Om Jai Shiv Omkara

Refrain

ॐ जय शिव ओंकारा, स्वामी जय शिव ओंकारा। ब्रह्मा विष्णु सदाशिव, अर्द्धांगी धारा॥ oṃ jaya śiva oṃkārā, svāmī jaya śiva oṃkārā brahmā viṣṇu sadāśiva, arddhāṅgī dhārā Om, victory to Shiva Omkara; victory, master, to Shiva Omkara. Brahma, Vishnu, Sadashiva — you who bear the consort as half of your own body.

Verse 1 — faces and mounts

एकानन चतुरानन पंचानन राजे। हंसासन गरुड़ासन वृषवाहन साजे॥ ekānana caturānana pañcānana rāje haṃsāsana garuḍāsana vṛṣavāhana sāje One-faced, four-faced, five-faced — you are resplendent. Seated on the swan, seated on Garuda, riding the bull — you are adorned. (One face and Garuda are Vishnu's, four faces and the swan are Brahma's, five faces and the bull are Shiva's. The verse gives all three, of one subject.)

Verse 2 — arms, and the three qualities

दो भुज चार चतुर्भुज दसभुज अति सोहे। त्रिगुण रूप निरखते त्रिभुवन जन मोहे॥ do bhuja cāra caturbhuja dasabhuja ati sohe triguṇa rūpa nirakhate tribhuvana jana mohe Two-armed, four-armed, ten-armed — exceedingly beautiful. Beholding the form of the three qualities, the people of the three worlds are enchanted.

Verse 3 — three garlands

अक्षमाला वनमाला मुण्डमाला धारी। त्रिपुरारी कंसारी कर माला धारी॥ akṣamālā vanamālā muṇḍamālā dhārī tripurārī kaṃsārī kara mālā dhārī Wearer of the rosary of beads, of the forest garland, of the garland of skulls. Destroyer of Tripura, enemy of Kamsa, holding the garland in your hand. (Tripurari is Shiva; Kamsari is Krishna. The verse names two deities as one addressee.)

Verse 4 — three garments, three retinues

श्वेताम्बर पीताम्बर बाघम्बर अंगे। सनकादिक गरुड़ादिक भूतादिक संगे॥ śvetāmbara pītāmbara bāghambara aṅge sanakādika garuḍādika bhūtādika saṅge White cloth, yellow cloth, tiger skin upon your body. With Sanaka and his brothers, with Garuda and his kind, with the bhutas and theirs. (White and Sanaka's company are Brahma's, yellow and Garuda's are Vishnu's, the tiger skin and the bhutas are Shiva's.)

Verse 5 — three objects in the hands

कर के मध्य कमंडल चक्र त्रिशूलधारी। सुखकारी दुखहारी जगपालनकारी॥ kara ke madhya kamaṇḍala cakra triśūladhārī sukhakārī dukhahārī jagapālanakārī In the midst of your hands, the water-pot; bearer of the discus and the trident. Maker of happiness, remover of sorrow, sustainer of the world. (Kamandalu, chakra and trishul: Brahma's, Vishnu's and Shiva's respectively.)

Verse 6 — the thesis

ब्रह्मा विष्णु सदाशिव जानत अविवेका। प्रणवाक्षर के मध्ये ये तीनों एका॥ brahmā viṣṇu sadāśiva jānata avivekā praṇavākṣara ke madhye ye tīnoṁ ekā It is by want of discernment that Brahma, Vishnu and Sadashiva are known as three. Within the syllable of the pranava, these three are one.

Closing couplet — and its signature

त्रिगुण स्वामी जी की आरति जो कोई नर गावे। कहत शिवानंद स्वामी मनवांछित फल पावे॥ triguṇa svāmī jī kī ārati jo koī nara gāve kahata śivānanda svāmī manavāñchita phala pāve Whoever sings this aarti of the blessed lord of the three qualities — so says Shivanand Swami — obtains the fruit their heart desires. (Note that the aarti names its subject as Trigun Swami, not as Shiva. The signature is the same one that closes Om Jai Jagdish Hare and Jai Ambe Gauri.)

