Devi
Saraswati mantra
ॐ ऐं सरस्वत्यै नमः
Simple reading
Om aim sa-ras-vat-yai na-mah
Oṁ Aiṁ Sarasvatyai Namaḥ
About this mantra
The seed-mantra of Saraswati, goddess of learning, speech, music, and the arts.
Meaning
Om. Aim. Salutations to Saraswati. Aim is the seed of vak, articulate speech: the sound from which expression unfolds. The reciter asks the goddess of the flowing stream of knowledge for her particular gift. It is not information. It is the clarity that lets learning move through the mind, onto the tongue and into the work.
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.
Whole mantra
This mantra is a single line. Learn it whole, then add it to your review deck so it comes back for a check.
ॐ ऐं सरस्वत्यै नमः
Oṁ Aiṁ Sarasvatyai Namaḥ
0not said yet
Aim for eleven. Stop reading as soon as the whole mantra comes on its own.
Progress stays on this device.
When to recite it
Before study, practice, or performance: students before examinations, musicians before riyaz. Vasant Panchami and Navratri's Saraswati days hold it specially.
Word by word
- ॐoṁ
- the primordial sound
- ऐंaiṁ
- the bīja of Saraswati, of speech and knowledge
- सरस्वत्यैsarasvatyai
- to Saraswati
- नमःnamaḥ
- I bow, salutations
Source: Traditional bīja-mantra of the Devi worship corpus