Hindu Prayer Book (English)

hindu prayer book ihndU paaTaYnaa paustak / vakra_tuNDa mahA_kAya, koTI-sUrya-sama-prabha| nirvighnam kuru mE dEva, sarva kAryEShu sarvadA||

contents preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... 4 guide to pronunciation . . . . . . . . . . ... 7 misc. mantras during pUjA . . . . . . . . . . 10 main pUjA section . . . . . . . . . . . 12-16 om jaya jagadIsha harE . . . . . . . . 15 more shlokas, Artis, mantra . . . . 17-37 gaNEsha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Arti for lord gaNEsha . . . . . . . . . . 18 pAhi pAhi gajAnana . . . . . . . . . . . 19 gaNESha stotra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 gaNEsha sharaNam . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 sarasvatI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 lakshmI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Arti for lakshmI-jI . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 mahA-lakshm_yaShTakam . . . . . . . 22 devI ..................... . . . 23 Arti for durgA-jI . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Arti for ambA-jI . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 nArAyaNa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 rAma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Arti for rAma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 kRiShNa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 kuJja-bihArI kI Arti . . . . . . . . . . . 29 shiva . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 liGgAShTakam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Arti for brahmA, viShNu, Shiva . . . 32 Arti of kailAsa-vAsI . . . . . . . . . . . 33 hanUmAn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Arti for hanUmAn . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 AtmArpaNam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 other mantras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 translations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38-50 ID: GIP-B-0401E (Second Edition) © 2004 Shashikant Joshi All rights reserved. Send suggestions, comments, corrections to gip-prayer@GreatIndiaOnline.com or to PO Box 39631 Cleveland OH 44139 USA. Contact using Shashi@PracticalSanskrit.com US$ 11.00 PLEASE DO NOT PHOTOCOPY THIS BOOK. Order your print copy and support more such products.Volume discounts available for Temples, Libraries, Sunday Schools.

hindu prayer book ihndU paaTaYnaa paustak / Compiled by Shashikant Joshi NEW EXPANDED PRINT AND KINDLE VERSIONS COMING SOON! Promoting Indian heritage and culture! Because culture is not genetic!TM Publishers, Great India Publishers, Inc. PO Box 39631, Cleveland OH 44139 http://GreatIndiaOnline.com Contact: Shashi@PracticalSanskrit.com Email: gip@GreatIndiaOnline.com

X PrefaceThis humble attempt is presented to the devotees with respect and joy! Below is a briefdiscussion on the huge subject of Divine and devotion. The discussion is not limited to‘Hindu God’ but the very concept of Divine. Various cultures have interpreted it vari-ously, implemented it for different purposes, but in India spirituality has had the samerazor sharp observation as that of modern science and the openness of a democracy.. Is God there?All around us we see things that are too perfect, extremely well thought out, or beyond comprehension.Physical sciences merely document observations and draw logical conclusions but they still can’t an-swer the fundamental ‘Why’s? E.g. our body is a miracle in itself, the valves in the veins to stop reverseflow of blood, how each cell of the embryo knows what to grow into, the DNA, or the nerves, trans-portation of oxygen via the red blood cells! Or how a few types of atoms come together to form all thematter we see, or who/what makes the planets revolve and the electron revolve? There are miracles allover, which can’t be explained to the very end. Whatever it is, there is something more powerful thanus humans, be it the ‘system’ that some call ‘nature’ or ‘an intelligence of the cosmos’, as modernscientists would say. But there is something.As we grow, we still identify ourselves with the two-year-old toddler that we were, even when we arefifty years old. We look at our childhood picture and say, “That was I when I was two.” The body hascompletely changed, but we say ‘That was I’! So ‘I’ is not the body. When we get hurt in the arm wesay, ‘MY arm is hurt’ So, arm is not ‘I’, arm is ‘mine’. Then who is ‘I’? When does life start? Whendoes the ‘I’ start? So something is there beyond this body, this matter. What is Divine?All life forms have some basic desires in life. All want to be eternal, never perish. No one willingly says,“Let me terminate to exist as I am.” This is called ‘sat’ ‘that which is’, ‘the truth’. The next is aware-ness – we all want to ‘know’, what happened in town, in sports, about the weather, news of relatives,or truths of science. We don’t want to be ignorant of what is going on. This is called ‘chit’, ‘conscious-ness’. We all want to be happy, without pain, hurt, and we also want our happiness to be forever, this iscalled ‘Ananda’, or ‘bliss’, not just happiness or joy, but bliss. It is a state. So another name of theSupreme Divine is called ‘sat-chit-Ananda’ or ‘sacchidAnanda’. And it is commonplace knowledge inIndia, not an elite concept. People are named ‘sacchidAnanda’.Next, we don’t want to be under anyone’s control, we want ‘freedom’ (to whatever our definition offreedom is). We want to have ‘freedom of choice’ – nations have been founded on the concept offreedom. It is not a new idea of the West, but an extremely old knowledge. But even if we are eternal,aware, happy, free, is it all? No, then we want to control others. Everyone should do as I wish, theyshould obey me, respect me. This is the Lordship, authority, IshitA, God is also called Ishvara (PYSvar)These five qualities make the Supreme Divine. It is eternal truth, all aware, state of bliss, freeand has full authority of everything! Every ‘religion’ of the world also agrees with this definitionfor their own ‘Divine’. All problems in the name of ‘religion’ start AFTER this! The Path to the Divine?There are three types of personalities, driven by thought (mind), action or compassion. Hence thescriptures have suggested different ways for them to realize the Divine - through jJAna yoga, karmayoga, bhakti yoga. The first one uses the intellect to cut through the illusion of this mortal, manifestworld and concludes that we are not the material (but we are the spirit, soul). The second one lets theaction-oriented person do action, but urges them to do it selflessly. By doing so, they annihilate theirego, help others and yet have an outlet to their urge to do. The third one, or the path of devotion,surrender, bhakti, is apt for those who are not interested in intellectualizing too much, do not necessar-4 Hindu Prayer Book © 2005 Great India Publishers, Inc.

