Nirvana Shatakam निर्वाण षट्कम्
Six verses in which the seeker sets aside everything that is not the Self — mind, senses, elements, emotions, duties, kinship, even death — and affirms in each refrain: I am Shiva, consciousness and bliss.
- Deity Shiva
- Type Stotra
- Language Sanskrit
- Tradition Smarta
- Source Brihat Stotra Ratnakara, vol. 1 (1953) — Vol. 1, scan pages 263–264
Source-attributed version Editorially checked
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Shloka 1
मनोबुद्ध्यहङ्कारचित्तानि नाहंmanobuddhyahaṅkāracittāni nāhaṃ
न च श्रोत्रजिह्वे न च घ्राणनेत्रे ।na ca śrotrajihve na ca ghrāṇanetre |
न च व्योम भूमिर्न तेजो न वायु-na ca vyoma bhūmirna tejo na vāyu-
श्चिदानन्दरूपः शिवोऽहं शिवोऽहम् ॥ १ ॥ścidānandarūpaḥ śivo'haṃ śivo'ham || 1 ||
Meaning of this verse
I am not mind, intellect, ego or memory; not the ears or tongue, nor the nose or eyes; not space, earth, fire or air. I am of the nature of consciousness and bliss: I am Shiva, I am Shiva.
Shloka 2
न च प्राणसंज्ञो न वै पञ्चवायु-na ca prāṇasaṃjño na vai pañcavāyu-
र्न वा सप्तधातुर्न वा पञ्चकोशः।rna vā saptadhāturna vā pañcakośaḥ|
न वाक्पाणिपादं न चोपस्थपायूna vākpāṇipādaṃ na copasthapāyū
चिदानन्दरूपः शिवोऽहं शिवोऽहम् ॥ २ ॥cidānandarūpaḥ śivo'haṃ śivo'ham || 2 ||
Meaning of this verse
I am not what is called the life-breath, nor the five vital airs; not the seven bodily tissues, nor the five sheaths; not speech, hands or feet, nor the organs of generation and excretion. I am consciousness and bliss: I am Shiva, I am Shiva.
Shloka 3
न मे द्वेषरागौ न मे लोभमोहौna me dveṣarāgau na me lobhamohau
मदो नैव मे नैव मात्सर्यभावः ।mado naiva me naiva mātsaryabhāvaḥ |
न धर्मो न चार्थो न कामो न मोक्ष-na dharmo na cārtho na kāmo na mokṣa-
श्चिदानन्दरूपः शिवोऽहं शिवोऽहम् ॥ ३ ॥ścidānandarūpaḥ śivo'haṃ śivo'ham || 3 ||
Meaning of this verse
I have no aversion or attachment, no greed or delusion, no pride and no envy. I am not duty, wealth, desire or liberation. I am consciousness and bliss: I am Shiva, I am Shiva.
Shloka 4
न पुण्यं न पापं न सौख्यं न दुःखंna puṇyaṃ na pāpaṃ na saukhyaṃ na duḥkhaṃ
न मंत्रो न तीर्थं न वेदा न यज्ञाः ।na maṃtro na tīrthaṃ na vedā na yajñāḥ |
अहं भोजनं नैव भोज्यं न भोक्ताahaṃ bhojanaṃ naiva bhojyaṃ na bhoktā
चिदानन्दरूपः शिवोऽहं शिवोऽहम् ॥ ४ ॥cidānandarūpaḥ śivo'haṃ śivo'ham || 4 ||
Meaning of this verse
I am neither merit nor sin, neither pleasure nor pain; not mantra, pilgrimage place, Vedas or sacrifices. I am not the eating, not what is eaten, not the eater. I am consciousness and bliss: I am Shiva, I am Shiva.
Shloka 5
न मृत्युर्न शङ्का न मे जातिभेदःna mṛtyurna śaṅkā na me jātibhedaḥ
पिता नैव मे नैव माता च जन्म ।pitā naiva me naiva mātā ca janma |
न बन्धुर्न मित्रं गुरुर्नैव शिष्य-na bandhurna mitraṃ gururnaiva śiṣya-
श्चिदानन्दरूपः शिवोऽहं शिवोऽहम् ॥ ५ ॥ścidānandarūpaḥ śivo'haṃ śivo'ham || 5 ||
Meaning of this verse
I have no death and no fear, no distinction of caste; no father, no mother, and no birth; no kinsman, no friend, no teacher and no disciple. I am consciousness and bliss: I am Shiva, I am Shiva.
