Mahamrityunjay Mantra
Every question on the site tagged Mahamrityunjay Mantra, each answered from a timestamped source rather than a summary written from memory.
The "great death-conquering" mantra to Shiva, recited for healing and protection from untimely death.
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Mahamrityunjay Kavach over 27 nakshatras for illness medicine cannot cure
When the body has much disease and medicine has no effect, the speaker gives the Mahamrityunjay Kavach — it has beej mantras, so only those who can pronounce it should do it. It is done not for nine days but only five, the five before Shivratri, starting about Navami: 27 paaths daily, one per Nakshatra. Hold the bilva giri (bel-fruit pulp) in the hand, take the list of the 27 nakshatras, and before each paath say: "Sadashiv, for the shanti of Ashwini nakshatra, and of any disease born of it that is affecting my body, I do this paath" — then the kavach; then Bharani, Krittika, and so on through all 27, in the bhaav that they are being pacified. The full Sanskrit vidhi differs for each; this is the short form. Afterwards the single bilva giri is placed on the Shivling.
What atonement should be performed for accidentally killing a cat (e.g. in a road accident)?
Make a formal resolution (Sankalpa) and donate a small gold-foil cat (Swarna Vidalika, roughly ₹1000–1500) to a Brahmin or submerge it in the Ganges, followed by a Rudrabhisheka or short Mahamrityunjaya recitation of 21,000–27,000 chants.
Which deities are primary for health, healing, and healthcare afflictions?
The primary deities for healing, recovery, and healthcare afflictions are Lord Vaidyanatha, the Ashwini Kumaras, and Lord Mahamrityunjaya.
Which forms of Mahadeva do have bound mantras?
Mahamrityunjaya, Amriteshwara (a shared form with Bagalamukhi), Batuk Bhairav, the Neelakantha and Sadyojata core mantras, Mahaganapati, Aghora Bhairava, and Mahakala Bhairava all have bound mantras.
Mahamrityunjay 108 names during the abhishek of the Daridra Dahan anushthan
The speaker says that, if possible, along with the Daridra Dahan path one should do Shiva's abhishek at the temple while reciting the 108 namavali of Mahamrityunjay Mahadev: take a somewhat larger lota, light both lamps before the shivling first, then pour the water in a thin stream while reciting the 108 names — easy, he says, and doable. Or else fill the lota that hangs over the shivling's jalhari through its hole, from a bucket of the temple's own water plus the water brought from home, and then do the path. If this too is done, he says, Bhagavan Shiva hears one very quickly.
Can Mahamrityunjaya Kavach be read more than once a day?
A pandit's caution against reading Mahamrityunjaya Kavach more than once concerns its beeja-heavy recitation, whose energy a woman, someone without the yajnopavita, or anyone unable to keep the required discipline may not be able to sustain. Such a person should instead do an anushthan of the Shiv Raksha Stotra — both Puranic and tantrokta — for the same protection.
Does hearing the Mahamrityunjaya mantra on a temple speaker incur mantra dosha?
No dosha attaches from merely hearing the Mahamrityunjaya mantra played on a speaker in a Shiva temple — the listener is not the one uttering it.
How was the first Jyotirlinga, Somnath, established, and what is notable about its Ban Stambha?
After Chandra Dev was cursed by Daksha Prajapati, he received Mahamrityunjaya initiation from Sage Markandeya, established a Shivling, and Shiva manifested there as the first Jyotirlinga, Someshwar Mahadev — the temple's Ban Stambha bears an arrow inscription stating that only ocean lies along its direction all the way to the South Pole.
Which mantras did Brahma and Vishnu receive upon obtaining Shiva's vision?
When Brahma and Vishnu obtained Shiva's vision, they received initiation into the Pranava (Om), the Panchakshari Mantra, Gayatri Mantra, Mahamrityunjaya Mantra, Chintamani Mantra, and Dakshinamurti Mantra.
Can the Mahamrityunjaya Mantra be chanted at home without formal initiation?
