Introduction To Rudram

The other day, I was reflecting about my life. For the past several decades, I have been working several hours daily in a job which is not something mindbogglingly interesting. I have been earning money, spending on my family every day and the routine continues punctuated by vacations once in a while. As I near the end of my professional life, I wonder, what was my purpose in life? Even an animal will work daily, feed itself and in most cases take care of its family. What did I as a living being with a supposedly better intellect than an animal achieve in this life?  I am sure similar types of thoughts arise in most of us sometime or the other. How do we get answers to these questions?

Some of us may read an autobiography of a famous personality and may suddenly realize something in that book which becomes our purpose in life. For someone, a sudden event may be the trigger which enables them to hopefully understand their purpose in life. But what if none of these type of events enable us to understand our nature and our purpose in life? One sure source to enable us to understand our true nature, our relationship with this entire universe and our purpose in life are the scriptures. 

Each religion has its own scripture born out of the realization and thoughts of great souls. Talking specifically about the Indian scriptures, we have the Vedas, within which are embedded the classic Upanishads as the greatest source of such deep knowledge. But then, who has the time, the patience and commitment to undertake such studies. It's very few of us. Then what is the solution? We then have classics like the Bhagwad Gita which have condensed the teachings of the Upanishads in a easy  to read and understand format. Again, many of us will say, we do not have time. The ever loving and understanding masters of yore in their deep love for mankind and its up-liftment, created smaller documents or mini-scriptures which are relatively short, easy to remember and contain within them the full power of the Upanishads. Some such documents include the Vishnu Sahasranama and the Rudra Chamakam, which we are introducing today.

Sri Rudram also known as Śrī Rudrapraśnaḥ, is a hymn offered to the all pervading Brahman, designated as Rudra-Śiva, present in auspicious, benign forms as well as terrible forms which He assumes at the time of the dissolution and the destruction of the cosmos. It occurs in the Taittirīya Saṁhitā of the Kṛṣṇa Yajurveda in the 4th kāṇda (chapter), 5th praśna (topic). It is also known as Namakam because of the repeated word namaḥ in it. The Rudram chant is dedicated to Ishvara in the form of Lord Shiva . Rudram means remover of sorrows. “Ruth” means sorrow and “dra” means “remover”. 

 Śrī Rudram is divided into 11 anuvākas (passages) and consists of 37 ṛks (verses) in various Vedic chandas (meters) in anuvāka 1, 10 and 11. Anuvākas 2 to 9 and the last line of anuvāka 11 consist of 130 yajus (sacrificial formulas  After praying and identifying Rudra with everything in the Namakam, the Camakam is usually recited immediately after, in which the devotee asks Him to give him everything (347 things to be precise) coupled with the article ca (and) and the verb me kalpatām (be granted unto me).

After each chanting of one round of Rudram one Anuvaka each of Chamakam is chanted. Eleven recitations of Rudram followed by one recitation of Chamakam is called Ekadasa Rudram. This constitutes one unit of Rudra Homam. Eleven rounds of Ekadasa Rudram makes one Laghu Rudram. Eleven Laghu Rudra chantings make one Maharudram and eleven Maharudram recitations is the Athirudram. In a “AtiRudram yagna”, everyday one Maharudram is completed and in eleven days an Athirudra Mahayagnam is completed. Thus in the Athirudra Mahayagnam, the Srirudram hymn is chanted totally 14,641 times by 121 Ritwiks in 11 days with the performance of 1331 Rudra Homams simultaneously.

Benefits of Rudram
 
It is said: “By reciting Veda once, he becomes pure on that day, but by reciting Rudram the very next moment he gets purified.” Yet another verse declares: “Where a devout reciter of the Rudram lives, be it in a village or town, that place will be free from disease, drought, thefts, and other ills.”  Śiva Purāṇa further explains: “By chanting Rudram, one gains both worldly pleasures and liberation.” The Jābāla Upaniṣad states: “Once the students of sacred knowledge asked sage Yājñavalkya: Can we gain eternal life by repetition of mantras? Yājñavalkya said: By the repetition of śatarudrīya a man becomes immortal, for the names of God therein are nectarine.” Kaivalya Upaniṣad also declares: “Whoever reads śatarudrīya becomes pure as fire, becomes pure as air”.  

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Rudram chant is a powerful means of cleansing one's inner self and to explore the divinity within each of us. To those who do not have the time to go through the Vedas, but are desirous of understanding their purpose in life, the Rudram is an excellent vehicle to learn and master the universal principles or truths. In subsequent posts, we will discuss the meaning behind the chant. 

I wish the greatest of the Lord's blessings on all of us as we pursue the spiritual path.