MANTRA

Mahamrityunjaya Mantra

महामृत्युञ्जय मन्त्र

🙏 Shiva 🗣️ Sanskrit 📜 1 verses 👁 26 reads Suggest a correction

The Mahamrityunjaya Mantra (महामृत्युञ्जय मन्त्र) is one of the most ancient and revered Vedic mantras, appearing in the Rigveda (7.59.12) and also in the Yajurveda and Atharvaveda. It is addressed to Lord Shiva in his form as Tryambaka — the three-eyed one — and is a prayer for liberation from the cycle of death and suffering, not merely physical longevity.

The mantra is traditionally chanted 108 times, often with a mala, and is considered especially powerful during Mahashivratri, during illness, and at times of grief or fear. It is also known as the Rudra Mantra and the Tryambakam Mantra. The legend most associated with it involves Rishi Markandeya, who, destined to die at sixteen, prayed to Shiva with such devotion that Lord Yama — the god of death — was driven away.

The mantra's central image is the cucumber or gourd detaching naturally from its vine when ripe — a metaphor for the soul releasing itself from worldly bondage without struggle, merging back into immortal consciousness.

Mantra

ॐ त्र्यम्बकं यजामहे सुगन्धिं पुष्टिवर्धनम् | उर्वारुकमिव बन्धनान्मृत्योर्मुक्षीय माऽमृतात् ||

Om Tryambakam yajāmahe sugandhim pushtivardhanam | Urvārukamiva bandhanān mrityormukshīya māmritāt ||

We worship the three-eyed one (Lord Shiva), who is fragrant and who nourishes all beings. As a cucumber detaches itself naturally from its vine when fully ripe, may we be liberated from death and the bondage of worldly attachment — and may we never be separated from immortality, from the awareness of our undying self.

हम तीन नेत्रों वाले भगवान शिव की पूजा करते हैं, जो सुगंधित हैं और सभी प्राणियों का पोषण करते हैं। जैसे ककड़ी पकने पर स्वाभाविक रूप से अपनी बेल से अलग हो जाती है, उसी प्रकार हम मृत्यु के बंधन और सांसारिक आसक्ति से मुक्त हों — और अमरत्व की चेतना से कभी वंचित न हों।