shivavaidyanathaashtakamhealing

වෛද්යනාථාෂ්ටකම්

वैद्यनाथाष्टकम् in Sinhala · සිංහල

🕉️ hindu·📿 3× repetitions·🕐 Early morning after bath, on Mondays, during Pradosh and Maha Shivaratri, or while caring for the sick·📜 Vaidyanāthāṣṭakam, a traditional Shaiva ashtakam (often attributed to Adi Shankaracharya)

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हिन्दी / देवनागरी తెలుగు தமிழ்ಕನ್ನಡ മലയാളം ગુજરાતી বাংলা ଓଡ଼ିଆ ਪੰਜਾਬੀ Englishසිංහල𑌗𑍍𑌰𑌨𑍍𑌥

Origin & Story

Vaidyanāthāṣṭakam, a traditional Shaiva ashtakam (often attributed to Adi Shankaracharya) · Traditional; commonly attributed to Adi Shankaracharya · Classical / medieval

The hymn extols Shiva as Vaidyanatha, the cosmic physician enshrined as a Jyotirlinga. The very first verse recalls how Sri Rama, Lakshmana, Jatayu, Skanda, the Sun and Mars worshipped this Lord — weaving together the temple traditions that associate Vaidyanatha with healing and with the Ramayana. Because Shiva became Neelakantha by drinking the Halahala poison to save creation, he is honoured as the supreme healer who absorbs suffering; the ashtakam invokes precisely this compassion to cure every bodily and spiritual ailment.

✦ As told in scripture

It is traditionally told that devotees afflicted with incurable diseases — leprosy, paralysis, blindness, the loss of speech — who took refuge at Vaidyanatha and recited this ashtakam with the sacred earth and ash of the shrine smeared on their bodies were restored to wholeness, for the hymn itself declares Shiva to be the one who grants speech, hearing, sight and limbs to those bereft of them and destroys even the gravest of diseases.

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Complete Text with Meaning

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Verse 1

ශ්රීරාමසෞමිත්රිජටායුවේද- ෂඩානනාදිත්යකුජාර්චිතාය. ශ්රීනීලකණ්ඨාය දයාමයාය ශ්රීවෛද්යනාථාය නමඃ ශිවාය..1..

Śrīrāmasaumitrijaṭāyuveda- ṣaḍānanādityakujārchitāya। Śrīnīlakaṇṭhāya dayāmayāya Śrīvaidyanāthāya namaḥ śivāya॥1॥

Meaning:जो श्रीराम, लक्ष्मण, जटायु, वेद, षडानन (कार्तिकेय), सूर्य और मङ्गल से अर्चित हैं, उन दयामय नीलकण्ठ — वैद्यराज शिव को नमस्कार है।

Verse 2

ගඞ්ගාප්රවාහේන්දුජටාධරාය ත්රිලෝචනාය ස්මරකාලහන්ත්රේ. සමස්තදේවෛරපි පූජිතාය ශ්රීවෛද්යනාථාය නමඃ ශිවාය..2..

Gaṅgāpravāhendujaṭādharāya Trilochanāya smarakālahantre। Samastadevairapi pūjitāya Śrīvaidyanāthāya namaḥ śivāya॥2॥

Meaning:जो गङ्गा की धारा और चन्द्र को जटाओं में धारण करते हैं, जो त्रिलोचन हैं, कामदेव और काल (मृत्यु) के संहारक हैं, और समस्त देवों से भी पूजित हैं — उन वैद्यनाथ शिव को नमस्कार।

Verse 3

භක්තප්රියාය ත්රිපුරාන්තකාය පිනාකිනේ දුෂ්ටහරාය නිත්යම්. ප්රත්යක්ෂලීලාය මනුෂ්යලෝකේ ශ්රීවෛද්යනාථාය නමඃ ශිවාය..3..

