Devi
Durga mantra
ॐ दुं दुर्गायै नमः
Simple reading
Om dum dur-gaa-yai na-mah
Oṁ Duṁ Durgāyai Namaḥ
About this mantra
The seed-mantra of Durga, the unassailable: the Mother as protector, invoked for courage and safety from harm.
Meaning
Om. Dum. Salutations to Durga. Her name means the fortress hard to assail; Dum is that protection struck as a single drum-beat of sound. The mantra is itself what it grants: something to hold when afraid. The reciter does not ask for a world without danger. The request is for the Mother's own quality inside it, unassailability of heart.
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 दुं दुर्गायै नमः
Oṁ Duṁ Durgāyai 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
For protection: before travel through uncertainty, in fear of harm, and through Navratri. Parents traditionally count it for children who are away.
Word by word
- ॐoṁ
- the primordial sound
- दुंduṁ
- the bīja of Durga, protection
- दुर्गायैdurgāyai
- to Durga, the unassailable
- नमःnamaḥ
- I bow, salutations
Source: Traditional bīja-mantra of the Devi worship corpus