Oily have an itch to keep working, but feel with their hearts much more than others. But since everyoneis made of these three personalities to varying degrees, all three types of yoga are worth understandingand practicing. They are not contradictory and follower of one should not consider followers of otheras ‘misled’ or a ‘burden to society’. Formless or Formful?In theory, since the Divine is all-powerful, it can choose to do or be whatever! So we have to acceptthat the Divine is not limited. Also, whatever we perceive is measurable, hence limited. So Divine isbeyond perception. In that sense, it is formless. The Divine is expressed in two ways, ‘Not this, not this,not this’ (i.e. anything we can perceive, Divine is more than that, so it is not just that). Or by ‘This is,this is, this is’, since everything is an expression of Divine. Everything is energized in the universe,down to the electron. They too have some awareness of what they are supposed to do.‘Formless’ is a concept, difficult for the majority of people. The number of people who truly under-stand the physics behind how a television can allow us to watch events happening across the world isextremely low, similarly abstract philosophy is not everyone’s cup of tea. They don’t have time, capac-ity or aptitude for it. For them senses are important, perception is vital. So the great sages of Indiacreated forms for them to be able to understand the higher truth. The symbols of various ‘gods’ and‘goddesses’ are carefully chosen as a mosaic that creates a vision and emphasizes certain attributes ofthe Divine. There are many metaphors in Indian thought and faith systems, and even names of formfulgods are meaningful – lakshmI the goal of life, brahmA the expansive, shiva the auspicious, viShNu theall-pervader, shakti the energy. Why so many gods?The various ‘gods’ and ‘goddesses’ are not many. In Sanskrit they are called ‘dEva or dEvI’ – theluminous. The confusion comes when the word dEva is translated as god in English. The various dEvasliving in heaven have to come down to earth when their quota of good karma is over. The threesupreme - brahmA the creator, viShNu the sustainer, shiva the transformer are also not absolute. Theyare all one in the great OM! Every Hindu understands that, and OM is formless, doesn’t take sides, likeor dislike anyone. Everyone reaps the fruits of his or her deeds and thoughts. Why idols ... er ... I mean, statues?The right word is statue or mUrtI, idol has been used derogatorily only to refer to Hindu statues.To understand the importance of the statue, think of it as an icon, a symbol of something. We all carrypictures of our dear ones, but we know that they are only pictures that remind us of the real person!Still, no one says carrying a picture is blasphemy! We won’t like to be forced to carry someone else’srelatives’ pictures! Every religion has symbols, be it the cross, the Pope, the Book, a stone or whatever;no one is totally in the abstract domain.Similarly, the various forms are reminders of attributes of the Divine, and we can choose which at-tributes we want to focus on for our own personal goals. Hence, the craftsmen worship Vishvakarma -the celestial engineer, students worship Sarasvati - the divinity of learning, merchants focus on Lakshmi- the goddess of prosperity. All know that the Divine is more than the form, but the form helps. It is likean aid, as we use charts, graphs, pictures to visualize data and information. Devotion/BhaktiBhakti yoga is particularly important in the age of Kali Yuga, the present age. In shrImad-bhAgavatpurANa there is an interesting story in the preface. Celestial sage Narada (nArada) meets a youngbeautiful woman sitting beside two old men lying on the ground. Upon asking she said that her name isbhakti (devotion) and the two old men are her sons jJAna (knowledge) and vairAgya (renunciation).Narada explained to her that in the satya yuga, trEtA yuga and dwApara yuga knowledge and renuncia-tion were the ways of liberation but in the terrible kali yuga, only bhakti (devotion) is the way tosalvation. Describing the terrible state of kali yuga, he says, “Everything on the earth has becomewithout essence, like seedless husk. The scholars (experts, knowledgeable) are selling their knowl-edge so are controlled by motives other than truth; pilgrim sites are also infested with hypocrites; thoseO Divine! destroy my ego, give me peace, motivate my thoughts in the right direction! 5

Xwho are scorched by anger, greed, desires pretend to be great ascetics; dhyAna-yoga (the path ofknowledge) has become fruitless because of egotism, greed, hypocrisy and lack of deep study of thescriptures (so it is mere talk); the ‘god-men’ are preoccupied with the pleasures of the flesh, they aregood at begetting children but not at showing the path of liberation. This is the attribute of this age, noone is to blame.” Hence bhakti, which requires only self-surrender, is the only way to liberation! Why Sanskrit?Sometimes, the question is raised that “What is the need for praying in Sanskrit words? It is the mean-ing alone that is important. Instead of pronouncing and remembering difficult words, why not simplychant the (English) translation?” A good question – and the answer lies in the power of the Sanskritlanguage. Because of its powerful rules to make new words, and word order in a phrase being imma-terial to a certain degree, the Sanskrit shlokas can be very poetic, succinct as well as have deep mean-ings. Then there is the huge encyclopedic symbolism of the culture that allows big ideas to be conveyedthrough symbols that are traditional and often presumed to be understood by a follower, seeker. Helpful Tips for Effective PrayingThe name and prayer of God should be said and chanted audibly. Just humming in one’s heart becauseof shyness or pride, doesn’t give the full joy of surrender to the Divine. Because this is not done toentertain or show off to anyone else, rather for the Self and the Divine! In later stages, meditation canbe silent.Sincere attempt should be made for the clarity of pronunciation and to understand the meaning, so thatdeeper joy can be experienced while praying. True knowledge leads to true devotion! Only afterunderstanding the meaning, the worth of prayers can be truly appreciated. One should also explain toeager and curious children at their own level of understanding. Children have very good memory andshould be encouraged to recite the shlokas and aartis even if they don’t comprehend the full meaningyet.Prayer should never be considered as a burden and done to just ‘get it done with’. Rather, the time thatis taken out for praying, meditation and Arti, should be fully utilized for calming oneself. With full heartand focus, pray with faith and devotion. Pray after cooling off negative emotions and thoughts likeanger or try to use prayer as a means to calm such feelings. One should keep them calm even afterprayer. Like lovers engrossed in each other, forgetting the world, so should one merge with the Divinewhile praying with the same intensity.Singing the praise of Lord, chanting of prayers, does make the heart light, removes egoand stabilizes the intellect. Submission to someone superior to us subconsciously sub-dues our ego, pride and arrogance. That is the main aim.The present work is a collection of some of the more popular prayers of the prominent deities. Thereare many more forms of the Divine and many more prayers. It is impossible to cover them all.I want to thank all those who helped from the beginning to the end of this prayer book. Especially to mylate grandmother, whom I saw everyday early morning praying with unwavering faith, and hence firstseeds of devotion sprouted in me. To my father, who aroused my interest in Hindi, Sanskrit, poetry andliterature from a very young age. To Shri Ramaswamy Sharma for being so tolerant to my questions,and my family for their patience and support.In spite of the utmost care, some errors are bound to creep in unnoticed. Please forgive any errors butdo inform me so that they may be corrected in subsequent editions. Send your corrections, suggestionsand feedback to improve this further. – Shashikant Joshi March 2004 gip-prayer@GreatIndiaOnline.com6 Hindu Prayer Book © 2005 Great India Publishers, Inc.

