Teaching of Upamanyu

Today we read from the oldest part of Shiva Purana, a large book of two parts called the Vayaviya Samhita/वायावीय संहिता. The Vayaviya Samhita is an ancient recension of the Vayu Purana that was built upon to form the massive Shiva Purana. The entire book then is a narration of Vayu. Within this book the Sage Upamanyu and his teachings are prominent. Sage Upamanyu, like Shvetashvatara, Tandi, Durvasa and many other illustrious ancients were Vedic rishis and Pashupata ascetics par excellence. 

Here, Upamanyu instructs his disciple, Krishna Vasudeva, on the meaning of the five-syllable (panchakshara) mantra, Namah Shivaya. As we know, appended with the seed syllable OM (AUM), it becomes with six-syllable (shadakshara) mantra. The two terms are used interchangeably. Sage Upamanyu recounts a dialogue between Shiva and Shakti on the meaning of this mantra. The divine sage tells Krishna Vasudeva that the mantra OM Namah Shivaya is the essence of all essences, the very meaning of all the Vedas, Agamas and scriptures. The mantra is the expression and Shiva is the expressed. The mantra is Shiva Himself! It is the means to Shiva consciousness, the means for release from the ocean of samsara. 

Let us then, without further ado, imbibe from the teaching of Upamanyu.

Aum Namah Shivaya. 

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Krishna said:

O omniscient excellent sage, ocean of all knowledge, I wish to hear precisely about the glory of the five-syllable mantra.

Upamanyu said:

It is impossible to explain in detail the glory of the five-syllable mantra even in hundreds of crores of years. Hence, hear it in brief:

The six-syllable mantra is found in the Vedas and the Shiva Agamas. It facilitates the understanding of all topics by the devotees of Shiva. It consists of very few syllables, but is pregnant with meaning. It is the essence of the Vedas and it is conducive to salvation. This expression of auspicious nature is devoid of doubts. It is achieved by the order of Shiva; it is attended by many siddhis. It is divine and delightful to the mind. This expression of Lord Shiva is majestic and decisive in meaning.

The omniscient Lord Shiva spake the mantra OM Namah Shivaya for the acquisition of all topics and meanings by the embodied beings since it can be easily uttered by the mouth. The first mantra [OM] that makes up the six syllables is the seed of all lores. It is very subtle, but serves a great purpose. It is like the seed of the banyan tree. The omniscient Lord, the Creator of everything, that all-pervasive Shiva, who is beyond the three attributes [gunas] is stationed in the single-syllable mantra, OM. The five subtle Brahmans [Panchabrahma] are stationed in the mantra Namah Shivaya occupying one syllable each. Thus in the six-syllable subtle mantra, Shiva in the form of the Panchabrahma is stationed in the way of the expressed and the expressive. Shiva is expressed and the mantra is expressive of Him. The state of being the expressive and the expressed is beginningless inasmuch as this terrible ocean of existence functions without a beginning. 

Shiva too is beginningless and He is the Releaser of persons from worldly existence. Just as medicine is naturally antagonistic to ailments, so also Shiva is antagonistic to the ills of worldly existence. If the Lord of the universe had not been in existence, the whole universe would have been gloomy, since prakriti is insentient and purusha is ignorant. Pradhana (unmanifest prakriti), atoms, etc. are insentient; they never function as creators themselves without an intelligent cause. The instruction in virtue and evil, bondage and salvation, the activity of reflection - in view of all these things - the first creation of men would not have been possible without the omniscient Lord. Just as patients will be devoid of joy and be distressed without physicians, so also the people of the world would be in distress without the Lord. Hence, surely there is the Lord, the primordial, omniscient, perfect, Sadashiva, the Protector of persons from the ocean of worldly existence.

Shiva is devoid of beginning, middle or end. He is the Lord innately pure, omniscient, and perfect as mentioned in the Shaiva Agamas. This mantra expresses Him; He is the person expressed by the great mantra. The Shivajnana (Shiva consciousness) is as extensive as the expression of Shiva, the six-syllable mantra, OM Namah Shivaya. 

Although there are many mantras, there is nothing like the holy mantra [originally] uttered by Shiva. The Vedas and scriptures (shastras) along with their ancillaries are present in the six syllables. Hence no other mantra is equal to this. Just as an aphorism is ramified and expanded by its gloss, the six-syllable mantra is expanded by seven crores of great and subsidiary mantras [contained within all scriptures]. Whatever texts there are, they expound Shivajnana; all the repositories of lore, they are commentaries of this succinct aphorism, the six-syllable mantra. Of what avail are many mantras and shastras full of details to one whose heart is firmly established in the mantra OM Namah Shivaya?

If one has stabilized himself in the mantra OM Namah Shivaya by frequent practice, he has learned it all, heard it all, and performed it all. For that person on whose tongue's tip is present the three syllables Shi-va-ya prefixed by the word denoting obeisance (Namah), life is fruitful indeed! A person steady in the chanting of the five-syllable mantra is released from the cage of sins whoever he be - wise, low born or learned.

All this was mentioned by the Lord when asked by the Goddess [in the days of yore] for the benefit of all men, particularly the wise.

Shiva Purana, Vayaviya Samhita, Section II, Chapter XII:1-20, 30-38.