Mahadev / Shiva Quotes in Sanskrit With Meaning: Bio, WhatsApp Status and Shlokas
Mahadev is the god people quote when they want to say something about who they are underneath everything: fearless of death, beyond praise and blame, at peace with the ash and the snake. So here are the Shiva shlokas people use for an Instagram bio, a WhatsApp status or a tattoo — each one complete, never half a verse, with its Hindi and English meaning and its true source: the Rigveda, the Yajurveda's Shri Rudram, and the great Shiva hymns.
Some of the most searched "Mahadev quotes" — "Shiv sada sahayate", "Shiv hi satya hai", "na kanchit shashvatam" — are modern lines, not scripture; we've explained where they come from near the end.
Mahadev Sanskrit shlokas with meaning
Each card is the whole verse: the Sanskrit, how to read it, and its meaning in English and Hindi. The Vedic verses are from the Rigveda and the Yajurveda's Shri Rudram; the rest are from the Shiva hymns (stotras) people still sing every day. The most widely known come first.
न च श्रोत्रजिह्वे न च घ्राणनेत्रे।
न च व्योम भूमिर्न तेजो न वायुः
चिदानन्दरूपः शिवोऽहं शिवोऽहम्॥
na ca śrotrajihve na ca ghrāṇanetre
na ca vyoma bhūmir na tejo na vāyuḥ
cidānandarūpaḥ śivo'haṃ śivo'ham
उर्वारुकमिव बन्धनान्मृत्योर्मुक्षीय मामृतात्॥
urvārukam iva bandhanān mṛtyor mukṣīya māmṛtāt
गलेऽवलम्ब्य लम्बितां भुजङ्गतुङ्गमालिकाम्।
डमड्डमड्डमड्डमन्निनादवड्डमर्वयं
चकार चण्डताण्डवं तनोतु नः शिवः शिवम्॥
gale'valambya lambitāṃ bhujaṅgatuṅgamālikām
ḍamaḍḍamaḍḍamaḍḍamanninādavaḍḍamarvayaṃ
cakāra caṇḍatāṇḍavaṃ tanotu naḥ śivaḥ śivam
न मन्त्रो न तीर्थं न वेदा न यज्ञाः।
अहं भोजनं नैव भोज्यं न भोक्ता
चिदानन्दरूपः शिवोऽहं शिवोऽहम्॥
na mantro na tīrthaṃ na vedā na yajñāḥ
ahaṃ bhojanaṃ naiva bhojyaṃ na bhoktā
cidānandarūpaḥ śivo'haṃ śivo'ham
भस्माङ्गरागाय महेश्वराय।
नित्याय शुद्धाय दिगम्बराय
तस्मै नकाराय नमः शिवाय॥
bhasmāṅgarāgāya maheśvarāya
nityāya śuddhāya digambarāya
tasmai nakārāya namaḥ śivāya
गरिष्ठरत्नलोष्ठयोः सुहृद्विपक्षपक्षयोः।
तृणारविन्दचक्षुषोः प्रजामहीमहेन्द्रयोः
समप्रवृत्तिकः कदा सदाशिवं भजाम्यहम्॥
gariṣṭharatnaloṣṭhayoḥ suhṛdvipakṣapakṣayoḥ
tṛṇāravindacakṣuṣoḥ prajāmahīmahendrayoḥ
samapravṛttikaḥ kadā sadāśivaṃ bhajāmy aham
विमुक्तदुर्मतिः सदा शिरःस्थमञ्जलिं वहन्।
विलोललोललोचनो ललामभाललग्नकः
शिवेति मन्त्रमुच्चरन् कदा सुखी भवाम्यहम्॥
vimuktadurmatiḥ sadā śiraḥstham añjaliṃ vahan
vilolalolalocano lalāmabhālalagnakaḥ
śiveti mantram uccaran kadā sukhī bhavāmy aham
नमः शङ्कराय च मयस्कराय च
नमः शिवाय च शिवतराय च॥
namaḥ śaṅkarāya ca mayaskarāya ca
namaḥ śivāya ca śivatarāya ca
विभुं व्यापकं ब्रह्मवेदस्वरूपम्।
निजं निर्गुणं निर्विकल्पं निरीहं
चिदाकाशमाकाशवासं भजेऽहम्॥
vibhuṃ vyāpakaṃ brahmavedasvarūpam
nijaṃ nirguṇaṃ nirvikalpaṃ nirīhaṃ
cidākāśam ākāśavāsaṃ bhaje'ham
गिराज्ञानगोतीतमीशं गिरीशम्।
करालं महाकालकालं कृपालं
गुणागारसंसारपारं नतोऽहम्॥
girājñānagotītam īśaṃ girīśam
karālaṃ mahākālakālaṃ kṛpālaṃ
guṇāgārasaṃsārapāraṃ nato'ham
नतोऽहं सदा सर्वदा शम्भु तुभ्यम्।
जराजन्मदुःखौघतातप्यमानं
प्रभो पाहि आपन्नमामीश शम्भो॥
nato'haṃ sadā sarvadā śambhu tubhyam
jarājanmaduḥkhaughatātapyamānaṃ
prabho pāhi āpannamāmīśa śambho
पिता नैव मे नैव माता न जन्म।
न बन्धुर्न मित्रं गुरुर्नैव शिष्यः
चिदानन्दरूपः शिवोऽहं शिवोऽहम्॥
pitā naiva me naiva mātā na janma
na bandhur na mitraṃ gurur naiva śiṣyaḥ
cidānandarūpaḥ śivo'haṃ śivo'ham
सुरतरुवरशाखा लेखनी पत्रमुर्वी।
लिखति यदि गृहीत्वा शारदा सर्वकालं
तदपि तव गुणानामीश पारं न याति॥
surataruvaraśākhā lekhanī patram urvī
likhati yadi gṛhītvā śāradā sarvakālaṃ
tad api tava guṇānām īśa pāraṃ na yāti
यादृशोऽसि महादेव तादृशाय नमो नमः॥
yādṛśo 'si mahādeva tādṛśāya namo namaḥ
Who wrote these hymns?
