Universal
Samudra Vasane — greeting the Earth
समुद्रवसने देवि पर्वतस्तनमण्डले । विष्णुपत्नि नमस्तुभ्यं पादस्पर्शं क्षमस्व मे ॥
Simple reading
Sa-mud-ra va-sa-ne de-vi, par-va-ta sta-na man-da-le, vish-nu pat-ni na-mas tubh-yam, paa-da spar-sham ksha-mas-va me
Samudra-vasane devi parvata-stana-maṇḍale, viṣṇu-patni namas tubhyaṁ pāda-sparśaṁ kṣamasva me
About this mantra
Said before the feet first touch the ground each morning. It asks Mother Earth, robed in oceans, to forgive the touch of our feet.
Meaning
O Goddess robed in oceans, whose form bears the mountains, consort of Vishnu, salutations to you; forgive the touch of my feet. It is the tradition's ecology in a single gesture: the planet addressed as a person, robed and living, on whose body we cannot avoid standing. The apology is manners, not guilt: the day begins by acknowledging whose hospitality it uses.
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.
Line 1 of 2
समुद्रवसने देवि पर्वतस्तनमण्डले ।
Samudra-vasane devi parvata-stana-maṇḍale, viṣṇu-patni namas tubhyaṁ pāda-sparśaṁ kṣamasva me
0not said yet
Aim for eleven before the next line. Move on when the line comes without reading.
Progress stays on this device.
When to recite it
Immediately after the palm verse, as the feet first touch the ground: morning's second habit; also before ploughing, digging, or building upon the earth.
Word by word
- समुद्रवसने देविsamudra-vasane devi
- O Goddess robed in oceans
- पर्वतस्तनमण्डलेparvata-stana-maṇḍale
- whose form bears the mountains
- विष्णुपत्निviṣṇu-patni
- consort of Vishnu
- पादस्पर्शं क्षमस्व मेpāda-sparśaṁ kṣamasva me
- forgive the touch of my feet
Source: Traditional prātaḥ-smaraṇa verse