सदा सद्योजातस्मितमधुरसास्वादपरया
भवान्या दृक्पातभ्रमरततिभिश्चुम्बितपुटम् ।
अपां पत्युः काष्ठां श्रितमधिकशीतं पशुपते-
र्मुखं सद्योजातं मम दुरितजातं व्यपनयेत् ॥ १॥
जटान्तःस्वर्धुन्याश्शिशिरमुखवातैरवमतिं
गतं वामां रुष्टामनुनयसहस्रैः प्रशमितुम् ।
किरत्ज्योत्स्नं वामं नयनमगजानेत्रघटितं
दधद्वामं वक्त्रं हरतु मम कामं, पशुपतेः ॥ २॥
गले घोरज्वालं गरलमपि गण्डूषसदृशं
निदाघान्ते, गर्जद्घनवदतिनीलं वहति यत् ।
निरस्तुं विश्वाघप्रचयमधितिष्ठद्यमदिशं
ह्यघोरं तद्वक्त्रं लघयतु मदं मे, पशुपतेः ॥ ३॥
पुमर्थानं पूर्तिं प्रणतशिरसां दातुमनिशं
जलाभावो माभूदिति शिरसि गङ्गां वहति यत् ।
सुरेशासास्फूर्तिं मुकुटशशिभासा किरति तत्
मुखं तत् पुंरूपं हरतु मम मोहं, पशुपतेः ॥ ४॥
रमेशो वागीशो दिवसरजनीशौ परशुदृक्
सुरेशो दैत्येशो निशिचरकुलेशोऽथ धनदः ।
यदूर्ध्वांशुव्रातैश्शिवचरितवन्तः परिणताः
तदैशानं वक्त्रं हरतु भवपाशं, पशुपतेः ॥ ५॥
॥ COMMENTS:-
॥
Tha above verses are in praise of Lord Shiva, renowned by the name Pashupati in the temple in Nepal.(पञ्च) pancha means five, (आस्यम्) Asyam means the face, and(स्तवम्) stavam means a hymn in praise. So
the title says that this is in praise of Lord Pashupati with five faces.
NEPAL: – The kingdom of Nepal is India’s neighbour. The state is situated high in the Himalaya mountains. Mount Everest, the highest peak in the world, is situated in Nepal. It is an ancient country and has been referred to in our puranas like Skandam and Bhagavatam. The Skanda Purana in the chapter Nepala Mahatmayam says that fortunate indeed are those who live in that country, because they are blessed with all the four goals(पुरुषार्थाः।) of life, to wit, dharma, artha, kama and mokSha. They are able to have darshan of the Lord Pashupati whom even devas cannot see directly.
पुरी पाशुपती धन्या चतुर्वर्ग-फलप्रदा ।
ज्योतीरूपं महालिङ्गं यत्राग्नौ तप्तकाञ्चनम् ॥
धन्या नैपालिका मर्त्याः तद्रूपं गोचरं विभुम् ।
पश्यन्ति येऽपि देवानां साक्षात्पुनरगोचरम् ।
Nepal is described as a gem amongst holy places. The Skanda Puranam further says that the people there will be calm, and will have other good qualities. The place is situated in high mountains, among dense forests and has remarkable scenic beauty; and in such wonderful surrounding shines Lord Pashupatinath as the very embodiment of wisdom. (Nepala mahatmyam.7-54).
संपूर्णे भारतेऽस्मिन्नपि वसु-भरिते भूशिरः-स्थानभूते
शश्वच्छान्त्यादि-केन्द्रे हिमगिरि-शिखरेऽभ्युत्तरेऽध्युत्तमेऽन्तः ।
पुण्ये नैसर्ग-रम्ये परगहन-वने सद्विचित्रे पवित्रे
क्षेत्रे नेपाल-संज्ञे लसति पशुपति-ज्योतिरात्मा चिदीशः ॥
It was a Hindu kingdom, the only one in the world, till recently. Here, in Nepal, Lord Pashupati is seen as a lingam, nearly four feet high. and with five faces – four facing the four directions and the fifth facing up. The pujaries draw the Chakra on the lingam daily before commencing the puja. The full moon day (paurnamiपौर्णमी ) is specially celebrated when a huge quantity of rice is cooked along with vegetables. The rice is shaped as a lingam and offered to the Lord and deeparadhanam is performed. The
temple attracts huge crowds on Shivaratri day when people throng to the temple during the entire day to have darshan of the Lord.
