Sadhguru looks at the significance of the Nirvana Shatakam chant and explores what is being conveyed through it.

Sadhguru: Nirvana means "formless." The Nirvana Shatakam is towards this – you don’t want to be either this or that. If you don’t want to be this nor that, then what do you want to be? Your mind cannot understand this because your mind always wants to be something. If I say, “I don’t want to be this; I don’t want to be that,” you would think, “Oh something super!” Not super. “Oh, so emptiness?” Not emptiness. “Nothingness?” Not nothingness. That’s what is being conveyed through this chant.

 

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Lyrics of NIRVANA SHATAKAM

mano buddhi ahankara chittani naaham
na cha shrotravjihve na cha ghraana netre
na cha vyoma bhumir na tejo na vaayuhu
chidananda rupah shivo'ham shivo'ham

I am not any aspect of the mind like the intellect, the ego or the memory,
I am not the organs of hearing, tasting, smelling or seeing,
I am not the space, nor the earth, nor fire, nor air, I am the form of consciousness and bliss, am Shiva (that which is not)...

na cha prana sangyo na vai pancha vayuhu
na va sapta dhatur na va pancha koshah
na vak pani-padam na chopastha payu
chidananda rupah shivo'ham shivo'ham

I am not the Vital Life Energy (Prana), nor the Five Vital Airs (manifestations of Prana),
I am not the seven essential ingredients nor the 5 sheaths of the body, I am not any of the body parts, like the mouth, the hands, the feet, etc.,
I am the form of consciousness and bliss, I am Shiva (that which is not)...

na me dvesha ragau na me lobha mohau
na me vai mado naiva matsarya bhavaha
na dharmo na chartho na kamo na mokshaha
chidananda rupah shivo'ham shivo'ham

There is no hatred nor passion in me, no greed nor delusion,
There is no pride, nor jealousy in me,
I am not identified with my duty, wealth, lust or liberation, I am the form of consciousness and bliss, I am Shiva (that which is not)...

na punyam na papam na saukhyam na duhkham
na mantro na tirtham na veda na yajnah
aham bhojanam naiva bhojyam na bhokta
chidananda rupah shivo'ham shivo'ham

I am not virtue nor vice, not pleasure or pain,
I need no mantras, no pilgrimage, no scriptures or rituals,
I am not the experience, not the object of experience, not even the one who experiences,
I am the form of consciousness and bliss, I am Shiva (that which is not)....

na me mrtyu shanka na mejati bhedaha
pita naiva me naiva mataa na janmaha
na bandhur na mitram gurur naiva shishyaha
chidananda rupah shivo'ham shivo'ham

I am not bound by death and its fear, not by caste or creed,
I have no father, nor mother, or even birth,
I am not a relative, nor a friend, nor a teacher nor a student, I am the form of consciousness and bliss, am Shiva (that which is not)...

aham nirvikalpo nirakara rupo
vibhut vatcha sarvatra sarvendriyanam
na cha sangatham naiva muktir na meyaha
chidananda rupah shivo'ham shivo'ham

I am devoid of duality, my form is formlessness,
I am omnipresent, I exist everywhere, pervading all senses,
I am neither attached, neither free nor limited, I am the form of consciousness and bliss, I am Shiva (that which is not)...

 

Editor's Note: Learn the Nirvana Shatakam chant online from Isha Samskriti advanced students and alumni through Project Samskriti. Project Samskriti is an endeavor to nurture, preserve and showcase the magnificence of classical Indian arts as possibilities for transformation and inner growth at a time when these art forms are being practiced just as hobbies.