alphabet and basic pronunciation guide for Sanskrit/Hindi:Sanskrit trans- examples Sanskrit trans- examples literation literation svar (svara) vowels: simple vowels compound vowelsA, Ô a but, up, cup u u Î lRi, lRuAa, Ôa A part, father a a Ò lRI, lRUP i ink {, Ae E base (a,A + i,I) aPY I fee eed {e , AE ai bite (a,A + E ) i[ u put u Aae o old (a,A + u,U)] U boo oon AaE au bou ounty, clou oud 2} Ri / Ru (R) it is a vowel AM M saM aMskRita 2 sound closeÍ QI / QU (Q) AH H huh uh to ‘r’ sound vyaßna (vyaJjana consonants: vyaJjana)(1) ka-varga or kanTha (throat) (4) ta-varga or danta (dental)k ka bookk ta ta like soft french tKa kha book-h k-house, Ta tha thank, th th through khail mikhga ga dog g d da with this th, thGa gha dog-h g-house, agh ghast Da dha with h th his¥ Ga sing n na na nest(2) cha-varga or tAlavya (above the teeth) (5) pa-varga or oShTha (labial)ca cha (ca)2 bunch ch pa pa cuppC chha bunch-h ch-hop f pha cup-h p-holder, not ‘f’ (cha)2ja ja jump ba ba club bJa,å jha page-h ge-her Ba bha abh club-h bhor, b-houseÜa Ja punjab n ma ma mother(3) Ta-varga or mUrdhanya (from palate) (6) antaH-stha or mixed/semi vowelsq Ta boot t ya ya yes (i,I + a,A)Q Tha boot-h t-house r ra runw Da good d la,Û la loveW Dha good-h d-house va wa, va water (u,U +a,A) (the sound is labial, notNa,äa Na fund, hunt n n fricative)

(7) UShma (hot) (8) saMyuktA (conjugates) Sa sha (Ya)2 ship, (tAlavya) xa ksha book-sh k-shelf za Sha (Sa)2 should Xa tra soft t + ra (mUrdhanya) sa sa sun Z jJa jJa (but also ‘gya gya’) h ha hum indigenous3/foreign4 sounds of hindi: 3 w. W. W Wh hair-d (approx.) faired-h (approx.) r-down red-house 3 ABkha B strong nasal (different from G, J, N, n) Aa:Ka 4 z f zoo, fruit `ja `f 4 q qh hard k, kh `k `Ka ivasagaY visarga denoted by : Anausvaar anusvAra denoted by M Anaunaaisak anu-nAsika the fifth letter of each group: G, J, N, n, m spaSaY sparsha touching ‘k’ through ‘m’ AMtaHsTa antaH-stha deep seated ‘y’ ‘r’ ‘l’ ‘v’ need extra force from the belly ]zma UShma hot ‘sh’ ‘Sh’ ‘s’ ‘h’ pa@za paruSha hard 1st and 2nd of each group (‘k’ ‘kh’ ‘ch’ ‘chh’ ...) and UShma kaemala komala soft 3rd and 4th of each group (‘g’ ‘gh’ ‘j’ ‘jh’ ...) AlpapüaNa alpa-prANa light breath 1st and 3rd of each group (‘k’ ‘g’ ‘ch’ ‘j’ ...) mahapüaNa mahA-prANa heavybreath 2nd and 4th of each group (‘kh’ ‘gh’ ‘chh’ ‘jh’ ...) important notes, please read carefully 1. in saMskRita, words combine to make new ones| sounds undergo changes according to linguistic rules| this can result in huge words that become really difficult to pronounce, specially in roman scripts| only to help pronunciation, such words are broken by a dash ‘-’ or underscore ‘_’ in roman transliteration (and sometimes but rarely in dEvanAgarI)| a dash is used when the compound word can be broken into original words, e.g. ‘rAma-bhakta’ (means devotee of rAma) where the compounding was done by removing the ‘of’, and the original words are indeed ‘rAma’ + ‘bhakta’| on the other hand in the word ‘himA_laya’ (the himalaya mountains), the _ is used to aid in pronunciation but the original words are not ‘himA’ and ‘laya’, but rather ‘hima’ + ‘Alaya’ and the ‘sandhi’ (grammar/linguistic rules) caused the adjoining vowels to change| 2. international roman transliteration is used for writing or typing with special fonts with accents and is seen in printed books etc.| the standard roman transliteration uses Ya, Sa, R, ca, cha for Sa, za, }, ca, C respectively| this has caused considerable confusion the ‘s’ with accent is available in special fonts only| when confusion|8 Hindu Prayer Book © 2005 Great India Publishers, Inc.

people see YrI they write it as sri and then pronounce it as sri (OI) instead of shrI (oI)| there is no need to drop the h after the sh and Sh sounds| it is used for all the aspirants like kh, gh, jh etc.| so dropping the h after sh and Sh merely causes confusion and doesn’t save anything| in case of ca, in english ‘ch’ is used for the ‘ch’urch sound, whereas ‘c’ is used for ‘ka’ or ‘s’ sound| never does a ‘c’ make the ‘ch’urch sound| hence it is better to write them as sh, Sh, Ri (or Ru), ch, chh respectively to clearly indicate the presence of sh sound, R being a vowel and the sound of ch instead of ‘k’| 3. indigenous sounds of hindi - the sounds W and Wh are hindi sounds formed by a hint of ‘r’ before the hard ‘D’ and ‘Dh’ sounds| prepare the tongue for ‘r’ and then say ‘D’| the full nasal of ABkha is represented with a chandra and a bindu| the new characters ‘W’ and ‘B’ have been introduced for this reason| w. has a dot under the w (D), so the character for w. should also have a dot under D, and hence W| the chandra-bindu is a hard nasal, different from n and m, this should be clear from looking at the character| using Ankha doesn’t tell the reader if it is half n or B| a new character for ÷ is introduced as P in roman font| 4. foreign sounds in hindI - from arabic, persian or english, like ‘f’, ‘z’, ‘q’. 5. sound variations - every sound has exactly one letter for it, and every letter has exactly one sound| hence, saMskRita alphabet needs no key to pronunciation for those who can read its script| a key to sounds is only needed for those who can’t read dEvanAgarI| there is distinct variation among people for two sounds| jJa (Z) pronounced approximately as ‘gya’ or ‘jJa’| R (}) is pronounced approximately as ‘Ri’ or ‘Ru’| this is a result of natural variations in languages over time and not a shortcoming of saMskRita| 6. english being taught on saMskRita model of linguistics -- the new way of teaching english through phonetics involves saying ‘cat’ = ‘k’ ‘a’ ‘t’ etc. just like saMskRita sounds, i.e. removing the vowel variation from the base sounds| 7. trailing ‘a’ - should not be mistaken for ‘A’ especially in transliteration| even if it is pronounced with emphasis, it is never the same as ‘A’, e.g. ‘mAnava’ = man (of manu), here the trailing ‘va’ should sound like the ‘na’ and not like ‘mA’ for the vowel sound. 8. there is no upper case in indian languages, so in the roman transliteration, upper case should not be used| in saMskRita, a word has many meanings, and this is one of the powers of the language, enabling a poet, writer to compose shloka/mantra with multiple levels of meaning| by using upper case, one excludes all other possible meanings, thus killing the richness of the language| the word hari means, viShNu as well as a monkey (but ×ari means viShNu only); the word kRiShNa means, black, attractor as well as the avatAra of viShNu (but Úrishna means viShNu avatAra only)| 9. for more information on fonts, or the language send email to Shashi@PracticalSanskrit.comO Divine! destroy my ego, give me peace, motivate my thoughts in the right direction! 9

