Chants
The Chants
Devanāgarī, transliteration, and a plain English rendering — with the source of each verse, where there is one.
I learned to love chanting from Mary Taylor and Richard Freeman. They taught a workshop here and the chanting came with them; whatever is right in the way we do it came out of that room.
What follows is not their sheet. Theirs — with their own translations, and recordings to chant along with — is free on their own site, and is worth having from them. These are the same verses set from the published texts, with a citation under each one, so you can go and look.
Two of them carry no citation. Not for want of looking — they are usually printed with confident attributions that turn out, when followed, to lead nowhere. Those two say so.
Invocation to Gaṇeśa
गणानां त्वा गणपतिं हवामहे कविं कवीनामुपमश्रवस्तमम् ।
gaṇānāṃ tvā gaṇapatiṃ havāmahe kaviṃ kavīnām upamaśravastamam |
ज्येष्ठराजं ब्रह्मणां ब्रह्मणस्पत आ नः शृण्वन्नूतिभिः सीद सादनम् ॥
jyeṣṭharājaṃ brahmaṇāṃ brahmaṇas pata ā naḥ śṛṇvann ūtibhiḥ sīda sādanam ||
We call on you, lord of the hosts — poet among poets, the most renowned,
eldest king of prayers. Hear us, Brahmaṇaspati, and with your help sit down here in your seat.
Taittirīya Saṃhitā 2.3.14 (Kṛṣṇa Yajurveda) — the same verse stands at Ṛgveda 2.23.1, in a slightly different form text
The Yajurveda recension is the one chanted, and it differs from the Ṛgvedic form in two accent marks and in the nasal on gaṇapati — the sound you hear as “gaṇapati-gum” rather than a plain -ṃ. Note also who is being addressed: in the Ṛgveda this verse belongs to Bṛhaspati, Brahmaṇaspati, lord of prayer. Reading it as Gaṇeśa came later.
The Opening Invocation
वन्दे गुरूणां चरणारविन्दे सन्दर्शितस्वात्मसुखावबोधे ।
vande gurūṇāṃ caraṇāravinde sandarśita-svātma-sukhāvabodhe |
निःश्रेयसे जाङ्गलिकायमाने संसारहालाहलमोहशान्त्यै ॥
niḥśreyase jāṅgalikāyamāne saṃsāra-hālāhala-moha-śāntyai ||
आबाहुपुरुषाकारं शङ्खचक्रासिधारिणम् ।
ābāhu-puruṣākāraṃ śaṅkha-cakrāsi-dhāriṇam |
सहस्रशिरसं श्वेतं प्रणमामि पतञ्जलिम् ॥
sahasra-śirasaṃ śvetaṃ praṇamāmi patañjalim ||
I bow at the lotus feet of the teachers, who reveal the knowledge of one's own happiness —
acting as the jungle physician, to quiet the delusion of the poison of saṃsāra.
Human in form down to the arms, holding conch, discus and sword,
thousand-headed, white — to Patañjali I bow.
First half: Yogatārāvalī 1. Second half: source unattested. — the two halves are separate verses, joined in the Krishnamacharya line — this is a twentieth-century compilation, not one ancient text text
Two things worth knowing. The Yogatārāvalī as transmitted reads जनस्य ये (janasya ye) where we chant निःश्रेयसे (niḥśreyase); both public-domain witnesses have janasya ye, so the chanted line is a departure. And the Patañjali verse is everywhere credited to Bhoja's Rājamārtaṇḍa — but the full text of the Rājamārtaṇḍa, in two independent editions, does not contain it. Its opening is seven other verses. The fifth of them names the same three fields, grammar, yoga and medicine, which is probably how the mistake began.
Śānti Pāṭha of the Yajur Veda
ॐ सह नाववतु । सह नौ भुनक्तु ।
oṃ saha nāvavatu | saha nau bhunaktu |
सह वीर्यं करवावहै ।
saha vīryaṃ karavāvahai |
तेजस्विनावधीतमस्तु मा विद्विषावहै ॥
tejasvi nāvadhītam astu mā vidviṣāvahai ||
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ।
oṃ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ |
May it protect us both. May it sustain us both.
