Rudrādhyāya Māhātmya

The Rudrādhyāya, also called Śrī Rudram or the Namakam, is a great Vedic hymn to Bhagavān Rudra (Śiva). The Brahmottara Khaṇḍa of the Skanda Purāṇa calls it the highest text of mantras: the essence of all the Upanishads, born from the southern face of Brahmā, holding the Paramātman (supreme Self) himself within its syllables. Its japa (repeated recitation) is kaivalya-sādhaka, the direct means of liberation.

The Brahmottara Khaṇḍa tells a striking account about the Rudrādhyāya. When it spread through the world, the nine pāpa-nāyakas (leaders of wrongdoing) who serve Yama fled from its power and complained to Brahmā. To slow its spread, Brahmā sent two female beings, Durmedhā (dull-mindedness) and Aśraddhā (lack of faith), to trouble human beings. The account ends with the story of a prince of Kāśmīra whose fated early death was turned back by a śatarudrābhisheka, and whose new lifespan of ten thousand years was recorded by Citragupta and confirmed by Vīrabhadra.

Where the Rudrādhyāya Came From

The Rudrādhyāya came forth from Brahmā’s southern face (dakshiṇa-mukha) at the time of the first teaching of creation. It holds the sāra (essence) of all the Upanishads and is the paramabrahma-jyoti, the light of the supreme Brahman, in the form of sound. Brahmā received it first. He passed it to the great ṛshis, beginning with Marīci and Atri, who passed it to their disciples. In this way it came down through the tradition in an unbroken paramparā (line of teachers).

The ṛshi Parāśara tells the king of Kāśmīra: “This is the highest mantra. This is the highest truth. Japa of the Rudrādhyāya is the way to kaivalya (liberation) for human beings.”

The Nine Pāpa-Nāyakas Flee

When the Rudrādhyāya spread widely through the world by the line of ṛshis, every wrong deed was at once cleansed in those who heard or recited it. The nine pāpa-nāyakas, the great root wrongs such as lust, anger and greed together with their offspring, had been given the task by Yama of keeping the narakas (realms of suffering) full. Now they began to suffer. For them the syllables of the Rudrādhyāya were like unbearable poison. They could not stay anywhere the japa was being done.

The nine pāpa-nāyakas came before Yama and complained:

“O great king! You made us rulers of the narakas and told us to keep them full. But now we are useless. The Rudrādhyāya has spread to every village, every riverbank and every sacred grove. Wherever we go to find wrongdoers, those reciting Rudra drive us away. Even single syllables of the Rudrādhyāya burn us. It is poison to us. The narakas are empty. Your rule over wrongdoers is losing its meaning. What should be done?”

Yama, troubled himself, went to Brahmā and told him of the crisis.

Brahmā Sends Durmedhā and Aśraddhā

Brahmā saw that the whole system of narakas might become empty and Yama’s realm would lose its purpose. So he made a plan. He created two female beings, Durmedhā (dull-mindedness, the inability to concentrate) and Aśraddhā (lack of faith, doubt about spiritual practice), and sent them into the world to trouble human beings.

Because of Durmedhā, people become unable to keep up japa and meditation. Because of Aśraddhā, they lose trust in the power of mantra, tīrtha (holy places) and guru. Together these two hold back the spread of the Rudrādhyāya: without faith a person does not begin, and without a clear mind a person cannot keep going.

As people then began to fail, Yama’s realm filled again, and he returned to his post content.

The Power of the Rudrādhyāya

Even though Durmedhā and Aśraddhā are in the world, the Rudrādhyāya keeps its full power for those who recite it with śraddhā (faith):

• Mahāpātakas and upapātakas (grave and lesser pāpas): all are destroyed by even a single recitation.
• Āyus (lifespan): the pāpas that shortened one’s life are destroyed, and long life is restored.
• Śatarudrābhisheka (bathing a liṅga while reciting the Rudrādhyāya a hundred times): whoever bathes in that holy water becomes free from disease and gains śatāyu, a life of a hundred years. “He becomes dear to Śiva and is freed from all pāpa.”
• Bathing in water made holy by Rudrādhyāya japa (śatarudrāyuta-jala-snāna): no fear of death, and a home in Śivaloka.

The Prince of Kāśmīra: An Example from the Stories

The ṛshi Parāśara was speaking with Bhadrasena, king of Kāśmīra, when he revealed that the king’s son Sudharmā would die in seven days. His fated lifespan was only twelve years.

The king fainted with grief. Parāśara revived him and told him: “Have a thousand learned, peaceful, dharmic brāhmaṇas perform the śatarudrābhisheka with a hundred kalaśas (pots) of water. In seven days, have Sudharmā bathed in that water.”

This was done. On the seventh day, while the bath was going on, the prince had a vision. A terrible man with a daṇḍa (staff) came to strike him, but other divine persons seized him with a great pāśa (noose) and dragged him away screaming.

Later the ṛshi Nārada came down from the sky and told what had happened:

“Mṛtyu (Death in person) came to this city today to take your son. But Īśvara (Śiva), knowing this, sent Vīrabhadra with his attendants. Vīrabhadra seized Mṛtyu as he came, struck him with the staff and bound him tightly with the noose. Then he took Mṛtyu before Śiva at Kailāsa. When Yama heard of this, he called Citragupta and asked: ‘What is the prince’s lifespan?’ Citragupta looked at his records. First he read ‘twelve years’. Then he thought again, looked again, and said: ‘Ten thousand years.’ Yama, afraid, bowed to Vīrabhadra. Vīrabhadra set Mṛtyu free and went back to Kailāsa. So your son, by the power of the Rudrādhyāya, has overcome death and gained ten thousand years.”

Full of gratitude, the king welcomed the gathered ṛshis, fed them, gave generous dakshiṇā (gifts) and received their āśīrvāda (blessings).

Sources

• Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Dharmāraṇya Khaṇḍa, Uttarārdha, Chapter 21