Vedic mantras require qualification (Adhikara), sacred thread investiture (Yajnopavita), and accurate Sanskrit pronunciation learned directly from a qualified teacher — chanting without these is not properly authorized.
Why the Mrit Sanjivani vidhan must be left entirely alone by ordinary people
The speaker says to leave the whole vidhan of Mrit Sanjivani entirely, because of the kind of things used in it and the kind of beej mantras it has — no ordinary person should use it at all. Only those who know both Vedic and tantrokta kriyas, who also know the process of protection, and who, if they are applying maran and the like upon someone, also know how to stop that prayoga.
Which mantras are most used in this work?
The greatest use in this, the speaker says, is of the Mahamrityunjay mantra as it runs in bhagatvaal — in the Sabar, the Sabar Mahamrityunjay, which he calls a very different matter. Nathpanthi mantras also occur in it, and people perform the jagran of those.
Where should the Vaidyanath and Mahamrityunjay mala mantras be made siddh?
The mala mantra of Baba Vaidyanath and the mala mantra of Bhagavan Mahamrityunjay, the speaker says, are to be made siddh by sitting on this night near a Shiva temple — and especially such a Shiva temple where Nandi ji is outside in a mandap-vihin area, especially if it is an old temple. The art is to sit beside Nandi ji and make them siddh.
A widely followed live was reciting the Mahamrityunjaya with 'pati vandana' in place of 'pushtivardhanam' — a reading he says he knows from no grantha.
He refers to the great tantriks who take ₹51,000 or ₹1 lakh and perform havan. He says he was watching a live that morning — someone very viral — and that they were reciting the Mahamrityunjaya mantra but saying "pati vandana" where "pushtivardhanam" stands. He says he commented on it, as did three or four others, asking what was being said, and that Bhagavati knows from where such a mantra could come, since he himself has no knowledge of it.
If they are viral they must be right and he must be the fool — so let the clever people use such things, and fools like him leave them alone.
If they are viral then they must be doing it right and perhaps it is he who is wrong, he says — perhaps "pati vandanam" occurs in some tantra grantha and he simply does not have the knowledge. So, he tells listeners, if there are fools like him, do not make use of such things; let the clever people do it. He says he has kept a screenshot and will post it in the group, but adds that some disciple of theirs would start another war, which is why he does not say much.
Does Baglamukhi sadhana dry up the Tulsi plant?
He says that is not possible. Bhagavati Baglamukhi is Pran Toshani vidya, Amriteshwari vidya, whose Bhairav is Mahamrityunjay himself. For one who has gone into the mouth of death, we perform an anushthan of Amriteshwari and Mahamrityunjay, by whose mantra alone all these awaken; that Mahamrityunjay in whose hands is a kalash, and in that kalash Amriteshwari Devi abides in the form of amrit — from her, how would the Tulsi plants dry?
Which mantras should not be uttered freely?
He says Vedic mantras are told not to be uttered; Pranav has been forbidden and one should have the adhikara for Pranav; Gayatri should have adhikara and has its rules, and he states that women should not do Gayatri — over which, he says, people go to war, as they do over women wearing the yajnopavita, and people are even having it done. He adds that the Mahamrityunjay mantra should not always be uttered, yet people play it day and night in the house to drive away negativity, and all of this becomes a cause of dosha.
How are the eight murtis linked to Shukracharya and the Mahamrityunjay?
The speaker reminds listeners that a few days earlier in this Shravan month it was discussed how Shukracharya obtained the samarthya of the Mahamrityunjay mantra in the Abhimukta kshetra of Varanasi, in Kashi, and that at that time he made stuti of the eight swaroops. Complete success in the Mahamrityunjay, he says, is not possible without the grace of Shukracharya and of Ashtamurti Shiva — something which is skipped in the present day.
What anushthan is prescribed alongside that tula daan?