X misc. mantras during pUjApurification - O a-pavitraH pavitro vA, sarvA_vasthAm gato’pi vA | ya smaret puNDarI_kAksham, saH bAhyAbh_yantaraH shuchiH ||sanctifying the seating place - O pRithvi tvayA dhRitA lokAH, devi tvam viShNunA dhRitA | tvam cha dhAraya mAm devi, pavitram kuru chAsanam ||offering food to god - tvadIyam vastu govindam, tubhyam-Eva samarpayE | gRihANa sumukho bhUtvA, prasIda param_Eshvara ||while drinking the holy water - akAla-mRityu-haraNam, sarva-vyAdhi-vinAshanam | viShNu-pAdodakam pItvA, punar_janma na vidyatE ||at the end - yad_aksharam-padam-bhraShtam, yach_cha mAtrA-hInam bhavEt| tat-sarvam kshamasva deva, prasIda param_Eshvara ||at the end, asking for forgiveness for mistakes (to dEvi) mantra-hInam kriyA-hInam, bhakti-hInam surEshvari | yat-pUjitam mayA dEvi, pari_pUrNam tadastu mE | (to dEva) mantra-hInam kriyA-hInam, bhakti-hInam surEshvara | yat-pUjitam mayA dEva, pari_pUrNam tadastu mE || (to viShNu) mantra-hInam kriyA-hInam, bhakti-hInam janArdana| yat-pUjitam mayA dEva, pari_pUrNam tadastu mE ||AvAhanam na jAnAmi, na jAnAmi visar_janam |pUjAm chaiva na jAnAmi, kshmasva param_Eshvara ||anyathA sharaNam nAsti, tvamEva sharaNam mama |tasmAt kAruNya-bhAvEna taksha mAm param_Eshvara ||10 Hindu Prayer Book © 2005 Great India Publishers, Inc.

X ~ main pUjA ~ ||gaNEsha stuti|| gajA_nanam bhUta-gaNAdi-sEvitam, kapittha-jambU-phala-sAra-bhakshitam| umA-sutam shoka-vinAsha-kAraNam, namAmi vighnEshvara pAda-paGkajam|| ||guru stuti||gurur_brahmA gurur_viShNur-gurur_dEvo mahEshvaraH|guruH sAkshAt para-brahma, tasmai shrI guravE namaH|| ||sarasvatI stuti||yA kundEndu-tuShAra-hAra-dhavalA, yA shubhra-vastrAvRitA |yA vINA-vara-daNDa-maNDita-karA, yA shvEta-padmAsanA|yA brahmA_chyuta-shaGkara-prabhRitibhir_ dEvaiH sadA vanditA |sA mAm pAtu sarasvatI bhagavatI, niHshESha-jADyApahA|| ||dEvI stuti|| sarva-maGgala mAGgalyE, shivE sarvArtha-sAdhikE| sharaNyE tryambakE gauri, nArAyaNi namo’stu tE|| others - yA devi sarva-bhUtEShu, shakti rUpENa saMsthitA | namas_tasyai namas_tasyai, namas_tasyai namo namaH || mahA-lakshmi namas_tubhyam, namas_tubhyam surEshvari | hari-priyE namas_tubhyam, namas_tubhyam dayA-nidhE ||12 Hindu Prayer Book © 2005 Great India Publishers, Inc.

O ||nArAyaNa stuti|| shAntA_kAram bhujaga-shayanam, padma-nAbham surEsham | vishvA_dhAram gagana-sadRisham, mEgha-varNam shubhAGgam| lakshmI-kAntam kamala-nayanam, yogibhir_dhyAna-gamyam vandE viShNum bhava-bhaya-haram, sarva-lokaika-nAtham|| ||rAma stuti|| rAmAya rAma-bhadrAya, rAma-chandrAya vEdhasE| raghu-nAthAya nAthAya, sItAyAH patayE namaH|| ||kRiShNa stuti|| kRiShNAya vAsu-dEvAya, dEvakI-nandanAya cha| nanda-gopa-kumArAya, govindAya namo namaH|| other - vasu-dEva-sutam dEvam, kaMsa-chANUra-mardanam | dEvakI-paramA_nandam, kRiShNam vandE jagat-gurum||O Divine! destroy my ego, give me peace, motivate my thoughts in the right direction! 13

X ||shiva stuti|| vandE shambhUm umA-patim sura-gurum, vandE jagat-kAraNam| vandE pannaga-bhUShaNam mRiga-dharam, vandE pashUnAm patim| vandE sUrya-shashAGka-vahni-nayanam, vandE mukunda-priyam| vandE bhakta-janAshrayam cha varadam, vandE shivam-shaGkaram|| (other - O tryambakam yajAmahE, su-gandhim puShTi-vardhanam | urvArukam-iva bandhanAt, mRityor_mukshIya mAmRitAt || ) ||hanUmAn stuti|| manojavam mAruta-tulya-vEgam, jitEndriyam buddhimatAm-variShTham| vAtAt_majam vAnara-yUtha-mukhyam, shrI-rAma-dUtam sharaNam prapadyE|| ||AtmArpaNam|| kAyEna vAchA manas_Endriyair-vA, buddh_yAtmanA vA prakRiti-svabhAvAt| karomi yadyat sakalam parasmai, nArAyaNAyEti samarpayAmi|| tvamEva mAtA cha pitA tvamEva, tvamEva bandhush_cha sakhA tvamEva| tvamEva vidyA draviNam tvamEva, tvamEva sarvam mama dEva dEva||14 Hindu Prayer Book © 2005 Great India Publishers, Inc.

