Thread by @SparesofWar

Seriyana loosu. This is why I said Eelam activists are better off doing kuthu rap instead of worrying about whether Shiva is Vedic or not. Then these same people say Om Namah Shivaya. Adding Om and Nama: automatically makes it a mantra.

**Long thread alert**

https://twitter.com/dwomanislavanya/status/1432623370567393281

Mantras are only found in Vedas, not in the common tongue. Anyways, her perspectives matter zilch. What is more alarming is how a proper Thirumurai vakyam such as Anbe Sivam is being twisted and appropriated for nefarious agendas and how SM is brazenly peddling the same nonsense.

Yasya nishvasitam Vedaa: yo vedebhyo akhilam jagat | Nirmame tam aham vande vidyaatirtha Maheshvaram ||
One Whose very breath is the Veda using which the entire Creation was made, I bow down to Maheswara Who purifies with His wisdom.
So, if Vedas are really His own breath, how

can one draw stupid faux ethnic identities denying His indication in the Vedas? This has no rationale even to the self-proclaimed rationalists.

Let's attempt to understand what the naama Shiva means. I believe this foundation is important before we go on to understand any Naama vaibhavam. Do note that in SD, the Naama and the Naami are indifferent. In fact, Bhaktas consider the Naama to be greater since

mere utterance of the name can confer the merits of both Saguna and Nirguna upaasana in one go. For eg, Thyagaraja Swamy says, "Naa japa varna rupama" (Aren't you the form that emerges out of my japa) in the excellent composition, Naa jeevaadhara.

Now, consider this. Raama Naama is just sound. But when you continuously chat the name, slowly you will recollect various episodes from the Ramayana and eventually your mind starts envisioning a form. So, the formless aspect of sound has eventually created a form that is easy

for upaasana. Having known this, let's go back to concept of Shiva as a Vedic diety and the Mahatyam of Shiva naama, which was propounded by none other than Sri Krishna Himself (yet we see people fighting over supremacy lol). Krishna says in the Mahabharata to Yudhisthira,

Na gathi karmanam saakya vethumesasya tatvata: |
Hiranyagarbha pramukha Deva Sendraa Maharshaya: ||
The greatness of Shiva cannot be understood neither by Brahma, Indra, or the great sages.

Every naama has both a loukika and a paaramaarthika (aloukika) meaning. Rishis have given us naamas as an easy way of emancipation. Naamas are verily mantras and are the shabda form of Brahman. Therefore, even if we don't know the aloukika artha, the benefits will not diminish.

This just like how fire burns irrespective of whether one touches it knowingly or unknowingly. From a very loukika understanding, Shiva simply means One who is auspicious. Sham karothi iti Shankara: One who does always good and mangalakaram.

Unlike what the OP ignorantly claims, Shiva naama is interspersed throughout both Nigama (Vedas) and Aagama. Some are also showing dichotomy between Shiva and Rudra. However, those claims are not correct.

Shiva Purana explicitly states,
Shive trigunasambhinnai Rudro tu gunadhaamani |
Vasthutho na hi bhedosthi svarne tadbhushane tathaa||
There is no diff b/n Shiva who is beyond the three gunas and Rudra who possesses them just like there's no diff b/n gold and gold ornaments.

Since mantras are not to be taught in public, I am not writing them with swaras and intonations. For anything to be called a mantra, it needs to have 7 basic components.
Rishi, Chandas (meter), Devata (Diety), Beeja (root syllable), Shakti, Keelaka (process), and Viniyoga (use)

For Rudramprashna, the mantra nyasa goes as follows:
Aghora Rishi:
Anushtup Chanda:
Sankarshanamurthi swarupo yoshavaaditya:
Paramapurusho sa esha Rudro Devata
Namassivayeti Bijam
Shivataraya yeti Shakti:
Mahadevaayeti Keelakam
Sri Sambhasiva prasaada siddhyarte jape Viniyoga:

It is clearly evident that Nama Shivaya is in fact the bijam for Rudram. Shiva comes at several places in the chant. And depending on in which Veda and within Rudram itself, these 7 components keep changing because these mantras were likely given to different Rishis at diff times

and compiled by Vyasa in Dwapra Yuga For instance, for the mantra Ya te rudra Shiva tanuraghoraapaapakaashini |
Tayaa nastanuvaa shantamayaa girishamtaabhichaakasheehi ||
Oh Parameswara. Grant us pleasures with your calm demeanor, grace us with auspiciousness and with Atmagnaana.

The Rishi for this mantra is Kashyapa, Chandas is Swaraatanushtup and Devata is Shambhu. Likewise, the word Shiva appears several times in the Rudram.

Nama: Shambhave cha Mayobhave cha Nama: Shankaraayacha Mayaskaraaya cha Namah Shivaya cha Shivataraayacha. The Panchaakshari is derived from this mantra of the Rudram.

Let's now look at a Vedantic perspective. Many think that Shankaracharya discovered or created Advaita. That is not correct. Shankara only retold what has already been expounded in Veda-Vedanta. The origin of Advaita is from this line in the Maandukya Upanishad

Prapanchopasamanam Shaantam Shivam Advaitam chaturdam manyante sa aatma savignena.
Upanishad talks of a fourth state above trigunas called the Turiya state in which everything comes to a halt and becomes unchanging, non-dual, auspicious, and one with the Atman.

Also, anything that attracts and keeps under its control is Shiva. Sarvam vasikrutam yasmat tasmat Shiva iti smrta:
Sarvam yasmin sete sarvasvam yasmete iti Shiva: One in which everything exists and one that exists in everything is Shiva.

Therefore, we can only attempt to understand when someone of the stature of Thirumoolar says Anbe Shivam that it encompasses all the things described above. In fact, He says in the Thirumurai, வேதம் உரைத்தானும் மெய்ப்பொருள் காட்டவே.
He gave the Vedas to help see the Actual thing

We also have another Nayanar named Rudra Pasupathi Nayanar since He dedicated His entire life to Rudram.

As I have alluded earlier in the thread, the soulabhya of Bhagavan is that even if one doesn't really understand all this, His grace does not diminish.

Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita,
Ye yathaa maam prapadhyante taamsthathaiva bhajaamyaham.
I reward in the manner they propitiate Me.
However, that does not mean one comes up with sinister agendas to disconnect something of its true origins. Aum Namah Shivaya 🙏🏻

Therefore, @dwomanislavanya, note that Laavanya in Sanskrit can mean both lavanasya bhaava syaan i.e. salty and also loveliness. What you choose to become is up to you. But take your faux Dravidian pride elsewhere and do not spread nonsense about Hindu Gods.