As I Know: The Lord of the Mountains – Shiv Purana: 143

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The splendour, glory and effectiveness of the Five-Syllable Mantra…it expresses the lord in totality and fulfills the desires of created beings. Incantation of mantra grants salvation to a true devotee

Krishna grew curious and wanted to know the brilliance and glory of the five-syllable mantra. It is difficult to speak about the glory of mantra but still he would try, Upamanyu told. The Vedas and Shivagama contain it. It makes easy for devotees to understand Shiva. It has few syllables but it carries immense meaning. It is essence of the Vedas and its understanding leads to salvation. It symbolises auspicious nature devoid of doubts.

It is perfect and it is expression of Shiva, and fulfills desires of created beings. One can utter it easily. ‘Om Namah Shivaya’ is subtle and serves varied purposes. It embodies the great creator Shiva, the omniscient and all pervasive, who is beyond three gunas. Five Brahmas manifest ‘Namah Shivaya’ and each syllable represents it and so is the six syllable mantra in the form of Panch Brahmas.

Lord is without the beginning and frees men from worldly existence. He is antagonistic and violent to the ailments of existence. If the lord had not been here, the entire universe would have been ominous and miserable because prakriti is insentient and purusa is ignorant. Creation is possible because of the omniscient lord and he is the true physician, and so the lord, the primeval, omniscient, symbol of perfection, Sadasvia is the protector of persons suffering in ocean of existence. Lord is without the beginning, the middle and the end and is pure, omniscient and perfect say Saivite Agamas.

Mantra expresses the lord in totality. The knowledge of Shiva – the Shivagyana is as extensive as the six-syllable mantra, a positive statement it is and further, it speaks of perfection, all pervasiveness and innate purity and so blesses the world. He is the lord incarnate. He is the only one, who is beyond passion, ignorance, flaws and untruth and therefore, the statement is sans flaws or imperfections and is authoritative so say the learned men and those who disbelieve fall, and so Shiva’s statements are ‘sacred utterances.’ However, if simulation is full of passion, hate, mendacity, annoyance, lust and greed, these cause fall and the men go to hell and so these qualities cause worldly pain despite being stylish, soft and alluring. Even an ugly and evil statement if brings wellbeing to beings, it is good.

Among the many mantras, the mantra Shiva utters is the most sacred, for it encompasses all the Vedas and scriptures and its subsidiaries and none is equal to this mantra. In whatever soft mode, the sacred texts expound the essence of Shiva’s wisdom and knowledge the storehouses of lore is the brief aphorism – the six-syllable mantra. A heart firmly situated in the mantra ‘Om Namah Shivaya’ has no purpose for many other mantras or holy books. Therefore, one ought to stabilise the mantra and its incantation, and practice it frequently and so he would attain liberation to whichever class or varna or ashrama he belongs. Thus, Upamanyu makes a brief mention of its essence as lord told goddess Parvati, and he narrates to Krishna. 

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