Mantras - 10

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10. Mahamrutyunjaya Mantra

Mahamrutyunjaya Mantra (maha-mrutyun-jaya), also called the Triyambakam Mantra, is a verse of the Yajurveda(1.8.6.i; VS 3.60) addressed to Triyambakam "the three-eyed", identified with the Hindu deity Siva. Its literal translation is the Great Death-Conquering mantra. It is a mantra that has many names and forms.

It is called the Rudra Mantras referring to the furious aspect of Siva; the Triyambaka mantra, alluding to Siva's three eyes; and its is sometimes known as the Mrita-Sanjivini mantra because it is a component of the "life-restoring" practice given to the primordial sage Sukra after he had completed an exhausting period of austerity. The Maha Mrutyunjaya mantra is hailed by the sages as the heart of the Veda. Along with the Gayatri mantra it holds the highest place among the many mantras used for contemplation and meditation.

The mantra reads (Last transliteration):

triyambakam yajaamahE sugandhim pushTi-vardhanam

urvaarukam iva bandhanaan mrutyOr mokshiiya maamritaat.

 

1. tri-ambaka-m: the three-eyed-oneyaja-mahe: we praise

2. sugandhi-m: the fragrant

3. pusti-vardhana-m: the prosperity-increaser

4. urvaruka-m: disease, attachment, obstacles in life, and resulting

depression

5. iva: like

6. bandhanaat: from attachment Stem (of the gourd); but more generally, unhealthy

attachment

7. mrutyor: from death

8. mokshiiya: may you liberate

9. maa: not

10. amrutaat: from immortality

Meaning: OM! We worship and adore you, O three-eyed one, O Shiva. You are sweet gladness, the fragrance of life, which nourishes us, restores our health, and causes us to thrive. As, in due time, the stem of the cucumber weakens, and the gourd if freed from the vine, so free us from attachment and death, and do not withhold immortality.