O ||om jaya jagadIsha harE||O jaya jagadIsha harE, svAmI jaya jagadIsha harE |bhakta janoB kE saGkaTa, dAsa janoB kE saGkaTa, kshaNa mEB dUra karE| O jaya ... ||1||jo dhyAvE phala pAvE, duHkha vinashE mana kA, ~ svAmI, duHkha vinashE mana kA |sukha-sampatti ghara AvE, sukha-sampatti ghara AvE, kaShTa miTE tana kA|| O jaya... ||2||mAta-pitA tuma mErE, sharaNa gahUB kisakI, svAmI, sharaNa gahUB kisakI|tuma bina aura na dUjA, prabhu bina aura na dUjA, Asa karUB jisakI || O jaya... ||3||tuma pUraNa param_AtmA, tuma antar-yAmI, svAmI, tuma antar-yAmI |pAra-brahma param_Eshvara, pAra-brahma param_Eshvara, tuma sabakE svAmI || O jaya... ||4||tuma karuNA kE sAgara, tuma pAlana-kartA, svAmI, tuma rakshA-kartA |maiB mUrakha khala kAmI, maiB sEvaka tuma svAmI, kRipA karo bhartA || O jaya... ||5||tuma ho Eka a-gochara, sabakE prANa-pati, svAmI, sabakE prANa-pati|kisa vidhi milUB dayA-maya, kisa vidhi milUB dayA-maya, maiB tumasE ku-mati || O jaya... ||6||dIna-bandhu duHkha-hartA, tuma ThAkura mErE, svAmI, tuma rakshakamErE|apanE hAtha uThAo, apanE charaNa baWhAo, dvAra paWA maiB tErE|| O jaya... ||7||viShaya-vikAra miTAo, pApa haro dEvA, svAmI, kaShTa haro dEvA|shraddhA-bhakti baWhAo, shraddhA-prEma baWhAo, santana kI sEvA || O jaya... ||8||tana-mana-dhana saba hai tErA, svAmI, saba kuchha hai tErA|tErA tujhako arpaNa, tErA tujhako arpaNa, kyA lAgE mErA || O jaya... ||9|| (this Arti is in hindi)O Divine! destroy my ego, give me peace, motivate my thoughts in the right direction! 15

XkarpUra-gauram karuNA_vatAram, saMsAra-sAram bhujagEndra-hAram |sadA vasantam hRidayAr_vindE, bhavam bhavAnI-sahitam namAmi || maGgalam bhagavAna shambUH, maGgalam vRiShabha-dhvaja | maGgalam pArvatI-nAtho, maGgalAya_tano_haraH || maGgalam bhagavAna viShNu, maGgalam garuDa-dhvaja | maGgalam puNDarI_kAksho, maGgalAya_tano_hariH || sarva-maGgala mAGgalyE, shivE sarvArtha-sAdhikE| sharaNyE tryambakE gauri, nArAyaNi namo’stu tE|| achyutam kEshavam rAma-nArAyaNam | kRiShNa-dAmodaram vAsudEvam harim || shrI-dharam mAdhavam gopikA-vallabham | jAnakI-nAyakam shrI-rAma-chandram bhajE | rukmiNI-nAyakam shrI-kRiShNa-chandram bhajE || asking forgiveness for mistakes mantra-hInam kriyA-hInam, bhakti-hInam janArdana| yat-pUjitam mayA dEva, pari-pUrNa tadastu mE || AvAhanam na jAnAmi, na jAnAmi visarjanam | pUjAm chaiva na jAnAmi, kshmasva param_Eshvara || anyathA sharaNam nAsti, tvamEva sharaNam mama | tasmAt kAruNya-bhAvEna taksha mAm param_Eshvara || shAnti pATha (peace invocation) sarvE bhavantu sukhinaH, sarvE santu nirAmayAH | sarvE bhadrANi pashyantu, mA kashchid_duHkha-bhAg-bhavEt || – or – O dyau shAntiH | antariksha shAntiH || pRithvI shAntiH | ApaH shAntiH || auSha_dhayaH shAntiH | vanas_patayaH shAntiH || vishvE-dEvAH shAntiH | kAmaH shAntiH || krodhaH shAntiH | brahma shAntiH || sarvaP shAntiH | shAntir_Eva shAntiH || sA mA shAntir_Edhi || su-shAntir_bhavatu | su-shAntir_bhavatu | su-shAntir_bhavatu | O shAntiH shAntiH shAntiH ||16 Hindu Prayer Book © 2005 Great India Publishers, Inc.

more shlokas, Artis and mantras gaNEsha sarasvatI lakshmI dEvI nArAyaNa rAma kRiShNa shiva hanUmAn AtmArpaNam (self surrender) shAnti pATha (peace invocations)

X ||gaNEsha|| (son of shiva-pArvatI, controller of obstacles) O gaM gaNa-patayE namaH ||O vakra-tuNDa mahA-kAya, surya-koTi sama-prabha |nir-vighnam kuru mE dEva, sarva-kAryEShu sarvadA ||Adi-pUjyam gaNAdhyaksham, umA-putram vinAyakam |maGgalam paramam-rUpam, shrI-gaNEsham namAm_yaham || gajA_nanam bhUta-gaNAdi-sEvitam | kapittha-jambU-phala-sAra-bhakshitam| umA-sutam shoka-vinAsha-kAraNam | namAmi vighnEshvara pAda-paGkajam||Eka-dantaM mahA-kAyam, tapta-kAJchana-sannibham |lambodaram vishA_lAksham, vandE’ham gaNa-nAyakam || O tat-puruShAya vidmahE, vakra-tuNDAya dhImahi, tanno danti prachodayAt || Arti for lord gaNEsha jaya gaNEsha jaya gaNEsha, jaya gaNEsha dEvA| mAtA jABkI pArvatI, pitA mahAdEva || Eka-danta dayA-vanta, chAra-bhujA-dhArI | mAthE para tilaka sohE, mUsE kI savArI | pAna chaWhE, phUla chaWhE, Aura chaWhE mEvA| laduvana kA bhoga lagE, santa karEB sEvA || andhana ko ABkha dEta, koWhina ko kAyA | bABjhana ko putra dEta, nirdhana ko mAyA | sUra shyAma sharaNa AyE, saphala kIjE sEvA | Riddhi-siddhi dEta vABko, vighna-hArI dEvA|| (this Arti is in hindi)18 Hindu Prayer Book © 2005 Great India Publishers, Inc.

