Rudrashtakam
Also written: Shri Rudrashtakam · Rudrashtak · Rudra Ashtakam · Namami Shamishan Nirvan Roopam · Namamishamishan · Shiv Rudrashtakam
The Rudrāṣṭakam is a hymn of eight Sanskrit verses to Śiva, followed by one closing verse. It is not a separate work: Gosvāmī Tulsīdās placed it inside his Rāmcaritmānas, in the Uttarakāṇḍa, where it stands as a passage of Sanskrit in the middle of the Awadhi poem.
In the story, the crow-sage Kākabhuśuṇḍi tells Garuḍa about one of his earlier births. He was then a proud devotee of Śiva who, sitting in a Śiva temple, did not rise to greet his own teacher. Śiva cursed him for the insult. His teacher, a gentle brahmin, was grieved for his pupil, bowed before Śiva with folded hands, and sang these verses to ask for mercy. Śiva was pleased and softened the curse.
So the hymn is, at heart, a prayer made for someone else. It praises Śiva as formless and beyond all description, then as the radiant Lord with the Gaṅgā in his hair and the moon on his brow, and it ends in plain surrender: “I know neither yoga, nor japa, nor worship.”
The text given here follows the reading of the Rāmcaritmānas, written in the spelling usual in stotra books. Small differences of spelling and word-division are found between printed editions; the words themselves are the same.
The full text
- 1नमामीशमीशान निर्वाणरूपंविभुं व्यापकं ब्रह्मवेदस्वरूपम् ।निजं निर्गुणं निर्विकल्पं निरीहंचिदाकाशमाकाशवासं भजेऽहम् ॥ १ ॥namāmīśamīśāna nirvāṇarūpaṃvibhuṃ vyāpakaṃ brahmavedasvarūpam |nijaṃ nirguṇaṃ nirvikalpaṃ nirīhaṃcidākāśamākāśavāsaṃ bhaje’ham || 1 ||
I bow to the Lord, the ruler of all, whose very form is liberation: all-pervading, the reality that the Vedas speak of. I worship him who rests in himself, beyond qualities, beyond distinctions and desire, who is the open sky of pure awareness and dwells in that sky.
- 2निराकारमोङ्कारमूलं तुरीयंगिराज्ञानगोतीतमीशं गिरीशम् ।करालं महाकालकालं कृपालंगुणागारसंसारपारं नतोऽहम् ॥ २ ॥nirākāramoṅkāramūlaṃ turīyaṃgirājñānagotītamīśaṃ girīśam |karālaṃ mahākālakālaṃ kṛpālaṃguṇāgārasaṃsārapāraṃ nato’ham || 2 ||
I bow to the formless one, the source of Oṁ, the fourth state beyond waking, dream and sleep; the Lord of the mountain, beyond speech, knowledge and the senses. He is fierce, the death of mighty Time itself, and yet full of compassion: a storehouse of virtues who stands beyond this world.
- 3तुषाराद्रिसंकाशगौरं गभीरंमनोभूतकोटिप्रभाश्रीशरीरम् ।स्फुरन्मौलिकल्लोलिनी चारुगङ्गालसद्भालबालेन्दु कण्ठे भुजङ्गा ॥ ३ ॥tuṣārādrisaṃkāśagauraṃ gabhīraṃmanobhūtakoṭiprabhāśrīśarīram |sphuranmaulikallolinī cārugaṅgālasadbhālabālendu kaṇṭhe bhujaṅgā || 3 ||
He is fair as a snow mountain and deep in his stillness, and his body shines with the beauty of countless gods of love. The lovely Gaṅgā ripples on his head, the young moon glows on his forehead, and a serpent rests around his neck.
- 4चलत्कुण्डलं भ्रूसुनेत्रं विशालंप्रसन्नाननं नीलकण्ठं दयालम् ।मृगाधीशचर्माम्बरं मुण्डमालंप्रियं शङ्करं सर्वनाथं भजामि ॥ ४ ॥calatkuṇḍalaṃ bhrūsunetraṃ viśālaṃprasannānanaṃ nīlakaṇṭhaṃ dayālam |mṛgādhīśacarmāmbaraṃ muṇḍamālaṃpriyaṃ śaṅkaraṃ sarvanāthaṃ bhajāmi || 4 ||
His earrings sway; his brows and wide eyes are beautiful. His face is serene, his throat is blue, and he is kind. He wears a lion's skin and a garland of skulls. I worship that beloved Śaṅkara, the Lord of all.