May we work together with strength.
May what we study be bright between us. May we not come to dislike each other.
Oṁ. Peace, peace, peace.
Taittirīya Upaniṣad 2.1; also the śānti pāṭha of the Kaṭha Upaniṣad — editions place it differently — some head the Brahmānandavallī with it, some the Kaṭha text
It is a prayer for the teacher and the student together, and every verb in it is dual: protect us both, feed us both, let us not come to hate one another. The last line is the only request that anyone is asked to refrain from something.
The Closing Chant
स्वस्ति प्रजाभ्यः परिपालयन्तां न्यायेन मार्गेण महीं महीशाः ।
svasti prajābhyaḥ paripālayantāṃ nyāyena mārgeṇa mahīṃ mahīśāḥ |
गोब्राह्मणेभ्यः शुभमस्तु नित्यं लोकाः समस्ताः सुखिनो भवन्तु ॥
gobrāhmaṇebhyaḥ śubham astu nityaṃ lokāḥ samastāḥ sukhino bhavantu ||
Well-being to the people. May those who hold the earth hold it by a just road.
May it go well, always, for cattle and for the learned. May all the worlds be happy.
Source unknown. It is usually called a verse of the Ṛgveda. It is not. Searches of the digitized Sanskrit canon — the whole Ṛgveda, the other saṃhitās, the brāhmaṇas, āraṇyakas and upaniṣads — return no occurrence. The two hymn numbers most often quoted for it, Ṛgveda 10.191.4 and Atharvaveda 19.62, are different verses on different subjects. Its metre is Indravajrā, which is classical, not Vedic.
Old in feel, and genuinely old in type — the canon is full of verses like it. But this particular quatrain has no home anyone has been able to point to. Chant it as what it is: a benediction of unknown authorship. svasti prajābhyaḥ is, incidentally, the stock example of the dative in Pāṇini.
King of the Nāgas
ॐ
oṃ
जीवमणिभ्राजत्फणसहस्रविधृतविश्वंभरमण्डलायानन्ताय नागराजाय नमः ।
jīvamaṇi-bhrājat-phaṇa-sahasra-vidhṛta-viśvambhara-maṇḍalāya anantāya nāgarājāya namaḥ |
Oṁ.
To Ananta, king of serpents, who holds up the orb of the earth on a thousand hoods blazing with living jewels — homage.
Source unknown. Commonly credited to the Kūrma Purāṇa. The complete text of that purāṇa contains no occurrence of nāgarāja, jīvamaṇi or patañjali, and the mantra appears in no surveyed Sanskrit text. It is transmitted within Krishnamacharya's teaching, where students were given individual versions — which is why the wording varies from room to room.
Set as one word from jīvamaṇi to maṇḍalāya, because it is one word: a single long compound in the dative. Chant sheets that break the line at viśvaṁ / bhara turn it into an imperative, “bear the universe,” which is a different sentence. It is often chanted joined to the verse to Patañjali above.
