Shiva Mahimna Stotra

Shloka 36

Meaning:  Initiation, charity, austerity, pilgrimage, scriptural knowledge, and performance of rituals like homa and others – the benefit of none of these is equal to one-sixteenth of the benefits one gets by reciting the Shiva Mahimna Stotra.                                                                                              

Reflections: This is one of the concluding shlokas that encourage devotees to read, recite, and meditate on the Shiva Mahimna Hymn.

To learn, recite, and meditate on the essence of the hymns are spiritual practices of Bhakti Yoga. Because it is related to the heart, Bhakti Yoga is easier for many devotees compared to the other paths. Recitations or singing hymns help the mind focus on the form and qualities of the god or goddess mentioned in the hymns. By Lord Shiva’s grace, for many days, I had recited Shiva Mahimna Stotra eleven times while offering ‘Abhishekam’ in a quiet secluded Shiva temple of a village Pij, Gujarat, India. I still remember the spiritual environment created by the recitations which brought absorption and peace within. I used to forget the world around me.

Sri Ramakrishna said again and again that we have to develop love for God. If we do it with understanding, then by God’s grace, the recitation of God’s glories through bhajans, dhoons, and hymns helps us develop love for God.                                                                 

When we develop a love for God, then by God’s grace, we get all the benefits that one gets by practicing all the other three Yogas, performing rituals, giving in charity, going on pilgrimage, or doing any other spiritual practice.

It seems that in the earlier times in India, a hundred percent is compared to the moon shining with all its sixteen phases or ‘kalas’, meaning the moon fully shining with all its glories. Some books say that the fifteen kalas are visible and the 16^th is beyond our visibility.  The fifteen kalas are related to the fifteen days of the waning and waxing phases of the moon. In some books, we find the names of the sixteen kalas of the moon. They are amritaa,  maanadaa,  pusha, tusti, pusti, rati, dhriti, sasini (or sasichini), chandrika, kaanti (or kanta), jyotsna, sri, priti, angadaa, purnaa, and purnamritaa.  The readers can search on the internet or through any other means to get more information regarding these kalas.

Thinking of the above measurement, Pushpadanta tells us that if the benefit of recitation of the Shiva Mahimna Stotra is one hundred percent which is equal to the moon shining with all its sixteen kalas, then the benefit of any other spiritual practice is not equal to even moon shining with only one kala.

 Let us learn Shiva Mahina Stotra, reflect upon its essential meaning, and meditate on Lord Shiva who is nothing but Brahman, the Ultimate Reality.