SRI RUDRAM - 6: 9 - 15

namo vanyya ca kakyya ca (6:9)

Meaning: Salutations to the One, who is in the form of woods in forests and shrubs or
bushes.
Notes: vanya means produced in forest, possibly referring to secret herbs grown only in
forests. It also means produce from fruits and roots of wild plants. Kaka means secret
or secretive. It can be subtly explained, that secretive knowledge of the Self is hidden
within our own selves and this knowledge is to be searched like searching for sacred
herbs in deep forests. Some of these herbs are used in amulets discussed earlier.

nama ravya ca pratiravya ca (6:10)

Meaning: He is in the form of sound and echo.
Notes: rava means hearsay and probably referring to the origin and teaching of Vedas.
In ancient times, Vedas were taught only orally as Vedas have specific pronunciation..
Now scripts are there. Pratirava not only means echo, but also answering and
promising or assuring. It is also said that pratirava means illuminating the external
sound or the sound delivered through mouth or the audible sound which is known as
vaikhari, which is explained thus. Vaikhari is the fourth and final form of sound in its
evolution. This is the state wherein the sound is heard. This is called vaikhari because
the sound is produced by a modified form of pra called vaikhari. This is the stage
which is called apar or non-supreme stage in the evolution of sound where there exists
fully developed materialization, combined with time and space, the components of
my. In fact the theory of evolution of speech purely depends upon the materialistic
treatment of pra or life energy. The whispering sound in the stage of madhyama fully
transforms into speech and delivered in the form of vaikhari. It is said that will
(icch) forms the basis of speech to finally merge with consciousness. Importance of
consciousness is repeatedly emphasised.

namo ueya c''urathya ca (6:11)

Meaning: He has swiftly moving army and He has the fastest moving chariot.
Salutations to Him.

Notes: His army refers to pacabhta and other gods. He moves much faster than His
army. Ka says in Bhagavad Gta (VII.4 and 5) My manifested nature has eight fold
differentiations: earth, water, fire, air and k (ether) in combination with mind, intellect
and ego (three of the four components of antakaraa). This is my lower nature (aparprakti). But understand that my different and higher nature (par-prakti) is the jva, the
self-consciousness and life-principle that sustains the cosmos. A soul interacting with
Prakti causes manifestation of a gross body. Sense organs get embedded in the gross
body that get connected to antakaraa, the inner psychic apparatus (comprising of
mind, intellect, consciousness and ego) to unfold the impressions of the mind, caused
during his previous births in conjunction with ones own karma. The soul is
imperishable, whereas every other thing is perishable. The soul continues to remain
imperishable as long as it is associated with impressions of mind and karma. The
cessation of the soul becomes possible only if one could understand its creator Rudra
by acquiring enough knowledge to realize Him. He can only be realized and cannot be
seen, as He is devoid of forms, but remains as the only source of energy for all that
happens in the universe. If He is understood and realised, one is able to merge into
Him, with no more births. Therefore, chariot means our body and His army refers to our
sensory organs.
( )

nama rya cvabhindate ca (nama rya ca avabhindate ca ) (6:12)

Meaning: ra means strong, powerful, valiant, heroic, and brave. Avabhinna means
broken or destroyed, which refers to causing havoc on enemys army. Salutations to
Him.
Notes: This means that He is the Absolute and Supreme. Enemies are ego, desire and
attachment, the source of which is sensory organs. This is beautifully explained in Katha
Upaniad (II.i.1) which says The Self-created Lord has created the sense organs with
the inherent defect that they are by nature outgoing. This is why beings see things
outside and cannot see the Self within. Rarely is there found a wise person seeking
immortality, who can withdraw his sense organs from external objects to the Self within.
{Further reading on puryaaka: (as told by sage Vsiha to Lord Rama in Yogavsiha - VI.5). Brahman who is without beginning or end and which is the seed of the
universe, becoming differentiated is jva (soul); subjecting itself to the idea of
separateness, it becomes ahakra (ego) with manana (contemplation), it becomes
manas (mind); with the certainty of intelligence, it becomes buddhi (intellect); then the
five elements (sound, etc) through indriy-s (sensory organs). With the thought of the

body, it becomes the body itself; with the thought of a vessel, it becomes the vessel. A
form (subtle body), having such a nature is called puryaaka body or eight constituents
of the body. The eight constituents are mind, ego, intellect, sound, touch, sight, taste
and smell, the last five together known as tanmtra-s.}
This mantra is in continuation of the previous mantra and endorses the same. If He is
contemplated, through a cleansed mind, all the enemies such as mind, ego and sensory
organs described above are annihilated and He makes His devotee to realize Him.

namo varmie ca varthine ca (6:13)

Meaning: Salutations to the One who is wearing body armour (cuirass). Varthin means
a secret place for the driver of chariot, used only in the battle field.
Notes: He not only fights for His devotees, but also protects them secretively. In Vlmki
Rmyaa (VI.xviii.33) r Rma says I vouchsafe security against all living beings to
him who comes to me only once and seeks protection (from me), saying I am yours:
such is my vow.

namo bilmine ca kavacine ca (6:14)