O gaNESha stotra praNamya shirasA dEvam, gaurI-putram vinAyakam| bhaktA_vAsam smarE-nityam, AyuH-kAmArtha-siddhayE ||1|| prathamam vakra-tuNDam cha, Eka-dantam dvitIyakam | tRitIyam kRiShNa-piGgAksham, gaja-vaktram chaturthakam ||2|| lambo_daram paJchamam cha, ShaShTham vikatam-Eva cha | saptam vighna-rAjEndram, dhUmra-varNam tathAShtamam ||3|| navam bhAla-chandram cha, dasham tu vinAyakam | EkA-dasham gaNa-patim, dvA-dasham tu gajA_nanam ||4|| dvA-dashai_tAni nAmAni, tri-sandhyam yaH paThEn-naraH | na cha vighna-bhayam tasya, sarva-siddhi-karaH prabhuH ||5|| vidyArthI labhatE vidyAm, dhanArthI labhatE dhanam | putrArthI labhatE putrAm, mokshArthI labhatE gatim ||6|| japEd gaNa-pati-stotram, ShaDbhir_mAsaiH phalam labhEt | samvatsarENa siddhim cha, labhatE nAtra saMshayaH ||7|| aShTEbhyo brAhmaNEbhyash_cha, likhitvA yaH samarpayEt | tasya vidyA bhavEt-sarvA, gaNEshasya prasAdataH ||8|| gaNEsha sharaNam pAhi pAhi gajAnana sharaNam gaNEsha pAhi pAhi gajAnana || pAhi pAhi ...|| gaNEsha sharaNam sharaNam gaNEsha | gaNEsha sharaNam sharaNam gaNEsha || pArvatI-putra gajAnana | pAhi pAhi ...|| mUShika-vAhana sharaNam gaNEsha | gaNEsha ...|| mUShika-vAhana gajAnana | pAhi pAhi ...|| modaka-hasta sharaNam gaNEsha | gaNEsha ...|| modaka-hasta gajAnana | pAhi pAhi ...|| chAmara-karNa sharaNam gaNEsha | gaNEsha ...|| shambu-kumAra gajAnana | pAhi pAhi ...|| vilambita-vaktra sharaNam gaNEsha | gaNEsha ...|| vAman-rUpa sharaNam gaNEsha | gaNEsha ...|| Shanmukha-sahodara gajAnana | pAhi pAhi ...|| mahEshvara-putra sharaNam gaNEsha | gaNEsha ...|| vighna-vinAyaka gajAnana | pAhi pAhi ...|| vighna-vinAyaka sharaNam gaNEsha | gaNEsha ...|| chAmara-karNa gajAnana | pAhi pAhi ...|| pAda namastE sharaNam gaNEsha | gaNEsha ...|| gaNEsha sharaNam sharaNam gaNEsha | pAhi pAhi gajAnana || pAhi pAhi ...|| gaNEsha sharaNam sharaNam gaNEsha ||O Divine! destroy my ego, give me peace, motivate my thoughts in the right direction! 19

X ||AtmArpaNam|| (self surrender)kAyEna vAchA manas_Endriyair-vA, buddh_yAtmanA vA prakRiti-svabhAvAt| ~karomi yad_yat sakalam parasmai, nArAyaNA_yEti samarpayAmi||tvamEva mAtA cha pitA tvamEva, tvamEva bandhush_cha sakhA tvamEva|tvamEva vidyA draviNam tvamEva, tvamEva sarvam mama dEva dEva|| tvamEkam sharaNyam tvamEkam varENyam, tvamEkam jagat-pAlakam sva-prakAsham | tvamEkam jagat-kartRi-pAtRi-prahartRi, tvamEkam param-nishchalam nir-vikalpam || oMkAram bindu-saMyuktam, nityam dhyAyanti yoginaH | kAmadam-mokshadam chaiva, oMkArAya namo namaH || O sarvEShAm svastir_bhavatu| sarvEShAm shAntir_bhavatu| sarvEShAm pURNam bhavatu| sarvEShAm maGgalam bhavatu || O pURNam-adaH pURNam-idam, pURNAt pURNAm-udachyatE | pURNasya pURNam-AdAya, pURNam-EvAva_shiShyatE || O sarvE bhavantu sukhinaH, sarvE santu nirAmayAH | sarvE bhadrANi pashyantu, mA kashchid-duHkha-bhAg-bhavEt || O asato mA sad-gamaya | tamaso mA jyotir-gamaya | mRityor-mA’mRitam gamaya |O sham no mitraH sham varuNaH| sham no bhavat_varyamA| sham na indro bRihaspati | sham no viShNur_uru-kramaH | namo brahmaNE | namastE vAyo | tvam-Eva pratyaksham brahmAsi | tvAm-Eva pratyaksham brahma vadiShyAmi | Ritam vadiShyAmi | satyam vadiShyAmi | tan_mAm-avatu | tad_vaktAram-avatu | avatu mAm | avatu vaktAram | || O shAntiH shAntiH shAnti ||36 Hindu Prayer Book © 2005 Great India Publishers, Inc.

O other mantras early morning before getting up, sit on the bed and chant - karAgrE vartatE lakshmIH, kara-madhyE sarasvatI | kara-mUlE sthitA gaurI, maGgalam kara-darshanam || (other variation - karAgrE vasatE lakshmIH, kara-madhyE sarasvatI | kara-mUlE tu govindaH, prabhAtE kara-darshnam ||) before stepping out of the bed - samudra-vasanE dEvi, parvata-stana-maNDitE | viShNu-patni namas_tubhyam, pAda-sparsham kshamasva mE || while bathing, remember the seven holy rivers - gaGgE cha yamunE chaiva, godAvari sarasvati | narmadE sindhu kAvEri, jalE’smin sannidham kuru || before eating - brahmAr_paNam brahma haviH, brahmAg_nau brahmaNA hutam | brahmaiva tEna gantavyam, brahma-karma-samAdhina || aham vaishvA_naro bhUtvA, prANinAm dEham-AshritaH | prANApAna samAyuktaH, pachAm_yannam chatur-vidham || before lighting a lamp (or lights in the evening) - shubham karoti kalyANam, Arogyam dhana-sampadA | shatru-buddhi-vinAshAya, dIpa-jyoti namo’stu tE || before retiring to bed at night - kara-charaNa kRitam, vAk-kAyajam karmajam vA | shravaNa-nayanajam vA mAnasam vAparAdham | vihitam-avihitam vA sarva-Etat-kshamasva | jaya jaya karuNAbdhE shrI-mahAdEva-shambhu || sarasvatI mantra before starting a new academic project - sarasvati namas_tubhyam, varadE kAma-rUpiNi | vidyA_rambham kariShyAmi, siddhir_bhavatu mE sadA || gAyatrI mantra O bhUr_bhuvaH svaH | tat savitur_varENyam | bhargo dEvasya dhImahi | dhiyo yo naH prachodayAt | Apo-jyotir_raso’mRitam brahma bhUr_bhuvah svaH || O bhUH| O bhuvaH| O svaH| O mahaH| O janaH| O tapaH| O satyam| O tat-savitur_varENyam bhargo_dEvasya dhImahi dhiyo yo naH prachodayAt||O Divine! destroy my ego, give me peace, motivate my thoughts in the right direction! 37

