The Meaning of The Shiva Panchakshar Mantra & The state of Nirvana

Getting Dharma, Arth, Kama and Moksha. These are the collective 4 desires of every grihasth.

Many people in the past have had doubts about what is liberation.

Today, I will be breaking all the myths sadhaks have regarding moksha, the difference between Vishnu and Shiva and who is supreme & I will also explain the real meaning of the 5 lettered Shiva mantra.

At each stage of a human life a person gets a chance to fulfill each of the purusharth.

In these, those who are unwilling to get out of material attachments, remain stuck there and there.

Those who are desirous of swarg do daan, punya,etc. However, you must understand that pious deeds can only give heaven, not nirvana. It cannot give moksha.

Moksha means to be free from the cycles of birth and death.

And as long as there are karmas, it is not possible to be free from this cycle.

Every karma that we have ever done and it's nature, has come from the human mind.

The kind of mindset and motive a person has while performing a karma, is what decides whether it is a good karma or bad karma.

Ravan got destroyed because he considered himself parmeshwar out of pride.

Shri Shankaracharya he considered himself to be Parameshvar, but he still got moksha because he considered himself to be Satchitaanand I.e. Para Brahma and never separate from it.

The difference between Ravan and Shankaracharya was that Ravan considered himself different from Para Brahma while Shri Shankaracharya always knew that he is an ansh of God himself.

Even though the whole world considers that Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu, Lord Rudra or Mother Gayatri is the supreme according to their own schools, you must know that they all are part of the material & cosmic world.

The knowledge about his responsibility for the five deeds is supremely confidential. The 5 Universal deeds – Creation, Maintenance, Destruction, Tirobhava and Grace – are all his eternal capabilities.

Even though Lord Shiva is causer of the 5 kinds of actions, you must know that is already above this.
It is Lord Shiva who is the doer of the 5 kinds of actions viz. Creation, Preservation, Destruction, Disappearance/Illusion (Tirobhava) and Grace(Anugraha).

It is using these 5 qualities that Lord Shiva has created this world and still, separate from it. To take burden of these 5 deeds, Lord Shiva takes the 5 faces.
Without the Grace of Lord Shiva, Brahma cannot do creation and without grace of Lord Shiva, Lord Vishnu cannot do maintenance of this world.

परमोऽस्मि परात्परः ।
He is supreme, greater than the great, and supreme of the supreme.

शांतोअस्मि पुरुषोत्तमः ।
He is the quiescence, the supreme among all souls.


The Para Brahma took the form of Lord Sadashiv with 5 faces viz. Sadyojaat, Aghor, Vamadev, Tatpurush and Ishaan.


Tatpurush is Tureeya(Fourth state) which is beyond the 3 common states - Vaishvanara, Taijasa and Pragya. He is Para Brahma. He is the ultimate truth, worshipped by even Lord Brahma and Vishnu.


All those Gods and humans, who are under oblivion, by the illusion of Maheshwara, would not understand properly, that He is the teacher of the universe, is the causer of all causes. His shape is imperceptible. He cannot be perceived from the human eye, niether can he be perceived by the panch tatvas, for he is beyond them.


The world is shining like a blazing fire, due to the Para Brahma who is the causer of the 5 deeds.

The person who wants to reach the state of para Brahma must chant the 5 lettered mantra which starts with न and ends with य.

The mantra which seems like a simple salutation mantra  of the 5 letters, represent the 5 faces of the Para Brahma.


The 5 letters of the mantra starting from न and ending with य represent the 5 faces viz. Sadyojaat, Aghor, Vamadev, Tatpurush and Ishaan respectively. One should understand that every form of human being, god, demon, plant animals and every non living object is of the creation of these 5. 

One who studies this soul of panch para brahma by chanting their mantra shines as bright as para brahma itself.

Meditating on the Supreme Parameshwara, who is accompanied by Mother Uma, powerful, blue necked, three eyed and tranquil, the man who worships Lord Rudra, reaches him, who is the source of all, who is the creator of all and who is the witness of everything.It is Shiva alone who is taught in the vedas, He is the revealer of Vedanta and upanishad.

