Regarding Pancaksari Mantra

[Yasoda Jivan dasa]

Respected scholars,

I have a small doubt and seek your kind clarification.

Recently, I came across the following verses in the Skanda Purāṇa (3.3.1.10-11) in the context of the Pañcākṣarī mantra ( [oṁ] namaḥ śivāya) :

tasmāt sarva-prado mantraḥ so’yaṁ pañcākṣaraḥ smṛtaḥ |
strībhiḥ śūdraiś ca saṅkīrṇair dhāryate mukti-kāṅkṣibhiḥ || 10 ||

“Therefore, this five-syllabled mantra is declared to be the bestower of all attainments. It may be practiced (recited) even by women, Śūdras, and persons of mixed caste who desire liberation.”

nāsya dīkṣā na homaś ca na saṁskāro na tarpaṇam |
na kālo nopadeśaś ca sadā śucir ayaṁ manuḥ || 11 ||

“For this mantra, there is no requirement of initiation (dīkṣā), nor homa, nor any saṁskāra, nor tarpaṇa. There is no restriction of time nor even a specific instruction. This mantra is eternally pure.”

According to these verses, it appears that the Pañcākṣarī mantra can be chanted without formal initiation. However, I have observed that many scholars disagree and maintain that one should not chant this mantra without receiving proper dīkṣā.

In the context of Vaiṣṇavism—for example, within the Madhva Sampradāya—the chanting of the Pañcākṣarī mantra may be done during Śiva worship, yet practitioners do not formally take dīkṣā in a Śaiva lineage for this purpose. Similarly, there are many Śaiva and Śākta practitioners who worship Viṣṇu using Viṣṇu mantras, even though they have received dīkṣā in a different mantra.

This raises a broader question: how can a practitioner who has taken initiation in one mantra or tradition legitimately chant mantras of other deities or perform sādhana related to them?

Furthermore, with specific reference to the Pañcākṣarī mantra:

• What is the actual prescribed process of its practice?

• Is dīkṣā necessary or not?

• If it is not required, then how can one attain mantra-siddhi?

I humbly request your guidance on these points.

[Abhishek Mehta]

Well, you have already answered the question yourself. Deeksha is not compulsory. The necessity of deeksha is a modern convention. We have numerous examples of like Vishwamitra, Ekalavya, Shwetaketu, Matanga etc. who did not receive any conventional deeksha for any of the knowledge/siddhis they ever acquired.

Mantra-siddhi can simply be achieved via abhyasa which is exactly what each of the personalities did above.

On Tue, Mar 17, 2026, 9:08 PM Yasoda Jivan dasa <sriradh...@gmail.com> wrote:

Respected scholars,

I have a small doubt and seek your kind clarification.

Recently, I came across the following verses in the Skanda Purāṇa (3.3.1.10-11), the context of the Pañcākṣarī mantra ( [oṁ] namaḥ śivāya) :

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[Menam maniteja]

Iam not a pandit, and I don't even know sanskrit. 

But, from whatever I have learnt from gurus, I want to answer this question.

I heard that Sri Appayya Deekshita also mentioned that  "Namah Shivaya" can be given as Upadesha to all. 

As per my gurus, and ShudraKamalakara - Shiva Panchakshara upadesha to shudras should be given as Namah antha, I mean, "Shivaya Namah", not "Namah Shivaya", as it is a Veda mantra which has to be chanted with swaras. So, people with no Veda adhikara can chant Shivaya Namaha without pranava.

Without Upadesha, it is called Saadhya Mantra. With Upadesha, it is called Siddha Mantra.

So, it is safer to chant "Shivaya Namaha" rather than "Namah Shivaya".

Namaskaram.

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[Yasoda Jivan dasa]

What is the method to attain Siddhi of the Panchakshari Mantra for someone who has not received Diksha into Shaivism, such as a practitioner from the Shakta, Vaishnava, or Ganapatya traditions?

[Mahamaho. Subrahmanyam Korada]

नमो विद्वद्भ्यः

with specific reference to the Pañcākṣarī mantra:

• What is the actual prescribed process of its pra१ctice?

• Is dīkṣā necessary०११४ or not?

• If it is not required, then how can one attain mantra-siddhi?

I humbly request your guidance on these points --- यशोदा जीवन दासः

Please note that we do not have an authoritative copy of स्कन्दपुराणम् - just like we have विष्णुपुराणम् , गरुडपुराणम् etc. . Whichever is available

is full of interpolations . 