X translationssanskrit script has only one case, no upper o divine, please forgive!and lower cases. hence use of two cases isdiscouraged| see pronunciation guide for o dEva/dEvi, without proper mantra, ritual,more information about case| devotion whatever prayers i have done, let them be fruitful|while it is important to try to pronouncethe words as correctly as possible, it is also o janArdana (kRiShNa), without proper man-important to understand the meanings| af- tra, ritual or devotion, whatever prayers iter understanding the meanings, the taste have done, make them fruitful|of devotion is much more enhanced| i don’t know how to call you, i don’t knowthe indian seers ‘saw’ ‘visions’ which are how to see you off (see comment), i don’tdifficult to capture in words alone| so, sto- know how to pray, forgive me lord| [theries were told to recreate a similar vision in divine lord is always in our heart, we justthe mind of the listener who would then don’t realize it all the time| so at prayer time,interpret| while there are multiple interpre- we call him to come out and have a seat intations possible, the most apparently com- front of us as our chosen form (iShTa-dEva),mon interpretation is given, since some is so we may adorn, love, respect, pray to| thenbetter than none| this should not mean there after it is all over, we ask the divine to comeare no other ways of interpretation| back in our heart, where he/she always is] miscellaneous mantras i have no other refuge, you are my onlypurification mantra – refuge, so mercifully protect me, o lord|whether pure or impure or gone (down) toany (worse) condition, whosoever rememberspuNDarIkAksham (one with eyes beautiful as main pUjA sectiona white lotus), becomes pure inside and out| ———— ! ———— ganESha stutiseat purification – to the elephant faced; to the one served byo earth! you bear the people/worlds, you all beings; to the one who likes the kapitthaare supported by viShNu, you support me (feronia elephantum) and jambu fruits; sontoo, and purify my place of seating| of umA (pArvatI); to the destroyer of sorrow; i bow to the lotus feet of the control-mantra for offering to the lord dur- ler of obstacles|ing prayer – ———— ! ————o lord (kRiShNa), i offer your own things to guru stutiyou, accept them with a happy face| guru (one heavy with wisdom) is (creator) brahmA, guru is (sustainer) viShNu, guru iswhile drinking charaNA_mRita – (transformer) mahEshvara (shiva)| guru ispreventer of untimely death, destroyer of para-brahma personified, salutations for thatall diseases, drinking of the charaNA_mRita splendid guru|of viShNu leads to breaking of the cycle of ———— ! ————rebirths| sarasvatI stuti one who is white like the lotus, moon orforgiveness – the garland of dew-drops; one who is drapedwhatever letters, phrases i said wrong, and in white clothes; one whose hands arewhatever vowels i mispronounced, all that adorned with the boon-bestowing vInA (a38 Hindu Prayer Book © 2005 Great India Publishers, Inc.

stringed instrument); one who sits on the O kRiShNa stutiwhite lotus; one who has always been for kRiShNa, for the son of vasudEva, for thepraised by (creator) brahmA, (sustainer) joy (son) of dEvakI, for the (foster) child ofachyuta (viShNu), (transformer, auspicious) the cowherd nanda, salutations to govindashaGkara (shiva) and all divinities; that (the protector, nourisher of the cattle)|sarasvatI with divine powers! save me byuprooting my ignorance! to the son of vasudEva, to the divine, to ———— ! ———— the killer of kaMsa and chANUra, to the ul-dEvI/durgA stuti timate joy of dEvakI (kRiShNa’s mother),o (dEvI) all goodness, doer of all goodness! praise to kRiShNa - the guru (guide, savior)o auspicious one! o one who fulfils of the universe|everyone’s all desires; o refuge of all! o ———— ! ————three eyed one (like shiva, the third eye of shiva stutiknowledge)! o gaurI! o nArAyaNI! saluta- praise to shambhu (the cause of goodness),tions for you| to husband of umA (pArvatI), to the guru (guide) of the divine forms; praise to thethat divine (goddess) who is deep-seated cause of the creation| praise to the one(all pervading) in everything (living or not) adorned by jewelry of serpents, protectorin the form of energy (shakti); salutations of animals; praise to pashu-pati| praise toto her, salutations to her, salutations to her, the one with sun, moon and fire as his threesalutations, salutations| eyes (sun and moon in the physical domain, fire of knowledge in the spiritual do-o mahA-lakshmI, salutations to you; saluta- main), praise to the one dear to viShNu|tions to you, o goddess of gods; o beloved praise to the refuge of devotees, to theto hari (lord viShNu), salutations to you; salu- bestower of boons; praise to the auspicioustations to you, o ocean of mercy (dayA- (shivam) and auspicious doer (shaM-kara)|nidhi) ———— ! ———— we offer prayers to the three-eyed one (sun,nArAyaNa (viShNu) stuti moon and fire), who is (subtle and all-per-to the one who has a peaceful disposition; vading) as fragrance, who is all nourishing|who sleeps on the (limitless, cyclic) ser- may he cut our bondage with mortal deathpent (of time); who has lotus (of creation) like the (ripened) cucumber (that falls off(emanating) from his navel; who is the without any pain or struggle) and free uslord of the divines| who is the support of from mortality, but not from immortality||the universe; (expansive) like the sky; (dark) ———— ! ————complexioned like the (rain bearing) clouds; hanUmAn stutione with graceful figure| consort of lakshmI take refuge under one like the mind/thought(divinity of all resources); with lotus eyes; (in speed), comparable to the wind in speed,who is only accessible to yogis in medita- who has subdued his senses, senior-mosttion; praise to viShNu (all pervading) who among the wise, son of the wind, leader oftakes away all fears of the mortal world; the group of vAnara (vA-nara = ‘maybe’ hu-praise to the only lord of all worlds|| man; ape like) and messenger of shrI rAma| ———— ! ———— ———— ! ————rAma stuti self surrenderfor rAma, for the gracious, noble rAma, for whatever i do with the body, speech, heartthe rAma (as soothing) as the moon| for the (desiring faculty), senses, intellect, AtmA orprotector of the raghu dynasty (raghu- out of innate internal nature, i offer tonAthAya), for the protector (of all), saluta- nArAyaNa|tions for the husband of sItA| ———— ! ———— you alone are (my) mother and you alone are father, you alone are relatives, you aloneO Divine! destroy my ego, give me peace, motivate my thoughts in the right direction! 39