Only two of the sources above are Vedic: the Mahamrityunjaya mantra (Rigveda) and the Shri Rudram (Yajurveda). The rest are later hymns, and tradition, not history, gives most of their authors. The Shiva Tandava Stotram is traditionally attributed to Ravana — its own last verse calls it the song of “the ten-headed one”. The Nirvana Shatakam and the Panchakshara Stotram are traditionally attributed to Adi Shankaracharya, though scholars debate many hymns credited to him. The Rudrashtakam is certain: Goswami Tulsidas wrote it, in Sanskrit, inside his Awadhi Ramcharitmanas in the 16th century. None of this makes the words less true; it just tells you whose voice you are borrowing.
Famous "Mahadev quotes" that aren't from scripture
-
शिव सदा सहायते"Shiva is always there to help." A much-loved modern devotional line — we print it ourselves. It isn't a shloka: "सहायते" is not a standard Sanskrit verb form. A grammatical Sanskrit sentence with the same sense would be "शिवः सदा सहायः" (our phrasing, not a quotation).Modern devotional phrase · not found in scripture
-
शिव ही सत्य है"Shiva alone is the truth." A modern Hindi line, not a translation of any verse we could find. In Sanskrit it would be "शिव एव सत्यम्" — again our phrasing, not a quotation.Modern Hindi phrase
-
सत्यं शिवं सुन्दरम्"Truth, goodness, beauty." Often called Vedic, but we could not find it in the Rigveda, the Shiva Purana or the Mahabharata. It is also the title of a 1978 Hindi film.Modern phrase · not in the texts we checked
-
न कञ्चित् शाश्वतम्"Na kanchit shashvatam" is a popular tattoo line meant as "nothing is permanent" — but the grammar is off, and no scripture has it. The correct Sanskrit is "न किञ्चित् शाश्वतम्". The closest scripture idea is Krishna's, not Shiva's: "आगमापायिनोऽनित्याः" — they come and go, they don't last (Bhagavad Gita 2.14).Modern phrase · see the FAQ below
-
अंतः अस्ति प्रारंभः"The end is the beginning." A modern Sanskrit-style line — it's on some of our own posters and skins — and it fits Shiva, the destroyer who makes room for creation. But it is not a quotation from scripture.Modern line
-
हर हर महादेवA traditional chant and battle cry, shouted at temples and on battlefields for centuries — but not a verse from any one text.Traditional chant
-
नमो नमो जी शंकरा…A much-loved Shiva song from the Hindi film Kedarnath (2018). It's a modern film song, still in copyright, so we quote only its opening.Kedarnath (2018) · film song
Questions people ask
What does Shivoham mean, and how is it written in Sanskrit?
शिवोऽहम् (śivo'ham) is शिवः + अहम् — “I am Shiva”. The small mark “ऽ” (avagraha) shows a vowel that has merged, so “शिवोहम्” without it is a common misspelling. It is the refrain of the Nirvana Shatakam, traditionally attributed to Adi Shankaracharya: after listing everything the self is not — mind, body, merit, sin — each verse ends “चिदानन्दरूपः शिवोऽहं शिवोऽहम्”, my form is consciousness and bliss, I am Shiva.
What does “Shiv sada sahayate” mean? Is it Sanskrit?
It means “Shiva is always there to help”. It is a modern devotional line, not a shloka from any scripture, and “सहायते” isn't a standard Sanskrit verb form. If you want a grammatical Sanskrit line with the same meaning, “शिवः सदा सहायः” works — but that is our phrasing, not a quotation.
What is “Shiv hi satya hai” in Sanskrit?
“शिव ही सत्य है” is modern Hindi. A correct Sanskrit form is “शिव एव सत्यम्” (Shiva alone is the truth), but neither is a quotation from scripture. If you want a real Vedic line, “नमः शिवाय च शिवतराय च” from the Shri Rudram is a fine choice.
Is “na kanchit shashvatam” from a scripture?
No. It's a modern caption meant as “nothing is permanent”, and the grammar is off — “कञ्चित्” means “someone” as an object. The correct Sanskrit is “न किञ्चित् शाश्वतम्”. The idea is old: in the Bhagavad Gita (2.14) Krishna says pleasure and pain “come and go; they are not permanent” — “आगमापायिनोऽनित्याः”.
Where does “Om Namah Shivaya” come from?
Its five syllables, na-maḥ-śi-vā-ya, are in the Yajurveda's Shri Rudram — “नमः शिवाय च शिवतराय च” (Taittiriya Samhita 4.5.8), the verse on the card above. Chanted on its own with “ॐ” in front, it is the panchakshara (five-syllable) mantra of tradition, and the Shiva Panchakshara Stotram is built on it, one syllable per verse.
Where is the Mahamrityunjaya mantra from?
The Rigveda, Mandala 7, hymn 59, verse 12 — one of the oldest prayers to Shiva as Tryambaka, the three-eyed one. The original has no “ॐ”; reciters add it. The last line, “मृत्योर्मुक्षीय मामृतात्”, asks to be freed from death but not from immortality.
Where do these meanings come from?
The Vedic lines are from the Rigveda and the Yajurveda as published on GRETIL (University of Göttingen). The hymns are from sanskritdocuments.org's texts and the critical edition of the Shiva Mahimna Stotra. The English and Hindi meanings are our own renderings.
Bring the mantra home
