Vishnu
Vishnu Gayatri
ॐ नारायणाय विद्महे वासुदेवाय धीमहि । तन्नो विष्णुः प्रचोदयात् ॥
Oṁ nārāyaṇāya vidmahe vāsudevāya dhīmahi, tanno viṣṇuḥ pracodayāt
Simple reading: Om naa-raa-ya-naa-ya vid-ma-he, vaa-su-de-vaa-ya dhee-ma-hi, tan-no vish-nuh pra-cho-da-yaat
About this mantra
The Gayatri of Vishnu — one of the Gayatri-form meditations of the Mahanarayana Upanishad, which set a deity's names into the Savitri Gayatri's three-part mould: we know, we meditate, may he impel.
Meaning
We know Narayana; we meditate on Vasudeva; may Vishnu impel us. Three names, three motions: the refuge of all (Narayana), the indweller of all (Vasudeva), and the all-pervader (Vishnu) asked to move the very mind that meditates. The prayer's quiet logic: what pervades everything already pervades the intellect — let it act there.
When to recite it
For steady Vishnu sadhana — Thursday practice, Ekadashi vigils, and before Satyanarayana katha; a practitioner's mantra more than an occasional one.
Word by word
- नारायणाय विद्महेnārāyaṇāya vidmahe
- we know Narayana
- वासुदेवाय धीमहिvāsudevāya dhīmahi
- we meditate on Vasudeva
- तन्नो विष्णुः प्रचोदयात्tanno viṣṇuḥ pracodayāt
- may Vishnu inspire us
Source: Taittirīya Āraṇyaka 10 (Mahānārāyaṇa Upaniṣad)