Shri Shankar Aarti

Meaning

This aarti by Samarth Ramdas Swami is sung on Shravan Mondays, on Mahashivratri and at every Shiva puja.

1. Around his neck swings a garland of skulls; his throat is dark from the poison and fire burns in his third eye. On his head sits the lovely Ganga, and from there pure water flows gently down.

Refrain: Victory to you, Shri Shankar, fair as camphor; we wave the aarti lamp before you.

2. Fair as camphor, innocent, with large eyes; Parvati forms half of his body, flower garlands hang at his neck, sacred ash is scattered over him and his throat is blue — so shines Shankar, beloved of Uma.

3. When the gods and demons churned the ocean, the deadly halahal poison suddenly rose. You drank it to save the world, and so you became famous as Nilakantha, the blue-throated one.

4. Wearing a tiger skin and a serpent, destroyer of Kama, five-faced, enchanting and the joy of sages — Shankar chants the seed of Rama's name a billion times. Ramdas says: Rama, the jewel of the Raghu clan, lives in my heart.