What does Om Jai Shiv Omkara mean?

Om, victory to Shiva Omkara — Shiva identified with the syllable Om itself. The refrain continues: Brahma, Vishnu, Sadashiva, you who bear the consort as half of your own body. Two claims are made before the first verse: that the three great gods are one addressee, and that this one is half female.

Why does the aarti keep listing three of everything?

Because it is making an argument. One face, four faces, five faces; two, four and ten arms; water-pot, discus and trident; white cloth, yellow cloth and tiger skin. Each triad gives one item to Brahma, one to Vishnu and one to Shiva, and applies all three to a single subject. The accumulation is the case being built.

What does 'pranavakshar ke madhye ye teeno eka' mean?

Within the syllable of the pranava — Om — these three are one. The preceding line says that Brahma, Vishnu and Sadashiva are known as separate only by the undiscerning. It is the aarti's thesis, stated plainly after six verses of implying it, and it draws on the old identification of A, U and M with the three.

Who is Trigun Swami?

Lord of the three qualities — sattva, rajas and tamas, the three gunas of Samkhya cosmology conventionally associated with Vishnu, Brahma and Shiva respectively. The closing couplet calls this the aarti of Trigun Swami rather than of Shiva, which is consistent with everything the poem has been arguing.

What are the five faces of Shiva?

Sadyojata, Vamadeva, Aghora, Tatpurusha and Ishana — a scheme with deep roots in Shaiva theology and visible in temple sculpture, most famously at Elephanta. The aarti uses the term panchanan, five-faced, inside a counting sequence and assumes its listeners recognise it.

Is Om Jai Shiv Omkara sung to the same tune as Om Jai Jagdish Hare?

Yes, and that is the point of it as an example. Same melody, same metre, same Om Jai opening formula, same repetition of the second line, and the same closing signature. It is the cleanest demonstration available that the North Indian aarti repertoire operates as a template.

Who wrote Om Jai Shiv Omkara?

No secure attribution exists. The closing couplet names Shivanand Swami, which is also the name in the closing couplets of Om Jai Jagdish Hare and Jai Ambe Gauri. Whether that indicates one author for all three, a compiler, or a signature that travelled with the template is unresolved, and sources that state it confidently are overstating what is known.

Why does the aarti call Shiva 'Kamsari', enemy of Kamsa?

Because that epithet belongs to Krishna, and the aarti hands it to the same addressee as Tripurari, which belongs to Shiva. It is asserting the identity rather than arguing for it. Read on its own the line looks like an error; read within the aarti's method it is the method itself.

What does 'ardhangi dhara' mean?

The one who bears the consort as half of his own body — the Ardhanarishvara form, in which Shiva and Parvati occupy one figure divided down the middle. It appears in the refrain, before any verse, so the aarti opens with two unions rather than one.

When is Om Jai Shiv Omkara sung?

At the close of Shiva temple and household puja, particularly on Mondays, through the monsoon month of Shravan, and above all on Mahashivaratri, when it is sung repeatedly through the night. It also closes a rudrabhisheka, the ceremonial bathing of the linga.

Does singing this aarti fulfil wishes?

The closing couplet says whoever sings it obtains the fruit their heart desires. That is the text's own statement, in the phalashruti idiom found at the end of nearly every poem in this genre, and it appears in almost identical words at the end of two other aartis. We report what the text claims rather than restating it as an outcome.

How is this different from a Shiva mantra?

Completely. A mantra such as the Mahamrityunjaya is Sanskrit, is treated as efficacious in its sound, and is usually recited alone and counted. This aarti is Hindi, is sung by a whole room while a lamp is circled, and works by argument and description rather than by sound. They belong to different forms and different moments in worship.

Which is the older text, this or the Mahamrityunjaya?

The Mahamrityunjaya, by a very long way — it is Rigveda 7.59.12, roughly three thousand years old. This aarti is undated, circulates in print from the nineteenth century, and belongs to the same recent vernacular layer as the rest of the North Indian aarti repertoire.