Do, or have done, an anushthan of the Mahamrityunjay kavach for the father, or of the Hanuman Chalisa, or of the kavach of whoever is your aradhya. If some capable learned person of that kind is found, have even a laghu anushthan of Mahamrityunjay done — but have it done. Or have a Rudrabhishek performed, so that the alpayu dosha and the like are destroyed.
Can the Pranav be used in every mantra while wearing a kusha pavitri?
Asked whether, wearing a kusha pavitri, one may use the Pranav in all mantras, and if so whether in Gayatri and Mahamrityunjay too, he answers: no. If some such subject has been discussed personally, that is a separate matter with its own reason, or it has been discussed at some particular place for a particular reason. In this manner it cannot be done. It should be done only after the pavitri and the rest.
Should daily seva-puja be dropped after a large anushthan?
Never abandon your seva and puja after having any anushthan performed, he says. One should never say that now we have had a sava lakh japa of the Mahamrityunjay done, so what is the need of doing Shiva ji's abhishek daily. Do not make this mistake. The big anushthan has cut away your great calamities, but if you abandon the nitya pujan then the whole energy of protection built for you has no way to move.
What can be done if there is a yoga of an accident in the kundali?
It cannot be said straight out, the speaker says, but if there is such a subject, then a video was uploaded during the month of Shravan for the sake of Bhagavan Mahamrityunjay. Watch and listen to that video; the pdf of the Mahamrityunjay is in it, download it and do that anushthan. A wife too can do it for her husband.
Which sadhanas fructify quickly with Shani in the lagna?
Sadhanas connected with the body and with kayakalp begin to fructify very quickly, he says. For example: someone with much illness and suffering doing Hanuman ji's sadhana, with Shani in the lagna, doing sadhana himself to remove his physical suffering — better still if initiated. Whichever deity's mantra, stotra or kavach one has chosen, such as the Maheshwar Kavach, in which the prayoga for the destruction of diseases is described, or the Mahamrityunjay Kavach — with Shani in the lagna the fruit for release from physical suffering comes very fast.
Why is the Mahamrityunjay sadhana compulsory?
So that no Akala Mrityu befalls anyone in our kula or our household; so that if someone is already afflicted by a disease, or has contracted an incurable disease, and in the case of hereditary disease, it does not pass into the next generation; and so that the disease presently running is either pacified or its pain and suffering reduced, according to Prarabdha. Done properly, he says, anyone can do this sadhana.
How is the Mahamrityunjay Stotra to be done with Panchakshari?
After that comes the Mahamrityunjay Stotra of Bhagavan Shri Shiva. If you are doing a special sadhana of the Mahamrityunjay Stotra, then first perform the viniyoga and nyasa of Panchakshari and do at least 27 mala of japa of Panchakshari, and only then recite the Mahamrityunjay Stotra. Do the viniyoga, do the dhyana, and recite the full stotra.
How much of the Mahamrityunjay Stotra is repeated, and how many times?
Before the phalashruti there are 19 shlokas; that is the mool stotra and that is what you are to recite. It is these that will be repeated. If 108 recitations of the Mahamrityunjay Stotra are to be done, you will do these. Read the phalashruti the last time, and after that again do the viniyoga and nyasa and do 27 mala of japa of Panchakshari.
What daily totals does the morning-and-evening samput produce?
If you do this daily with Panchakshari Samput at both times, morning and evening, then think: 108 recitations in the morning and 108 in the evening. 27 and 27 mala, that is 54 mala in the morning and 54 in the evening, making 108 mala of Panchakshari; and 216 — take it as just 200 — recitations of the stotra.
What is the alternative to the Mahamrityunjay Stotra?
Suppose you did not do the Mahamrityunjay Stotra and say you have practice of the Mala Mantra and will do the mala mantra — then you may do the mala mantra as well. The mala mantra is somewhat ugra. As for the nitya niyam, full Brahmacharya and the rest is to be observed and onion and garlic are not to be eaten — that applies in every sadhana connected with Mahamrityunjay. The vidhan will be the same, but the mala mantra is a little long.
