This powerful Mantra salutes Shiva as the universal lord, omniscient, all-pervading, limitless, and radiant, who creates, protects, and dissolves the universe, who destroys time, remains timeless and conquers death, and who remains ever auspicious and always a blessing. Chanting this Mantra regularly with devotion can earn Shiva's benevolent grace, destroy ignorance and illusion, grant Divine knowledge, and relieve devotees from the terrible cycle of birth and death. It is also regarded as a potent hymn for atonement from one's omissions and commissions and freeing from guilt.