Ganesha
Ganesha nama-mantra
ॐ गणेशाय नमः
Simple reading
Om ga-ne-shaa-ya na-mah
Oṁ Gaṇeśāya Namaḥ
About this mantra
The plainest Ganesha salutation: his own name, whole. Where the bīja Gaṁ is the seed, this is the spoken flower. It is written as Śrī Gaṇeśāya namaḥ at the head of ledgers, letters, and wedding cards.
Meaning
Om, salutations to Ganesha, Gana-Isha, lord of the hosts. The name itself is a small theology: the elephant-headed one is master of the many, the crowd of energies outside us and the crowd of thoughts within. To say it is to place both crowds, for a moment, under a wiser command than one's own.
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 गणेशाय नमः
Oṁ Gaṇeśāya 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
Wherever a shorter, simpler remembrance fits: lighting the morning lamp, stepping out of the door, the breath before an interview or exam. Its simplicity makes it the mantra children are given first.
Word by word
- ॐoṁ
- the primordial sound
- गणेशायgaṇeśāya
- to Ganesha, lord of the ganas
- नमःnamaḥ
- I bow, salutations
Source: Traditional nāma-mantra