Mantra · Hindu practice
Om Namah Shivaya
Oṃ — homage to Śiva
ॐ नमः शिवाय
Oṃ namaḥ śivāya
The five-syllable mantra of Śiva — the pañcākṣara — and for many Śaivas the mantra, recited before all others. It sits at the centre of the Śrī Rudram, the great Vedic hymn to Rudra, which is one reason it carries the weight it does.
Source: Kṛṣṇa Yajurveda, Taittirīya Saṃhitā 4.5 (Śrī Rudram)
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ॐ नमः शिवाय
Oṃ namaḥ śivāya
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What the words say
Namaḥ Śivāya is the mantra proper: 'homage to Śiva', five syllables, na-ma-śi-vā-ya. Each is associated in Śaiva commentary with one of the five elements and one of Śiva's five faces. The Oṃ at the front is a prefix added in recitation, which is why the mantra is called five-syllabled and not six.
Where it comes from
The phrase occurs in the Śrī Rudram of the Kṛṣṇa Yajurveda, embedded in the middle of the hymn, and was drawn out from there as an independent mantra. It is central to the Śaiva Siddhānta and Vīraśaiva traditions and to the Tamil devotional literature of the Nāyanārs.
How it is practised
Counted on a rudrākṣa mala. Recited daily, and especially through the night at Mahāśivarātri.
References
- Taittirīya Saṃhitā 4.5.8 (Śrī Rudram, Namakam)
- Himalayan Academy, Dancing with Śiva, on the pañcākṣara
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