chid-ananda-rupah shivo-ham- Meaning, discussion.

Let the spaciousness of Nature bring spaciousness to our mind.

The peace of Shiva the meditator.

chid-ananda-rupah shivo-ham

Meaning, discussion.

1. mano       buddhya       hankara        chittā             ni nāham
     mind         thinking         ego                 memory        I am not

na                   cha    shotra jihveh         na                   cha    ghrāna netre
beyond          also     ears    tongue,        beyond          also    nose,     eyes

na                   cha    vyoma bhoomir    na tejo na vāyu
beyond          also     space, earth, fire, wind, water ... (ie the 5 elements)

chid                            ānanda          rūpah             shivo ham shivo ham
pure                           eternal          (is my)           Shiva am I    Shiva am I
consciousness         happiness     form

2. na              cha     prāna sangnyo        na vā            panycha        vāyu
    beyond     also     prana,                        beyond          five                 vital airs,

na vā             sapta dhātur           na vā             panycha        koshah
beyond          seven materials,     beyond          five                 bodily sheaths

na                   vāk                 pāni    pādam           na chopastha pāyu ...
beyond          voice,             arms, legs,                organs of procreation & elimination

chid                            ānanda          rūpah             shivo ham shivo ham
pure                           eternal          (is my)           Shiva I am    Shiva I am
consciousness         happiness     form

3. na me                  dvesha          rāgau             na me                        lobha             mohau
    not me (is)            envy               rage,              not me (is)             greed             delusion

mado             naiva             me      naiva mātsarya                  bhāvah
pride (is)       not like          me      nor      conceited (do i)       become

na                   dharmo         na                   chartho         na kāmo a mokshah
beyond          doctrine        beyond          wealth,               desire for freedom

chid                            ānanda          rūpah             shivo ham             shivo ham
pure                           eternal          (is my)           Shiva am I                Shiva am I
consciousness         happiness     form

4. na              punyam        na                   pāpam    na              sukham na dukham
Beyond          virtue             beyond          vice    beyond          pleasure & pain
(Beyond mere obligation to virtue and fear of punishment for vice,
beyond seeking pleasure and avoiding pain)

na                   mantro          na tīrtham                na vedā                     na yagnāh
Beyond          mantra,         pilgrimages,             scriptures,                rituals

aham             bhojanam    naiva              bhojyam                   na       bhokta
(I am            food               not like          the one who eats, nor      what is eaten)
Beyond food, the one who eats and what is eaten

chid                            ānanda          rūpah             shivo ham               shivo ham
pure                           eternal          (is my)           Shiva am I                Shiva am I
consciousness         happiness     form

5. Na             mrityur na   shankā          na me jāti bhedah
   Beyond       death,            doubt,           discrimination of cast

pitā     naiva me      naiva              mātā              na                   janmah
father    of mine      beyond          mother          beyond          birth (ie origins)

na                   bandhur                    na mitram    guru   naiva shishyah
Beyond          brother,                    friend,           teacher &     student
(beyond the ups and downs and limitations of important relationships)

chid                            ānanda          rupāh             shivo ham shivo ham
pure                           eternal          (is my)           Shiva am I    Shiva am I
consciousness         happiness     form

6. aham       nirvi-kalpo               nirākāra        rūpo
     I am          unwaveringly          of divine        form

vibhur           vyāpya         sarvatram    sarv    indriyānam
Presence       pervades      always           all        my senses

sada me samatvam                       a     muktir na      bandhah
I see oneness in all things,           i am free       not in bondage.

chid                            ānanda          rūpah             shivo ham shivo ham
pure                           eternal          (is my)           Shiva am I    Shiva am I
consciousness         happiness     form

The Song.

Deva Premal and Miten put this long poem to excellent music, in both vocals and instrumentals, as early as 2000 in their album “Love is Space.” I’ve been to only one of their concerts, it was in Brisbane in 2018, and she sang this beautiful song. Also another song; just a short mantra that every one could join in, containing the phrase “chid ānanda rupeh”. Deva simply said the song was about “blissful consciousness”, and “rupeh means ‘form’”.

I recommend you buy this album, for it has at least four good Kirtan songs : om shree sache, chidananda, jai radha madhav, om namo narayanaya. All these have –

good singing and
good instrumental,
good melody for the song, that is easy to sing along to.

You can listen to samples and buy the album at –
https://devapremalmiten.com/love-is-space/

The Mantra Translated.

Dear Reader. There is much of great worth in this song.
So please be compassionate, and don’t be tempted nor driven
to read this discussion continuously.
When your spirit feels the need, then take a break to be silent,
to reflect and allow the Dharma to soak in. Best wishes from Mike.

This 24 line poem or sloka is by Adi Shankara, a great Vedic teacher of 1300 years ago. It is called the ātmā shtakam sloka or the nirvāna shtakam sloka. It summarises Vedic themes on transcendence, and is about both ātmā and nirvāna.

It is in answer to the question -

“Who are you?”
“What is your ātmā or higher self?”

It replies by saying –

I am not the mind (stanza 1 line 1),
nor body (stanzas 1 & 2),
nor am I defilements (stanza 3).

