Ganesha
Ganesha mantra
ॐ गं गणपतये नमः
Simple reading
Om gam ga-na-pa-ta-ye na-mah
Oṁ Gaṁ Gaṇapataye Namaḥ
About this mantra
The mantra of new beginnings. Ganesha is honoured first in every undertaking as the remover of obstacles, and Gaṁ is his bīja, his seed-sound.
Meaning
Om. Gam. Salutations to Ganapati, lord of the ganas. The ganas are the hosts that attend Shiva; devotional commentators widen the word to every ordered set of forces in the world, and Ganapati is the intelligence that marshals them. The mantra is a request in miniature: let what stands in the way step aside, and let what scatters come into order.
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 गं गणपतये नमः
Oṁ Gaṁ Gaṇapataye 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
The default opening of any beginning: new work, a first day, moving house, before study or travel. Counted especially on Wednesdays and through the Ganesh Chaturthi days. Many keep 3, 11, or 108 repetitions before anything that matters.
Word by word
- ॐoṁ
- the primordial sound
- गंgaṁ
- the bīja (seed sound) of Ganesha
- गणपतयेgaṇapataye
- to Ganapati, lord of the ganas
- नमःnamaḥ
- I bow, salutations
Source: Gaṇapati Atharvaśīrṣa (Ganapati Upaniṣad)