trimantra - Jain Library

Trimantra 33 34 Trimantramany shankaras. When a person achieves a state void ofattachment or abhorrence (samata), he becomes a shankara(Sam= impartial; kara=doer); he becomes impartial, unreactive,the doer of that which is in balance. Therefore there are manyshankaras and they are all at a very high spiritual state, in otherhigher worlds. The one who propagates equanimity is a shankara.When you chant the mantra, ‘Om Namah Shivaya’, youshould simultaneously visualise the image of Shiva swaroop, theembodiment of salvation.The Reason For IdolsWhen one worships Mahadev, the Lord of the Shaivites,He redirects your ‘letter’ (worship) to the Soul within you,saying ‘This is your correspondence, not mine’. This is calledindirect worship (paroksha bhakti). The same applies to whenone worships Lord Krishna or anyone else for that matter. Suchworship is indirect worship. But what would happen if we didnot have idols and images of these Gods? Without idols peoplewould forget the real God as well as the deity that it represents.That is why idols and deities have been placed everywhere. Sowhen people come across a temple of Mahadev, they do darshanof Mahadev. They can only do darshan if they see the image,right? Seeing the idol will jog their memory will it not? That iswhy idols have been placed everywhere. Ultimately it is all donefor the purpose of recognizing the One that resides within.Jai Sat Chit AnandThe first portion of the Trimantra represents the Jains,then comes the portion for the Vasudevs and the last portionrepresents Shiva. And ‘Sat Chit Anand’ includes everyone: theMoslems, the Christians, everyone else. Jai means glory. Satmeans eternal. Chit means the complex of vision and knowledge.Anand means bliss. Therefore, Sat Chit Anand means that thepure awareness of the eternal is bliss.Therefore Sat Chit Anand encompasses the mantra of allpeople.When you recite the complete mantra and because it isan impartial mantra, God will be pleased with you. If you remainpartial towards one mantra and keep saying ‘Om NamahShivaya’, it will not please the representatives and protectors ofthe path of other Gods. By reciting them together, you keep allof them happy.The path of liberation through reciting the Trimantra is forthe one who is beyond any sectarian insistence of his ownmantra. It is for the one who sublimates his ego, insistence andopinions and accepts the Trimantra.There are still many different kinds of people in India. It’snot as if India is done with. It can never come to an end. It isthe heritage, the core birthplace of all the Aryas – the originalrace! And a land where tirthankaras were born! Not only thetirthankaras but the birthplace of all the sixty-three shalakapurush, such is this land!The Thundering Roar Of The TrimantraMany people recite the mantra quietly in their mind but atthe same time their mind is muddled with so many other thingsthat the mantra gives no benefit. That is why you are told to finda place where you can be alone and then recite the mantra outloudly. It is fine if I do not say it out loud but all of you should.My mind is different altogether.Whenever you are in an isolated place, you should recitethis Trimantra in a loud voice. When you are by a river or astream, you should say it out loud, loud enough to rattle yourbrain!Questioner: The explosion that is created by speakingloudly will reach everywhere. So it is understandable why themantra should be said out loud.