What is the Sri Rudram?

Origin

The Sri Rudram — also called Rudra Praśna or Śata-rudrīya — is one of the most venerated hymns in the Vedic tradition. It is drawn from the Krishna Yajurveda, specifically from the Taittirīya Saṃhitā (4.5 for the Namakam, 4.7 for the Chamakam), where it is preserved as part of the Yajurvedic liturgy used in the Rudra homa.

“There is no mantra higher than the Gāyatrī, and no hymn higher than the Rudram.” — a saying repeated across many traditions of Vedic study.

Structure

The hymn is divided into two parts, each containing eleven anuvakas (sections):

• Namakam — named for the repeated use of the word namaḥ (“salutation”). It is a great litany of salutations to Rudra in every conceivable form.
• Chamakam — named for the refrain cha me (“and for me”). It is a long, cumulative prayer in which the reciter asks for everything needed for a complete life — physical, moral, and spiritual.

Together they contain roughly 105 verses and over 350 distinct Sanskrit words, each of which this site attempts to explain.

Why these two halves together?

The traditional view is that Namakam without Chamakam is incomplete, and Chamakam without Namakam is presumptuous. One must first offer salutations — acknowledging the vastness, fierceness, and immanence of the Lord — before one asks anything of Him. Likewise, merely saluting without ever turning to ask for grace is seen as incomplete worship.

Who is Rudra?

Rudra is an ancient Vedic name of the deity whose later form is Lord Śiva. In the Rudram He is addressed in paradoxes: fearsome and peaceful, wielder of weapons and bestower of blessings, dweller of mountain and forest, present in kings and artisans, thieves and seers, elements and directions. The hymn is essentially a teaching that the Lord is everywhere, in every form, and worthy of salutation in all of them.

How to use this site

This site is structured to be useful both to those who want to chant the hymn and those who want to understand it.

1. Browse the Anuvakas — the Namakam and Chamakam index pages list all 22 sections with short thematic summaries.
2. Open any Anuvaka — each verse appears in Devanagari, followed by IAST-style English transliteration, a plain-language meaning, and a word-by-word breakdown.
3. Move linearly — prev/next controls at the foot of each page let you walk through the hymn in the traditional order.

A note on method

The meanings given here are drawn from classical commentaries and are rendered in plain, accessible English. Where multiple valid interpretations exist, the most widely accepted one is used; where a word carries layered meaning, that is noted.

This site is not a replacement for a teacher. It is a reading aid — the kind of book one keeps open beside a recitation, glancing across when a word or phrase wants to be understood more deeply.

Credits

Sanskrit text is presented from the standard Taittirīya Saṃhitā recension. Transliteration follows the IAST convention. Design, typography, and structure are original to this project.

If you notice an error in text or meaning, please let us know — this site is intended to be of service, and accuracy matters.