What is the third option besides the stotra and the mala mantra?
Here is the Ashtottara Shatanama of Bhagavan Mahamrityunjay. Anyone at all can recite it, he says. If you are not doing the stotra and do not want to do the Shiv Mala Mantra either, then simply do the Mahamrityunjay Stotra Satnamavali.
What should be done when capacity is lacking?
Suchita is to be observed, he says, and when you perform any kind of anushthan the connected niti-niyam should be observed. If you cannot — the body has a capacity, a state, a level, and beyond that you cannot go — that is a separate matter; then do less. He is saying to do 108 of Mahamrityunjay; if there is no capacity, no difficulty, do only 11 — will Bhagavan Shiva not do kripa?
Who needs these three practices in life?
All three have effect, he says — leave aside the question of more or less; all three have a full, divine, most divine effect. And the chief and special thing to know is this: whether you are a new sadhak now or an old one, whether you are unmarried or married, whether you have children or not, the need for these arises in life at some time or other.
What is the first advice heard when illness or calamity arrives?
Wherever rog and shok have come, wherever vipatti and badha have come, the first thing one hears is that a Mahamrityunjay anushthan should be performed. Now you are not to get it performed by someone else, he says — perform the anushthan yourself; the full vidhi vidhan is before you.
What becomes the daily nitya niyam after those counts are done?
Taking these two independently — forget the samput matter told before — you completed Panchakshari five lakh and Mahamrityunjay 1100 minimum. Now go on daily, as a nitya niyam, reciting at least Panchakshari and Mahamrityunjay 11 times each day; keep it in your niyam. And once the Mahamrityunjay Stotra is committed to memory you can perform the abhishek of Bhagavan Shiva while reciting it, or with the Ashtottara Shatanamavali.
Which shaktis are comprised within Mahamrityunjay?
He says he is speaking of the mool matter, but asks which shaktis will remain comprised within Mahamrityunjay itself: with Mahamrityunjay there are Bhagavati Amriteshwari, Bhagavati Baglamukhi, Bhagavan Sarveshwar and Bhagavati Mahapratyangira — the shaktis of all of these come into the anga vidyas. So it is not only the shakti that brings a dead person back to life; those who are performing adharma-laden acts also receive ample punishment.
What benefits does a purashcharan in the Vaishakh Shukla Paksha bring?
The speaker lists several: a mantra already carried through one purashcharan becomes unbreakable and param siddha, so that when another mantra needs awakening it awakens instantly by this mantra's grace; japa done on Akshaya Tritiya yields akshaya punya and tapobala that never decays; and Matangi's grace comes of itself, since Bhagavan Shiva grants the grace of all ten Mahavidyas through this mantra.
Does a woman's Gotra change on a second marriage?
No. A woman's marriage happens once, and once the Gotra Daan has occurred it will not change — not through a Sankalp with 11,000 Mahamrityunjaya recitations, nor by any other means. The Gotra of the first marriage remains for all time.
What is the mahima of Somnath, and for whom is his japa?
If there are many kinds of disease in the body from which no release is being obtained, or someone in the household is afflicted, then Bhagavan Somnath — whose mahima will be known to you, the speaker says, from how it happened when Chandra was cursed. Chandra received a curse of being afflicted with kshaya rog; then, in the Saurashtra region, Bhagavan Chandra Dev established a Shivling there and performed tapasya. The Mahamrityunjay mantra was at that time taken as kilit; Markandeya Muni was present there and it was spoken of by him — but even so, through special mantras, which then becomes a tantrokta mantra, Chandra Dev performed the aradhana, Sadashiva manifested, and became situated in that Jyotirlinga forever.
Can the Mahamrityunjay be done in Savan without deeksha?
Asked whether the Mahamrityunjay is to be done in Savan and whether mandal pujan is necessary in it, the speaker answers that the Mahamrityunjay is a Vedic mantra: it should be done only having worn the yajnopavita and having become initiated. To a listener who says the japa told last time continues though sometimes less and sometimes more, and that he is doing the daily observance of Surya, and who asks forgiveness for a child's small lapse, he says there is no lapse and to perform the seva comfortably.
