the time of the pRaLaya (periodical destruction of the universe) and, seeing His extremely fierce form, he therefore first tries to mollify the Lord.
rudra in the R^gvEda
There are 3 entire hymns (sUkta) devoted to rudra besides 75 casual references to rudra in the R^gvEda. The first R^k praising rudra is at I-42-1 and it reads as follows:
Kad rudrAya pRacEtase mee(Lhu)DhushTamAya tavyase |
vOcEma Sam tamam hR^de ||
Here rudra is spoken of as the repository of great wisdom (pRacEtase) and as one who bestows boons as if it rains (meeLhushTamAya).
But there are other types of depictions of rudra in the R^gvEda itself. In the R^gvEda the word rudra has been used in the sense of ‘reddish’ or ‘howler’ and rudra is one of the intermediate level gods (antariksha devata). The predominant picture of rudra that emerges from the R^gvEda is of a god who is fierce as well as benevolent, armed with bow and fast-flying arrows - "brilliant shafts which run about the heaven and the earth" (RV 7.46.3); he is endowed with strong arms, a lustrous body decorated with ornaments and he wears braided or knotted hair (kapardin).
rudra is also regarded as the best physician- “bhishajAm bhishaktamam”- (RV 2.33.4). He is said to have medicines in liquid form (“jalAsha bhEshajam”-RV 1.43.4), and also thousands of medicines (“sahasRam tE svapivAta bhEshajou”-RV 7.46.3). RV 7.46.2 prays to rudra to visit the devotees’ houses and to bestow good health to their offspring, and RV 1.114.1 entreats rudra to grant good health to the people and cattle.
RV 2.33.11 picturises rudra as “Srutam gaRtasadam yuvAnam, mR^gam na bheemam upahatnum ugram”, i.e., famous, seated on a war-chariot, ever-young, fierce like the lion, killer of foes and fierce.
Incidentally, the namakam as popularly chanted at present, contains 37 R^ks and 130 yajus in its 11 anuvAkAs.
Several etymologies have been given to the word “rudra” in the religious texts and commentaries.
A few of the other derivations (other than the R^gvEdic one of ‘reddish’, ‘howler’, etc.,) are listed below:
1.‘yadvA R^t samsArAkhyam du:kham, tad drAvayati apagamayati vinASayati iti rudra:’ - (One who annihilates or removes ‘R^t’ or the woe of the ‘samsAra’.
2.‘rOdayati sarvam antakAle iti rudra:’ - (One who makes everyone weep at the end - at the time of death or at the time of the pRaLaya.)
3.‘yadvA R^ta: SabdarUpa: upanishada:, tAbhir drUyate gamyate pRatipAdyate iti rudra:’ - (rutrud)-pl. signifies the upanishads; the words of the upanishads describe (drUyate) the supreme brahman and through them we get the realisation of brahmAnandam (bliss). Hence the name rudra.
Note:-
This looks a far-fetched derivation trying to link the upanishads and the Supreme brahman described in them.
4.‘R^tyA (vEdarUpAya) dharmAdeen avalOkayati pRApayati iti vA rudra:’ - (One who, in the form of vEda, establishes dharma and enforces it.)
5.‘R^tyA (pRaNavarUpAya) svAtmAnam pRayati iti rudra:’ – (One who, in the form of the sacred Om or pRaNava, gives brahmajnAna to the devotees.)
6.‘yadvA R^Naddhi AvR^Noti iti rud andhakArAdi tad dr^Nati vidArayati iti rudra:’ – The verbal root ‘rud’ also means ‘to close’, ‘to shut’; hence ‘rudra’ will also mean one who pierces (dr^NAti) ignorance, darkness of ignorance, etc.
Apart from the above, we have rudra as one of the three SRAddha dEvatA (deities). pitR^^n (the manes)are visualized in three forms, viz., vasu, rudra and Aditya. The first generation of deceased forefathers – whether father or grandfather, mother or grandmother, who has left this world, is considered as being in the form of vasu, the generation previous to that is considered to be in the form of rudra and the one previous to that as Aditya. The significance of the term rudra in this context has been explained as, either (1) the concerned pitR^ resides in the rudralOka and hence the oblations or food is given to rudra who will take it to the pitR^,or, (2) the concerned pitR^ has attained the form or status of rudra and hence is addressed as such. The concept is not, however, very clear.
