Text, Meaning & Explanation
मनोबुद्ध्यहङ्कारचित्तानि नाहं
न च श्रोत्रजिह्वे न च घ्राणनेत्रे ।
न च व्योम भूमिर्न तेजो न वायुः
चिदानन्दरूपः शिवोऽहं शिवोऽहम् ॥ १ ॥
Roman Transliterationmanobuddhyahankaarachittaani naaham
na cha shrotrajihve na cha ghraananetre |
na cha vyoma bhoomirna tejo na vaayuh
chidaanandaroopah shivo’ham shivo’ham || 1 ||manobuddhyahaṅkāracittāni nāhaṃ
na ca śrotrajihve na ca ghrāṇanetre |
na ca vyoma bhūmir na tejo na vāyuḥ
cidānandarūpaḥ śivo'haṃ śivo'ham || 1 ||
Meaning
I am not the mind, intellect, sense of ‘I’, or the changing contents of awareness; nor the ears and tongue, nose and eyes. I am not space, earth, fire or air. My deepest nature is consciousness and bliss: I am Shiva, I am Shiva.I am not the mind, intellect, sense of ‘I’, or the changing contents of awareness; nor the ears and tongue, nose and eyes. I am not space, earth, fire or air. My deepest nature is consciousness and bliss: I am Shiva, I am Shiva.I am not the mind, intellect, sense of ‘I’, or the changing contents of awareness; nor the ears and tongue, nose and eyes. I am not space, earth, fire or air. My deepest nature is consciousness and bliss: I am Śiva, I am Śiva.
Explanation
The opening is an exercise in discernment, not a denial that minds and bodies exist. Manas processes impressions; buddhi discriminates; ahaṅkāra marks experiences as ‘mine’; chitta is a term for mental activity and remembered impressions. All are knowable and variable. The speaker asks what remains as the knowing presence when each object of identification is set aside. Space and the other named elements stand for the physical world, not for an exhaustive scientific list of substances. Here ‘Shiva’ is used in an Advaita idiom for the auspicious, non-dual ground of awareness; the refrain is not a claim that an individual ego has become a particular historical or mythological person.The opening is an exercise in discernment, not a denial that minds and bodies exist. Manas processes impressions; buddhi discriminates; ahaṅkāra marks experiences as ‘mine’; chittacitta is a term for mental activity and remembered impressions. All are knowable and variable. The speaker asks what remains as the knowing presence when each object of identification is set aside. Space and the other named elements stand for the physical world, not for an exhaustive scientific list of substances. Here ‘Śiva’ is used in an Advaita idiom for the auspicious, non-dual ground of awareness; the refrain is not a claim that an individual ego has become a particular historical or mythological person.
न च प्राणसंज्ञो न वै पञ्चवायुः
न वा सप्तधातुर्न वा पञ्चकोशः ।
न वाक्पाणिपादं न चोपस्थपायू
चिदानन्दरूपः शिवोऽहं शिवोऽहम् ॥ २ ॥
Roman Transliterationna cha praanasamjno na vai panchavaayuh
na vaa saptadhaaturna vaa panchakoshah |
na vaakpaanipaadam na chopasthapaayoo
chidaanandaroopah shivo’ham shivo’ham || 2 ||na ca prāṇasaṃjño na vai pañcavāyuḥ
na vā saptadhātur na vā pañcakośaḥ |
na vākpāṇipādaṃ na copasthapāyū
cidānandarūpaḥ śivo'haṃ śivo'ham || 2 ||
Meaning
I am not what is called vital breath, nor the five vital functions. I am not the seven bodily constituents or the five enclosing sheaths. I am not the powers of speech, grasping and moving, or the reproductive and excretory functions. I am consciousness and bliss: Shiva, Shiva.I am not what is called vital breath, nor the five vital functions. I am not the seven bodily constituents or the five enclosing sheaths. I am not the powers of speech, grasping and moving, or the reproductive and excretory functions. I am consciousness and bliss: Shiva, Shiva.I am not what is called vital breath, nor the five vital functions. I am not the seven bodily constituents or the five enclosing sheaths. I am not the powers of speech, grasping and moving, or the reproductive and excretory functions. I am consciousness and bliss: Śiva, Śiva.
