SRI RUDRAM - 6: 1 - 8

Anuvka 6
Anuvka 6 has 15 mantras and discusses more about the inner soul and His
omnipresence.

namo jyehya ca kanihya ca (6:1)

Meaning: Salutations to the One, who is oldest and youngest.
Notes: Rudra is beyond time and space. He is the first one in the universe and the
youngest one in the universe. iva is known as Manonmana. The supra mental akt of
Paramaiva in its primal movement towards manifestation, though inseparable from Him
is known as unman or unman. This is beyond time and space and is immeasurable.
Viu Sahasranma 67 is Jyeha. Jyeha means pre-eminence, first, etc. He
created Himself on His own. Nobody created Him and every other thing originated from
Him. Chndogya Upaniad explains this nma in relation to the previous two nma-s.
The Upaniad (V.i.1) says:

yo ha vai jyeha ca reha ca veda jyehaca ha vai rehaca bhavati pro

vva jyehaca rehaca ||
The meaning is He who knows the oldest and the best, becomes the oldest and the
best. When one knows the Self, he becomes That. It is pra, which is the oldest and
the best. It subtly conveys that pra is the earliest creation of the Brahman.
Sanaka, Sana, Sanatkumra, and Sanndana are the four great sages who were
initiated by Dakimrti. There was a huge banyan tree under which was seated
young Dakimrti with his aged disciples mentioned above. The banyan tree is the
symbolic manifestation of macrocosm from microcosm. From a tiny seed of banyan, a
huge tree of banyan grows. This is compared to the formation of gross from subtle.
Initiation took place without any words being exchanged. Kaniha could mean His
Dakimrti form.
Ka says in Bhagavad Gt (X.33), I am the beginning, the middle and the end of all
creations.

nama prvajya cparajya ca (6:2)

Meaning: Salutations to the first born and the one who is presiding over the last
moments of death.
Notes: He is both Hirayagarbha and Klartr.
Brahman has four distinctive states. They are avyak, Ivar, hirayagarbha also
known as strtma and vir. The first state is avyak, the unmanifest stage. This is
also known as turya stage, beyond the three normal stages of consciousness. The next
state is Ivar. This state is the cause of the universe and is associated with my. The
third state is hirayagarbha, which binds the universe together like a thread. The final
state is vir, transfiguration of the divine happens that is visible to our eyes. The vir is
also known as vaivnar, meaning relating or belonging to all men, omnipresent,
known or worshipped, everywhere, universal, general, common, etc. From that
Supreme Brahman, also known as Parabrahman originate aparbrahman (second in
hierarchy, next to Parabrahman), which is known as hirayagarbha or saguabrahman.
Parabrahman is also known as Nirguabrahman or without attributes. Material world
originates from Saguabrahman. Cessation from transmigration happens after an
individual soul merges with the Nirguabrahman. For this one has to attain the highest
level of spiritual knowledge. Hiray means gold and hiraya also means gold. Vednta
Paribhs a 17th century Scripture explains hirayagarbha. It says Hirayagarbha is
the first soul to be born. The subtle body consisting of the five vital forces, the mind,
the intellect and the ten organs is produced from the five basic elements. This paves
the way for the soul to experience the result of actions or in other words it causes
karma-s. The subtle body is of two kinds, superior and inferior. The superior one is the
subtle body of hirayagarbha and the inferior is the subtle body of living beings. The
subtle body of hirayagarbha is called as mahat or the cosmic intellect and the subtle
body of living beings is called ego.
It is said that Klartr devi was born out of tamo gua of Rudra who is described like
this. She is three eyed, whose lustre is like that of rising sun, whose plaits are loose
and dishevelled, who is in black garments, who holds in her four hands Liga, Bhuvana,
truncheon and boon, who is brilliant with the lustre of different kinds of ornaments, who
is cheerful and is served by the group of deva-s and whose body is torn and bruised by
the arrows of the mind-born lord of love. Recitation of her mantra causes destruction of
ones enemies. She is also said to be a form of Durg. It is also said that on the eve of
ones death, this devi appears in dream bespeaking the death. Klartr also refers to a
particular night in the life of a man on the seventh day of the seventh month of the

seventy-seventh year, after which period a man is exempt from attending to ordinances
prescribed by dharma stra-s.

namo madhyamya cpagalbhya ca (6:3)

