Chapter 12 - Description of Śivakavaca

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

Note: ‘Kavaca’ means an armour. The different aspects of the deity are believed to protect different parts of a man’s body by touching it while uttering that particular portion of the incantation.—The procedure of Śiva-Kavaca is given in this chapter.

Ṛṣabha said:

1. After bowing down to Mahādeva, the Lord who pervades the entire universe, I shall describe the (mystic) amulet of Śiva (that which is auspicious) which protects men in every respect.

2. One should be seated in a clean place in a suitable posture. He should curb his sense-organs, control his vital breaths and meditate upon the immutable Śiva.

3. He should meditate on Maheśa, the embodiment of supreme bliss, stationed within the lotus of the heart, who has pervaded the entire ethereal space by means of his own brilliance, who is the primordial being, subtle and infinite, and who is beyond the ken of the sense-organs.

4. The devotee should protect (himself) by means of Śivakavaca, shaking off all the bindings (i.e. effects) of Karmas through meditation, with his mind immersed for a long time in the bliss of consciousness and with his self composed by means of the Nyāsa (ritualistic touch of the limbs) of the six syllables.

5. “May the Lord, the soul of all deities, protect me fallen into the deep well of worldly existence. Let his divine name, the Mula Mantra (original mantra) of great excellence, shake off all my sins accumulated in the heart.

6. May the Cidātmā (‘soul having consciousness as its essence’) of cosmic form, consisting of refulgence and bliss, protect me everywhere. May that Īśvara who is minuter than the minutest, who is single with extraordinary power, protect (me) from every type of fear.

7. May that Giriśa of eight cosmic forms, who sustains the universe in the form of earth, protect (me) from the earth. May he, who enlivens men in (his) form of the waters, protect me from waters.

8. May that Kālarudra who, at the end of the Kalpa, dances, exhibiting all his diverse sports after burning all the worlds, protect me from forest-fire, from the fear of violent gusts of wind and from all distresses.

9. May the four-faced, three-eyed, Tatpuruṣa^[1] (form of Śiva) having the lustre of lightning and (molten) gold, who has Vidyā (learning), Vara (boon), Abhīti (freedom from fear) and the axe in his (four) hands always protect me standing in the East.^[2]

10. May Aghora (form of Śiva) protect in the Southern Quarter. Śiva who holds an axe, the Vedas, a goad, a noose, a trident, a skull, a drum and a rosary string, and who has three eyes and four faces and blue complexion (may protect me).

11. May Śiva protect me in the West, who is three-eyed, fourfaced, Sadyojāta of great power, who has the lustre of jasmine, the moon, a conch and crystal, who is noted as holding in his hands the Vedas, a rosary string (and indicating by the other two hands the Mudrā) of granting boon and of freedom from fear.

12. May that three-eyed Vāmadeva with four beautiful faces protect me in the Northern Quarter, who is ready to give boons, holds a rosary garland, assures freedom from fear and possesses an axe in his hands and whose complexion resembles the filaments of a lotus.

13. May that five-faced, white-lustred Īśāna, the supreme light, protect me from above, who has in his hands the Vedas, Abhaya Mudrā indicating freedom from fear, Mudrā showing granting of desired boon, a goad, an axe, a noose, a skull, a drum, a rosary and a trident.

14. May the moon-crested Lord protect my head. Let the Lord with an eye in the forehead, protect my forehead. Let the Lord who deprived Bhaga of his eyes, protect my eyes. May Viśvanātha (the Lord of the universe) protect my nose.

15. May the Lord whose gīory has been sung by the Śruti, protect my ears; may the Skull-bearing Lord always protect my cheek; may the Five-faced Lord always protect my face; may the Lord with the Vedas in his tongue, protect my tongue.

16. May the blue-necked Giriśa protect my neck. May the Lord with Pināka in his hand protect the pair of my hands. May the Lord with Dharma in his arms (lit. Dharma-armed) protect my armpit and may the Destroyer of Dakṣa’s sacrifice protect my chest.

17. May the Lord with the lord of mountains for his bow, protect my belly; may the Destroyer of Madana protect my middle; may the Father of Heraṃba protect my navel and may Lord Dhūrjaṭi protect my hips.