Bhaktapriyāya tripurāntakāya Pinākine duṣṭaharāya nityam। Pratyakṣalīlāya manuṣyaloke Śrīvaidyanāthāya namaḥ śivāya॥3॥

Meaning:जो भक्तों के प्रिय हैं, त्रिपुर के अन्तक हैं, पिनाकधारी और दुष्टों के नित्य संहारक हैं, जिनकी लीला मनुष्यलोक में प्रत्यक्ष दिखाई देती है — उन वैद्यनाथ शिव को नमस्कार।

Verse 4

ප්රභූතවාතාදිසමස්තරෝග- ප්රණාශකර්ත්රේ මුනිවන්දිතාය. ප්රභාකරේන්ද්වග්නිවිලෝචනාය ශ්රීවෛද්යනාථාය නමඃ ශිවාය..4..

Prabhūtavātādisamastaroga- Praṇāśakartre munivanditāya। Prabhākarendvagnivilochanāya Śrīvaidyanāthāya namaḥ śivāya॥4॥

Meaning:जो वात आदि समस्त रोगों का नाश करने वाले हैं, मुनियों से वन्दित हैं, जिनके नेत्र सूर्य, चन्द्र और अग्नि हैं — उन वैद्यनाथ शिव को नमस्कार।

Verse 5

වාක්ශ්රෝත්රනේත්රාඞ්ඝ්රිවිහීනජන්තෝඃ වාක්ශ්රෝත්රනේත්රාඞ්ඝ්රිසුඛප්රදාය. කුෂ්ඨාදිසර්වෝන්නතරෝගහන්ත්රේ ශ්රීවෛද්යනාථාය නමඃ ශිවාය..5..

Vākśrotranetrāṅghrivihīnajantoḥ Vākśrotranetrāṅghrisukhapradāya। Kuṣṭhādisarvonnatarogahantre Śrīvaidyanāthāya namaḥ śivāya॥5॥

Meaning:जो वाणी, श्रवण, नेत्र और चरण से रहित प्राणियों को वाणी, श्रवण, नेत्र, चरण और सुख प्रदान करते हैं, तथा कुष्ठ आदि समस्त उग्र रोगों का नाश करते हैं — उन वैद्यनाथ शिव को नमस्कार।

Verse 6

වේදාන්තවේද්යාය ජගන්මයාය යෝගීශ්වරධ්යේයපදාම්බුජාය. ත්රිමූර්තිරූපාය සහස්රනාම්නේ ශ්රීවෛද්යනාථාය නමඃ ශිවාය..6..

Vedāntavedyāya jaganmayāya Yogīśvaradhyeyapadāmbujāya। Trimūrtirūpāya sahasranāmne Śrīvaidyanāthāya namaḥ śivāya॥6॥

Meaning:जो वेदान्त से ज्ञेय हैं, जगत्स्वरूप हैं, जिनके चरण-कमल योगीश्वरों के ध्येय हैं, जो त्रिमूर्तिस्वरूप और सहस्रनाम वाले हैं — उन वैद्यनाथ शिव को नमस्कार।

Verse 7

ස්වතීර්ථමෘද්භස්මභෘදඞ්ගභාජාං පිශාචදුඃඛාර්තිභයාපහාය. ආත්මස්වරූපාය ශරීරභාජාං ශ්රීවෛද්යනාථාය නමඃ ශිවාය..7..

Svatīrthamṛdbhasmabhṛdaṅgabhājāṁ Piśāchaduḥkhārtibhayāpahāya। Ātmasvarūpāya śarīrabhājāṁ Śrīvaidyanāthāya namaḥ śivāya॥7॥

Meaning:जो अपने तीर्थ की मृत्तिका और भस्म को शरीर पर धारण करने वालों के पिशाच-दुःख, पीड़ा और भय को दूर करते हैं, और जो समस्त देहधारियों के आत्मस्वरूप हैं — उन वैद्यनाथ शिव को नमस्कार।

Verse 8

ශ්රීනීලකණ්ඨාය වෘෂධ්වජාය ස්රග්ගන්ධභස්මාද්යපිශෝභිතාය. සුපුත්රදාරාදිසුභාග්යදාය ශ්රීවෛද්යනාථාය නමඃ ශිවාය..8..

