Sri Shiva Raksha Stotram

Eleven-odd verses of protection, recited before a journey, at night, or over a child who is unwell. The viniyoga names rishi Yajnavalkya, devata Sadashiva, chhandas anushtup. Each verse hands one part of the body to one form of Shiva, and the last of them closes the circle with sarvaangaani sadaashivah - all the limbs, Sadashiva - so that nothing is left outside the armour.

Significance

The closing verse of this stotra says something you do not often find: Narayana gave this kavacha to Yajnavalkya in a dream. A protective armour of Shiva, handed over by Vishnu, while the rishi slept. Vaishnava and Shaiva households in Karnataka both recite it, and that line is part of why - the text does not belong to a quarrel.

The phala-shruti is direct. One who recites it enjoys what he desires and, at the end, reaches sayujya with Shiva. Graha, bhuta and pishacha are said to flee at the sound of Shiva's names in it - that is the text speaking, in the idiom of its time about affliction and fear. Tradition treats the stotra as a nitya practice rather than an emergency measure: something you say every morning so that the armour is already on, not something you reach for after trouble arrives.

How and when to chant

Morning, after a bath, facing east - that is the ordinary use, and it takes under three minutes. Monday and Pradosha carry it further. People also say it before setting out on a journey, standing at the door, and in many homes an elder recites it at the bedside of a child who is frightened or sick.

Because it is a kavacha, recite it slowly enough to follow the body downward as the verses move - head, forehead, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, throat, shoulders, arms, hands, then the trunk and the legs - and let the last line, sarvaangaani sadaashivah, land as the seal it is. No offering is prescribed. Vibhuti on the forehead before starting is common in Karnataka households, and some end by touching the ash to the crown. If you are reciting for someone else, the usual practice is to sit facing them and finish by placing the palm lightly on their head. There is no count attached to this text; once a day, kept up, is what is asked.