Shloka 63
Śiva-nāma-sahasraka-kathana
The Recital/Teaching of the Thousand Names of Śiva
तत्त्वं तत्त्वविदेकात्मा विभुर्विष्णुर्विभूषणः । ऋषिर्ब्राह्मण ऐश्वर्यजन्ममृत्युजरातिगः
tattvaṃ tattvavidekātmā vibhurviṣṇurvibhūṣaṇaḥ | ṛṣirbrāhmaṇa aiśvaryajanmamṛtyujarātigaḥ
He is Tattva itself—the very Reality—and the Self known to the knowers of Reality. All-pervading and all-sustaining, He is the true adornment of the worlds. He is the Ṛṣi and the pure Brahmin principle, sovereign in power, transcending prosperity and decline, birth, death, and old age.
Suta Goswami
Tattva Level: pati
Shiva Form: Sadāśiva
Mantra: तत्त्वं तत्त्वविदेकात्मा विभुर्विष्णुर्विभूषणः । ऋषिर्ब्राह्मण ऐश्वर्यजन्ममृत्युजरातिगः
Type: stotra
Role: teaching
FAQs
The verse identifies Shiva as tattva—the supreme reality—and as the one inner Self realized by tattvavids. In Shaiva Siddhanta language, it points to Pati (Shiva) as the transcendent Lord who liberates the bound soul (paśu) from the cycle of birth, death, and decay.
Though it praises Shiva’s nirguna transcendence (beyond birth and death), it supports saguna worship by teaching that the all-pervading Lord can be approached through a sacred form—such as the Linga—where devotees contemplate the one Self (ekātmā) present in all.
A practical takeaway is tattva-dhyāna: meditate on Shiva as the all-pervading inner Self while repeating the Panchakshara mantra “Om Namaḥ Śivāya,” cultivating detachment from fear of death and decay and seeking Shiva’s grace for liberation.