Meaning: Salutations to the One who is wearing headgear and to the one who is
covered with armour.
Notes: Shiva is also known as Kavachin. Taking into account the next and concluding
mantra of this anuvka, it can be explained that He is covered with hosts of mantras.
Headgear means the snakes and Ganges. But subtly it could mean the crown chakra,
sahasrra is just below the brahmarandhra, an orifice in the skull that connects to
cosmos (The existence of this orifice has not been medically proved. Perhaps this is
like the pores that exist in our skin through which sweat comes out. But one can
distinctly feel the cosmic connection through this orifice). The union of Rudra and His
akt takes place at sahasrra. There are fifty alphabets in Sanskrit. Based on these
alphabets and multiplying this fifty by numeric twenty (made up of five basic elements,
five karmendriya-s, five jnendriya-s and five tanmtra-s) one thousand is
arrived. This one thousand is said to be the number of psychic petals of an imaginary
lotus flower in sahasrra.
Thus all the alphabets originate from Him and His entire form is made up of saptakoi
mantras and thus, He is the Lord of all mantras.

nama rutya ca rutasenya ca || (6:15)

Meaning: Salutations to the One who is revealed by Vedas and to the one who
commands respectable and famous army.
Notes: Rudra is referred often in Vedas and hence it is said that He is revealed by
Vedas. For example r Rudram. ruta means orally transmitted or communicated from
age to age, which is nothing but Vedas. His army is japa mantras, which protect His
devotee.
{Further reading on Veda-s: The Veda-s () are the most important treatise to the
humanity. They are in classical Sanskrit language that was widely used in ancient
Aryan times. The Vedic verses can be interpreted from various angles like literature,
spiritual, religious, grammar, philosophy etc. Though there are interpretations on Vedas available today, it is doubtful whether they truly convey the intended meaning. This is
not because of defective interpretations or lack of efficiency of the interpreters, but
mainly due to the abilitie-s of Veda-s to communicate both gross and subtle
renditions. A careful reading of Vedic verses reveals that they deal with symbolic
separation of bodily organs of the performer and offered to higher energy fields for
purification. Veda-s never advocated physical slaying of animals. But it is wrongly
interpreted that various organs of an animal are offered as oblations. Veda-s originated
from divine commune. For a long time, they were not penned down as the verses were
channeled from a master to his disciples. The sages have chosen the oral path for
communication, as these verses relied more on orthoepy to prevent any
distortions. Most of the texts of Veda-s are in the form of verses. These are called
mantra verses and their oral delivery largely depends on phonics and rhythm. There
are portions of prose as well and they are known as Brhmaa () passages. These
passages explain the procedures for rituals and dwell more on the practical side.
There are four Veda-s, Rig, Yajur, Sma and Atharva (, , , ). The first three
are known as trividy () (literal translation three types of knowledge). Atharva
Veda is not included here because of its late origin. The origin of the other three Vedas
is not known. But the fact remains that they defied Natures fury and continued to guide
even in this contemporary world. Vedas are also known as ruti-s ( ). Veda-s in their
original form is too difficult to comprehend as they are considered to have been
delivered by God Himself to the ancient sages and saints. The sages conglomerated
the speech of God, by colligating their highest level of cosmic intelligence with the
Supreme Consciousness. They memorized these verses and imparted them to their

disciples orally. If the sages had chosen to contrive the Vedas into manuscripts, they
could have been destroyed or modified, unable to stand the vagaries of Mother
Nature. It is beyond the human power to decrypt the speech of God. To make it
possible to some extent, the study of Vedas were divided into various categories and
each category was analyzed by experts in the respective fields. This study is known as
vedga () that integrates study of phonetics, ritual injunctions, linguistics,
grammar, etymology, lexicography, prosody, astronomy and astrology.
The elaborate study of Veda-s would not have been initiated, had it been easier to
understand them. Vedga attempted to corroborate various expert interpretations,
thereby making it possible to first understand the gross interpretation and later its subtle
conveyance. It was concluded that Vedas discuss about every act of a human being,
from birth to death. This conclusion was divided into three broad categories known as
jna, karma and upsana. Jna means wisdom. It is not the knowledge of
literacy. This knowledge is known as wisdom. Knowledge is of mundane type, the
psychological result of perception of learning and reasoning. Wisdom has the ability to
apply knowledge gained for the purpose of practical judgement, discrimination and
insight. This is the reason why wisdom is considered superior to knowledge. The
Veda-s both directly and indirectly advocate acquiring of wisdom. As wisdom can be
acquired only through experience, they prescribe karma-s. Karma-s mean actions. By
repeated actions, experience is gained and by such experience, one is able to
discriminate between good and bad. Next is upsana which means performance,
performance of rituals. Upsana differs from karma. Karma means actions for
sustenance. Upsana means actions performed to realize God. The Veda-s give
innumerable interpretations to the concept of God. The basic idea of the Veda-s is to
make one realize God, which they call as the Brahman. To realize the Brahman, the
Veda-s insist that one should be proficient in all the three categories. Therefore, it is
made imperative to understand the Veda-s, in their archetypical form, as the verses of
Veda-s have deeper implications.}
The following well known verse says that iva is the source of knowledge of Veda-s,
Upaniads and epics.
ruti smriti purm layam karunlayam
nammi bhagavadpdam akara lokaankara

Meaning of the above verse: I prostrate to Lord iva, who causes welfare to the
universe, who is the repository of the divine Knowledge of Veda-s, Upaniads and texts
of mythology and who is the embodiment of mercy.