॥ FIVE FACES OF SHIVA:-
॥
Because of his five faces Shiva has the name पञ्चवक्त्रः। पञ्चसङ्ख्याकानि वक्त्राणि मुखानि नानारूपाणि यस्य स तथा । (Shivasahasranamam-Padmapuranam). These faces have the following names. ईशान, तत्पुरुष, अघोर, वामदेव, and सद्योजात. These faces face up the sky, East, South, North and West respectively. It seems that a lingam with five faces as described here is to be seen only in the Pashupati temple in Nepal and the temple attached to the Shankara math in Tiruvanaikkaval near Trichy. The hymn given in
the beginning has salutations to the five faces of the Lord.
We have the salutations to Shiva’s five faces in Mahanyasam that is chanted before chanting the vedic hymn Rudram. There are two Nyasams, the Mahanyasam and the Laghunyasam. Maha(महत्) means big. Laghu is the opposite,(लघु) means light, not heavy. The Mahanyasam is a part of the methodology of chanting of the Rudram on special occasions such as Pradosham, Shivaratri. Typically, during a Rudra parayanam at home, one recites the Laghunyasam. Such a Rudra parayanam in a public place of worship such as a temple is preceeded by the recital of the Mahanyasam. As the name difference indicates, the Laghunyasam is shorter. The Mahanyasam invokes the deity of Rudra in His many forms of Indra, Agni, Yama, Varuna etc in the different limbs (anga’s) of the one who chants. Such an invoking is done to seek the blessings of the Lord, and at the same time giving one and all a feeling of immediate presence of the Lord in the vicinity of the chanting. The Mahanyasam has certain chapters of the Rudram, the Purusha Suktam etc repeated in it. The Shiva samkalpam is also part of this. The prayers addressed to the five faces of Shiva are given below.
तत्पुरुषाय विद्महे महादेवाय धीमहि। तन्नो रुद्रः प्रचोदयात् ॥
संवर्ताग्नि-तटित्प्रदीप्त-कनकप्रस्पर्धि – तेजोरुणां
गम्भीरध्वनि-सामवेदजनकं ताम्राधरं सुन्दरम् ।
अर्धेन्दुद्युति-लोल-पिंगल जटा भार-प्रबोद्धोदकं
वन्दे सिद्धसुरासुरेन्द्र-नमितं पूर्वं मुखं शूलिनः ॥
ॐ नमो भगवते॑ रुद्रा॒य । पूर्वांग मुखाय नमः ॥
The above verse is in salutation of Tatpurusha facing East.
अ॒घो॑रे᳚भ्योऽथ॒ घोरे᳚भ्यो॒ घोरघोर॑तरेभ्यः ।
सर्वे᳚भ्यः सर्व॒शर्वे᳚भ्यो॒ नम॑स्ते अस्तु रु॒द्ररु॑पेभ्यः ॥
कालाभ्र-भ्रमरांजन-द्युतिनिभं व्यावृत्तपिंगेक्षणं
कर्णोद्भासित-भोगिमस्तकमणि-प्रोद्भिन्नदंष्ट्रांकुरम् ।
सर्पप्रोतकपाल-शुक्तिशकल-व्याकीर्णताशेखरं
वन्दे दक्षिणमीश्वरस्य वदनं चाथर्वनादोदयम् ॥
ॐ नमो भगवते॑ रुद्रा॒य । दक्षिणांग मुखाय नमः ॥
The above verse is in salutation of Aghora facing South.
