Rudrāshṭakam
The Rudrāshṭakam is a famous stotra of eight verses to Bhagavān Śiva. Kākabhuśuṇḍi’s brāhmaṇa guru sang it, with both hands raised to the sky, to plead for his erring śūdra disciple. It is found in the Uttara Kāṇḍa of the Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, in the account of Śiva’s curse.
The verses praise Bhagavān Śiva as nirguṇa (beyond all qualities) and also in his shining saguṇa form (the form with qualities).
The setting
Kākabhuśuṇḍi was then born as a śūdra in Ujjayinī. When his guru entered the Śiva temple, he did not rise to show respect. Then a voice from the sky (ākāśavāṇī) spoke from the liṅga, as the voice of Bhagavān Śiva, and gave the curse of ten thousand low births.
The guru was a paramatattvajña (one who knows the highest truth). He was devoted to Bhagavān Śiva and was never hostile to Bhagavān Vishṇu or his devotees. He heard the terrible curse fall on his own student and was heartbroken at once. At once he raised both hands upward, turned his face to the sky, and sang these eight verses in a voice of deep and true prayer.
The Telugu account describes the moment:
Appuḍu ā mahānīyuḍu cetulupaiki cāci ūrdhvamukhuḍai kaḍu dīna svaramu na Paramaśivuṇi iṭlu prārthiñceṇu
It means: “That great one then raised both hands upward, with his face turned to the sky, and in a deeply humble voice prayed to Paramaśiva in this way.” The stotra that came out of that prayer became famous in the world as the Rudrāshṭakam.
The eight verses
Verse 1
namāmīśam īśāna nirvāṇa rūpaṃ
vibhuṃ vyāpakaṃ brahma veda svarūpam |
ajaṃ nirguṇaṃ nirvikalpaṃ nirīhaṃ
cidākāśam ākāśavāsaṃ bhaje’ham ||
I bow to Bhagavān Śiva, the supreme Īśāna, whose form is nirvāṇa itself. He is all-pervading and everywhere, he is Brahman, and his nature is the Veda. He is unborn (aja), without guṇas (nirguṇa), without change (nirvikalpa), and without desire (nirīha). He is the sky of pure consciousness (cidākāśa), and he dwells in the ether. I worship Bhagavān Śiva.
Verse 2
nirākāram oṃkāra mūlaṃ turīyaṃ
girā jñānago’tīta mīśaṃ girīśam |
karālaṃ mahākāla kālaṃ kṛpālaṃ
guṇāgāra saṃsāra pāraṃ nato’ham ||
He is formless (nirākāra). He is the root of the Oṃkāra. He lives in the fourth state (turīya), which is beyond waking, dreaming and deep sleep. He is beyond the reach of speech and beyond the reach of the knower. He is Īśa, Bhagavān Śiva, the master of the mountains (Girīśa). He is fearsome (karāla) and he is the destroyer of the great Kāla itself (Mahākāla-kāla), and yet he is full of compassion (kṛpāla). He is the home of all virtues (guṇāgāra). He has crossed beyond saṃsāra. I bow before him.
Verse 3
tushārādri saṃkāśa gauraṃ gabhīraṃ
manobhūtakoṭi prabhāśrī śarīram |
sphūran maulī kallolini cāru gaṅgā
lanat phāla bālēndu kaṇṭhe bhujaṅgā ||
His form is white and shining like the snowy Himālaya, bright and deep. His body shines with a beauty greater than ten million Kāmadevas. On his matted crown the lovely Gaṅgā flows in rolling waves. On his forehead rests the crescent moon. On his neck a serpent coils.
Verse 4
calat kuṇḍalaṃ bhrū sunētraṃ viśālaṃ
prasannānanaṃ nīlakaṇṭhaṃ dayāḷum |
mṛgādhīśa carmāmbaraṃ muṇḍamālaṃ
priyaṃ śaṃkaraṃ sarvanāthaṃ bhajāmi ||
His earrings swing and dance. His eyes beneath his brows are wide and fine. His face is calm and bright. His throat is deep blue (Nīlakaṇṭha), and he is full of compassion. He wears the skin of the lion-king as his garment and a garland of skulls as his ornament. I worship that dear Śaṃkara, the master of all (Sarvanātha).
Verse 5
pracaṇḍaṃ prakṛshṭaṃ pragalbhaṃ pareśaṃ
akhaṇḍaṃ ajaṃ bhānukoṭi prakāśam |
trayaḥ śūla nirmūlanaṃ śūlapāṇiṃ
bhaje’haṃ bhavānī patiṃ bhāva gamyam ||
He is fierce (pracaṇḍa), the most excellent (prakṛshṭa), of great power (pragalbha), and the highest master (pareśa). He is whole and without parts (akhaṇḍa), unborn (aja), and bright with the light of ten million suns. He holds the trident (śūlapāṇi) and uproots the three kinds of śūla, the threefold sufferings (ādhidaivika, ādhyātmika and ādhibhautika). He is the master of Bhavānī. I worship him, who can be reached only through bhāva, true feeling of the heart.
Verse 6
kalātīta kalyāṇa kalpānta kārī
sadā sajjanānanda dātā purārī |
cidānanda sandoha mohāpahārī
prasīda prasīda prabho manmathārī ||
He is beyond time (kalātīta). He is all that is auspicious (kalyāṇa). He brings about the end of the cosmic cycle (kalpānta kārī). He always gives joy to good people (sajjanānanda dātā). He is Purārī, the destroyer of the city (Pura) of the asura. He is a mass of consciousness and bliss (cidānanda sandoha) and he removes moha (delusion). O Prabhu Śiva, destroyer of Manmatha, be pleased, be pleased!
Verse 7
na yāvad umānātha pādāraviṃdaṃ
bhajantīha loke pare vā narāṇām |
na tāvat sukhaṃ śānti santāpa nāśaṃ
prasīda prabho sarva bhūtādhivāsam ||
As long as people, in this world or in the worlds beyond, do not worship the lotus feet of Umānātha, so long they have no happiness, no peace and no end of suffering. O Prabhu Śiva, who lives within all beings, be pleased and show your grace.
Verse 8
na jānāmi yogaṃ japaṃ naiva pūjāṃ
nato’haṃ sadā sarvadā śambhu tubhyam |
jarā janma duḥkhaugha tātapyamānaṃ
prabho pāhi āpannam mām īśa śambho ||
I do not know yoga. I do not know japa. I do not know pūjā. Yet I bow to you, O Śambhu, always and at all times. I am scorched by the floods of suffering that come from old age and birth. O Prabhu Śiva, O Īśa, O Śambhu, protect me, for I am in trouble and I have come to you for refuge.
Śiva’s answer
When the prayer was finished with the highest devotion, Paramaśiva was pleased. The voice from the sky spoke once more from within the temple: “O Bhūsura-uttama (best of brāhmaṇas)! Ask for any vara (boon).”
The guru asked nothing for himself. He asked only for the moksha and the grace of his erring student. Moved by this prayer for another, Bhagavān Śiva softened the curse. The śūdra disciple would keep his knowledge through all his births and be free from the suffering of death and rebirth. Because he was born in Rāma’s own city, he would grow in highest devotion to Bhagavān Śrī Rāma.
Kākabhuśuṇḍi himself said that the whole chain of events that led to his Rāmabhakti began with this prayer of his guru. In this way the compassion of the guru (guru-karuṇā) became the cause of a jīva‘s freedom and of the flowering of highest bhakti.
Sources
- Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Uttara Kāṇḍa, Śiva’s Curse