Lord Rudra is one and only one. There is none second to him. He rules all the world by his power.
That one and only one is also called as Ishaan, who rides Nandi and carries trishul in his hands.
He is the ultimate lord and supreme of all beings.

It is these 5 faces which perform the 5 deeds, which are the creators of 5 elements, which are the creators of 5 spritiual bodies in this material world, it is the creator of the 5 lettered Shri Sharada Mahavidya. It is through this form, that is the creator of the most sacred tree in the world with 5 leaves on each leaf stunt.

The 5 forms are the creators of the the 5 parts of purushcharya, the creators of the 5 forms of good qualities.

1) Sadyojaat - The Sadyojaat is the creator of element of Earth. He alone is the sun, Goddess Lakshmi, Brahma, the Pranav, Rig Veda, the Garbhpatyagni(household fire), the 7 crore mantras, the 7 crore uupmantras, the 7 swaras viz. Sa,Ri, Ga,Ma, Pa, Dha & Ni, and has yellow colour. He is the giver of all that is wished for.

2) Aghor - He is the element of water and is the moon, Goddess Parvati, Yajur Veda, blue colour of the clouds, the dakshin-agni and 50 Matruka & their Goddesses. He is destroyer of all sins, remover of all evils and giver of all riches.

3) Vamadev - He gives great knowledge and destroys all sins.He is the source of fire burning brighter than crores of suns. He is the Sama Veda, Eight types of songs, courageous tone, ahwaneeyagni, power of knowledge and power to destroy and has grey colour. It gives full consciousness and rules over all the three worlds, is spread over all the three worlds, gives all types of luck and results of actions performed.

4) Tatpurush - Tatpurush is with 8 letters(Aa, Ka, Cha, Ta, Tha, Pa, Sa, Ya) and is in the 8 petaled lotus, He is the Vayu Tatva. It has five fires, he is the protector of effects of mantras, personification of the 50 matrukas. He is the Atharva Veda. He is the chief of the ghost's army which comprises of millions of ghosts, is extremely big, red coloured, gives whatever is asked for. He is the medicine for worry & diseases and the he is the one who handles the creation, upkeep & destruction. He is the basis of all strengths, both paraa & apara & the third, para-aparaa. He is the thureeya state which is beyond the three normal states and is what is called as Brahman. He is worshipped by brahma, vishnu and Shiva. It is the philosophy from which all others originate.

5) Ishana - He is the supreme of the supreme. He is witness of gyaan and is the activator of the brain. It is the Aakash(Antariksh/Space) Tatva and hence cannot be seen. He is the one who makes the sound of Om. He is the creator of all the devas. He is peaceful and yet beyond peace. He is Aa letter which is the head of all the vowels. It is the form of pancha brahma and he is the one who undertakes the five deeds. He hides the panchbrahma within himself and exists by itself and shine beyond the panch brahmas by its light.

After understanding this philosophy of him, one should understand that every form, earth, fire, water, sun, moon, plants,light, darkness, living, dead, birds,animals, humans, male, female,soil, everything to be nothing but him. All of this is him and at the end of the world, all of this will again merge back into him.


The supreme among all are the pancha brahma. And supreme among all the panch brahma is Ishana. He himself is what we call Sanatana. Sanatana is nothing but the name of Lord Ishana. And the dharma followed by all the three worlds is called as Sanatana Dharma i.e. The dharma of Lord Ishana.

All the philosophies in this world are a creation of him. Beyond Lord Shiva is Uma. And beyond Uma is Lord Shiva. Thus, everything is nothing but him. The hansa mantra is nothing but them.

All the philosophies and schools are nothing but the various ways of reaching Lord Shiva. Vedic, Vaishanav, Shakt, Shaiv, Ganapatya, Saur, Kaul, Dikshinachar, Siddhantachar, Buddhism, Jainism - all of these are nothing but the path of the Para Brahma Lord Shiva. Their names and methods may be different, but they all are paths of Lord Shiva. 