स॒द्योजा॒तं प्र॑पद्या॒मि॒ स॒द्यो जा॒ताय॒ वै नमो॒ नमः॑ ।
भ॒वे भ॑वे॒ नाति॑भवे भवस्व॒ माम् । भ॒वोद्भ॑वाय॒ नमः॑ ॥
प्रालेयाचलमिन्दुकुन्द-धवलं गोक्षीरफेनप्रभं
भस्माभ्यंगमनंगदेहदहन-ज्वालावलीलोचनम् ।
विष्णुब्रह्ममरुद्गणार्चितपदं ऋग्वेदनादोदयं
वन्देऽहं सकलं कलंकरहितं स्थाणोर्मुखं पश्चिमम् ॥
ॐ नमो भगवते॑ रुद्रा॒य । पश्चिमांग मुखाय नमः ॥
The above verse is in salutation of Sadyojata facing West.
वा॒म॒दे॒वाय॒ नमो᳚ ज्येष्ठाय॒ नमः॑ श्रे॒ष्ठाय॒ नमो॑ रु॒द्राय॒ नमः॒
काला॑य॒ नमः॒ कल॑विकरणाय॒ नमो॒ बल॒विकरणाय॒ नमो॒ बला॑य॒ नमो॒
बल॑प्रमथनाय॒ नम॒स्सर्व॑भूतदमनाय॒ नमो॑ म॒नो॑न्म॑नाय॒ नमः॑ ॥
गौरं कुंकुम पंकितं सुतिलकं व्यापाण्डुमण्डस्थलं
भ्रूविक्षेप-कटाक्षवीक्षणलसत्संसक्तकर्णोत्पलम् ।
स्निग्धं बिम्बफलाधरं प्रहसितं नीलालकालंकृतं
वन्दे याजुष-वेदघोषजनकं वक्त्रं हरस्योत्तरम् ॥
ॐ नमो भगवते॑ रुद्रा॒य । उत्तरांग मुखाय नमः ॥
The above verse is in salutation of Vamadeva facing North .
ईशानस्सर्व॑विद्या॒ना॒मीश्वरः सर्व॑ भूता॒नां
ब्रह्माधि॑पति॒र्ब्रह्म॒णोधि॑पति॒र्ब्रह्मा॑ शि॒वो
मे॑ अस्तु सदाशि॒वोम् ॥
व्यक्ताव्यक्तनिरूपितं च परमं षट्त्रिंशतत्त्वाधिकं
तस्मादुत्तर-तत्त्वमक्षरमिति ध्येयं सदा योगिभिः ।
ओंकारादि-समस्तमन्त्रजनकं सूक्ष्मातिसूक्ष्मं परं
वन्दे पंचममीश्वरस्य वदनं खव्यापि तेजोमयम् ॥
ॐ नमो भगवते॑ रुद्रा॒य । ऊर्ध्वांग मुखाय नमः ॥
The above verse is in salutation of Ishana facing up – the sky.
॥ THE SIGNIFICANCE OF FIVE FACES ;-
॥
What is the significance of Shiva being said to have five faces? This is explained in detail by Nilakanta DikShita in his commentary called Shivatattva rahasyam to Shiva 108 Namavali. The nameपञ्चवक्त्रः is the 52nd name in the namavali. A chapter from the elaborate commentary is given below.
