Vaidyanāthāṣṭakam

1 Salutations to Śiva, Who is known as Vaidyanātha, Who is adored by Śrīrāma, Lakṣmaṇa, Jaṭāyu,
Veda, Kārtikeya, Sūrya and Narakāsura, Who has a blue-throat, and Who is full of benevolence.[1]

Salutations to Śiva, Who is known as Vaidyanātha, Who holds the flow of Gaṅgā and the Moon in His
matted hair, Who has three eyes (Trilocana), Who destroys both Kāla (time) and Smara (Kāmadeva),
and Who is gloriously adored by all the demi-gods.[2]

Salutations to Śiva, Who is known as Vaidyanātha, Who is dear to the devotees, Who destroyed the
demon Tripurāsura, Who holds the bow called Pināka, Who always defeats the evil and cunning, and
Whose sportive play manifests after the world is formed.[3]

Salutations to Śiva, Who is known as Vaidyanātha, Who destroys all the diseases related to living
beings and their morbid affection of the wind (diseases like rheumatism, gout, flatulence, etc.), Who
is extoled by sages, and Who has the Sun, the Moon and the Fire as His three eyes.[4]

Salutations to Śiva, Who is known as Vaidyanātha, Who provides the bliss of having voice, ears, eyes
and legs to those living beings who are devoid of voice, ears, eyes and legs, respectively, and Who
finishes the increasing diseases like leprosy.[5]

Salutations to Śiva, Who is known as Vaidyanātha, Who is understood by the study of Vedānta
(Upaniṣat), Who is all pervading and has manifested as the world, Whose lotus-feet are meditated
upon by the Lord of Yogī (Kṛṣṇa), Who has manifested as the Trinity of Viṣṇu, Brahmā and Śiva, and
Who has thousands of names.[6]

Salutations to Śiva, Who is known as Vaidyanātha, Who destroys the fear, grief, pain and ghostly
fears of those associated with the ashes of the cremation of those bodies which got dead in His
shrine, and Who is the soul or Ātman-form for the living beings.[7]

Salutations to Śiva, Who is known as Vaidyanātha, Who has a blue throat, Who has a flag depicting a
bull, Who is exceptionally adorned by the fragrance of water-flowers and ashes, and Who bestows
the good fate of a good wife and son.[8]

‘Valambikeśa, Vaidyeśa, and Bhavarogahara’ — daily chanting of these names destroys the most
formidable diseases.

Footnotes:

1 Vaidyanātha, the name of Śiva, literally means the One Who is the Lord of healers. The reader will
find many parts of the eulogy dedicated to diseases and their destroyer.