Mantras are energizing sounds that help to uplift our consciousness. In Sanskrit “Man” means mind and “tra” refers to a vehicle. Mantra is a vehicle that can lead the mind deep within.
Power of Mantras
How can just a few words bring transformation?
When someone abuses you verbally, how do you feel? If someone says that you are a donkey, how do you feel? What does it do to you? What does it create? Anger! It shakes you. It creates some negative vibrations; you feel angry. You feel some sensations in the stomach, in the head. If a bad word can create so many physiological reactions in you, do you think a very sweet name, a chant, which includes a lot of energy from the cosmos, cannot do anything to your body and mind?
Mantras bring out all the positive energy within you. They turn around the negative, repulsive vibrations, into more positive and attractive vibrations. This is the advantage of mantra chanting.
Today, if you go to New York, you will find hundreds of places where they learn chanting. People go for one hour in the evenings to chanting classes. They chant ‘Om Namah Shivaya’,’ Om Namo Narayana’, ‘Sri Rama Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram’.
Om Namah Shivaya – A Maha Mantra
Om Namah Shivaya is one of the most powerful and ancient mantras that has come down to us from the beginning of mankind. It represents the one transcendental universal consciousness and chanting this mantra energizes the subtle aspect of creation.
What makes Om Namah Shivaya a Maha Mantra, a great mantra?
Shiva is the entire universe. He is in every atom of the universe. The five syllables of the Mantra, Na, Ma, Shi, Va, Ya represent the five elements – earth, water, fire, air, and ether. Om means peace and joy. When there is peace, love, and harmony in all the five elements, there is true bliss and joy in the environment. Chanting Om Namah Shivaya removes negativity and brings harmony to the five elements. Om Namah Shivaya is thus a mantra that brings universal harmony and is considered a Maha Mantra.
Let us now look into the significance of each of the words that make up this great mantra.
Om
Om is the primordial sound of the universe and a symbol of the life force. It is the eternal sound. The sound which is there in the universe all the time. When the saints went deep into meditation, they only heard Om.
A lady from the Boston-Connecticut area had done research where they recorded the sound Om, and found that the frequency of Om is exactly the same as the frequency of earth’s rotation around its axis. So, interestingly, in some sense, the earth is also saying Om.
Om is made up of several dhatus: ah-ooh-ma. Just ‘ah’ has 19 meanings. We can derive several thousand meanings from Om.
Om is present in all religions in some or the other form. In the Bible, it is said, ‘In the beginning, there was a word and the word was with God and the word was God’. That is Om. There is also a beautiful verse in the Guru Granth Sahib, which begins with ‘Ek Omkar Sat Naam, Karta Purakh’ – From Om, everything has come, in Om everything dwells, and into Om, everything will dissolve; both matter and consciousness.
Isn’t Om enough?
However, only Om is not taken as a mantra. Before meditation, we chant Om and create the vibration, but for meditation, we need different mantras. Namah Shivaya, or Namo Narayana, or some other mantra is used. Only recluses, those who have nothing to do with the world, or are very old are allowed to chant Om. Thus we have other powerful mantras like Namah Shivaya which are chanted with Om.
Namah
Nama is the reversal of the mind. ‘Na’ means No and ‘Mah’ or ‘Mahyam’ stands for ‘Aham’ or I. And when the mind which is going out turns inward, it is nama.
Shiva
Who is Shiva?
Shiva is a principle (Tattva) from where everything has come, where everything is sustained, and where everything is eventually dissolved. Shiva doesn’t have a body. He was never a person at all. To symbolize the unfathomable, the infinite divinity, and to make it comprehensible to people, they made a form. In fact, Shiva has no form. Shiva is the consciousness, the permanent and eternal source of energy, the eternal state of being, the one and only one is Shiva.
Shiva is the fourth state of consciousness, known as the ‘Turiya avasta‘ (the meditative state), that is beyond the waking, sleeping, and dreaming state.
The Legend – Brahma and Vishnu looking for Shiva’s head and feet
There is a beautiful story related to Lord Shiva. Once Lord Brahma the creator, and Lord Vishnu the preserver of the universe wanted to find Lord Shiva and understand him completely. So Lord Brahma said, I will go and look for his head and you find his feet. So for thousands of years, Lord Vishnu went down to find Lord Shiva’s feet but couldn’t find them. Lord Brahma went up to find his head but couldn’t find.The meaning here is, there are no feet and no head to Lord Shiva. He is the transcendental infinite consciousness.
A mantra for inner transformation
The soul, the Atma, is Shiva. There is no difference between Atma and Shiva. The same consciousness is present in every being in this creation! Chanting Om Namah Shivaya can lead us to the state of ‘No mind’ or Shiva tattva. That state where the mind or limited consciousness dissolves or doesn’t exist. Om Namah Shivaya is a mantra for inner transformation.
Significance of 108
It is usually recommended that we chant the mantra 108 times. What is the significance of 108?
There are nine planets and twelve constellations. When nine planets revolve around the twelve constellations, it brings 108 kinds of changes. If there is anything wrong with these changes, it can be rectified with the positive energy of Om Namah Shivaya or other mantras.In conclusion, Om Namah Shivay is called the Maha Mantra because it is believed to possess great power and can remedy shortcomings and eliminate negative karmas. It purifies the five elements bringing universal harmony. It also helps invoke the divine consciousness and the benevolent space within, leading to inner transformation.
