Featured Mantram: Honoring Ancestors
Translation:
From the highest realm to the lowest, as far as the universe extends, let all divine sages and forebearers, all deceased ancestors, on both the father’s and mother’s side be worshiped. Let this humble offering of sesame and water benefit the whole world, from the heavens down to this earth; may it benefit the inhabitants of the seven continents belonging to unlimited families in the past.
Learn more about this mantram…
Bagalamukhi Mantram
Om hlreem bagalamukhi sarvadustanaam vacham mukham stambhaya jihvaam keelaya keelaya budheem vinashaya hlreem om swaha! For those who wish to aid in their resistance to hate and make possible the furtherance of love, here’s the mantram for Bagalamukhi and some images from her temple at Nilachal Hill in Assam where we visited on pilgrimage…
How Do You Pronounce That? A Look at Mantra
Mantra (mantram in the singular) are an important part of spiritual practice in many religious traditions. They are a core component of individual sadhana (discipline) and of the work done together in community, serving on multiple levels to effectuate transformation. Individuals, for example, may perform japa, the recitation of a particular mantram on a mala…
Honoring the Ancestors
Translation: From the highest realm to the lowest, as far as the universe extends, let all divine sages and forebearers, all deceased ancestors, on both the father’s and mother’s side be worshiped. Let this humble offering of sesame and water benefit the whole world, from the heavens down to this earth; may it benefit the…
Invocation of Ganesha
Translation: We invoke you with offerings, Ganesha, making offerings to you as Love Invoking you with offerings, He of Plentitudes We invoke you with offerings, Ganesha, making offerings to the Sage great and wise Invoking you with offerings, He of Rulers Come to us quickly and join our gathering, be among us! Listen to the…
Visarjan Mantra
Translation: You who have been welcomed (arisen, embodied in the murti through prāṇa pratiṣṭha), Great Mother Kali, are offered gratitudes and bid farewell. Listen to the mantra: This mantra is used at the end of our Kali Puja to thank our Divine Mother, Kali Maa, for coming to our ceremony, for flowing from our hearts…
Shantipata: Peace Invocation
Translation: That is perfect; this is perfect. If perfection is taken from the perfect, only the perfect remains. Listen to the mantra: This mantra, from the first verse of the Isha Upanishad, is translated in many ways. Some say this short mantra sums up the nature of reality, and all spiritual seekers benefit from chanting…
Kali’s Heart Mantra
Listen to the mantra: This most-auspicious 22-syllable mantra vidya given in the Devirahasya Tantra (The Secret Goddess Tantra) is a potent vibrational elixir that brings together the most powerful bijas of Devi so as to permeate the three worlds of physical, subtle, and causal realities in order to transform them. When reciting, we offer from…
Pavamana Abhyaroha Mantra
Translation of The Elevated Chant: From untruth to Truth; From darkness to Light; From death to Immortality (of the soul) Lead us! Listen to the mantra: This mantra, from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (Chapter 3 – Third Brahmana, Part I) is used to end our pujas at SHARANYA Mandir. It is a purifying mantra that invokes…
Shapodhara Mantra
Translation: OM Atma Tattva, Vidya Tattva, Shiva Tattva and the qualities of manifest and psychic reality; She, Chandi, Goddess of Surrendered Mind By your power the curses are removed – it is so! Listen to the mantra: This mantra is a powerful call to Goddess Chandi, Durga the Slayer of Demons, to remove curses that…
Vajrayogini (Tara) Mantra
Translation: OM to You, Tara, embodiment of all virtues, savioress, I offer myself always whether I am in happy or unhappy circumstances with my body, speech, and mind Listen to the mantra: This mantra invites us to cultivate awareness of our highest self through the blessings of Maa Tara, Vajrayogini, She who has committed to…
Gayatri Mantra
Translation: Om in all the worlds, the powers of earth, water and fire, of air, ether, consciousness and ultimate truth, we meditate on the vast reality of the Divine. May we be fortunate in our endeavors. Listen to the mantra: This mantra is used daily in our practice as a blessing and invitation to reconnect…
Honoring of Ganesha
Translation: Shining like so many suns, you great one with a broken tusk, we implore you, remove all obstacles; remain with us in all we do, always! Great one who has one tooth, a round belly, and visage of an elephant, destroyer of obstacles that remain in our way, we bow down in devotion to…
Mala Blessing
Translation: OM this mala of mine, Great Maya, She who knows the limits of time and space, you who contain all energy, the shakti of our existence and cosmic creation. Bring me revelation of how I may lead this whole life. OM remover of obstacles, mala of my lineage, you I hold in my right…