This rigvedic rudra seems to have absorbed, in the course of time, the characteristics of many a non-vedic deity and transformed into the present day Siva-rudra. While the sAmavEda does not materially alter the persona of rudra, by the time of the yajuRvEda there are many changes in his characteristics. Siva now isdwarf, aged, many-eyed and a mountain-dweller clothed in animal-skin. In the SukLa yajuRvEda (vAjasanEyi samhita) III-57, ambikA is mentioned as the sister of rudra. It is only later that she becomes the wife of rudra-Siva.
Recital of namaka and camaka – importance of svara and accord (unison) and meaning
The importance of svara and the need for chanting mantras in strict unison is emphasized in many authoritative texts. The notion of svara also presupposes conforming to Sruthi and accord, i.e., chanting in unison. These aspects are given very low or negligible priority nowadays and the degeneration has come to such an extent that even a group of professional purohit-s cannot present us with anything more than cacophony. Then we have a very large number of youth (and older people as well) who either attend some so-called classes conducted by someone, (who, in his turn, might have learnt it in the same way and not from a guru qualified from a vEdapAThaSAla,) and then transmits whatever he had picked up and haughtily holds that his version is the correct one. No wonder that the recitals nowadays do not serve any purpose other than a “show business”!
There are people who opine with conviction that it is not necessary to know the meaning of the mantra and they often cite the example of medicines; the medicine works irrespective of whether the person taking it knows its chemical composition or how it is prepared. The truth is far from it. Whereas the medicine works in the physical body and it is not necessary for the person to know its composition, since the body does all the necessary functions once the medicine gets into it, mantramantra creates its chemical composition, and as anyone would agree, just as any slight mistake in the chemical composition would jeopardise the patient’s health, a wrongly recited mantra would harm the person so chanting it. pANini gives the vedic example of the yAga of vR^tRa to kill indra. (vR^tRa, arch-enemy of indra conducted a yAga; he recited the mantra, “indraSatRuR vardhasva:” with wrong svara [FONT="]causing it to mean ‘let indra the enemy increase in might’[/FONT]. indra thus becomes able to kill vR^tra, which was otherwise very difficult for him to do.)
It is relevant to state here that even in this day and age, the Thai language has vastly different meanings for the same word depending on its intonation. So, foreign visitors are specially cautioned not to try speaking the language based on books or CDs, lest one ends up in the Police Station for using offensive language or else gets beaten!
So, there is nothing strange in demanding proper svaras for the vedas. In fact, with the advent of the ‘bhakti’ cult (which has very likely been an offshoot of, as well as an effort to offset, the spread of Christianity) there arose a general feeling that God will tolerate any and every lapse on the part of the devotee if the latter merely has bhakti towards God, and this gradually eroded the discipline of learning and chanting the vedas without mistake. Perfection is of the lowest priority in such matters now.
Printed books adopt various signs/symbols to indicate the svaras of mantra-s. But these, at best, enable one who has done proper study of the mantra from a qualified teacher, to refresh one’s memory and correct oneself; these do not help a novice to learn the intricacies which has to be learnt from gurumukham, from the guru’s mouth.
…to be continued.
Sree Rudram
Sree rudram or rudra praSna forms part of the fifth prapAThaka of the fourth kANDa of the thaittiriya yajussamhita. The word “nama:” occurs several times (183 to be exact) in it and hence this mantra is also known by the name of ‘namakam’. In the seventh prapAThaka of the same kANDa the words “ca me” occur many times and so it is known as ‘camakam’. (There is another group of hymns in the R^gvEda known as rudrasUkta.)
In the namakam, the devotee mentally prostrates before Lord rudrA with each chanting of the word “nama:” while, in the camakam, he implores the Lord to give him all the material necessities of life with the words “ca me” (and …to me).
Since rudra is prayed to in His various forms, this rudram is also known as ‘Satarudreeyam’; ‘Satam’ is used here not in the sense of ‘one hundred’ but ‘many’.
Sri Rudram consists of 37 Riks and 130 Yajus in various chhandases or metres.
