← Sanskrit
Nirvāṇa Ṣaṭkam
The Nirvāṇa Ṣaṭkam is traditionally attributed to Ādi Śaṅkarācārya in the 8th century. According to traditional accounts, when Śaṅkarācārya was 8 years old, he went to Ṛṣi Govinda Bhagavatpāda. When Bhagavatpāda asked "who are you," it's said that the Nirvāṇa Ṣaṭkam was Śaṅkarācārya's response.
manobuddhyahaṅkāra cittāni nāhaṁ
na ca śrotrajihve na ca ghrāṇanetre |
na ca vyoma bhūmirna tejo na vāyuḥ
cidānandarūpaḥ śivo'ham śivo'ham || 1 ||
"I am not the mind, the intellect, the ego, or the memory."
- mano — Manas is mind, but the s becomes o before the voiced consonant b. Philosophically speaking, this is the component that processes sensory impressions.
- buddhy — Buddhi is intellect, or the component that allows us to choose what is good and not good (and consequently make decisions). The i becomes a y before the vowel in ahaṅkāra.
- ahaṅkāra — Ahaṅkāra is usually translated to ego, but ego in English is a bit more negative than ahaṅkāra. Ahaṅkāra is what creates self-identity.
- cittāni — Cittāni is the storehouse of memory.
- nāhaṁ — This is na + ahaṁ. Na means no/not and ahaṁ means I. Together, this essentially means "I am not."
- Manas, buddhi, ahaṅkāra, and cittāni are the four parts of the human psyche in Hindu philosophy.
"Nor the ears or tongue, nor the nose or eyes."
- na ca — Na means not and ca means and. Together, the phrase na ca means "nor."
- śrotrajihve — Śrotra means ears. Jihvā means tongue. This is one word, and there are two things (the ears and tongue), so this invokes the dvivacana in akārānta napuṃsakaliṅga. Thus, we add an e at the end making it śrotrajihve.
- ghrāṇanetre — Ghrāṇa means nose and netra means eyes. The e at the end is for the same reason as above.
"Nor the aether, the Earth, the fire or air."
- na ca — Nor
- vyoma — Sky, space, or aether.
- bhūmirna — Bhūmiḥ + na. Bhūmiḥ is the feminine-subject-singular form of bhūmi, meaning Earth (disclaimer: I have not formally studied the declension of feminine nouns yet). Na means not (as previously said). The r is a result of the sandhi between the visarga and the voiced n that followed (when the vowel in the word is an a, the visarga gets dropped, but for any other vowel, it becomes an r).
- tejo — Tejaḥ means fire. Tejo is a result of the sandhi between the visarga and the following voiced consonant in na, with the vowel preceding the visarga in tejaḥ being an a.
- vāyuḥ — Air
"[I am] the form of consciousness and bliss. I am Shiva. I am Shiva."
- The "I am" at the beginning of the line is implied because this line is not preceded by na ca like the second and third lines.
- cidānandarūpaḥ — Cit + ānanda + rūpaḥ. Cit means consciousness. It becomes cid because the unvoiced stop t becomes voiced before a voiced sound. Ānanda means bliss, joy, or happiness. Rūpaḥ means form. Together, cidānandarūpaḥ means "the form of consciousness and bliss."
- śivo'ham — Śivaḥ + aham. The ḥ becomes o because of sandhi (the visarga is followed by a vowel and preceded by the vowel a). Aham means I. This translates to "I am Shiva."
na ca prāṇasaṁjño na vai pañcavāyuḥ
na vā saptadhātuḥ na vā pañcakośaḥ |
na vākpāṇipādaṁ na copasthapāyu
cidānandarūpaḥ śivo'ham śivo'ham || 2 ||
Breakdown TBA
na me dveṣarāgau na me lobhamohau
mado naiva me naiva mātsaryabhāvaḥ |
na dharmo na cārtho na kāmo na mokṣaḥ
cidānandarūpaḥ śivo'ham śivo'ham || 3 ||
Breakdown TBA
na puṇyaṁ na pāpaṁ na saukhyaṁ na duḥkhaṁ
na mantro na tīrthaṁ na vedā na yajñāḥ |
ahaṁ bhojanaṁ naiva bhojyaṁ na bhoktā
cidānandarūpaḥ śivo'ham śivo'ham || 4 ||
Breakdown TBA
na mṛtyurna śaṅkā na me jātibhedaḥ
pitā naiva me naiva mātā na janmaḥ |
na bandhurna mitraṁ gururnaiva śiṣyaṁ
cidānandarūpaḥ śivo'ham śivo'ham || 5 ||
Breakdown TBA
ahaṁ nirvikalpo nirākārarūpo
vibhutvācca sarvatra sarvendriyāṇām |
na cāsaṅgataṁ naiva muktirna meyaḥ
cidānandarūpaḥ śivo'ham śivo'ham || 6 ||
Breakdown TBA