Water Purification
Translation: Life, death, rebirth, we bow to the primordial life-force energy Creation, preservation, dissolution, we bow to Earth’s foundations Maid, Mother, Crone, we bow to the boundless Sun, Moon, Fire, we bow to nature Physical, emotional and psychical bodies, ready! Make pure! Bless and purify, by the power of the seven sacred rivers, all the…
Namaskara Mantra (Full Version)
Translation: Source of All Blessings, Auspicious One, She Who Is Refuge, She Who Has Three Eyes, Golden One, Bestower of All Wishes, Blessed of All Blessed Ones, I honor you! Creative shakti (energy) abiding in all things, giving rise to all qualities of existence, upon which these qualities depend, you take away unhappiness and remove…
Wine Blessing Mantra
Translation: Nectar of immortality, which in form contains pure knowledge at the highest stage of identity with the Divine,You are this nectar of immortality; let this substance become filled with such wisdom. Listen to the mantra: This mantra, affectionately known in SHARANYA as the Sanskrit drinking song, is a powerful blessing for sacred substances. In…
Mantra of the Three-Eyed Shiva
Translation: Oh, Three-Eyed One, we adore you. Your sweet fragrance permeates all and brings abundance. Like the cucumber separated from the vine, Free us from attachment, But do not withhold immortality Listen to the mantra: This mantra, called the Mahamrityunjaya Mantra (or Death-Conquering Mantra), is Vedic and used during many of our closed circles at…
Seven Rivers Mantra
Translation: Om the Ganges, Jamuna, Godavari, Sarasvati, Narmada, Sindhu and Kaveri, these waters (of the seven sacred rivers of the Indian Subcontinent) are brought together (in order to make the water sacred, a reflection of both the wonders of the external waters of Earth and the internal rivers, the nadis, of our spiritual bodies). Listen…
Shiva Invocation
Translation: Great God, Reliever of Suffering, Great Mover of Energy in the Body (Yogi), Supreme One I hold in my heart (Ishvara), Remover of Difficulty, You who carries the vibrations of “M” (that which is the dissolving letter in A-U-M), I bow to you. I bow to Shiva, to Peace, to the manifestation of existence,…
Kali’s Names
Translation: I call to you: Kali of the cremation grounds, auspicious Kali, she who bears the skull cup (remover of the ego), secret one and she who is above all else; Ultimate goddess, black night, eternal mother, she who is the one beyond the fear of time and who illuminates the entire clan wave of…
Initiation Mantra
Translation: I know no mantra, I can not act properly in this world, I have no devotion, Divine Mother; but even so my Goddess, please accept what I have offered in worship to you. Listen to the mantra: This mantra is used during our initiation ceremony for all those completing Daughters of Kali. The mantra…
Praise to Agni
Translation: Agni, God of Fire, we praise you, you who lead the sacrifice and are the power of it; you, oh shining one, who knows the proper time and place of our surrender. You who offer mantras in praise, and place delight within. Agni, you who help us attain the will of the gods in…
Song to Kali
Translation: Vibration of the Universe, AUM, great goddess Kali, I ponder you who resides in the cremation grounds, (place of the ego’s falling away), may you grant your devotee the delight of your embrace. Listen to the mantra: This mantra for Kali is used during our pujas at SHARANYA’s devi mandir (goddess temple). It is…
Praise to the Ultimate Mother
Translation: Vibration of the Universe, She Who is all that can be perceived or conceived in the mind, She Who is perfect peace, She Who is the Infinite Beyond Time, the Ultimate Divine, She Who is and is beyond darkness, I am One with Her and All Divinity. Listen to the mantra: This mantra for…
Namaskara Mantra
Translation: Source of All Blessings, Auspicious One, She Who Is Refuge, She Who Has Three Eyes, Golden One, Bestower of All Wishes, Blessed of All Blessed Ones, I honor you! Listen to the mantra: This famous mantra, known as the Namaskara Mantra, comes from the Devi Mahatmyam, the epic tale of Mahadevi, the Great Goddess. She…
World Happiness
This famous mantra has no known Vedic textual origin, yet it has been passed down for hundreds (or thousands) of years, and is widely used by virtually all Hindu paths. Generally translated as “May all inhabitants of the worlds possess happiness,” the connotation of this mantra is of ultimate peace, blessings and happiness to all…
Krishna’s Yoni
This mantra, found in a yantra (divine diagram) in the Brhad Tantra Sara, vibrates together one of the bija (“seed” or “essence”) mantras of Kali, the Great Black Mother Goddess, with the name of Krishna, the black-skinned incarnation of the God Vishnu (“Krishna” and “Kali” both literally mean “black”). While this combination may seem strange,…