Explanation
The verse moves from the outer senses to the body's inner processes. Pañcavāyu is a traditional classification of vital functions; saptadhātu refers to seven bodily constituents in classical Indian physiology; pañcakośa describes five ‘sheaths’ through which experience is analysed in Vedānta. These are historical philosophical and medical categories, not clinical anatomy or a claim that breath is unimportant. The compound vāk-pāṇi-pāda names faculties of action, while upastha and pāyu name reproductive and eliminative functions. The point is that the observing Self is not reduced to any one function, even a necessary one. The selected print has singular/compound forms which should not be silently changed to a more familiar performance version.
न मे द्वेषरागौ न मे लोभमोहौ
मदो नैव मे नैव मात्सर्यभावः ।
न धर्मो न चार्थो न कामो न मोक्षः
चिदानन्दरूपः शिवोऽहं शिवोऽहम् ॥ ३ ॥
Roman Transliterationna me dvesharaagau na me lobhamohau
mado naiva me naiva maatsaryabhaavah |
na dharmo na chaartho na kaamo na mokshah
chidaanandaroopah shivo’ham shivo’ham || 3 ||na me dveṣarāgau na me lobhamohau
mado naiva me naiva mātsaryabhāvaḥ |
na dharmo na cārtho na kāmo na mokṣaḥ
cidānandarūpaḥ śivo'haṃ śivo'ham || 3 ||
Meaning
In the ultimate Self there is no hatred or attachment, greed or delusion, pride or enviousness. Nor do the four aims—dharma, artha, kāma and moksha—define that Self. I am of the nature of consciousness and bliss: I am Shiva.In the ultimate Self there is no hatred or attachment, greed or delusion, pride or enviousness. Nor do the four aims—dharma, artha, kāma and moksha—define that Self. I am of the nature of consciousness and bliss: I am Shiva.In the ultimate Self there is no hatred or attachment, greed or delusion, pride or enviousness. Nor do the four aims—dharma, artha, kāma and mokṣa—define that Self. I am of the nature of consciousness and bliss: I am Śiva.
Explanation
The list first names emotional patterns and then the puruṣārthas, the classical four aims of human life: ethical order, material well-being, desire and release. It does not instruct a reader to abandon ethical conduct, livelihood or responsibility. In a two-level Advaita reading, such duties matter in everyday life; the deeper claim is that awareness itself is not constituted by a passing preference or by the pursuit of an end. Even moksha is not an object the Self must acquire from outside. Read as a challenge to obsessive identification rather than permission for moral indifference.The list first names emotional patterns and then the puruṣārthas, the classical four aims of human life: ethical order, material well-being, desire and release. It does not instruct a reader to abandon ethical conduct, livelihood or responsibility. In a two-level Advaita reading, such duties matter in everyday life; the deeper claim is that awareness itself is not constituted by a passing preference or by the pursuit of an end. Even mokshamokṣa is not an object the Self must acquire from outside. Read as a challenge to obsessive identification rather than permission for moral indifference.
न पुण्यं न पापं न सौख्यं न दुःखं
न मन्त्रो न तीर्थं न वेदा न यज्ञाः ।
अहं भोजनं नैव भोज्यं न भोक्ता
चिदानन्दरूपः शिवोऽहं शिवोऽहम् ॥ ४ ॥
Roman Transliterationna punyam na paapam na saukhyam na duhkham
na mantro na teertham na vedaa na yajnaah |
aham bhojanam naiva bhojyam na bhoktaa
chidaanandaroopah shivo’ham shivo’ham || 4 ||na puṇyaṃ na pāpaṃ na saukhyaṃ na duḥkhaṃ
na mantro na tīrthaṃ na vedā na yajñāḥ |
ahaṃ bhojanaṃ naiva bhojyaṃ na bhoktā
cidānandarūpaḥ śivo'haṃ śivo'ham || 4 ||
Meaning
I am not merit or demerit, pleasure or pain; not a mantra, a pilgrimage place, the Vedas or a sacrifice. I am neither the process of enjoyment, nor the object enjoyed, nor the individual enjoyer. My nature is consciousness and bliss: I am Shiva.I am not merit or demerit, pleasure or pain; not a mantra, a pilgrimage place, the Vedas or a sacrifice. I am neither the process of enjoyment, nor the object enjoyed, nor the individual enjoyer. My nature is consciousness and bliss: I am Shiva.I am not merit or demerit, pleasure or pain; not a mantra, a pilgrimage place, the Vedas or a sacrifice. I am neither the process of enjoyment, nor the object enjoyed, nor the individual enjoyer. My nature is consciousness and bliss: I am Śiva.
