Shiva
Om Namo Bhagavate Rudraya
ॐ नमो भगवते रुद्राय
Oṁ Namo Bhagavate Rudrāya
Simple reading: Om na-mo bha-ga-va-te rud-raa-ya
About this mantra
The bow to Rudra, the name under which the Vedas first knew Shiva. It is the invocation line with which recitation of the Shri Rudram opens — one line a householder can carry through the day.
Meaning
Om, I bow to Bhagavan Rudra. Bhagavate marks him as the Lord in fullness; Rudra is the old storm-name — the roarer — whose arrows, the Vedas say, carry medicine as well as lightning. The mantra is spoken the way one stands in monsoon rain: bowing to a force that drenches and heals in the same gesture.
When to recite it
Suited to the storm seasons of a life — upheaval, anger seeking transformation, the monsoon Mondays of Sawan, and the fierce late hours of Shivratri night.
Word by word
- ॐoṁ
- the primordial sound
- नमोnamo
- I bow, salutations
- भगवतेbhagavate
- to the Lord
- रुद्रायrudrāya
- to Rudra, the fierce and compassionate
Source: Rudra worship tradition (Śrī Rudram corpus)