तानि च पञ्च मुखानि
ईशान-तत्पुरुषाघोर-वामदेव-सद्योजाताख्य-पञ्च-
ब्रह्मात्मकानि, तानि च पञ्चब्रह्माणि भूत- पञ्चक,
तन्मातृ-पञ्चक, कर्मेन्द्रिय-पञ्चक, ज्ञानेन्द्रिय-पञ्चक,
पुरुष-प्रकृति-बुद्ध्यहंकार मनोरूप-तत्त्व- पञ्चक,
निवृत्तिप्रतिष्ठाविद्याशान्ति, शान्त्यतीताख्य कला-पञ्चक,
ब्रह्मा, विष्णु, रुद्र, महेश्वर, सदाशिवाख्य-मूर्ति-पञ्चक,
शिवसादाख्य, मूर्तसादाख्य, मूर्तसादाख्य-कर्तृसादाख्य-कर्मसादाख्य
सादाख्य पञ्चकात्मकानीति शिवपुराणागमेषु प्रसिद्धम् ।
A full discussion of this topic is beyond the scope of this writeup. One may have to approach a scholar for further details on this subject.
`Pashupati’ means the protector of the kine. Every thing in creation from Brahma the creator down to immovables are known as pashus. Shiva is known as Pashupati since He is their Lord. The name occurs in vedas (eg) in Rudram that says.नमो वृक्षेभ्यो हरिकेशेभ्यः पशूनां पतये नमः ।
It also occurs in the Shiva 108 namavali (no.92) and Shiva 1000 namavali. In the Shiva sahasranamam(Padmapuranam) (No.44) we find the following.
पशुपतिः – पशूनां ब्रह्मादीनां द्विपदां चतुष्पदां च पतिर्नायकः ।
“ब्रह्माद्याः स्थावरान्ताश्च पशवः परिकीर्तिताः ।
तेषां पतित्वाद्विश्वेशो भवः पशुपतिः स्मृतः ॥” इति पुराणम् ।
“सर्वदा यत्पशून्पाति तेषु यद्रमते पुनः ।
तेषामधिपतिर्यच्च तस्मात्पशुपतिः स्मृतः ॥” इति महाभारतम् ।
Nepal is therefore known as Pashupatipuri after the Lord.
The river Vangmati flows close to the temple of Pashupati. The waters from the river are used for the daily ablutions in the temple. It is said that after Lord Narasimha appeared, killed the demon king and blessed Prahlada. Then He disappeared from the scene. Prahlada was greatly disappointed at this. He wanted to see the Lord again and did severe penance. Lord Shiva was impressed by this and laughed in happiness. Water flowed from His mouth at that time and turned into a river. The river that flowed from His mouth came to be known as Vangmati. (From Nepala Mahatmyam).
भगवन्तं तमन्वेष्टुं यदा भागवतो ययौ ।
तमदृष्ट्वा तपस्तेपे हिमवच्छिखरे शुभे ॥
दृष्ट्वा तं शंभुरागत्य हास्यमुच्चैश्चकार ह ।
ततो नदी समुत्पन्ना ह्युन्नतात् गिरिगह्वरात् ॥
वचनान्मम दैत्येन्द्र बहिर्याता यतो नदी ।
अतोऽस्या वाङ्मती नाम भविष्यति न संशयः ।
प्रह्लाद गच्छ दैत्येन्द्र विष्णुभक्तिर्दृढाऽस्तु ते ॥
Lord Shiva blessed Prahlada that his devotion to Hari will remain firm.
Nepal also has the river Gandaki. Shaligrama stones are found in the river bed. They are symbolic of Lord Vishnu. Shrimad Bhagavatam makes a reference to the river in Book 5 – chapter 7 when it narrates the story of King Bharata. This country came to be known as Bharata Varsha after this king only. The king, after ruling over the country for a long time renounced everything and repaired to the forests to the hermitage of Sage Pulaha situated on the banks of river Gandaki. It is said that Lord Hari reveals His form to His devotees there in the ashram even today. The holy river Chakranadi (Gandaki) hallows on both sides the places of this ashrama through contact with circular (wheel like) pebbles on both sides.This place is known as the ShaligramakShetra.
