''Om Namo Bhagavate Vāsudevāya'' () (

Devanagari Devanagari ( ; , , Sanskrit pronunciation: ), also called Nagari (),Kathleen Kuiper (2010), The Culture of India, New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, , page 83 is a left-to-right abugida (a type of segmental writing system), based on the a ...

: ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय) is one of the most popular Hindu

mantra A mantra ( Pali: ''manta'') or mantram (मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words in Sanskrit, Pali and other languages believed by practitioners to have religious, ...

s, and according to the

Bhagavata The Bhagavata tradition, also called Bhagavatism, refers to an ancient religious sect that traced its origin to the region of Mathura. After its syncretism with the Brahmanical tradition of Vishnu, Bhagavatism became a pan-Indian tradition ...

tradition, the most important mantra in

Vaishnavism Vaishnavism ( sa, वैष्णवसम्प्रदायः, Vaiṣṇavasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism since it considers Vishnu as the ...

. It is called the Dvadasakshari Mantra, or simply Dvadasakshari, meaning the "twelve-syllable" mantra, dedicated to

Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" within ...

and

Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is on ...

both. It has two traditions— Tantric and

Puranic Purana (; sa, , '; literally meaning "ancient, old"Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature (1995 Edition), Article on Puranas, , page 915) is a vast genre of Indian literature about a wide range of topics, particularly about legends an ...

. In the Tantric tradition, the rishi of the mantra is

Prajapati Prajapati ( sa, प्रजापति, Prajāpati, lord and protector of creation) is a Vedic deity of Hinduism. In later literature, Prajapati is identified with the creator god Brahma, but the term also connotes many different gods, depe ...

; in the Puranic tradition, the rishi is

Narada Narada ( sa, नारद, ), or Narada Muni, is a sage divinity, famous in Hindu traditions as a travelling musician and storyteller, who carries news and enlightening wisdom. He is one of mind-created children of Brahma, the creator god. He ...

. Both refer to it as the supreme Vishnu mantra.

Origin

Bhagavatism The Bhagavata tradition, also called Bhagavatism, refers to an ancient religious sect that traced its origin to the region of Mathura. After its syncretism with the Brahmanical tradition of Vishnu, Bhagavatism became a pan-Indian tradition ...

, one of the traditions that was assimilated with what would become

, revered the

Vrishni heroes The Vrishni heroes ( IAST: Vṛṣṇi Viras), also referred to as ''Pancha-viras'' ( IAST: Pañca vīras, "Five heroes"), are a group of five legendary, deified heroes who are found in the literature and archaeological sites of ancient India. T ...

, primary among them being

Vāsudeva Vāsudeva ( sa, वासुदेव, ), later incorporated as Vāsudeva-Krishna (, "Krishna, son of Vasudeva"),"While the earliest piece of evidence do not yet use the name Krsna...." in Krishna-Vāsudeva or simply Krishna, was the son of Va ...

(Krishna). It may be concluded that the mantra was first associated with the reverence of Vāsudeva as the supreme deity before he was syncretised with Vishnu, after which it became an invocation of both deities. Krishna dancing on a lotus, c1825

Meaning

''Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya'' means "''Om'', I bow to Lord Vāsudeva or Lord Vishnu".

Significance

''Om Namo Bhagavate Vāsudevaya'' means "prostration to

Vasudeva According to Hindu scriptures, Vasudeva (Sanskrit: वसुदेव, IAST: ''Vasudeva''), also called Anakadundubhi, (''anakas'' and ''dundubhis'' both refer to ''drums'', after the musicians who played these instruments at the time of his ...

", who is variously understood as Krishna an incarnation of Vishnu." According to the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna himself asked his devotees to completely surrender to him: The Vaishnava Upanishads state that this mantra is described on the

Sudarshana Chakra Sudarshana Chakra (Sanskrit: सुदर्शन चक्र, lit. "disc of auspicious vision", IAST: Sudarśana Chakra) is a spinning, celestial discus with 108 serrated edges, attributed to Vishnu and Krishna in the Hindu scriptures. The Su ...

: The Sharada Tilaka, a Tantric text, states: Similarly, this is referred to as the ultimate mantra in the

Shrimad Bhagavatam The ''Bhagavata Purana'' ( sa, भागवतपुराण; ), also known as the ''Srimad Bhagavatam'', ''Srimad Bhagavata Mahapurana'' or simply ''Bhagavata'', is one of Hinduism's eighteen great Puranas (''Mahapuranas''). Composed in Sa ...

. This twelve syllable mantra is known as a mukti (liberation) mantra, and a spiritual formula for attaining freedom. The mantra can also be found in the ''

Vishnu Purana The Vishnu Purana ( IAST:, sa, विष्णुपुराण) is one of the eighteen Mahapuranas, a genre of ancient and medieval texts of Hinduism. It is an important Pancharatra text in the Vaishnavism literature corpus. The manusc ...

''.

In popular culture

Dhruva Dhruva (Sanskrit: ध्रुव, , lit. "''unshakeable, immovable, or fixed"'') was an ascetic devotee of Vishnu mentioned in the Vishnu Purana and the Bhagavata Purana. The Sanskrit term ''dhruva nakshatra'' (ध्रुव नक्ष� ...

used this as his mantra in his penance. Dhruva was initiated by

into chanting. *

Swami Vivekananda Swami Vivekananda (; ; 12 January 1863 – 4 July 1902), born Narendranath Datta (), was an Indian Hindu monk, philosopher, author, religious teacher, and the chief disciple of the Indian mystic Ramakrishna. He was a key figure in the intro ...

used this phrase multiple times in his lectures and letters.893 __FORCETOC__ Year 893 (Roman numerals, DCCCXCIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Vladimir of Bulgaria, Vladimir, ruler (''Khan (title), khan' ...

Origin

Meaning

Significance

In popular culture

See also

References