Meaning: Salutations to the One, who is in the middle, middlemost, intermediate, central
(madhyama); apagalbha means wanting in maturity.
Notes: He is not only old (eternal), but also middle aged and young. This mantra says
that He prevails in all the stages of a man, old, middle aged, and young and even at the
time of death.

namo jaghanyya ca budhniyya ca (6:4)

Meaning: Salutations to Him, who is in the form of animals and trees.
Notes: Every being has Him as the inner soul. He is omnipresent. Bhagavad Gt (XI)
says, You are the abode of this universe, eternal, both manifest and unmanifest and
much beyond these both too. You are primordial, the ancient and the ultimate resort of
this universe. You are both knowledge and the knower. It is You, who permeate this
universe in different shapes and forms. You are Vyu, Yama, Agni, Varua, Moon,
Brahm, no, the father of Brahm himself. You are limitless in power and omnipresent.

nama sobhyya ca pratisaryya ca (6:5)

Meaning: Salutations to the One, who is in the form of human beings and in the form of
other living beings.
Notes: He is in the form of human beings who have both puya and ppa (merits and
sins). As already discussed Rudra is both good and bad. He is the self (individual soul)
both in the meritorious and sinners. Hence, He is omnipresent. Sobha also means
gandharvas, who normally live in the sky, or the region of the air and the heavenly
waters. There is a separate world for them. He is present in gandharvas also. Sobha
also means amulets, which are worn for protection. Normally, homa bhasma (ash from
fire rituals) is stuffed in amulets and worn. Sometimes, rare herbs are also stuffed in
amulets for protection. He is in the form of these amulets, offering protection. Pratisarya
means present in amulets.

namo ymyya ca kemyya ca (6:6)

Meaning: Salutations to the One, who is present in Yama loka (hell) and heaven.
Notes: Yama is the lord of death. He is known for his dharma and said to be an
embodiment of dharma. Since Rudra is the Lord of Yama, worshipping Rudra will
remove the fear of death. Hence r Rudram is considered as very important in Vedas.
It also means that He is in the form of our ancestors who are in Yama loka. Yama too
does not operate on his own. He causes death according to ones karmic account, as
per the Law of Karma prescribed by Him.
Rudra also presides over the heaven. Those ancestors go to heaven based on their
karma. He is present both in heaven and hell. Kaha Upaniad (II.iii.2) says, Fearing Him,
fire gives heat, the sun shines, Indra, Vyu and Yama perform their duties.

Further reading: There are nine witnesses to all our actions. They are sun, moon, the
lord of death (Yama), time (kala) and five basic elements k, air, fire, water and earth.
Departed souls attain a different kind of subtle body and this is known as
adhihnadeha. When the soul leaves the body, it leaves along with the causal body
and the human subtle body (mind) does not go with the causal body and the soul. In
order to become mobile, the causal body gets adhihnadeha, without which, the
causal body cannot move in the heavens or hells. Adhihnadeha is visible only to the
eyes of Yama and his attendants. Rudra presides over the world of ancestors (pitloka),
where adhihnadeha-s sojourn and also move from one plane to another plane (plane
means different lokas)

namo urvaryya ca khalyya ca (6:7)

Meaning: Salutations to the One, who is in the form paddy field and grains harvested
from the land and also in the form of land where harvested grains are stored.
Notes: He is in the form of land, crops, grains, harvest, storing or harvested grains and
fodder. Thus He prevails over the entire agricultural activities. Tattvabodha says
that annamaya koa is formed out of essence of the food (essence is created due to the
digestive system), sustained by the essence of the food and is ultimately consumed to
the earth, in which plants grow producing food grains. Rudra presides over grains.

nama lokyya cvasnyya ca (6:8)

Meaning: Salutations to the One, who is in the form of Vedas and the end of Vedas,
Vednta.
Notes: Vednta is the end of Vedas. Vednta is derived from Veda. Veda means
knowledge and anta means conclusive. Therefore Vednta means conclusive
knowledge. Vednta is a philosophy that clears doubts about the Brahman. Knowledge
here means not the worldly knowledge. Worldly knowledge is materialistic in nature and
is acquired for material prosperity. Worldly knowledge is all about temporal and
corporeal objects. Spiritual knowledge is different from worldly knowledge. Spiritual
knowledge deals with infinite and eternal Brahman. Vednta says that spirituality alone
leads to eternal joy and happiness, called as bliss. The first step to Vednta is a simple
question who am I. Vednta answers this question from different viewpoints.