पञ्चाक्षरीमन्त्रः --

शतरुद्राद्घ च (वार्तिकम्, कौमुदी सू 1230) - चाच्छः - शतं रुद्रा देवता अस्य श्तरुद्रियम् / शतरुद्रीयम् । चच्छयोर्विधानसामर्थ्यात् ’द्विगोर्लुगनपत्ये’ इति न प्रवर्तते ।

The term refers to नमकम् and चमकम् । नमकम् (तैत्ति सं 4-5) is used in क्षीरधारा in याग and चमकम् (तैत्ति सं 4-7) is used in वसोर्धारा in याग - outside both of them are used for रुद्राभिषेक to thwart शनिदोष etc. .

My father (सुब्रह्मण्यः - घनपाठी , षट्च्छास्त्रकोविदश्च) used to recite शतरुद्रियम् everyday - he had had षष्ठाधिपती रविः (मीनलग्नम्) in राज्यस्थानम् (10th) and had to face शत्रुरोगऋणबाधा regularly . After taking शिरःस्नानम् one may recite even in the evening .

Presently I am teaching शतरुद्रीयम् to both of my दौहित्रs (9yrs and 15yrs) along with अरुणम् , व्याकरणम्,ज्योतिषम् etc. .

In 8th अनुवाक of नमकम् we have  this मन्त्र -- नमस्सोमाय च रुद्राय च ...... नमश्शंकराय च मयस्कराय च नमश्शिवाय च शिवतराय च नमस्तीर्थ्याय च ....।

About जप (तज्जपस्तदर्थभावनम् - योगसूत्रम् , 1-28) of a मन्त्र such as पञ्चाक्षरी --

1. The second प्रश्न of तैत्तिरीयारण्यकम् called स्वाध्यायब्राह्मणम्  deals with a number of वेदविधिs( rites ) such as उपवीतधारणा - वेदाध्ययनम् - सन्ध्यावन्दनम् (why and how) - अनध्यायाः - दानम् - व्रतानि (quoted by Patamjali in पस्पशाह्निकम्) - पञ्चमहायज्ञाः (महाभाष्यम्, पत्युर्नो यज्ञसंयोगे पा  etc. .

There is this मन्त्र that deals with वेदाध्ययनम् -- यज्ञोपवीत्येवाधीयीत ( the one who  is with a यज्ञोपवीतम् only should do वेदाध्ययनम् ) . Therefore the one without यज्ञोपवीतम् ( i e who has not undergone the उपनयनविधि ) is not eligible for वेदाध्ययनम् ।

2.One may counter - I shall do without स्वर (एकश्रुति) !

Even for that one should have उपवीतम् ।

वेदs (except सामवेद) should / can be pronounced with एकश्रुति (without the स्वर , viz उदात्त,अनुदात्त,स्वरित etc. as prescribed) in a यज्ञकर्म not in जप - ’यज्ञकर्मण्यजपन्यूङ्खसामसु’ पा 1-2-34 .

'वेदानां सामवेदो’स्मि’ 10-22 भगवद्गीता । ’एकश्रुतिः स्वरसर्वनाम’ - महाभाष्यम्, ’दाण्डिनायनहास्तिनायन.....’ पा 6-4-174 .

While supervising अतिरात्रम् (यागः) in 2012 at Bhadracalam (andhra Pradesh) I tried to recite नमकम् and  चमकम्  in क्षीरधारा and वसोर्धारा  in एकश्रुति

along with other ऋत्विक्s but failed - not accostomed to एकश्रुति !

So the text that is quoted from the so called स्कन्दपुराणम् is baseless and goes against the established tradition .

If one wishes , he may get  proper उपदेश  from a गुरु  and then proceed - eligibility prescribed in शास्त्रs is applicable .

>Similarly, there are many Śaiva and Śākta practitioners who worship Viṣṇu using Viṣṇu mantras, even though they have received dīkṣā in a different mantra.<

The term दीक्षा can be traced to 9th अनुवाक of चमकप्रश्न -- अग्निश्च मे घर्मश्च मे’र्कश्च मे सूर्यश्च मे ...ऋक्च मे साम च मे स्तोमश्च मे यजुश्च मे दीक्षा च मे तपश्च मे ....।

For the दीक्षा during a याग (along with wife - दंपत्योः सहाधिकरात् -- पूर्वमीमांसा 6 अध्ययः) you will find the material in श्रौतसूत्रम् ।

If you want to know about दीक्षा in शैव / शाक्त better refer to works like -- परशुरामकल्पसूत्रम् - त्रिपुरार्णवः - स्वच्छन्दतन्त्रम् - कामकलाविलासः - परमानन्दतन्त्रम् etc. .

I have discussed some aspects of वामाचार , such as नैवेद्यम् for शाकिनी , डाकिनी etc in 2011 on BVP .