In the text ‘mahARNava karmavipAka’ of sage Satapatha, there is reference to four types of abhishEka approved by the vEda, viz., rudram, EkAdaSa rudram, mahArudram and atirudram. Reciting namakam once followed by one anuvAka of camaka is called rudram; reciting namakaanuvAka of camaka, thus completing one full recital of camaka, (11 namaka and one camaka), makes one EkAdaSarudram. Eleven EkAdaSarudram-s (namaka 121 times + camaka 11 times) makes one rudraikAdaSinee or laghurudram. Eleven rudraikAdaSinee-s or laghurudram-s make one mahArudram and eleven mahArudram-s make one atirudram (recital of namaka 14641 times plus chamaka 1331 times). These (rudraikAdaSinee or laghurudram, mahArudram, and athirudram) are performed for the welfare of the family, the country and the world respectively.
There is one view that the R^shi who gave us the rudram must have experienced the form of rudrasamhAramUrthi at the time of the pRaLaya (periodical destruction of the universe) and, seeing His extremely fierce form, he therefore first tries to mollify the Lord.
rudra in the R^gvEda
There are 3 entire hymns (sUkta) devoted to rudra besides 75 casual references to rudra in the R^gvEda. The first R^k praising rudra is at I-42-1 and it reads as follows:
Kad rudrAya pRacEtase mee(Lhu)DhushTamAya tavyase |
vOcEma Sam tamam hR^de ||
Here rudra is spoken of as the repository of great wisdom (pRacEtase) and as one who bestows boons as if it rains (meeLhushTamAya).
But there are other types of depictions of rudra in the R^gvEda itself. In the R^gvEda the word rudra has been used in the sense of ‘reddish’ or ‘howler’ and rudra is one of the intermediate level gods (antariksha devata). The predominant picture of rudra that emerges from the R^gvEda is of a god who is fierce as well as benevolent, armed with bow and fast-flying arrows - "brilliant shafts which run about the heaven and the earth" (RV 7.46.3); he is endowed with strong arms, a lustrous body decorated with ornaments and he wears braided or knotted hair (kapardin).
rudra is also regarded as the best physician- “bhishajAm bhishaktamam”- (RV 2.33.4). He is said to have medicines in liquid form (“jalAsha bhEshajam”-RV 1.43.4), and also thousands of medicines (“sahasRam tE svapivAta bhEshajou”-RV 7.46.3). RV 7.46.2 prays to rudra to visit the devotees’ houses and to bestow good health to their offspring, and RV 1.114.1 entreats rudra to grant good health to the people and cattle.
RV 2.33.11 picturises rudra as “Srutam gaRtasadam yuvAnam, mR^gam na bheemam upahatnum ugram”, i.e., famous, seated on a war-chariot, ever-young, fierce like the lion, killer of foes and fierce.
Incidentally, the namakam as popularly chanted at present, contains 37 R^ks and 130 yajus in its 11 anuvAkAs.
Several etymologies have been given to the word “rudra” in the religious texts and commentaries.
A few of the other derivations (other than the R^gvEdic one of ‘reddish’, ‘howler’, etc.,) are listed below:
1.‘yadvA R^t samsArAkhyam du:kham, tad drAvayati apagamayati vinASayati iti rudra:’ - (One who annihilates or removes ‘R^t’ or the woe of the ‘samsAra’.
2.‘rOdayati sarvam antakAle iti rudra:’ - (One who makes everyone weep at the end - at the time of death or at the time of the pRaLaya.)
3.‘yadvA R^ta: SabdarUpa: upanishada:, tAbhir drUyate gamyate pRatipAdyate iti rudra:’ - (rutrud)-pl. signifies the upanishads; the words of the upanishads describe (drUyate) the supreme brahman and through them we get the realisation of brahmAnandam (bliss). Hence the name rudra.
Note:-
This looks a far-fetched derivation trying to link the upanishads and the Supreme brahman described in them.
4.‘R^tyA (vEdarUpAya) dharmAdeen avalOkayati pRApayati iti vA rudra:’ - (One who, in the form of vEda, establishes dharma and enforces it.)
5.‘R^tyA (pRaNavarUpAya) svAtmAnam pRayati iti rudra:’ – (One who, in the form of the sacred Om or pRaNava, gives brahmajnAna to the devotees.)