Prāṇāgnihotra
श्रद्धायां प्राणे निविष्टोऽमृतं जुहोमि ।
śraddhāyāṃ prāṇe niviṣṭo'mṛtaṃ juhomi |
श्रद्धायामपाने निविष्टोऽमृतं जुहोमि ।
śraddhāyām apāne niviṣṭo'mṛtaṃ juhomi |
श्रद्धायां व्याने निविष्टोऽमृतं जुहोमि ।
śraddhāyāṃ vyāne niviṣṭo'mṛtaṃ juhomi |
श्रद्धायामुदाने निविष्टोऽमृतं जुहोमि ।
śraddhāyām udāne niviṣṭo'mṛtaṃ juhomi |
श्रद्धायां समाने निविष्टोऽमृतं जुहोमि ।
śraddhāyāṃ samāne niviṣṭo'mṛtaṃ juhomi |
ब्रह्मणि म आत्मामृतत्वाय ॥ १॥
brahmaṇi ma ātmāmṛtatvāya || 1 ||
अमृतोपस्तरणमसि ॥ २॥
amṛtopastaraṇam asi || 2 ||
श्रद्धायां प्राणे निविष्टोऽमृतं जुहोमि । शिवो मा विशाप्रदाहाय । प्राणाय स्वाहा ॥
śraddhāyāṃ prāṇe niviṣṭo'mṛtaṃ juhomi | śivo mā viśāpradāhāya | prāṇāya svāhā ||
श्रद्धायामपाने निविष्टोऽमृतं जुहोमि । शिवो मा विशाप्रदाहाय । अपानाय स्वाहा ॥
śraddhāyām apāne niviṣṭo'mṛtaṃ juhomi | śivo mā viśāpradāhāya | apānāya svāhā ||
श्रद्धायां व्याने निविष्टोऽमृतं जुहोमि । शिवो मा विशाप्रदाहाय । व्यानाय स्वाहा ॥
śraddhāyāṃ vyāne niviṣṭo'mṛtaṃ juhomi | śivo mā viśāpradāhāya | vyānāya svāhā ||
श्रद्धायामुदाने निविष्टोऽमृतं जुहोमि । शिवो मा विशाप्रदाहाय । उदानाय स्वाहा ॥
śraddhāyām udāne niviṣṭo'mṛtaṃ juhomi | śivo mā viśāpradāhāya | udānāya svāhā ||
श्रद्धायां समाने निविष्टोऽमृतं जुहोमि । शिवो मा विशाप्रदाहाय । समानाय स्वाहा ॥
śraddhāyāṃ samāne niviṣṭo'mṛtaṃ juhomi | śivo mā viśāpradāhāya | samānāya svāhā ||
ब्रह्मणि म आत्मामृतत्वाय ॥ ३॥
brahmaṇi ma ātmāmṛtatvāya || 3 ||
अमृतापिधानमसि ॥ ४॥
amṛtāpidhānam asi || 4 ||
Established in faith, entered into the in-breath, I offer what does not die.
Established in faith, entered into the down-breath, I offer what does not die.
Established in faith, entered into the diffused breath, I offer what does not die.
Established in faith, entered into the up-breath, I offer what does not die.
Established in faith, entered into the even breath, I offer what does not die.
My self is in brahman, for deathlessness.
You are the layer spread beneath the undying.
…entered into the in-breath, I offer what does not die. Enter me kindly, and do not burn. To prāṇa, svāhā.
…into the down-breath. Enter me kindly, and do not burn. To apāna, svāhā.
…into the diffused breath. Enter me kindly, and do not burn. To vyāna, svāhā.
…into the up-breath. Enter me kindly, and do not burn. To udāna, svāhā.
…into the even breath. Enter me kindly, and do not burn. To samāna, svāhā.
My self is in brahman, for deathlessness.
You are the cover laid over the undying.
Mahānārāyaṇa Upaniṣad 69 (Āndhra recension, 80 anuvākas); Taittirīya Āraṇyaka, book 10 — the shorter South Indian recension of 64 anuvākas numbers it differently and omits śraddhāyāṃ from these lines text
The fire offering made without a fire. Eating is the rite: the food goes into the breaths, and the breaths are the altar. The two short lines are said over water — one before the meal, one after — the sip that lays a bed beneath the food and the sip that puts a lid on it. No public-domain English of this exists, so the rendering here is mine; the standard translation, Vimalānanda's, is still in copyright.
Namaḥ Śivāya
नमः शिवाय च शिवतराय च
namaḥ śivāya ca śivatarāya ca
Homage to the auspicious, and to the more auspicious.
Taittirīya Saṃhitā 4.5.8.1 — the Śatarudrīya, the Rudram — Keith cites the same line as iv.5.8.l — a letter l, not a digit one text
One line out of the Śatarudrīya, the hundred names of Rudra. It is the phrase the whole namakam turns on, and the comparative is the point: not only to the auspicious, but to the more auspicious than that. Keith's “more auspicious” is the literal reading; Griffith's “most auspicious” loses the -tara. It is often taught as an exercise in the recitation modes — saṃhitā, pada, krama, jaṭā, ghana — the braided repetitions by which a text checks itself for error, word against word, so that nothing can slip in three thousand years of being spoken aloud. Those braided forms are not printed here: they require the sandhi and the accent shifts at every new junction, and those come from a reciter, not from the plain text.