Explanation
This verse shifts from ethical and emotional labels to religious and experiential roles. Punya and pāpa guide practical ethical reflection, while rituals and study may be meaningful disciplines; they are not themselves the unchanging witness of those experiences. The triad bhojana–bhojya–bhoktā can be understood as experiencing, experienced object and experiencer. Advaita questions the final independence of that subject–object division, without asserting that worldly hunger, suffering or duties are imaginary in a dismissive sense. The source has na vedā na yajñāḥ and does not prescribe the rejection of Vedic traditions.
न मृत्युर्न शङ्का न मे जातिभेदः
पिता नैव मे नैव माता च जन्म ।
न बन्धुर्न मित्रं गुरुर्नैव शिष्यः
चिदानन्दरूपः शिवोऽहं शिवोऽहम् ॥ ५ ॥
Roman Transliterationna mrityurna shankaa na me jaatibhedah
pitaa naiva me naiva maataa cha janma |
na bandhurna mitram gururnaiva shishyah
chidaanandaroopah shivo’ham shivo’ham || 5 ||na mṛtyur na śaṅkā na me jātibhedaḥ
pitā naiva me naiva mātā ca janma |
na bandhur na mitraṃ gurur naiva śiṣyaḥ
cidānandarūpaḥ śivo'haṃ śivo'ham || 5 ||
Meaning
The Self is not confined by death, fear or distinctions of birth. The verse sets aside identities made through father, mother, birth, kin, friend, teacher and pupil. It affirms again: consciousness and bliss are my nature; I am Shiva. Textual caution: this witness prints mātā ca janma (‘mother and birth’); another reading has mātā na janma (‘mother, nor birth’). The sense of the printed line is elliptical and remains under review.The Self is not confined by death, fear or distinctions of birth. The verse sets aside identities made through father, mother, birth, kin, friend, teacher and pupil. It affirms again: consciousness and bliss are my nature; I am Shiva. The Self is not confined by death, fear or distinctions of birth. The verse sets aside identities made through father, mother, birth, kin, friend, teacher and pupil. It affirms again: consciousness and bliss are my nature; I am Śiva. Textual caution: this witness prints mātā ca janma (‘mother and birth’); another reading has mātā na janma (‘mother, nor birth’). The sense of the printed line is elliptical and remains under review.
Explanation
Relations give real ethical responsibilities within embodied life, yet this lyric refuses to make them the entire measure of a person. Jātibheda names distinctions tied to birth; it should not be used to justify social discrimination. The selected scanned book clearly shows na mṛtyur na śaṅkā, whereas an often-sung line begins na me mṛtyuśaṅkā. The source also prints mātā ca janma, an unusual construction often normalized elsewhere to mātā na janma. Rather than silently substituting the smoother reading, ShivGoraksh records the ambiguity for Sanskritist review. This does not erase the significance of parents, teachers or friends in ordinary life.