Stanzas 3, 4 and 5 then goes on to list many other important things that we, as sensible people, rely on, pursue and are attached to -

wealth and abundance
observing virtue and abstaining from vice,
seeking pleasure and avoiding pain,
activities in religion (or spiritual practice),
food,
relationships to parents, friends, teachers or students, and
our social origins.

Are these worldly things really mine? Is it really “me” who is involved in them? Perhaps I am really something else ... The poem negates all. na = not, na vā = na iva = not like, not similar to . It also repeats –

I am Shiva, I am transcendence, in the form of pure consciousness and eternal happiness

Does this mean that we should neglect and abandon these important worldly pursuits and relationships?   Worldly wisdom obviously says NO. If worldly pursuits are abandoned and neglected, then conditions will deteriorate, become depressing, and all sorts of problems will arise.   Most likely we will be far from any happiness and clarity of consciousness, let alone have pure consciousness and the eternal happiness of the enlightened state.

Moreover, this foundational theme is one of the first to be discussed in the Bhagavad Gita, chapter 3.

Rather, we can reflect on the origins of the spiritual Qualities. We can ask ourselves -

Does the happiness or ānanda   of inner peace, wisdom, good will, enjoyment really come from attachment to worldly pursuits? From clinging to possessions, people, and pursuits?

Or do these spiritual Qualities arise because we consciously and purposefully let go of the defilements? Because we consciously and purposefully cultivate, practise and protect these Qualities?

We can reflect on what creates real value in our relationships and pursuits. Is it not these beautiful spiritual Qualities? And is there not some degree of detachment to pursuit and relationship required to cultivate these Qualities?

So let us use select lines from our poem as a mantra in our meditation, when the mind is stable and focussed.   We can use Deva Premal’s song. To help us let go of our worldly busy-ness and go deeper into the joy of meditation or ānanda   and thus clarity or chid.

We can also identify with chid, ānanada and Shiva, and detach from these important worldly things,    in our daily life.

Therefore,   I have translated na and naiva/na vā as “Beyond.”    Perhaps real clarity of mind = chid and real happiness = ānanda comes, not from worldly pursuits, but from beyond them. From transcendence ...

The Mantra, Word by Word,
Line by Line.

chit as in sat-chit-ānanda is short for chitta. In line 1 of our poem, chitta is best understood to mean “thinking” or “memory”. But in the last line of each verse, chid can be understood to mean “pure consciousness”, which is a foundational element of Deity in Hindu tradition.

chit = chid is not ordinary consciousness. chid is a power or faculty that liberates us from suffering. chid is the consciousness when we -

Realise that suffering has indeed arisen. We are being sufficiently honest and sensitive that we are indeed in pain.
Recognise what we are doing that is making things worse.
Consciously stop energising the defilements, stop identifying with them, and just endure the pain, allowing it to fade out
When we deliberately refrain from harmful addictions, and
we purposefully help our spirits to rise up.

When we have transcended from suffering, returned to Liberation and we have restored the Spiritual Qualities, then the meaning of chid or chit alters to –

The kind of awareness that goes with Liberation.
Consciously and purposefully practising the Spiritual Qualities and becoming familiar and proficient in them,
Consciously and purposefully protecting the Spiritual Qualities from self sabotage; from any thought, attitude, habit that weakens, breaks up and conceals these beautiful Qualities.
Being aware of sensation, including touch, movement, sound and sight, and using these as an anchor to meditation in daily life
Being committed to connecting to and staying with the Source of Healing.

“ānanda   ” = joy or happiness that is uplifting. In this context, ānanda can be understood to mean the happiness of the enlightened state, where all the spiritual Qualities are active and Present. Thus ānanda   can mean the happiness of all these beautiful Qualities.    In this sense, ānanda   means “permanent happiness.”

When we can perceive the happiness of the enlightened state as being permanent, then we know it is always there. It never dies, nor fails, nor disintegrates, just because we have fallen into another slump, yet again. It is always waiting for us, calling out to us.   This perception, that happiness is still available to us, is the first step in the healing process. The first step out of suffering.

Unfortunately, the enlightened state is all too often obscured from us by defilements. Indeed, this is the main role of defilements, to cut us off from eternal happiness. Thus our experience of the enlightened state is always impermanent.

But the enlightened state is always there, either as the Goal we are heading towards, or the experience we are enjoying in this moment. For we can only be enlightened in the Here and Now, we can never be enlightened in the future or in the past.

The enlightened state is likened to the blue sky. Although often obscured by clouds, it is always there. If we climb the mountain, we can rise above the grey clouds and reach the sunshine.

Shiva cannot be translated in just a few words. Indeed, I allocate ten pages of my treatise to interpret this one Kirtan word. But in this context, Shiva can be understood as “transcendence”: transcendence from suffering to liberation from suffering.

Shivo-ham is best understood as a question. We can consider the pain we experience when worldly matters fail us, be it bodily illness or injury, relationships, pursuits, food or whatever. We can reflect - suppose I was transcendence, and not these worldly things? Where might this reflection take us?

