New Delhi: Chanting 'Om Namah Shivay' has a certain power and the practice can be traced to thousands of years ago. It is a significant type of devotion for the 'Shaivites'. Shaivism is considered to be the oldest living religion in the wolrd and the largest Hindu denominations.
It is believed that chanting 'Om Namah Shivay' is a way to introspect, the sound reverberating from the chant is said to be purified articulation of our deepest nature. It is also is associated with qualities of prayer, divine-love, grace, truth, and blissfulness.
Meaning of the words:
Om: Before the Universe, there was void of vibrations and pure existence. Out of the vibration came the sound of ‘Om’ and then the Universe was formed.
Namah: It means to bow
Shivay: It means Shiva or inner self.
It is said to have five-syllables each representing the five elements of the earth i.e. na ma si va ya; na represents earth, ma water, si fire, va air, and y aether adding up to mean "universal consciousness is one".
Shiva is said to have five activities: to create, to keep up, to pulverize, to disguise, and to effortlessly reveal. This mantra filters our activities and practices tuning them to the purified activities of Shiva, of the source. Our five faculties of smelling, tasting, seeing, feeling, and hearing are likewise filtered and refined. The strength of the earth, the liquidity of water, the hotness of fire, the vaporous and imperceptible nature of air, and ultimately ether or the nature of the room. Chanting of the mantra refines and cleans these components or parts of our being.