6.‘yadvA R^Naddhi AvR^Noti iti rud andhakArAdi tad dr^Nati vidArayati iti rudra:’ – The verbal root ‘rud’ also means ‘to close’, ‘to shut’; hence ‘rudra’ will also mean one who pierces (dr^NAti) ignorance, darkness of ignorance, etc.
Apart from the above, we have rudra as one of the three SRAddha dEvatA (deities). pitR^^n (the manes)are visualized in three forms, viz., vasu, rudra and Aditya. The first generation of deceased forefathers – whether father or grandfather, mother or grandmother, who has left this world, is considered as being in the form of vasu, the generation previous to that is considered to be in the form of rudra and the one previous to that as Aditya. The significance of the term rudra in this context has been explained as, either (1) the concerned pitR^ resides in the rudralOka and hence the oblations or food is given to rudra who will take it to the pitR^,or, (2) the concerned pitR^ has attained the form or status of rudra and hence is addressed as such. The concept is not, however, very clear.
This rigvedic rudra seems to have absorbed, in the course of time, the characteristics of many a non-vedic deity and transformed into the present day Siva-rudra. While the sAmavEda does not materially alter the persona of rudra, by the time of the yajuRvEda there are many changes in his characteristics. Siva now isdwarf, aged, many-eyed and a mountain-dweller clothed in animal-skin. In the SukLa yajuRvEda (vAjasanEyi samhita) III-57, ambikA is mentioned as the sister of rudra. It is only later that she becomes the wife of rudra-Siva.
Recital of namaka and camaka – importance of svara and accord (unison) and meaning
The importance of svara and the need for chanting mantras in strict unison is emphasized in many authoritative texts. The notion of svara also presupposes conforming to Sruthi and accord, i.e., chanting in unison. These aspects are given very low or negligible priority nowadays and the degeneration has come to such an extent that even a group of professional purohit-s cannot present us with anything more than cacophony. Then we have a very large number of youth (and older people as well) who either attend some so-called classes conducted by someone, (who, in his turn, might have learnt it in the same way and not from a guru qualified from a vEdapAThaSAla,) and then transmits whatever he had picked up and haughtily holds that his version is the correct one. No wonder that the recitals nowadays do not serve any purpose other than a “show business”!
There are people who opine with conviction that it is not necessary to know the meaning of the mantra and they often cite the example of medicines; the medicine works irrespective of whether the person taking it knows its chemical composition or how it is prepared. The truth is far from it. Whereas the medicine works in the physical body and it is not necessary for the person to know its composition, since the body does all the necessary functions once the medicine gets into it, mantramantra creates its chemical composition, and as anyone would agree, just as any slight mistake in the chemical composition would jeopardise the patient’s health, a wrongly recited mantra would harm the person so chanting it. pANini gives the vedic example of the yAga of vR^tRa to kill indra. (vR^tRa, arch-enemy of indra conducted a yAga; he recited the mantra, “indraSatRuR vardhasva:” with wrong svara [FONT="]causing it to mean ‘let indra the enemy increase in might’[/FONT]. indra thus becomes able to kill vR^tra, which was otherwise very difficult for him to do.)
It is relevant to state here that even in this day and age, the Thai language has vastly different meanings for the same word depending on its intonation. So, foreign visitors are specially cautioned not to try speaking the language based on books or CDs, lest one ends up in the Police Station for using offensive language or else gets beaten!
So, there is nothing strange in demanding proper svaras for the vedas. In fact, with the advent of the ‘bhakti’ cult (which has very likely been an offshoot of, as well as an effort to offset, the spread of Christianity) there arose a general feeling that God will tolerate any and every lapse on the part of the devotee if the latter merely has bhakti towards God, and this gradually eroded the discipline of learning and chanting the vedas without mistake. Perfection is of the lowest priority in such matters now.
Printed books adopt various signs/symbols to indicate the svaras of mantra-s. But these, at best, enable one who has done proper study of the mantra from a qualified teacher, to refresh one’s memory and correct oneself; these do not help a novice to learn the intricacies which has to be learnt from gurumukham, from the guru’s mouth.
…to be continued.
Last edited:
to the nourisher of the world