अहं निर्विकल्पो निराकाररूपो
विभुत्वाच्च सर्वत्र सर्वेन्द्रियाणाम् ।
न चासाङ्गतं नैव मुक्तिर्न मेयः
चिदानन्दरूपः शिवोऽहं शिवोऽहम् ॥ ६ ॥
Roman Transliterationaham nirvikalpo niraakaararoopo
vibhutvaachcha sarvatra sarvendriyaanaam |
na chaasaangatam naiva muktirna meyah
chidaanandaroopah shivo’ham shivo’ham || 6 ||ahaṃ nirvikalpo nirākārarūpo
vibhutvāc ca sarvatra sarvendriyāṇām |
na cāsāṅgataṃ naiva muktir na meyaḥ
cidānandarūpaḥ śivo'haṃ śivo'ham || 6 ||
Meaning
I am without dividing conceptual determinations and without bounded form; the verse speaks of all-pervading awareness beyond the range of the senses. It then denies that liberation, or a definable thing-to-be-known, fixes the Self's identity. I am consciousness and bliss: I am Shiva. Textual caution: the scanned witness's na cāsāṅgataṃ is not securely parsed and is not translated here as if uncontroversial.I am without dividing conceptual determinations and without bounded form; the verse speaks of all-pervading awareness beyond the range of the senses. It then denies that liberation, or a definable thing-to-be-known, fixes the Self's identity. I am consciousness and bliss: I am Shiva. I am without dividing conceptual determinations and without bounded form; the verse speaks of all-pervading awareness beyond the range of the senses. It then denies that liberation, or a definable thing-to-be-known, fixes the Self's identity. I am consciousness and bliss: I am Śiva. Textual caution: the scanned witness's na cāsāṅgataṃ is not securely parsed and is not translated here as if uncontroversial.
Explanation
Nirvikalpa indicates freedom from conceptual partition; nirākāra denies a finite defining shape. The phrase vibhutvāc ca sarvatra sarvendriyāṇām points toward all-pervasiveness rather than omnipotence claimed by an individual personality. The third line is an unusually unstable part of the hymn: the selected print and Wikisource contain a difficult na cāsāṅgataṃ … na meyaḥ, while a well-known performance recension says sadā me samatvaṃ na muktir na bandhaḥ. Other electronic texts present further variants. These are not interchangeable quotations. The specific sense of asāṅgatam and the printed long vowel require philological checking; no confident word-by-word gloss is invented. The refrain expresses non-duality, not escape from civic, familial or bodily responsibility.
॥ इति श्रीमच्छङ्कराचार्यविरचितं निर्वाणषट्कं सम्पूर्णम् ॥
Roman Transliteration|| iti shreemachchhankaraachaaryavirachitam nirvaanashatkam sampoornam |||| iti śrīmacchaṅkarācāryaviracitaṃ nirvāṇaṣaṭkaṃ sampūrṇam ||
Meaning
The printed colophon states that the six-verse Nirvāṇa Ṣaṭkam, traditionally credited to Śaṅkarācārya, is complete.
Explanation
A colophon documents how this collected edition labels the text; it is not independent proof of historical authorship and is not counted among the six verses.
Context & Usage
Text witness: Bṛhatstotraratnākara, Part I, printed pp. 255–256 (scan pp. 263–264). Six verses plus separate printed colophon. The complete original Sanskrit words appear first. Certain difficult printed forms remain under expert review; this is an educational edition. 1
What is Nirvāṇa Ṣaṭkam? Nirvāṇa Ṣaṭkam, also called Ātma Ṣaṭkam, is a six-verse reflection on identity in the language of Advaita Vedānta. Ṣaṭkam means a set of six; nirvāṇa here evokes the release of mistaken identification. The verses proceed from mind and senses to bodily functions, emotion, human purposes, religious acts and social roles, asking whether any of these changing categories exhaust what one means by the Self. The refrain, cidānandarūpaḥ śivo'haṃ śivo'ham, brings each inquiry back to awareness itself. This is a compact philosophical lyric rather than a full manual of Vedānta or a Vedic liturgical mandate.
Is “I am Śiva” a claim by the personal ego? No. In this Advaita reading, the hymn is expressly questioning identification with ego. ‘Śiva’ points to the auspicious reality of consciousness, not to a boast that an individual personality now possesses a deity's powers. Some readers approach the lyric devotionally, others philosophically; both approaches need context and should not be flattened into a single universal ritual rule.
