Three hymns in honor of Śiva and Guru

Foreword

I present to your attention, dear readers, a new small book by Guru Gabriel Pradīpaka, which is dedicated to the worship of Śiva and Guru. The book contains hymns that the participants must recite while worshiping: Śivamahimnaḥ stotram, Śivamānasapūjā and Gurugītā. This book is indeed recommended for a wide range of spiritual seekers from different spiritual traditions.

Among other things, for example, the second hymn describes in detail a certain technique of mental worship, which is always more effective than ordinary worship, which uses external objects, incense, etc. Besides, in the first hymn, there is a long praise to the Greatness of Śiva. Additionally, the great importance of the Guru is strongly emphasized in the last hymn. The word Guru has many meanings, one of them is based on the interaction of light and darkness, i.e. He is the one who dispels darkness with the light of knowledge, He is the one who imparts knowledge. The Guru is the spiritual mentor and teacher who is the mediator between God and a disciple, who leads his disciples to Self-realization and Wisdom, who transfers his knowledge to them, thereby directing them to achieve Liberation from overwhelming bondage.

The spiritual name of Gurujī is Pradīpaka, one who sheds light. Having achieved the goal of human life, i.e. Full Spiritual Realization, Gurujī is completely dedicated to the spiritual elevation of humankind, shedding light on the meanings of the scriptures and on spirituality in general. It is his inherent nature to do all of this. Therefore, he generously shares his Knowledge and Experience, always striving to present his translations and explanations in a way that is fully understandable to different types of spiritual seekers. Gurujī has extensive knowledge of Sanskrit, Tantra-s, Patañjali’s Yoga, Trika (Non-dual Shaivism of Kashmir), Sāṅkhya, Vedānta, Vedic rituals, etc.

The main task of Guru Gabriel Pradīpaka is always the act of delivering high-quality translation of texts directly from Sanskrit. Since Gurujī is a spiritual Guru, a brilliant expert in Sanskrit and philosophy, with experience of the Highest Spiritual Realization, his translations of hymns from Sanskrit are executed flawlessly (in his usual word-for-word style), which allows the reader to get acquainted with texts which have been translated with the least distortion.

Finally, I want to say that these hymns are composed in very poetic Sanskrit. Consequently, the book will also be of great interest to spiritual seekers who study Sanskrit. For their joy, Gurujī presents the texts in Devanāgarī (original Sanskrit signs) and IAST transliteration.

May all the readers enjoy this book as I did myself!

Natalia Ambikā

Wife of Gurujī

December, 2021 – Moscow, Russian Federation

Preface to the First Edition

I am very glad to present for the first time this book dealing with three very important hymns in Sanskrit.

These hymns are mainly used for Svādhyāya (recitation of scriptures). They are very famous all over the world, especially in my tradition. Though my formation and specialty lie in Tantricism, I am not a recalcitrant person who cannot see beauty in other traditions, e.g. the Vedic one, to which these three hymns belong.

As I said before, these three scriptures are used for recitation. Svādhyāya is a very important practice in my tradition. It is a complete Yoga in itself as it forces you to be totally onepointed on the text for generally long periods of time. It is very good to combine Svādhyāya with Haṭhayoga and meditation. Firstly you practice Haṭhayoga, next you recite a text and finally you meditate. This combo is extremely powerful indeed.

I received the Śakti or Power of my Guru, Svāmī Muktānanda Paramahaṁsa, thirty-nine years ago, which opened my eyes to my own Self. Six years after that, in 1989, I started my serious studies in Trika Shaivism and Sanskrit. In short, I have been studying and teaching Trika Shaivism and Sanskrit for the last thirty-three years. In 2010 I became a Guru after receiving His full Grace. And in 2016 I founded Parabhairavayoga (a new Yoga based on the glorious teachings of Trika Shaivism).

May you have so much delight reading this book as I had writing it!

Iti Śivam – May there be welfare for all!

Gabriel Pradīpaka

Parabhairavayoga founder

January, 2022 – Moscow, Russian Federation

Introduction

Before starting with this introduction, I want to express my heartfelt thanks to István Tamás Énisz for his invaluable help in the editing of this book.

Now I will proceed to describe the contents of this compendium. It contains three very important hymns. In the first place you have the word-for-word translation of every hymn, and finally I included fully devanāgarī and transliterated versions of these hymns in order for you to practice Svādhyāya with them, i.e. for you to recite them without having to deal with the translation in the middle all the time.

