ओं श्रीमिति द्वे अक्षरे । ह्लौमित्येकाक्षरम् । ऐमैमैमिति त्रीण्यक्षराणि । क्लीं क्लीमिति द्वे अक्षरे । सौः सौरिति द्वे अक्षरे । ह्रीमित्येकाक्षरम् । ओं नमो भगवत इति सप्ताक्षराणि । मह्यं मेधां प्रज्ञामिति षडक्षराणि । प्रयच्छ स्वाहेति पञ्चाक्षराणि । पञ्चमो मनुर्भवति
oṃ śrīmiti dve akṣare | hlaumityekākṣaram | aimaimaimiti trīṇyakṣarāṇi | klīṃ klīmiti dve akṣare | sauḥ sauriti dve akṣare | hrīmityekākṣaram | oṃ namo bhagavata iti saptākṣarāṇi | mahyaṃ medhāṃ prajñāmiti ṣaḍakṣarāṇi | prayaccha svāheti pañcākṣarāṇi | pañcamo manurbhavati
«"Om śrīm" — two syllables; "hlaum" — one; "aim aim aim" — three; "klīṃ klīṃ" — two; "sauḥ sauḥ" — two; "hrīṃ" — one; "om namo bhagavate" — seven; "mahyaṃ medhāṃ prajñām" — six; "prayaccha svāhā" — five. That is the fifth mantra».
12e3704f8c35 · प्रकाशित 12 अग॰ 2026, 5:00:00 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The mantra is set out syllable by syllable with a count, and it is worth saying why such precision is needed. In this practice a mantra is transmitted not as a line but as a set of syllables with a number; and the number serves as a check: by recounting, one learns whether anything was lost in transmission. This device is necessary in oral transmission and was widely used in Indian literature.
Add, too, what should be said about the bīja, “seeds,” themselves — śrīm, aim, klīm, sauḥ, hrīm. These syllables have no dictionary meaning; they are ascribed connections to deities: śrīm with Lakṣmī, aim with Sarasvatī, hrīm with Māyā. It is worth working out how to regard this, for the question arises with every book of this kind.
The Vaiṣṇava side does not reject these syllables, but sets them a boundary, and that boundary was cited reading Gaṇapati (7.3): a name is an address, a seed is a tool. A name can be called; a syllable can be used to act. And it holds this distinction to matter, for on it depends to whom the practice is addressed: to a person, or to a power.
Add, too, that the plea standing at the end of this mantra is a verbal, intelligible plea: mahyaṃ medhāṃ prajñāṃ prayaccha, “grant me intelligence and understanding.” That is, beneath all the seeds and pins, the substance of the mantra is expressed in ordinary words; and this, to my mind, is the best that can be said of it: beneath the syllables lies a plea, and the plea is addressed to someone.