Devi
Durga Gayatri
ॐ कात्यायनाय विद्महे कन्याकुमारि धीमहि । तन्नो दुर्गिः प्रचोदयात् ॥
Simple reading
Om kaat-yaa-ya-naa-ya vid-ma-he, kan-yaa-ku-maa-ri dhee-ma-hi, tan-no dur-gih pra-cho-da-yaat
Oṁ kātyāyanāya vidmahe kanyākumāri dhīmahi, tanno durgiḥ pracodayāt
About this mantra
The Vedic Gayatri of the Goddess, from the Taittiriya Aranyaka. She is named Katyayani and Kanyakumari, and asked, as Durga, to impel the mind toward courage.
Meaning
We know Katyayani; we meditate on Kanyakumari; may Durga impel us. The two names hold her paradox: Katyayani, the warrior Goddess born to the sage Katyayana's tapasya, and Kanyakumari, the eternal maiden, the name the temple at India's southern tip also bears. Ferocity and purity in one metre. What is asked of Durga is motion: push the hesitating mind through what it fears.
Learn it by heart
Say the first line until it comes without reading, then add the next line and say both, until the whole mantra comes on its own.
Line 1 of 2
ॐ कात्यायनाय विद्महे कन्याकुमारि धीमहि ।
Oṁ kātyāyanāya vidmahe kanyākumāri dhīmahi, tanno durgiḥ pracodayāt
0not said yet
Aim for eleven before the next line. Move on when the line comes without reading.
Progress stays on this device.
When to recite it
Navratri sadhana above all, and steady Tuesday or Friday practice; counted before facing what one has long been avoiding: the conversation, the diagnosis, the decision.
Word by word
- कात्यायनाय विद्महेkātyāyanāya vidmahe
- we know Katyayani
- कन्याकुमारि धीमहिkanyākumāri dhīmahi
- we meditate on Kanyakumari
- तन्नो दुर्गिः प्रचोदयात्tanno durgiḥ pracodayāt
- may Durga inspire us
Source: Taittirīya Āraṇyaka 10 (Mahānārāyaṇa Upaniṣad)