[Advaita-l] sri chandrashekhara ashtakam by sri shankaracharya

[latha vidyaranya]

hari om
  namaste
  yes, ravishankarji, it is a composition of markandeya muni. i learnt its meaning from a sanskrit teacher and it is wonderful. 
  in the last stanza "mrutyu bheetha mrukanda soonu krutastava" - it is evident that it was composed by markandeya - son of mrukanda muni.
  thanks for the short episode that you have mentioned.
  the adhyaatmic meaning of "chandrashekaramaashraye mama kim karishyati vai yamah" - worshipping shiva or chandrashekara can make you win over yama - arthaath, you attain jnaana which makes you realize that there was no birth in the first place and hence no death at all to fear !
  the meter is so wonderful that you feel like dancing as you chant the shloka. it elevates you so much that you feel blessed to have learnt the shloka.
  hari om
  namaste

Ravishankar Venkatraman <sunlike at hotmail.com> wrote:
  Lathaji,

My understanding is this sloka was originally composed by Markandeya, when 
Yama came to take his life at 16. Lord Siva protected Markandeya and blessed 
him to be a chiranjeevi. Lord Siva also kicked Yama with His foot for 
troubling His devotee who was intensely absorbed in His bhakti.

Ravi



 				
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