Why are dharma, mantras and relationships denied? The negations concern what ultimately constitutes the Self, not whether moral obligations or acts of care matter in daily life. A parent, friend, student or teacher still has practical responsibilities. Traditional spiritual practice can retain significance without being confused with awareness itself. This distinction helps avoid a harmful misreading of verses 3–5 as moral or emotional indifference.
Textual history and traditional attribution
The selected original-text layer follows the scanned Bṛhatstotraratnākara, Part I, printed pp. 255–256. Both pages were inspected. Six numbered verses are followed by a colophon crediting Śaṅkarācārya, which documents traditional attribution, not proven historical authorship. Different manuscripts, collected editions and modern singing traditions do not share every line. 134
The date of this particular scan's printing has not been reconciled: Wikimedia Commons metadata says 1933, whereas the matching Sanskrit Wikisource record labels the associated volume 1953. We therefore cite the confirmed printed page numbers and refrain from claiming a securely established year. An independently catalogued 1910 Vāṇī Vilāsa edition is a comparison witness, not silently combined with the selected source. Scholarship on attributed Shankara texts calls for attribution caution, but the cited research does not adjudicate this individual six-verse poem. : Wikimedia Commons metadata says 1933, whereas the matching Sanskrit Wikisource record labels the associated volume 1953. We therefore cite the confirmed printed page numbers and refrain from claiming a securely established year. An independently catalogued 1910 Vāṇī Vilāsa edition is a comparison witness, not silently combined with the selected source. Scholarship on attributed Śaṅkara texts calls for attribution caution, but the cited research does not adjudicate this individual six-verse poem. 567
Significant readings and why they matter
- Verse 2: This print has vākpāṇipādaṃ rather than the vākpāṇipādau of another witness. An evident electronic rendering pacavāyu-ne is corrected to pañcavāyur na vā with the scan as evidence; this is documented as a correction of digital transcription, not a change of recension. 124
- Verse 5: This print begins na mṛtyur na śaṅkā rather than the commonly recited na me mṛtyuśaṅkā. The phrase mātā ca janma is syntactically difficult and differs from mātā na janma. The difficult base wording has been preserved, not quietly repaired. 134
- Verse 6: The opening vibhutvāc ca differs from vibhur vyāpya. The third line in this scan contains a difficult form na cāsāṅgataṃ … na meyaḥ; other recensions have sadā me samatvaṃ na muktir na bandhaḥ. The former remains a philological open issue, including its vowel length. We have not blended the two lines. 134
- Refrain: The old print abbreviates it from verse 2 on. Each repetition in the reading layer is an openly declared expansion of verse 1's complete wording. 1
Frequently asked questions
How many verses are in Nirvana Shatakam? Six in the selected edition, with a separately labelled colophon. The colophon is not verse seven. Is Atma Shatakam another text? The two titles commonly refer to this same six-verse composition, but the exact wording can vary among transmitted editions. Does ‘Śivo'ham’ literally mean the speaker's ego is God? Not in the philosophical framework expressed by the poem: the ego is among the identities rejected in verse 1. Is this a mantra or a devotional hymn? It is catalogued here as a stotra/philosophical lyric; it may be recited devotionally, but the text does not supply mandatory initiation or ritual instructions. Did Ādi Śaṅkarācārya definitely write it? A printed colophon attributes it to him. Independently established historical authorship has not been demonstrated in this edition.
Additional passage commentary
These English meanings and discussions are newly authored for ShivGoraksh, separate from the original text and from third-party translations.