There is nobody supreme than him neither will there ever will be.
There are 2 pranava, the sthul pranav and sookshma pranava.
Om is sookshma pranav & the panchakshar mantra is the sthul pranava.

Both of which according Shiva Puran have 5 letters. 

However in reality, Om Mantra has eight letters.
They are - A,U,M,Naad, Bindu, Kala, Kalateeta, Tatparaha.

The 5 letters of the Shiva Panchkashar mantra represent - land, water, fire, air, and space. Each letter of the mantra are body of the panch brahma.

The panchakshar mantra is more than just a salutation mantra. It is the creation of Sanatana Dharma. It is the mantra from whom Sanatana Dharma has been created.
But you must know, that this Sadashiva is above lord Brahma, Vishnu And Rudra.

Lord Sadashiva is the creator of Uma and Uma is the creator of Lord Sadashiva.

Lord Vishnu has come from Uma. They are nothing but the creations of Lord Sadashiva. Lord Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra are nothing but Lord Shiva.
Out of all the gods, Lord Rudra is the supreme. But even more supreme than him is Lord Ishana who is Sanatana.
Lord Vishnu is Rudra and Lord Rudra is Vishnu. There is no difference between them.
From the soul, all are Sadashiva.

The only difference between them is their body and their path of spirituality which the mundane humans consider to be real. The para Brahma is the supreme. He doesn't have body, neither he has the 5 senses. he is beyond that.

By reciting the panchakshar mantra, the sadhak gets instant grace of the para Brahma and instantly becomes fearless; and by regular practise, attains him and whatever else he may desire.

By chanting the Sukshma pranav 9 crore times, the sadhak becomes pure.
By chanting it 18 crore times, he wins over prithvi tatva. I.e. he is able to create a material body and remove it again at will.
By chanting it 27 crore times, he wins over water tatva.
By chanting it 36 crore times, he wins over abhit tatva.
By chanting it 45 crore times, he wins over vayu tatva.
By chanting it 54 crore times, he wins over space element.

This way, by chanting it in the multiples of 9 crores, he further attains siddhi over gandha, rasa, roopa, touch, words and ego respectively.
By chanting it 108 crore times, he attains moksha and even those things that extremely difficult.
By doing ang nyasa, kar nyasa, rushyadi nyasa and matruka nyasa and performing the japa for 108 crore times, the sadhak becomes a rishi.

Those who have material desires and liberation desires simultaneously must recite the panchakshar mantra only.

Lord Shiva is beyond the 3 states of creation, upkeep and destruction. He takes the forms of Brahma, VIshnu and Rudra for the same.
Lord Rudra, Vishnu and Brahma are nothing but him. They are all the same.
From Lord Ishana, first came Rudra. From Rudra came Lord Vishnu and from Vishnu's navel came Lord Brahma.
However sadhaks, this does not mean that Lord Rudra is greater than Lord Vishnu. Lord Hanuman is also a form of Lord Rudra. But that does not mean that Lord Hanuman is inferior than Shiva.

If the sadhaks looks from body, they are all different. But from the soul, they are all the supreme Para Brahma.


It is very unfortunate that a lot of vaishnavas and shaivas, try to explain the supremacy of one over the other without any knowledge, just to win their ego battle and many times also end up saying a lot of insulting statements about the other god.

Sadhaks, do not believe such people, For the real devotee of God is not the one who cares about the supremacy of one god over the other but the one who cares about his devotion, love and service towards his isht dev. For him, it s irrelevant if his god is supreme is not. Neither does such a sadhak want moksha from any other god, even if the other god may be supreme than the former. Such a sadhak never insults or downgrade any other god and respects all gods as he would respect his isht.
That is true devotion.

Hopefully, after reading this article, all the doubts in the minds of the sadhaks will forever be clear about the doubt supremacy between Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu.

Whether you worship Vishnu or Shiva or Uma, they are nothing but different ways of reaching the final truth I.e. the Sanatana, Lord Ishaan.


Jay Shri Rama
Jay Veer Hanuman