- 5प्रचण्डं प्रकृष्टं प्रगल्भं परेशंअखण्डं अजं भानुकोटिप्रकाशम् ।त्रयःशूलनिर्मूलनं शूलपाणिंभजेऽहं भवानीपतिं भावगम्यम् ॥ ५ ॥pracaṇḍaṃ prakṛṣṭaṃ pragalbhaṃ pareśaṃakhaṇḍaṃ ajaṃ bhānukoṭiprakāśam |trayaḥśūlanirmūlanaṃ śūlapāṇiṃbhaje’haṃ bhavānīpatiṃ bhāvagamyam || 5 ||
He is fierce, supreme, fearless, the highest Lord: whole, unborn, and bright as countless suns. With the trident in his hand he uproots the three kinds of suffering. I worship the husband of Bhavānī, who is reached through loving devotion.
- 6कलातीतकल्याण कल्पान्तकारीसदा सज्जनानन्ददाता पुरारी ।चिदानन्दसंदोह मोहापहारीप्रसीद प्रसीद प्रभो मन्मथारी ॥ ६ ॥kalātītakalyāṇa kalpāntakārīsadā sajjanānandadātā purārī |cidānandasaṃdoha mohāpahārīprasīda prasīda prabho manmathārī || 6 ||
You are beyond all parts, goodness itself, the one who brings the age to its close. You always give joy to the good, O destroyer of the three cities. You are the fullness of awareness and bliss, the remover of delusion. Be pleased, be pleased, O Lord, enemy of the god of desire.
- 7न यावद् उमानाथपादारविन्दंभजन्तीह लोके परे वा नराणाम् ।न तावत्सुखं शान्ति सन्तापनाशंप्रसीद प्रभो सर्वभूताधिवासम् ॥ ७ ॥na yāvad umānāthapādāravindaṃbhajantīha loke pare vā narāṇām |na tāvatsukhaṃ śānti santāpanāśaṃprasīda prabho sarvabhūtādhivāsam || 7 ||
As long as people do not worship the lotus feet of Umā's Lord, they find no happiness, no peace, and no end to their sorrows, in this world or the next. Be pleased, O Lord who dwells in all beings.
- 8न जानामि योगं जपं नैव पूजांनतोऽहं सदा सर्वदा शम्भु तुभ्यम् ।जराजन्मदुःखौघतातप्यमानंप्रभो पाहि आपन्नमामीश शम्भो ॥ ८ ॥na jānāmi yogaṃ japaṃ naiva pūjāṃnato’haṃ sadā sarvadā śambhu tubhyam |jarājanmaduḥkhaughatātapyamānaṃprabho pāhi āpannamāmīśa śambho || 8 ||
I know neither yoga, nor japa, nor worship. I simply bow to you, O Śambhu, always and at all times. I am scorched by the flood of sorrows that come with birth and old age. O Lord, O Śambhu, protect me; I have come to you in distress.
- फलश्रुतिरुद्राष्टकमिदं प्रोक्तं विप्रेण हरतोषये ।ये पठन्ति नरा भक्त्या तेषां शम्भुः प्रसीदति ॥rudrāṣṭakamidaṃ proktaṃ vipreṇa haratoṣaye |ye paṭhanti narā bhaktyā teṣāṃ śambhuḥ prasīdati ||
These eight verses to Rudra were spoken by the brahmin to please Hara. The verse says that Śambhu is pleased with those who recite them with devotion.
How and when it is recited
This is custom, not a rule of scripture.
- Traditionally recited during daily Śiva worship, in the morning or at dusk, often after offering water to the liṅga.
- Many devotees recite it on Mondays, on Pradoṣa evenings, through the month of Śrāvaṇa and on Mahāśivarātri.
- The metre has a steady, marching rhythm (bhujaṅgaprayāta), so it is usually sung aloud; it can equally be read quietly.
- It is also recited as part of a full reading of the Rāmcaritmānas, at its place in the Uttarakāṇḍa.
- The hymn itself asks for nothing but devotion and a sincere heart: its last verse says, “I know neither yoga, nor japa, nor worship.”
Verse by verse, explained
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