May women perform Dandavat Pranam and Mahamrityunjaya japa?
The speaker says no to both: Dandavat Pranam is prohibited for women by the scriptures, and the Mahamrityunjaya is a Vedic mantra whose pronunciation only a Dvija may undertake. Where a vow was already made and fulfilled, speak to the priest of that shrine.
What else must accompany a kramagat ekakshari diksha?
He says a great many subjects attach themselves besides this: if a kramagat diksha of an ekakshari has taken place, then what else has to be done alongside and how, the Mahamrityunjay, how the Bhairav is to be carried along, and which beejakshari your diksha was in — whether it was in rakar or in lakar. All of this, he says, only your guru will clarify.
Why was the leela of Markandeya Muni enacted?
But a leela had to be performed, he says — that here, beyond Kaal too, is Mahakal. The Mahamrityunjay mantra had to be shown as capable and as bearing fruit before all in creation. It was then that the leela of Markandeya Muni was composed.
How was Markandeya made immortal without violating Yamraj's law?
He says one should know that when Bhagavan manifested in that form for Markandeya Muni's protection and made him ever ageless and immortal — Markandeya Muni becoming a Chiranjivi among the seven Chiranjivis — even then he did not violate the niti and niyam of Bhagavan Yamraj, nor his responsibility. What he did was to stop the gati of Kaal: he did not let Markandeya Muni's age be completed at all. For Markandeya Muni, he says, this thing that is called your time-dilation theory — the theory itself was ended there, so that his age can never be completed, and he will always remain one instant behind. His seven years will never be completed; and if they are never completed, how will Yamraj take away his life at all?
What fills the body with energy and removes laziness?
Asked how the body may be filled with energy, so that remembering it at the time of war one becomes very terrible and no laziness comes, he says that for this there is the veer abhishek of the Mahamrityunjay. Of all the shaktis of the veer category, when their initiated sadhaks complete the purashcharan — the mahapurashcharan — of the mantras, taking the Mahamrityunjay for instance, which has separate kramagat dikshas and mantras according to the form.
Will the puja succeed if a kalash is not kept?
It will absolutely succeed, he answers. There is nothing of the kind that if you do not keep a kalash the puja will not succeed. Householders should keep a kalash only in the Chaitra and Sharadiya Navratris — or in whichever one of these two you keep it and do it. For the rest, if you are a sadhak the matter is different.
Is there a Deepdaan procedure for Sitaram?
The Amla prescription was described before Sitaram ji himself — use a lamp in place of the Amla and do it that way. And doing it for Mata Kaushalya and Dashrath ji is good too: kindled in the names of the Lord's parents, the Lord will be still more pleased.
Calamity such as Corona comes without any prophecy, and the Mahamrityunjaya kavach anushthan is the protection kept against it
Calamity is not such a thing that it happens only because somebody said so — it can come at any time, the speaker says. Was there any particular prophecy about Corona? People say there was not; whether there was or was not, the calamity came and there was trouble in it. If those who have long been urging the anushthan of the Mahamrityunjaya kavach and the like had kept doing it, then at least some more lives would have been saved.
Which two mantras does the Devi Atharvashirsha describe in full?
The speaker says that in earlier times things were kept so secret that nobody knew what a mantra even was, and that today there has been so much publicity that people feel the mantra is nothing. He calls the Navarna the mantra-raja, called the king of all mantras. In Bhagwati's Atharvashirsha — the one atharvashirsha by which alone the fruit of all five atharvashirshas is obtained — a full description is given of two mantras only: the Panchadashi of Bhagwati Rajarajeshwari, Ma Tripurasundari, Ma Jagadamba, and the Navarna mantra.
Which ahutis does he hold to be forbidden to women?
