Shiva Mahimna Stotra
Shloka 43
Meaning: This Shiva Mahimna hymn has been sung by Pushpadanta. It is Lord Shiva’s favorite hymn. It removes all impurities. Lord Mahesha (Shiva) becomes greatly pleased with the person who memorizes this hymn and recites it regularly with a focused mind.
Reflections: This is the last shloka of Shiva Mahimna Stotra. The recitation of this great hymn purifies our minds and gives us an experience of Lord Shiva’s presence.
How do the impurities of our mind go away by the recitation of this hymn?
Impurities are thoughts. For example, hatred is not good. A mind filled with hatred is an impure mind. The root problem of the hatred is an ignorance that there is only One Existences, Brahman, which is manifesting through various forms.
We hate a person or an object in the world because that person or an object is an obstacle, in some sense, in our mental plan of deriving worldly happiness. We forget that whether we like it or dislike it, that person or an object is also Brahman. Only because of my limited mental selfish plan for worldly happiness we had created these divisions of likes and dislikes. By reciting Shiva Mahimna Stotra and reflecting upon its meaning, we establish the fact in our mind that Lord Shiva as Brahman is appearing in various forms. This establishes ‘Oneness’ in our thoughts, speech, and actions. Simultaneously, we understand and accept the fact that hatred is caused because of a lack of awareness of Oneness and also because of our selfish idea of worldly happiness created by this ignorance. The more we advance towards Oneness, the more we develop love and acceptance of all and the hatred will get lesser and lesser. This is how we purify our minds from hatred. Similarly, by reciting Shiva Mahimna Stotra, by the grace of Lord Shiva, we can purify our minds from all other impurities.
Here is another way to look at this process of purity. Impurities are thoughts in the mind created by fundamental ignorance of Ultimate Reality. By reciting Shiva Mahimna Stotra and reflecting on its meaning, we fill our minds with pure thoughts. When we fill our minds with more and more pure thoughts and do not feed the impure thoughts, the impure thoughts will eventually die and go away from our minds. When our minds become pure, Lord Shiva shines in our hearts.
Lord Shiva loves all. But, if we develop a love for Lord Shiva by reciting His hymn, and thinking about His glories, then we can experience Lord Shiva’s love in our life. Through this, our life becomes meaningful and gets filled with inner bliss.
As a young boy, during my summer vacation, I used to go to our village house in Pij, Gujarat, India. In this village, there was a Shiva temple in a very serene environment having a lake and bilva trees around. I used to go there often in the morning and recite this Shiva Mahimna Stotra eleven times in the temple. It was a very uplifting experience. I have a deep memory of these recitations. The mind easily gets uplifted if we recite it with devotion and reflect upon the meanings of the shlokas.
This concluding shloka encourages us to memorize the hymn and recite it regularly. Once we memorize it, then we don’t need a book to carry with us. We enjoy singing it anytime, anywhere.
May Lord Shiva bless us all and give us knowledge and devotion. Om Namah Shivaya.
mahendrajani 
Once again excellent analysis of the verse. The entire Shiva Mahimna ws explained very well and I enjoyed the analysis of each the verses.
In this age when memorization is not favored beautiful verses such as these and others are lost to many an individual who look down upon memorization as a very useful tool.
Dear Krishnan: Yes, memorization is a very naturel thing. People who have difficulties in memorizing hymns, or Gita chapters, or Upanishadas’ mantras, many of them naturally memorize the popular songs they like. So, it is a question of liking it. Thanks for your comments.