18. May Kubera’s friend protect the pair of my thighs; may the Lord of the universe protect the pair of my knees. May the Bull-emblemed Lord protect the pair of my calves, and may the Lord whose feet are worthy of being worshipped by the Suras, protect my feet.^[3]

19. May Maheśvara protect me in the first watch of the day; may Vāmadeva protect me in the middle watch; may the Three-eyed Lord protect me in the third watch of the day, and may the Bull-bannered Lord protect me in the last watch of the day.

20. Let the Moon-crested Lord protect me in the beginning of the night; let Gaṅgādhara protect me at mid-night; may the Lord of Gaurī protect me at the close of the night; may Mṛtyuñjaya protect me on all occasions.

21. Let Śaṅkara protect me when I stay within; let Sthāṇu always protect me when I stay outside; let the Lord of Paśus protect me in between and let Sadāśiva protect me all around.

22. Let the sole Lord of the universe protect me as I stand. Let the Lord of Pramathas (attendants) protect me as I am walking along; let the Lord who can be known (only) through the Vedāntas protect me as I am seated; and let Śiva protect me when I lie down.

23. May the Blue-necked Lord protect me along the roads; may the Destroyer of the Three Puras protect me along the impassable regions of the mountains etc. Let the Hunter of the Deer of enormous power protect me while in exile, in forests etc.

24. May Vīrabhadra of majestic and powerful fury at the end of the Kalpa, who makes the Cosmic Egg tremble through his manifest boisterous laughter, protect (me) from the inevitable fear of the terrible army of the enemies of sea-like expanse.

25. With the sharp edge of his terrible axe let Mṛḍa chop off a hundred Akṣauhiṇīs of weapon-wielding assailants, consisting of thousands, ten thousands, hundred thousands and ten millions of terrible troops of foot-soldiers, cavalry and elephants.

26. Let the trident of the Destroyer of the Three Puras blazing, with the flames of the fire at the time of the ultimate annihilation, kill the Dasyus (barbarous tribes of thieves). Let Pināka, the bow of the Lord, terrify all the beasts of prey such as tigers, lions, bears and wolves.

27. May the Overlord of all the worlds destroy evil dreams, ill omens, wretchedness, dejection, famine, vicious indulgence, unbearable infamy, distress of violent upheavals, fear from poison, ailments and the distress due to malignant Planets.

Om, obeisance to Lord Sadāśiva who comprises all entities (and principles), who sports about in all entities, who is the sole creator of all the worlds, who is the sole ruler of all the worlds, who is the sole destroyer of all the worlds, who is the sole preceptor (and admonisher) of all the worlds, who is the sole witness unto all the worlds, who is the secret of all scriptural texts, who is the bestower of all boons, who is the destroyer of all sins and distresses, who brings about freedom from fear to the entire universe, who is the sole benefactor of all the worlds, who has the moon for his crest jewel, who has his own permanent refulgence, who is free from attributes, who is incomparable, who is devoid of forms, who is devoid of fallacious reasoning, who is free from ailments, who is free from Prapañca (mundane life), who is free from stigmas, who is free from mutually opposing pairs, who is devoid of contact, who is free from impurities, who is free from procedures, who has a permanent form, whose prosperity and dignity is incomparable, who requires none else to support him, who is ever pure, enlightened, perfect, undivided existence-knowledge-bliss, who is excessively quiescent, whose form is manifest brilliance. Obeisance to that Lord.