Verse 1 ·
shloka-001Meaning: I am not the mind, intellect, sense of ‘I’, or the changing contents of awareness; nor the ears and tongue, nose and eyes. I am not space, earth, fire or air. My deepest nature is consciousness and bliss: I am Shiva, I am Shiva. I am not the mind, intellect, sense of ‘I’, or the changing contents of awareness; nor the ears and tongue, nose and eyes. I am not space, earth, fire or air. My deepest nature is consciousness and bliss: I am Śiva, I am Śiva. Explanation: The opening is an exercise in discernment, not a denial that minds and bodies exist. Manas processes impressions; buddhi discriminates; ahaṅkāra marks experiences as ‘mine’; chittacitta is a term for mental activity and remembered impressions. All are knowable and variable. The speaker asks what remains as the knowing presence when each object of identification is set aside. Space and the other named elements stand for the physical world, not for an exhaustive scientific list of substances. Here ‘Śiva’ is used in an Advaita idiom for the auspicious, non-dual ground of awareness; the refrain is not a claim that an individual ego has become a particular historical or mythological person. Key terms: manas / मनस्: mind; buddhi / बुद्धि: discriminative understanding; ahaṅkāra / अहंकार: I-making identification; cidānanda / चिदानन्द: consciousness-bliss. 1
Verse 2 ·
shloka-002Meaning: I am not what is called vital breath, nor the five vital functions. I am not the seven bodily constituents or the five enclosing sheaths. I am not the powers of speech, grasping and moving, or the reproductive and excretory functions. I am consciousness and bliss: Shiva, Shiva. I am not what is called vital breath, nor the five vital functions. I am not the seven bodily constituents or the five enclosing sheaths. I am not the powers of speech, grasping and moving, or the reproductive and excretory functions. I am consciousness and bliss: Śiva, Śiva. Explanation: The verse moves from the outer senses to the body's inner processes. Pañcavāyu is a traditional classification of vital functions; saptadhātu refers to seven bodily constituents in classical Indian physiology; pañcakośa describes five ‘sheaths’ through which experience is analysed in Vedānta. These are historical philosophical and medical categories, not clinical anatomy or a claim that breath is unimportant. The compound vāk-pāṇi-pāda names faculties of action, while upastha and pāyu name reproductive and eliminative functions. The point is that the observing Self is not reduced to any one function, even a necessary one. The selected print has singular/compound forms which should not be silently changed to a more familiar performance version. Key terms: pañcavāyu / पञ्चवायु: five vital functions; saptadhātu / सप्तधातु: seven bodily constituents; pañcakośa / पञ्चकोश: five sheaths; upastha/pāyu / उपस्थ-पायु: two organs of action. 1
Verse 3 ·
shloka-003Meaning: In the ultimate Self there is no hatred or attachment, greed or delusion, pride or enviousness. Nor do the four aims—dharma, artha, kāma and moksha—define that Self. I am of the nature of consciousness and bliss: I am Shiva. In the ultimate Self there is no hatred or attachment, greed or delusion, pride or enviousness. Nor do the four aims—dharma, artha, kāma and mokṣa—define that Self. I am of the nature of consciousness and bliss: I am Śiva. Explanation: The list first names emotional patterns and then the puruṣārthas, the classical four aims of human life: ethical order, material well-being, desire and release. It does not instruct a reader to abandon ethical conduct, livelihood or responsibility. In a two-level Advaita reading, such duties matter in everyday life; the deeper claim is that awareness itself is not constituted by a passing preference or by the pursuit of an end. Even mokshamokṣa is not an object the Self must acquire from outside. Read as a challenge to obsessive identification rather than permission for moral indifference. Key terms: rāga–dveṣa / राग–द्वेष: attachment and aversion; mātsarya / मात्सर्य: envy; puruṣārtha / पुरुषार्थ: human ends; moksha / मोक्ष: liberation. rāga–dveṣa / राग–द्वेष: attachment and aversion; mātsarya / मात्सर्य: envy; puruṣārtha / पुरुषार्थ: human ends; mokṣa / मोक्ष: liberation. 1
Verse 4 ·
