The Mahamrityunjaya Mantra
ॐ त्र्यम्बकं यजामहेसुगन्धिं पुष्टिवर्धनम् ।उर्वारुकमिव बन्धनान्मृत्योर्मुक्षीय मामृतात् ॥
oṃ tryambakaṃ yajāmahe sugandhiṃ puṣṭivardhanam | urvārukam iva bandhanān mṛtyor mukṣīya māmṛtāt ||
🔊 om try-am-ba-kam ya-jaa-ma-hay · su-gan-dhim push-ti-var-dha-nam · ur-vaa-ru-ka-mi-va ban-dha-naan · mrit-yor muk-shee-ya maa-mri-taat
📖 What it means
We honour the three-eyed one, fragrant, who increases nourishment. As a ripe cucumber is freed from its stem, may I be freed from death — not from deathlessness.
🔍 Word by word
| त्र्यम्बकम् tryambakam | the three-eyed one |
|---|---|
| यजामहे yajāmahe | we worship, we offer to |
| सुगन्धिम् sugandhim | sweet-smelling |
| पुष्टिवर्धनम् puṣṭivardhanam | increasing nourishment and strength |
| उर्वारुकम् इव urvārukam iva | like a cucumber, like a gourd |
| बन्धनात् bandhanāt | from its binding, from the stem |
| मुक्षीय mukṣīya | may I be released |
| मा अमृतात् mā amṛtāt | not from the deathless |
🕰️ When it is used
Chanted for healing and for the recovery of someone ill, traditionally.
💡 Worth knowing
The image is precise: a ripe cucumber comes away from the stem by itself, without being torn. The verse asks for release that is ready rather than forced. It is a prayer, not a treatment — someone who is ill needs a doctor.
🔬 Does it do anything?
A straight answer, with the evidence and its limits — including the claims that are popular and untrue.
More mantras
Om
The syllable taken as the sound of the whole — beginning, middle and end together.
Open →The Gayatri Mantra
We contemplate the glorious light of the sun, the giver of life. May it set our thinking in motion.
Open →Asato Ma Sad Gamaya
From the unreal lead me to the real; from darkness lead me to light; from death lead me to deathlessness.
Open →