I shall quote a couple of things from परशुरामकल्पसूत्रम् --

you may note -- the शैव / शाक्त सिद्धान्त is propounded and expounded by some scholars taking top level works like वेद, उपनिषत्, व्याकरणम् , मीमांसा, वेदान्त, अध्यात्मरामायणम् , सूतसंहिता, पुराणानि etc. .

There are many false claims and misinterpretations of पाणिनिसूत्रs --

1.(p15) कल्पसूत्रस्य वैदिकैः व्याख्येयत्वम् --  अत एव श्रीशंकरभगवत्पादानां तन्त्रानुसारिप्रपञ्चसारनामकनिबन्धनिर्माणमपि साधु सङ्गच्छते (?) ।

2.(p11) अत एव ’तन्त्रेषु दीक्षितः’ इत्यादिवचनानि निन्दारूपाणि वैदिकप्रशंसापराणीति श्रीविद्यारण्यस्वामिभिरपि तथैव व्याख्यातम् (?) ।

3.(p3) अस्मदो द्वयोश्च (पा 1-2-59) - एकत्वे द्वित्वे च विवक्षिते अस्मदो बहुवचनं स्यादिति तदर्थः -- this is not correct -- एकत्वे द्वित्वे च विवक्षिते अस्मदो बहुवचनं वा स्यात्

- is the meaning .

दीक्षाधिकारः --

सू 1. अथातो दीक्षां व्याख्यास्यामः

सू2.भगवान् परमशिवभट्टारकः श्रुत्याद्यष्टादशविद्याः सर्वाणि दर्शनानि लीलया...प्रणीय संविन्मय्या भगवत्या भैरव्या स्वात्माभिन्नया पृष्टः ...पञ्चाम्नायान् परमार्थसारभूतान् प्रणिनाय ।

It means they hold - वेदाः पौरुषेयाः !

I have come across पाणिनिविरोध in a number of places in the commentaries of भास्करराय ।

They quote from many sources but not from ज्योतिषम् and वाक्यपदीयम् । 

Last month I have completed 20 Modules on Philosophy of Language , which covers the complete text of वाक्यपदीयम् , for IKS at IIT ,Hyderabad.

To attain सिद्धि one should have a lot of पूर्वजन्मसुकृतम् ।

धन्यो’स्मि

Dr.Korada Subrahmanyam

Prof of Sanskrit (Retd)

Adj Professor , Dept of Heritage Science and Technology

IIT , Hyderabad

Chairman , Bharateeya Vidvat Parishat

Ph:09866110741

https://sites.google.com/view/koradeeyam/home

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[Kushagra Aniket]

Many namaskāra-mantras or nāma-mantras may appear in the Vedas. They may also appear in loka. Even the names of the devatās may be treated as Vedic mantras simply because they occur in the Vedas. But that does not mean that those who are not initiated into Vedic instruction may not chant them.

What constitutes a mantra and the phala associated with chanting it have to be determined by a competent śāstra. It cannot be decided by us. We cannot claim that a certain śāstra is interpolated merely because we do not agree with it. Even if there is suspicion of interpolation, specific contrary statements from the śāstras must be cited as evidence. The burden of proof lies on the claimant, not on the said śāstra.

However, even if the Skanda-purāṇa verses are not taken as authoritative, I offer references from other Purāṇas:

अन्त्यजो वाधमो वापि मूर्खो वा पण्डितोऽपि वा ।
पञ्चाक्षरजपे निष्ठो मुच्यते पापपञ्जरात्॥
(शिवपुराण, रुद्रसंहिता १२.३७)

नारी वाऽथ नरो वाऽथ ब्राह्मणो वाऽन्य एव वा ।
नमोऽन्तं वा नमःपूर्वमातुरः सर्वदा जपेत् ॥
(शिवपुराण, विश्वेश्वरसंहिता १७.१२८-१२९)

This clearly shows that both namaḥ śivāya and śivāya namaḥ can be chanted. Other references can also be given.

This does not deny the fact that there are texts that stipulate other conditions for the upadeśa and japa of the pañcākṣara-mantra. However, it must be acknowledged that the tradition also recognizes the chanting of this mantra even without formal dīkṣā.

[Yasoda Jivan Dasa]

Respected Subramanyam Ji,

I would like to seek your guidance regarding the principles governing the chanting of mantras in eka-śruti or without svaras. I would be grateful if you could kindly elaborate on the rules and guidelines associated with this practice ( preferably Sastra Vakya) .

In particular, I wish to understand the conditions under which one may chant mantras in eka-śruti, especially in the contexts of japa and homa. It is commonly observed that in japa, particularly with shorter mantras such as the Aṣṭākṣarī and Pañcākṣarī, strict attention is not always paid to svaras.

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