shloka-004Meaning: I am not merit or demerit, pleasure or pain; not a mantra, a pilgrimage place, the Vedas or a sacrifice. I am neither the process of enjoyment, nor the object enjoyed, nor the individual enjoyer. My nature is consciousness and bliss: I am Shiva. I am not merit or demerit, pleasure or pain; not a mantra, a pilgrimage place, the Vedas or a sacrifice. I am neither the process of enjoyment, nor the object enjoyed, nor the individual enjoyer. My nature is consciousness and bliss: I am Śiva. Explanation: This verse shifts from ethical and emotional labels to religious and experiential roles. Punya and pāpa guide practical ethical reflection, while rituals and study may be meaningful disciplines; they are not themselves the unchanging witness of those experiences. The triad bhojana–bhojya–bhoktā can be understood as experiencing, experienced object and experiencer. Advaita questions the final independence of that subject–object division, without asserting that worldly hunger, suffering or duties are imaginary in a dismissive sense. The source has na vedā na yajñāḥ and does not prescribe the rejection of Vedic traditions. Key terms: puṇya/pāpa / पुण्य-पाप: merit and demerit; tīrtha / तीर्थ: sacred crossing or pilgrimage; yajña / यज्ञ: sacrifice or offering; bhoktā / भोक्ता: experiencer. 1
Verse 5 ·
shloka-005Meaning: The Self is not confined by death, fear or distinctions of birth. The verse sets aside identities made through father, mother, birth, kin, friend, teacher and pupil. It affirms again: consciousness and bliss are my nature; I am Shiva. The Self is not confined by death, fear or distinctions of birth. The verse sets aside identities made through father, mother, birth, kin, friend, teacher and pupil. It affirms again: consciousness and bliss are my nature; I am Śiva. Textual caution: this witness prints mātā ca janma (‘mother and birth’); another reading has mātā na janma (‘mother, nor birth’). The sense of the printed line is elliptical and remains under review. Explanation: Relations give real ethical responsibilities within embodied life, yet this lyric refuses to make them the entire measure of a person. Jātibheda names distinctions tied to birth; it should not be used to justify social discrimination. The selected scanned book clearly shows na mṛtyur na śaṅkā, whereas an often-sung line begins na me mṛtyuśaṅkā. The source also prints mātā ca janma, an unusual construction often normalized elsewhere to mātā na janma. Rather than silently substituting the smoother reading, ShivGoraksh records the ambiguity for Sanskritist review. This does not erase the significance of parents, teachers or friends in ordinary life. Key terms: mṛtyu / मृत्यु: death; jātibheda / जातिभेद: distinctions of birth; guru/śiṣya / गुरु-शिष्य: teacher/student roles. 1 (compare 3, 4)
Verse 6 ·
shloka-006Meaning: I am without dividing conceptual determinations and without bounded form; the verse speaks of all-pervading awareness beyond the range of the senses. It then denies that liberation, or a definable thing-to-be-known, fixes the Self's identity. I am consciousness and bliss: I am Shiva. I am without dividing conceptual determinations and without bounded form; the verse speaks of all-pervading awareness beyond the range of the senses. It then denies that liberation, or a definable thing-to-be-known, fixes the Self's identity. I am consciousness and bliss: I am Śiva. Textual caution: the scanned witness's na cāsāṅgataṃ is not securely parsed and is not translated here as if uncontroversial. Explanation: Nirvikalpa indicates freedom from conceptual partition; nirākāra denies a finite defining shape. The phrase vibhutvāc ca sarvatra sarvendriyāṇām points toward all-pervasiveness rather than omnipotence claimed by an individual personality. The third line is an unusually unstable part of the hymn: the selected print and Wikisource contain a difficult na cāsāṅgataṃ … na meyaḥ, while a well-known performance recension says sadā me samatvaṃ na muktir na bandhaḥ. Other electronic texts present further variants. These are not interchangeable quotations. The specific sense of asāṅgatam and the printed long vowel require philological checking; no confident word-by-word gloss is invented. The refrain expresses non-duality, not escape from civic, familial or bodily responsibility. Key terms: nirvikalpa / निर्विकल्प: beyond conceptual divisions; nirākāra / निराकार: without limited form; meya / मेय: object of knowledge. 1 (compare 3, 4)
Colophon
Meaning: The printed colophon states that the six-verse Nirvāṇa Ṣaṭkam, traditionally credited to Śaṅkarācārya, is complete. Explanation: A colophon documents how this collected edition labels the text; it is not independent proof of historical authorship and is not counted among the six verses. 1