Stanza 1.
The first stanza can be interpreted as the mechanics of what we actually do to achieve transcendence. It can summarise the meditation technique for transcendence from suffering to happiness.

The first step is to train the mind to let go of all thoughts, and return to the chosen meditation object, which is usually touch, sound or image.

The first line is about the business of the mind, and second line is about sense objects.

The first step in this Transcendence is to train our mind to move from thoughts to sensation, ie from line 1 to line 2.

When our mind has settled, because of our efforts and skill in meditation, then the next step is to shift attention from the meditation object to the fruit of spiritual practice, ie from line 2 to line 4.

Stanza 2.
A few of the items listed in stanza 2 are also good meditation objects -

prāna in Sanskrit = pāna in Pali = breath. Breath meditation is the primary technique for meditation for Buddha’s enlightenment.
vak = voice. When we participate in Kirtan, we use our voice and the energy of our singing as part of the meditation.
pani padam = arms and legs. In familiar daily tasks, the movement of the implement in our hands can be our meditation object. In walking for exercise, the movement of the legs, touch at feet and in particular the rhythmic movement of the entire body can also be our meditation object.

But as our poem suggests, these are not transcendence in themselves. They are skilful means to create the conditions needed for transcendence to arise.

Stanza 3
na me dvesha rāga lobha moha = not me is defilement.

A major reason why defilements are so troublesome for humanity is their deluding power. When they active, they obscure our clarity of mind or chid, and before we know it our will has been taken over by them.   It’s important to ask ourselves at these times -

“are these painful thoughts and intentions really me?”

When we are in a slump and freedom is far away, our intolerance to defilement is low and we naturally want to get rid of defilement. At these times, we can be longing for relief, and therefore quite vulnerable to harmful addiction.   We cannot “see” Freedom, but we want it. This is desire for Freedom (kāmo a moksha) that is not Freedom itself.

Stanza 3, line 3.
This lists the four purushartha or foundations of Hinduism; first dharma = basic rules to guide conduct in society, and then artha = acquiring (use of) material possessions and the skills needed to have them, then kāma = properly directing our desires in healthy ways, and lastly moksha. Moksha means “liberation from suffering”, or “transcendence from suffering.” So it’s not helpful to negate moksha in our pursuit of transcendence. But this need not be a problem. A slight adjustment of spelling and pronunciation and we have :
na kāmo a mokshah = desire for freedom.

Stanza 4, line 1
na sukham na dukkham = “beyond pleasure and pain”.

When people are co-operative, friendly, supportive, trustworthy, then we have pleasure = sukha. When they are the opposite, then we have pain = dukkha. The same goes for possessions like cars, computers and homes, and pursuits of all kinds.

In spiritual practice we do not pretend that un co-operative and unsupportive people are pleasant, nor do we conceal and deny the suffering that arises from such people.

So in spiritual practice we make effort to improve our work and improve our work prospects so we may have a better home and a better car. We make efforts to have better relationships with others, so they will be more cooperative and supportive.   To reduce the amount of suffering that will arise.

But in spiritual practice we also learn to let go of the unpleasant feelings and thoughts that arise when people, pursuits and possessions fail us. Learn to be less troubled by them. This is the path to transcendence.

For chid ānanda is beyond the ups and downs of life.

Stanza 4, line 2.
na mantro na tirtham na veda na yagnaha = beyond religious practices.

Our poem is a veda.

Religion can convey things useful to spiritual practice but religion is not transcendence.   Transcendence involves adapting these religious things into a form that we can use, and then practising   them so that transcendence can take place.

Religion is called a vehicle or yana in Buddhism. We need our car to get to work or to recreation, but the vehicle is neither work nor recreation.

Stanza 5,   line 3.
guru naiva shishya = beyond the relationship between spiritual teacher and his student.

Much can be learned in the religious setting, where there is a skilful guru or teacher who gives talks and instructions, and whom you can ask questions. I would never have even got established on the Path without this, at the Buddhist Society when I was young.

For the teacher – student relationship to work, we need to be willing to listen, follow guidance, and above all practise what we learn.

But this teacher – student relationship is but a means to an end. Transcendence is beyond it.

Stanza 6.
Here the tone changes from na = not and naiva = not like,    to aham = I am.

So our poem culminates with a series of affirmations or aspirations that can help transcendence to occur. They can push our consciousness towards liberation, lead us to rejuvenating waters.

They contain bold statements - nirvikalpo = unwaveringly and sarvatra = always.

Such affirmations are not a denial of our failings and weaknesses. Rather, we are focussing on our highest potential instead.

These affirmations are left to last, after we have attended to everything that can hinder our transcendence.

Transcending Dualism.
A more traditional interpretation of our poem might be in terms of transcendence from dualism. Mahadeo provides a short discussion about this, with his translation of our poem : Adi Shankara-charya Nirvana Shatakam.

For more translated Sanskrit mantras :
click onto the + at the top of this webpage, then click again onto the +

My introductory webpages “Mantras Translated A - C”
discuss how to gain the full benefit of these mantra writeups.

​chid-ananda-rupah shivo-ham Meaning, discussion.​

chid-ananda-rupah shivo-ham

Meaning, discussion.