Look, in the Vedic marga the ahuti of Vedic mantras is forbidden, the speaker says: the ahuti of Vedic mantras should not be given by women; the ahuti of ghee should not be given. The ahuti of Pauranik and Tantrokta mantras — because in tantra women are also worshipped — they may do everything, havan, pujan, all of it in that. But of a Vedic mantra such as the Mahamrityunjaya, he says, if you are giving the ahuti then your information is deficient: a woman should never give the ahuti of the Mahamrityunjaya, should not give it herself; she may give the ahuti holding her husband's hand.
Should a householder do the sadhana of the Mahamrityunjay mantra?
No, he says: you should not do the sadhana of the Mahamrityunjay mantra. Mahamrityunjay is a Vaidik mantra, and its sadhana should be done by Vedic people only. Instead do the sadhana of the Pauranik mantra of Bhagwan Sadashiva which has been held as the equal of the Gayatri — the Panchakshari mantra, in which "namah" comes at the end. You can obtain the kripa of Mahamrityunjay from that too.
Must the dev shakti and the devi shakti both be worshipped in a japa?
He says it is simply not possible to leave the Bhairavs out. As when we are doing japa of Mahamrityunjay, it is said again and again that the pujan of both the dev shakti and the devi shakti must occur. If Mahamrityunjay is being done sava lakh, then, as the transcript has it, we will have to do 1250000 of the mantra of Bhagavati Amriteshwari — her dashansh japa; and if we are doing sava lakh japa of a form of Bhagavati such as Bhagavati Pitambara, then 12500, that is the dashansh japa, of Mahamrityunjay will have to be done.
Who are the Bhairavs of Kali, Amriteshwari and Baglamukhi?
Besides that, of Kali ji we know that Mahakal is her Bhairav, and when we offer pushpanjali and the rest we also pronounce mantras such as "Mahakal Bhairav sahit". Of Bhagavati Amriteshwari, or Bhagavati Baglamukhi — who is also called Bhagavati Sumukhi — the Bhairav is Mahamrityunjay Amriteshwar Mahadev, which is what he was speaking of for the dashansh tarpan, marjan and japa.
Sadhaks of the Aghor astra, Mahamrityunjay astra, Ravan Khadga mala and Khanjan vidya are addressed here.
He turns to those who, through this channel or through his sadhak parivar, have been doing astra sadhana in particular for two or three years now — whether it be the Aghor astra, the Mahamrityunjay astra, the Ravan Khadga mala, or the Khanjan vidya of all of these. Many did japa of these in Sawan and many in Margashirsh, and had seen their tremendous effect.
Which Shiva mala mantras must not be used for prayoga in Sawan?
Those who have done japa of Bhagwan Shiva's mala mantra, or who perform its anushthan — the Shiv mala mantra, the Mahamrityunjay mala mantra, the Mrityunjay mala mantra — should avoid using them in the month of Sawan. Do not do prayoga and the like. He observes that those who make a mala mantra siddh see an effect that is very divine and immediate; and those in the sadhak parivar who have learnt the whole vidhi vidhan of wearing and doing abhishek with the tantrokta rudraksha, the one with the eight patals, do not delay in doing a prayoga. That, he says, is one wrong thing.
What rules govern the Vedic mantras, and who should not utter Mahamrityunjay?
The Vedic mantras have very many rules, he says. A woman cannot do Mahamrityunjay — it is Vedic and she should not even utter it — yet people do not accept this, and women sit and do Mahamrityunjay. Where anyone has said so, he asks, singing goes on, bhajan goes on, of Mahamrityunjay, of the Panchakshari, of Durga ji's Navarna. These mantras, he says, are obtained in diksha and never uttered from the mouth.
Is there a secret vidhan for perfecting the Mahamrityunjay Kavach?
Asked whether there is a secret vidhan for perfecting the Mahamrityunjay Kavach, he says it will be perfected by 1100 paths alone. As to whether the sign has appeared or not — this desire for a fruit that you are entertaining is not in your hands or his, and it should simply be abandoned; you should go on doing the japa maximally.
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