Śivamahimnaḥ stotram (Hymn paying homage to the greatness of Śiva): The author of this well-known writing is Puṣpadanta, a renowned Gandharva (heavenly musician) who wrote this hymn to calm down Śiva’s wrath. Why was Śiva angry? Because Puṣpadanta, while attempting to steal some flowers from a king’s garden, happened to step on a particular grass sacred to Śiva. It is a long story really. However, the important thing in the present hymn is the detailed descriptions of a series of events associated with Śiva. It is also a hymn filled with devotion. As I said before, this hymn is highly recommended for Svādhyāya, specially during the night.

Śivamānasapūjā (Mental worship of Śiva): The author of this well-known writing is Śaṅkarācārya, a highly renowned vedantic master. In this hymn a particular technique of mental worship of Śiva is described in detail. The ordinary worship which is performed by using external objects like incense sticks, trays, etc. is not as powerful as that which is performed by using one’s own mind. A practice is more powerful if the instruments being used to perform it are also more powerful. As the mind is much more powerful than the physical body, mental adoration is accordingly much more powerful than external adoration… and cheaper too. That is why Śaṅkarācārya took the trouble to describe it in his short hymn. However, this kind of worship requires complete one-pointedness. A person with a mind which is too distracted cannot practice mental worship in an appropriate manner.

When someone performs mental worship, the important thing is that the objects can be distinctly experienced. If his mind is not paying full attention to the practice, he will notice that the entire mental scene where he is practicing mānasapūjā (mental worship) becomes indistinct and foggy. In this way, when someone practices mental worship, he should strive to form a distinct and sharp mental image. If he can do that, then he is practicing mānasapūjā really well, and the fruits of it will come soon to his hands. One final note: This hymn is generally recited after the recitation of Śivamahimnaḥ stotram by night.

Gurugītā (Song about the Guru): This is an ancient hymn included in the Skandapurāṇa. There are 18 Purāṇa-s (ancient accounts or stories), the one dedicated to Skanda (also known as Kārttikeya, one of the sons of Lord Śiva) being the lengthiest (around 81,000 stanzas). The Purāṇa-s are directly related to the sacred four Veda-s. Some complex teachings given in the Veda-s are really difficult to understand for the vast majority of people. Vedavyāsa, the compiler of the Vedic knowledge, understood that most people would find it difficult to grasp some abstruse truths postulated by Veda-s. So, to have that problem resolved, he compiled all Vedic wisdom in the form of accounts of stories, thus giving rise to the eighteen Purāṇa-s. The tradition of giving hard-to-understand knowledge in the form of stories is a well-known strategy to allow people to understand the meaning in an easier way, since most of them love reading accounts and tales.

These Purāṇa-s deal with five topics: (1) Sarga (creation of the universe); (2) Pratisarga (destruction and renovation of it); (3) Vaṁśa (genealogy of gods and patriarchs); (4) Manvantara (the periods of the Manu-s or regents); and (5) Vaṁśānucarita (history of the solar and lunar races). In turn, the 18 Purāṇa-s are divided into three branches (rajasic, sattvic and tamasic) according to the god of the famous trilogy (Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śiva) they exalt. There are six rajasic Purāṇa-s: Brahma, Brahmāṇḍa, Brahmavaivarta, Mārkaṇḍeya, Bhaviṣya and Vāmana. In turn, there are six sattvic Purāṇa-s: Viṣṇu, Bhāgavata, Nāradīya, Garuḍa, Padma and Varāha. Finally, there are six tamasic Purāṇa-s: Śiva, Liṅga, Skanda (Gurugītā is right here), Agni (or also Vāyu), Matsya and Kūrma.

In Skandapurāṇa, Skanda (the Attacker), also known as Kārttikeya (the one who was raised by the six Kṛttikā-s or Pleiades; hence he has six heads), one of the two sons (the other is Gaṇeśa) of Śiva and Pārvatī, is the main character. He is the god of war. This Purāṇa, with 81,000 stanzas, is the longest one.

Gurugītā is presented in two flavors: Short (182 stanzas) and long (352 stanzas). The version included in this book is the short one, which is generally used in recitation. In Gurugītā the main deity is the Guru, of course. In my tradition we say that someone who recites the Gurugītā regularly will finally get spiritual Liberation and all he wants in life. To recite it is then extremely important.

To finish this introduction: At the end of the book there is information about the Sanskrit alphabet and its pronunciation.

My goal is always to elevate so many people as possible. They do not need to live in the way they are living. All the happiness they are looking for outside is right inside their hearts. These three celebrated hymns are a perfect tool to unleash that Joyful Experience for you.

Iti Śivam — May there be welfare for all!

Guru Gabriel Pradīpaka

Parabhairavayoga founder

January, 2022 — Moscow — Russian Federation

शिवमहिम्नः स्तोत्रम्