are friends, you alone are knowledge, you X the incarnation of mercy, the essence/soulalone are wealth, you are my everything, o of the universe, one who wears the cobrasdivine! as necklaces, one who is always residing ———— ! ———— in the lotus-heart (of all), i bow to the lordom jai jagadIsha harE along with bhavAnI (pArvatI)|O hail the lord, protector of the universe|in a moment, he removes the troubles of lord shambhu is maGgala (auspicious, hap-the devotees, servants of the lord||1|| piness, good omen etc.), one with the bull- emblem on his flag is maGgala, maGgala isone who meditates (upon him) gets results, consort of parvatI, hara (one who takesand the sorrow of the heart is destroyed| away - sorrow, pain) is storehouse of aus-pleasure and wealth come home and pain piciousness|of the body is gone||2|| lord viShNu is maGgala, one with theyou are my mother and father, whose (else) garuDa-emblem (eagle like bird) on his flagrefuge should i seek? there is no one else is maGgala, maGgala is one with eyes likebut you for whom i (rest my) hope||3|| white lotus, hari is storehouse of auspicious- ness|you are the complete, supreme soul matter,you reside and move about in our inner o (dEvI) all goodness, doer of all goodness!self| you are the supreme brahman, the su- o auspicious one! o one who fulfilspreme lord, the master, protector of every- everyone’s all desires; o refuge of all! oone||4|| three eyed one (like shiva, the third eye of knowledge)! o gaurI! o nArAyaNI! saluta-you are an ocean of mercy; our caretaker| tions for you|i am ignorant, bad and desirous; i am (your)servant, you are (my) master; have mercy achyuta (unfallen, steady), kEshava, rAma,on me, o provider||5|| nArAyaNa, kRiShNa, dAmodara (young kRiShNa whom yashodA tied with a ropeyou are beyond all perceptions, senses; (dAmA) around his belly (udara) for beingmaster controller of everyones lives| how naughty), son of vasudEva, hari, holder ofshould i – of wrong, misleading thoughts – shrI (prosperity, illumination, lakshmI), killermeet you o compassionate?||6|| of madhu daitya, dear to gopikas (maidens of vraja), pray to shrI rAma-chandra, thefriend of the poor; remover of sorrows; you hero of janaka’s daughter, pray to kRiShNa-are my lord, my protector| raise your hands chandra, the hero of rukmiNI|(to lift me), extend your feet (so i can touchthem), i am lying at your door||7|| [mantra-hInam, kriyA-hInam ... see misc. mantras – forgiveness]remove the disease of indulgence; take awaymy sins and pain, o lord| increase my re- all should be happy, all should be disease-spectful faith and devotion, and my service free, all should see the good (and good-to the saints||8|| ness), let no one have a share in sorrow|body, mind/heart, wealth all is yours; o lord O peace upon heaven! peace upon space!all is yours| i offer to you what is already peace upon earth! peace upon waters! peaceyours, nothing is mine||9|| upon herbs! peace upon flora! peace upon the divinities! peace upon desires (let them– mantras after Arti – subside)! peace upon anger! peace uponone who has a complexion like camphor, brahman! peace upon everything! peace and40 Hindu Prayer Book © 2005 Great India Publishers, Inc.

peace! let my that peace increase! let there Obe complete peace! let there be complete stotra –peace! let there be complete peace! three- for long life, fulfillment of desires andfold peace (upon the three ways of discom- wealth, everyday, remember the son offort i.e. by self, by others, by the divine gaurI, vinAyaka and the refuge of devotees|forces)| vakratuNDa (curved-trunk), Eka-danta (one- tusk), kRiShNa-piGgAksham (brown-eye), detailed Artis, stotra, gaja-vaktram lambo_daram (large-belly), vikaTam (terrible), vighnEshwara (lord-of- shlokas troubles), dhUmra-varNam (smoke-colored), ———— ! ———— bhAla-chandra, vinAyaka (hero), gaNa-pati gaNEsha (leader of gaNa), gajAnana (elephant-face)o one with curved trunk, large body, lumi- - one who chants these twelve names ofnous like ten million suns, make all my gaNEsha at the three sandhi (dawn, noon,endeavors obstacle-free! (this is one of the dusk) need not be afraid of obstacles, lordmost common shloka found even on wedding makes everything successful|cards and recited before any importantproject) knowledge, wealth, son, liberation - the re- spective seekers of these get them respec-i bow to the one who is worshipped first, tively|leader of the people, son of pArvatI,vinAyaka, very auspicious! by chanting this stotra for six months one benefits, and in a year accomplishment isi praise (pray to) the one with one tusk (the achieved, there is no doubt about that|other one, gaNEsha himself plucked out andthrew at the moon who was laughing at pAhi pAhi gajAnana –gaNEsha on gaNEsha chaturthi (the fourth save (me), save (me), o gaNEsha, save (me),day), huge body, of golden aura, large bel- save (me) o gaNEsha|lied (from eating everyone’s troubles), largeeyed, leader of the gaNa| pArvatI’s son gaNEsha, save ... | mouse-rider ganEsha, save ...|knowing the curved-trunk (gaNEsha) as sweets-in-hand gaNEsha, save ...|‘that’ (para-brahma, supreme), meditate, son of shiva gaNEsha, save ...|may that tusker (gaNEsha) inspire us|| brother of six-faced (kArtikEya) gaNEsha, save ...|Arti – controller of obstacles gaNEsha, save ...|praise to lord gaNEsha, whose mother is ears like large fans gaNEsha, save ...||pArvatI and father is mahAdEva (shiva) || gaNEsha sharaNam –one-tusked, merciful, four-armed| (take, i am taking) refuge of gaNEsha|tilaka on forehead, riding a mouse| refuge of the mouse-rider ...|pAna, flowers, mEvA is offered| refuge of the sweets-in-hand ...|sweets are offered, saints serve|| refuge of the fan-eared ...| refuge of the long-face (trunk) ...|you give eyes to the blind, body to the leper| refuge of the short-statured ...|son to the sterile, wealth to the poor| sUra- refuge of the shiva’s son ...|shyAma take refuge, make my service fruit- refuge of the obstacle-remover ...|ful| you give Riddhi and siddhi o lord, re- salutations to the feet of gaNEsha||mover of obstacles|| ———— ! ————O Divine! destroy my ego, give me peace, motivate my thoughts in the right direction! 41

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Hindu Prayer Book (English)

by Shashi Joshi on Feb 18, 2012

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Hindu Prayer Book (English) — Document Transcript