Śrīnīlakaṇṭhāya vṛṣadhvajāya Sraggandhabhasmādyapiśobhitāya। Suputradārādisubhāgyadāya Śrīvaidyanāthāya namaḥ śivāya॥8॥

Meaning:जो नीलकण्ठ और वृषध्वज हैं, जो माला, गन्ध और भस्म आदि से सुशोभित हैं, जो सुपुत्र, सती-पत्नी आदि सौभाग्य प्रदान करते हैं — उन वैद्यनाथ शिव को नमस्कार।

Verse 9

බාලාම්බිකේශ වෛද්යේශ භවරෝගහරේති ච. ජපේන්නාමත්රයං නිත්යං මහාරෝගනිවාරණම්..

Bālāmbikeśa vaidyeśa bhavarogahareti cha। Japennāmatrayaṁ nityaṁ mahāroganivāraṇam॥

Meaning:'हे बालाम्बिकेश! हे वैद्येश! हे भवरोगहर!' — जो प्रतिदिन इन तीन नामों का जप करता है, उसके महारोगों का भी निवारण हो जाता है।

Word-by-Word Meaning

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ශ්රීරාම🔊ŚrīrāmaBy Sri Rama

සෞමිත්රි🔊SaumitriBy Lakshmana (son of Sumitra)

ජටායු🔊JaṭāyuBy Jatayu, the noble vulture

වේද🔊VedaBy the Vedas

ෂඩානන🔊ṢaḍānanaBy the six-faced Skanda (Kartikeya)

ආදිත්ය🔊ĀdityaBy the Sun (Aditya)

කුජ🔊KujaBy Mangala (Mars / Kuja)

අර්චිතාය🔊ArchitāyaTo the one worshipped (by all the above)

ශ්රීනීලකණ්ඨාය🔊ŚrīnīlakaṇṭhāyaTo the blue-throated Lord (who drank the cosmic poison)

දයාමයාය🔊DayāmayāyaTo the one full of compassion

ශ්රීවෛද්යනාථාය නමඃ ශිවාය🔊Śrīvaidyanāthāya namaḥ śivāyaSalutations to Shiva, the Lord of physicians (Vaidyanatha) — the refrain of every verse

ගඞ්ගාප්රවාහේන්දුජටාධරාය🔊GaṅgāpravāhendujaṭādharāyaTo the one bearing the flowing Ganga and the moon in his matted locks

ත්රිලෝචනාය🔊TrilochanāyaTo the three-eyed one

ස්මරකාලහන්ත්රේ🔊SmarakālahantreTo the slayer of Kama (Smara, the god of desire) and of Yama (Death)

භක්තප්රියාය🔊BhaktapriyāyaTo the one dear to and fond of his devotees

ත්රිපුරාන්තකාය🔊TripurāntakāyaTo the destroyer of the three cities of Tripura

ප්රත්යක්ෂලීලාය🔊PratyakṣalīlāyaTo the one whose divine play is directly visible in the human world

ප්රභූතවාතාදිසමස්තරෝගප්රණාශකර්ත්රේ🔊PrabhūtavātādisamastarogapraṇāśakartreTo the destroyer of all diseases — of wind (vāta), bile, phlegm and the rest

මුනිවන්දිතාය🔊MunivanditāyaTo the one revered by the sages

ප්රභාකරේන්ද්වග්නිවිලෝචනාය🔊PrabhākarendvagnivilochanāyaWhose three eyes are the sun, the moon and fire

වාක්ශ්රෝත්රනේත්රාඞ්ඝ්රිවිහීනජන්තෝඃ🔊VākśrotranetrāṅghrivihīnajantoḥOf creatures deprived of speech, hearing, sight or limbs

සුඛප්රදාය🔊SukhapradāyaWho bestows (those very faculties and) well-being

කුෂ්ඨාදිසර්වෝන්නතරෝගහන්ත්රේ🔊KuṣṭhādisarvonnatarogahantreTo the destroyer of leprosy and all severe, advanced diseases