एवं वर्षायुतसहस्रपर्यन्तावसितकर्मनिर्वाणावसरोऽधिभुज्यमानं
स्वतनयेभ्यो रिक्थं पितृपैतामहं यथादायं विभज्य
स्वयं सकलसंपन्निकेतात् स्वनिकेतात् पुलहाश्रमं प्रवव्राज ॥ ८॥
यत्र ह वाव भगवान् हरिरद्यापि तत्रत्यानां
निजजनानां वात्सल्येन संनिधाप्यत इच्छारूपेण ॥ ९॥
यत्राश्रमपदान्युभयतोनाभीभिर्दृषच्चक्रैश्चक्रनदी नाम
सरित्प्रवरा सर्वतः पवित्रीकरोति ॥ १०॥
॥ HISTORICAL NOTES:-
॥
The documents in the National Archives of Nepal reveal that Shankaracharya visited Nepal during his travels around the country. He had discussions with the then king of Nepal who was a Buddhist and weaned him away from Buddhism to Hinduism. He made changes to the way pujas were being done in Pashupatinath temple and arranged to have regular pujas done by priests got from South India. Four priests, properly trained in the temple procedures and recitng the vedas perform the pujas to the four faces on the four sides. These facts are also to be seen in the text Punyashloka manjari that deals with the history of the Kanchi Shankara math. It also says that Vipulananda Sadashiva – the 53rd acharya in the lineage of acharyas of the math visited Nepal. He was warmly received by the king and
honoured by him. The following verse in the text says that.
निजनीवृदग्रहेतिखेदत्यजनेपालनृपालपूज्यपादः ।
स पुरो मम साधु सन्निधत्तां विफलाननदसदाशिवोऽप्रमत्तः ॥
This fact is also mentioned as
नेपालादिनृपालमौलिविधृतश्रीशासन …
in the Vyasachaliya Shankaravijayam ..
Vyasachala was the disciple of Vipulananda Sadashiva and succeded him as the 54th head of the math. He is the author of Vyasachaliya Shankaravijayam. The details show that the Vipulananda Sadashiva visited Nepal when it was in the grip of severe famine. He blesed the state and brought relief from the severe famine.
Now, before concluding, let us ponder as to what we should seek from Lord Pashupati. Shankaracharya, in his Shivanandalahari (verse No.68)
shows us the way. Let us join him in this moving appeal to Lord Pashupati.
अमितमुदमृतं मुहुर्दुहन्तीं
विमल-भवत्पद-गोष्ठमावस्न्तीम् ।
सदय पशुपते सु-पुण्य-पाकं
मम परिपालय भक्ति-धेनुमेकाम् ॥ ६८॥
Pashu(पशु) means cattle in general. Here the acharya takes it to mean a cow. The `cow’ in this instance is devotion or bhakti. Lord Pashupati is the owner of the cow. The acharya requests the Lord to take care of the bhakti `cow’ and nourish it or, in other words, make his devotion to Him firm and unwavering. The cow shed will generally be unclean. But the bhakti cow will not stay in unclean places. It stays in a very clean place (viz.) the Lord’s feet.विमल-भवत्पद-गोष्ठमावसन्तीम्। विमल = clean, pure. भवत्पद-गोष्ठमावसन्तीम् = staying in the cow-pen of your feet.गोष्ठम् = cowpen. This implies that the place where bhakti resides is a very exalted one. The ordinary cow can give only milk, in limited quantities and that too at specific times only. This bhakti cow is capable of giving us many good things – and that too all the time and in abundance and most importantly the nectar called `bliss’ . So, अमितमुदमृतं मुहुर्दुहन्तीम्। अमित = unlimited.
मुदम् = joy, happiness. अमृतं = nectar. दुहन्तीम् = yielding.मुहुः = often, frequently. The cow will be tied to a peg fixed to the ground. Bhakti is the result of good deeds or punyam done in many births. So, the bhakti cow is tied to the peg that is the frution of good deeds or punyam done in numerous births.सुपुण्य-पाकाम् । The Lord is requested to take care of such a cow. Lord Pashupati is addressed
asसदय पशुपते = O! the compassionate Pashupati!. This indicates that the Lord has a kind heart and will certainly listen to our pleading.