Be victorious, be victorious, O Mahārudra, O great and terrible one, O auspicious appearance, O destroyer of the forest-fire of misery, O extremely terrible one, O Kālabhairava, O terrible one at the end of the Kalpa, O wearer of the garland of skulls, O terrible one with a thousand terrible hands wielding weapons like skull-headed baton, sword, shield, noose, goad, Ḍamaru drum, trident, bow, arrows, clubs, Śakti javelin, Bhiṇḍipāla (a sling-like instrument), Tomara (iron club), Musala (mallet) Mudgara (mace), Paṭṭiśa (sharp-edged spear), axe, Parigha (iron bolt), Bhuśuṇḍī (a sort of missile), Śataghnī (‘Hundred-killer’—a rocket-like missile), discus etc. etc.; O terrible one with curved teeth in the mouth, one who has with his terrible boisterous laughter rocked (with reverberations) the regions of the Cosmic Egg; one with serpent kings for ear-rings, one with serpent kings for necklace, one with serpent kings for bracelets, one who wears the hide of a majestic elephant, O Mṛtyuñjaya (‘Conqueror of Death’), three-eyed one, the destroyer of the three Puras, O one with uneven number of eyes, O lord of the universe, O cosmic-formed one, O bull-vehicled one, O lord with even poison constituting an adornment, O lord having faces all round, do protect me everywhere (in every direction).

Burn, burn down the fear of great death; destroy, destroy (utterly) the fear from accidental death; exterminate, exterminate (completely) the fear from ailments; remove (totally) the fear from poisonous serpents, and the fear from thieves. Kill, kill my enemies; tear, tear (them) down to pieces with your trident; cut, cut (them) down with your axe; pierce, pierce (them) with your sword; chop off, chop off (them) with your skull-topped club; pound, pound (them) with the mallet; hit them with arrows, hit (them) with arrows; terrify, terrify the Rākṣasas; drive away, drive away the goblins; terrify, terrify the evil spirits of Kūṣmāṇḍa, Vetāla etc. as well as pestilences and Brahma-Rākṣasas. Make me free, make me free from fear. Console me, console me who am frightened. Lift me, lift me from the fear of hell. Enliven me, enliven me, free from hunger and thirst. Nourish me, nourish me; gladden me, gladden me. I am miserable and distressed. Cover me with Śiva’s (spiritual) coat of mail. O Three-eyed One, O Sadāśiva, obeisance to you, obeisance to you, obeisance to you.”

Ṛṣabha said:

28. Thus the Śivakavaca has been narrated by me. It bestows boons. It ends all harassments and torments. It is a great secret unto all embodied beings.

29. If a man always wears this excellent Śivakavaca, he will never have fear from anywhere due to the blessings of Śaṃbhu.

30. A man, the term of whose life is exhausted, one on death-bed and one attacked by great ailments quickly regains happiness and attains long life.

31. He who wears Śivakavaca that ends poverty entirely and increases auspiciousness, is honoured even by Devas.

32. He is rid of multitudes of major and minor sins. On the death of the body he attains Śiva by the power of Śivakavaca.

33. You too, O dear child, wear the excellent Śivakavaca with great faith. It has been given to you by me. You will attain welfare and prosperity quickly.

Sūta said:

34. After saying thus, Yogī Ṛṣabha gave the prince a conch-shell reverberating with great sound and a sword that destroys enemies.

35. Further he charged some ash with a Mantra and smeared it all over his body. He gave him double the strength of six thousand elephants.

36. By the power of the ash the prince got strength, prosperity, courage and memory. He shone like the autumnal sun in his glory.

37-42. As the prince stood before him with palms joined in reverence, the Yogī said: “This sword that I have given you has the majestic efficacy of austerities and spells. If you show this sword pointing to anyone, clearly he will immediately die even though the enemy may be the god of Death himself.

Your enemies who hear the loud sound of this conch will drop down their weapons and fall senseless.

This sword and the conch are of divine origin. They are destructive of the hostile armies. They increase the splendour and heroism of your own allies and armies.

With the power of these two and Śivakavaca you will have the great strength of twelve thousand elephants. Further due to the efficacy of the ash applied you will defeat the army of enemies. Regaining the hereditary throne, you will protect this earth.”

43. After instructing Bhadrāyus thus perfectly along with his mother, the Yogī started on his travel without restraint, after he was honoured duly by them.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

VV 9-13 invoke each of the five faces of Śiva with its particular form for protection.

[2]:

V.L. (Śiva) who is positioned in the East.

[3]:

VV 14 ff invoke Śiva to protect different parts of the body. The power or aspect of Śiva has generally some relevance to the part of the body prayed for protection.