Ashtaksharamantra

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Statue of Narayana in Badami, Karnataka

The Ashtaksharamantra ( Sanskrit : अष्टाक्षरमन्त्र aṣṭākṣaramantra m. " Eight -syllable mantra") is the traditional mantra of the Pancharatra Vishnuits and the main mantra of the Shri-Vaishnava. Tirumantiram, the Tamil name , was also prominent among the Alvar . The mantra is used to worship Narayana , a form of the god Vishnu .

Sound

The Ashtaksharamantra is:

ॐ नमो नारायणाय
Oṃ namo Nārāyaṇāya
Om namo Narayanaya
Om worship the Narayana.

While in South India the mantra is taught in this form to all people, regardless of caste and gender, the twelve-syllable mantra in North India is only allowed to Brahmins , other people are initiated in the abbreviated form namo Narayanaya . There is also an expanded form: Om namo Shri Narayanaya .

Lore

The Ashtaksharamantra is explained in several Upanishads . The Narayana Upanishad, which belongs to the Black Yajurveda, first explains the nature of Narayana and then the mantra, and the Atmabodha Upanishad, which belongs to the Rigveda, says that the reciter of the mantra will reach Vaikuntha , the abode of Vishnu.

In the Tarasara Upanishad, part of the White Yajurveda, the legendary sage Yajnavalkya explains the meaning of the Ashtaksharamantra to the Bharadvaja :

“Om Namo Narayanaya is a transferring mantra. It should be worshiped as a pure spirit (chidatman). The monosyllabic Om has the nature of self (Atman). Namah is two-syllable and has the nature of Prakriti (creation). Narayanaya is five syllable and has the nature of ultimate reality (parabrahman). Whoever knows this becomes immortal. "

- Tarasara Upanishad 12, i, 5

The mantra used to be secret. The Indian saint Ramanuja (1017–1137) was initiated into this mantra by his guru under the condition of secrecy. But out of love for people he loudly proclaimed the mantra from a temple tower so that all people regardless of their caste can find salvation through the mantra.

According to Tamil tradition, Vishnu whispered the tirumantram in the ear of Alvar Tirumankai Alvar Parakala.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jan Gonda: The Younger Hinduism . Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1963, p. 129.
  2. ↑ Jan Gonda: The Indian Mantra. In: Selected Studies. Vol. IV. EJ Brill, Leiden 1975, ISBN 90-04-04228-8 , p. 284.
  3. ↑ FW Hardy: The Srivaisnava hagiography of Parakala. In: Christopher Shackle (Ed.): The Indian Narrative. Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1992, ISBN 3-447-03241-3 .

literature

  • K. Narayanasvami Aiyar: Thirty Minor Upanishads . Madras 1914.

Web links