Shloka 6
अहं निर्विकल्पो निराकाररूपोahaṃ nirvikalpo nirākārarūpo
विभुत्वाच्च सर्वत्र सर्वेन्द्रियाणाम् ।vibhutvācca sarvatra sarvendriyāṇām |
न चासङ्गतं नैव मुक्तिर्न मेय-na cāsaṅgataṃ naiva muktirna meya-
श्चिदानन्दरूपः शिवोऽहं शिवोऽहम् ॥ ६ ॥ścidānandarūpaḥ śivo'haṃ śivo'ham || 6 ||
Meaning of this verse
I am free of all mental constructs and without form; being all-pervading, I am everywhere, underlying all the senses. I am not bound to anything, there is no liberation for me, and I cannot be measured. I am consciousness and bliss: I am Shiva, I am Shiva.
7
॥ इति श्रीमच्छङ्कराचार्यविरचितं निर्वाणषट्कं सम्पूर्णम् ॥|| iti śrīmacchaṅkarācāryaviracitaṃ nirvāṇaṣaṭkaṃ sampūrṇam ||
Meaning of this verse
Thus ends the Nirvana Shatkam (six verses on liberation) composed by Shri Shankaracharya.
Read in another script: ગુજરાતી বাংলা தமிழ் తెలుగు ಕನ್ನಡ മലയാളം ଓଡ଼ିଆ ਪੰਜਾਬੀ
Text: Brihat Stotra Ratnakara, vol. 1 (1953), scan pages 263–264 (printed pp. 255–256), proofread on Sanskrit Wikisource (https://sa.wikisource.org/w/index.php?title=%E0%A4%AA%E0%A5%83%E0%A4%B7%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A0%E0%A4%AE%E0%A5%8D%3A%E0%A4%AC%E0%A5%83%E0%A4%B9%E0%A4%A4%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B8%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A4%E0%A5%8B%E0%A4%A4%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%A4%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A8%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%95%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%83_%28%E0%A4%AA%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%A5%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%83_%E0%A4%AD%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%97%E0%A4%83%29.pdf/%E0%A5%A8%E0%A5%AC%E0%A5%A9&oldid=320319 and https://sa.wikisource.org/w/index.php?title=%E0%A4%AA%E0%A5%83%E0%A4%B7%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A0%E0%A4%AE%E0%A5%8D%3A%E0%A4%AC%E0%A5%83%E0%A4%B9%E0%A4%A4%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B8%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A4%E0%A5%8B%E0%A4%A4%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%A4%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A8%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%95%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%83_%28%E0%A4%AA%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%A5%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%83_%E0%A4%AD%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%97%E0%A4%83%29.pdf/%E0%A5%A8%E0%A5%AC%E0%A5%AA&oldid=320320; transcluded at निर्वाणषट्कम् (बृहत्स्तोत्ररत्नाकरान्तर्गतम्)). Verified on 11 November 2026 against two independent witnesses: (A) Brihat Stotra Ratnakara, Nirnaya Sagar Press 1912, no. 56, OCR layer on Sanskrit Wikisource (https://sa.wikisource.org/w/index.php?title=%E0%A4%AA%E0%A5%83%E0%A4%B7%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A0%E0%A4%AE%E0%A5%8D%3ABrihat_Stotra_Ratnakara_1912.djvu/%E0%A5%A7%E0%A5%A9%E0%A5%AB&oldid=377813), and (B) Sanskrit Wikisource main page निर्वाणषट्कम् (https://sa.wikisource.org/w/index.php?title=%E0%A4%A8%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B0%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B5%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%A3%E0%A4%B7%E0%A4%9F%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%95%E0%A4%AE%E0%A5%8D&oldid=411221). Comparison by half-verse with cmp.py --loose (anusvara/nasal alike): corrected edition vs A: 10 identical, 2 differing, 0 only in edition, 0 only in witness; letter agreement 95.7%; vs B: 4 identical, 8 differing, 0 only in edition, 0 only in witness; letter agreement 