වේදාන්තවේද්යාය🔊VedāntavedyāyaTo the one knowable through Vedanta

ත්රිමූර්තිරූපාය🔊TrimūrtirūpāyaTo the one who is the form of the trinity (Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva)

සහස්රනාම්නේ🔊SahasranāmneTo the one of a thousand names

ආත්මස්වරූපාය🔊ĀtmasvarūpāyaTo the one who is the very form of the Self of all embodied beings

සුපුත්රදාරාදිසුභාග්යදාය🔊SuputradārādisubhāgyadāyaWho grants the good fortune of worthy children, spouse and prosperity

බාලාම්බිකේශ🔊BālāmbikeśaO Lord of Balambika (the Goddess consort at Vaidyanatha)

භවරෝගහර🔊BhavarogaharaO remover of the disease of worldly existence (bhava-roga)

ජපේන්නාමත්රයං නිත්යං මහාරෝගනිවාරණම්🔊Japennāmatrayaṁ nityaṁ mahāroganivāraṇamOne should daily chant these three names — it wards off even the gravest diseases

Benefits of Chanting वैद्यनाथाष्टकम्

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Most revered Shiva hymn chanted specifically for health, healing and recovery from illness

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Believed to relieve diseases of vata, pitta and kapha, fevers, leprosy and chronic ailments

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Prayed for restoration of speech, hearing, sight and the use of limbs

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Removes 'bhava-roga' — the deeper disease of the cycle of birth and death

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Invokes Shiva as the supremely compassionate Neelakantha and divine physician

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The phalashruti of three names is held to ward off even the gravest of diseases when chanted daily

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Brings the blessing of worthy children, a devoted spouse and family well-being (verse 8)

How to Chant वैद्यनाथाष्टकम्

Repetitions3times

Best TimeEarly morning after bath, on Mondays, during Pradosh and Maha Shivaratri, or while caring for the sick

Bathe and sit before a Shiva Lingam or an image of Vaidyanatha with a calm, hopeful mind. Light a lamp and, if possible, keep sacred ash (vibhuti) and water for prayer. Recite all eight verses with devotion, dwelling on Shiva as the compassionate healer, and conclude with the closing three-name phalashruti 'Bālāmbikeśa Vaidyeśa Bhavarogahara'. It is often chanted on behalf of someone who is ill; vibhuti offered during the prayer may be applied or given. Daily recitation, especially of the three names, is traditionally prescribed for warding off serious disease.

Frequently Asked Questions

This page shows the complete वैद्यनाथाष्टकम् written in the Sinhala script — the same Sanskrit/Hindi verses, transliterated character-by-character so you can read and chant comfortably. Tap any line (or the ▶ button) to hear it recited aloud.

Yes — only the script changes; the words and their meaning are the original. The verse-by-verse meaning, benefits and how-to-chant guidance on this page apply exactly the same.

Vaidyanatha is Lord Shiva worshipped in his form as the divine physician — 'Vaidya-natha' means 'Lord of healers'. He is enshrined as a Jyotirlinga (most famously at Deoghar/Baidyanath Dham in Jharkhand, and also identified with the Vaidyanatha temple in Tamil Nadu), and is invoked above all for healing of body and mind.

It is chanted primarily for health and healing. The verses pray for relief from all diseases — fevers, imbalances of vata-pitta-kapha, leprosy and chronic illness — and even for restoring speech, hearing, sight and limbs. On a deeper level it asks Shiva to cure 'bhava-roga', the disease of worldly bondage itself.

The final verse gives three names — 'Bālāmbikeśa' (Lord of the Goddess Balambika), 'Vaidyeśa' (Lord of physicians) and 'Bhavarogahara' (remover of the disease of existence). The phalashruti says that chanting these three names daily wards off even the gravest of diseases (mahā-roga-nivāraṇam).

Anyone may chant it with devotion. It is commonly recited for one's own health or on behalf of a sick family member or friend. Many devotees combine it with the Mahamrityunjaya Mantra and the offering of vibhuti (sacred ash) when praying for someone's recovery.