Surya
Hiranyagarbha — the golden womb (Surya name 7 of 12)
ॐ हिरण्यगर्भाय नमः
Simple reading
Om hi-ran-ya-gar-bhaa-ya na-mah
Oṁ Hiraṇyagarbhāya Namaḥ
About this mantra
Hiranyagarbha, 'the golden womb', is the seventh name, and here the sequence turns cosmic: the Rig Veda's creation hymn names Hiranyagarbha as the golden seed that arose before the gods, holding heaven and earth. Each sunrise is greeted as a daily rehearsal of the first morning of all.
Meaning
Om, salutations to Hiranyagarbha, the golden womb from which creation came. The bow reaches past the sun's disc to what the hymn says came first: light before form, warmth before life. The reciter asks that whatever begins today be held the way the golden seed held heaven and earth.
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 हिरण्यगर्भाय नमः
Oṁ Hiraṇyagarbhāya Namaḥ
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Aim for eleven. Stop reading as soon as the whole mantra comes on its own.
Progress stays on this device.
When to recite it
One of the twelve names of the Surya Namaskar cycle, recited one per posture at sunrise, or counted together as a Sunday (Ravivar) jaap. Kept for the great beginnings: a first day, a birth in the family, the start of anything meant to grow large.
Word by word
- ॐoṁ
- the primordial sound
- हिरण्यगर्भायhiraṇyagarbhāya
- the golden womb, seed of creation
- नमःnamaḥ
- I bow, salutations
Source: Sūrya Namaskāra mantra sequence (traditional twelve names of Sūrya)