97.2%; uncorrected edition vs B: 4 identical, 8 differing, 0 only in edition, 0 only in witness; letter agreement 97.2%. Editorial decisions: (1) the edition prints the refrain in full only in verse 1 and abbreviates it as 'चिदानन्द ...' / 'चिदा...' in verses 2–6 (the 1912 print likewise, as चिदानंद०); it is expanded from the edition's own verse-1 wording चिदानन्दरूपः शिवोऽहं शिवोऽहम् and set on its own line, with the hyphen split (मोक्ष- / श्चिदानन्द…) that the edition itself uses in verse 1. (2) Three transcription slips corrected on the authority of both witnesses: v.2 पचवायु → पञ्चवायु (A पंचवायु, B पञ्चवायुः); v.2 'ने वा सप्तधातुर्न' → 'र्न वा सप्तधातुर्न' (the hyphenated line break वायु-/र्न was mis-keyed; A वायुर्न वा, B वायुः / न वा); v.6 चासाङ्गतं → चासङ्गतं (A चासंगतं, B चासङ्गतं; the extra ā also breaks the bhujangaprayata metre). (3) A stray Latin full stop after v.5 pada 1 and the printer's signature 'Bruha-9' at the foot of the page were dropped. (4) Edition readings kept against B: v.1 वायु- / श्चिदानन्द (B वायुः चिदानन्द), v.4 मंत्रो with anusvara, न तीर्थं (B न तीर्थो), न यज्ञाः (B न यज्ञः), v.5 माता च जन्म (B माता न जन्म), v.5 न मृत्युर्न शङ्का (B's main reading न मे मृत्युशङ्का, with the edition's as an alternative), v.6 निराकाररूपो (B निराकाररूपः; A's निर्विकल्पी निराकाररूपी is OCR). (5) The 1912 OCR differs only in orthography (anusvara for class nasals, शिवोहं for शिवोऽहं) and OCR noise (गुरुनैव, शिष्यश्विदा, सर्वेद्रियाणाम्). The closing colophon is kept as printed. Verse-by-verse meanings: an in-house paraphrase by the Udyog Jyotish editorial team, not a translation.
The Roman line is IAST transliteration derived from the Devanagari (ā = long a, ṃ = anusvara, ḥ = visarga, ś/ṣ = sh sounds, c = ch as in “church”). In Hindi, Awadhi and Braj texts the silent final “a” is dropped. Transliteration does not show Vedic accents.
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Questions
What is Nirvana Shatakam?
Six verses in which the seeker sets aside everything that is not the Self — mind, senses, elements, emotions, duties, kinship, even death — and affirms in each refrain: I am Shiva, consciousness and bliss.
Who is Nirvana Shatakam associated with?
Nirvana Shatakam is associated with Shiva. Mahadeva, worshipped as the auspicious one, lord of yoga and of transformation; the central deity of Shaiva traditions.
What does Nirvana Shatakam mean?
A short paraphrase, not a translation. I am not the mind, intellect, ego or memory; not the ears, tongue, nose or eyes; not space, earth, fire or air. I am not the breaths, the seven bodily constituents or the five sheaths, nor speech, hands or feet. I have no hatred or attachment, greed or delusion, pride or envy; no duty, wealth, desire or liberation. No merit or sin, pleasure or pain; no mantra, pilgrimage, Veda or sacrifice; I am not the eater, the food or the eating. I have no death or doubt, no caste, no father or mother, no birth; no kinsman, friend, teacher or pupil. I am without ch…
What is the source of Nirvana Shatakam?
Brihat Stotra Ratnakara, vol. 1 (1953) — Vol. 1, scan pages 263–264 (printed pp. 255–256). Tradition: Smarta.
Are there different versions of Nirvana Shatakam?
Recited forms differ in small readings: verse 5 is sung as न मे मृत्युशङ्का न मे जातिभेदः (the edition has न मृत्युर्न शङ्का) and माता न जन्म / माता च जन्म; verse 6 has विभुत्वाच्च सर्वत्र (edition) or विभुर्व्याप्य सर्वत्र, and न चासङ्गतं नैव मुक्तिर्न मेयः or सदा मे समत्वं न मुक्तिर्न बन्धः; verse 4 न तीर्थं / न तीर्थो, न यज्ञाः / न यज्ञः. The refrain is printed once and abbreviated afterwards in both Brihat Stotra Ratnakara prints. The hymn is also called Atma Shatakam.