8/13/2019 Maha Mrityunjay A

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/maha-mrityunjay-a 1/3

Home Site Ma p  Gayatri 

Home About Basics Meditation Practices Philosophy Tradition

Yoga Connections Interactive Mantra Yoga Sutras  Karma Lifestyle

Icons  Mind CDs Kundalini  Levels  Fun/Misc.  

Beyond Butt Yoga

Mantra Use Japa / Ajapa-japa Mantra and Brain

Soham Gayatri Mahamrityunjaya

Soham Practice OM Mantra Mahavakyas

Soham Trataka OM Practice Maranatha

Mahamrityunjaya Mantra

Mahamrityunjaya Mantra (maha-mrityun-jaya) is one of the more potent of the

ancient Sanskrit mantras. Maha mrityunjaya is a call for enlightenment and is apractice of purifying the karmas of the soul at a deep level. It is also said to be

quite beneficial for mental, emotional, and physical health.

Om Tryambakam Ya jamahe

Sugandhim Pushtivardhanam

Urvarukamiva BandhananMrityor Mukshiya Maamritat

We Meditate on the Three-eyed reality

Which permeates and nourishes all like a fragrance.

May we be liberated from death for the sake of immortality,

Even as the cucumber is severed from bondage to the creeper.

Audio Podcast:

The Secret of Shiva and Shakti in the Three Worlds

------------------------------

AUM/OM: Absolute reality. That which encompasses the three states of waking,

dreaming, deep sleep, represented by AUM, the three levels of gross, subtle,

causal, the three levels of conscious, unconscious, subconscious, and the three

universal processes of c oming, being, and going. Absolute silence beyond the

three levels is the silence after AUM.

Tryambakam: Trya means three. Ambakam means eyes. It means the three eyes

of the Absolute, which are the processes of creation, existence, and dissolution,

as well as the other triads, which are part of AUM. The three "eyes" means

experiencing these three stages and triads at one t ime, from the higher, all

pervasive vantage point of the Absolute.

Yajamahe: We rejoice in meditation on all of this.

------------------------------

Sugandhim: Means fragrance. Like a spreading fragrance, all of this permeatesthe whole of existence, while at the same time being that existence

Pushtivardhanam: Means that which sustains and nourishes all. Thus, the

fragrance that permeates all is the sustainer of all beings, while also the essence

 

Mahamrityunjaya 12/9/2013

http://www.swamij.com/mahamrityunjaya.htm 1 / 3

8/13/2019 Maha Mrityunjay A

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/maha-mrityunjay-a 2/3

of all beings.

------------------------------

Urvarukamiva: Urva means big and powerful. Arukam means disease, like the

spiritual diseases of ignorance and untruth, which are like the death of Wisdom or

Truth.

Bandhanan: Means bound down, as in bound down to the ignorance and untruth.

------------------------------

Mrityor: Means ignorance and untruth.

Mukshiya: Means liberation from the cyc les of physical, mental, and spiritual

death.

Maamritat: Means please give me rejuvenating nectar, so as to have this

liberation, like the process of severing the cucumber from the creeping vine.

------------------------------

40 day practice

The period of 40 days has been widely recognized as an auspicious period both in

the East and the West since ancient times. A traditional way to do an extended

mantra practice is to choose a number of repetitions per day, and to do that for

40 days. The mind likes to have a beginning and end to a practice, a sense of 

completion, such as comes with a 40 day (or longer) practice.

1. Fixed time per practice session: Mind finds comfort in knowing that it will

do the practice of one round of 108 repetitions (or some other number of 

rounds), and that each round will take a predict able amount of time (18

minutes per round of 108 repetitions).

 

2. Same number of rounds: Mind also likes the predictability of doing a

certain number of rounds done per day. Mind may resist at times, but once

it gets started in the practice, mind likes the habit.

3. Specific number of days: Mind also likes the plan of knowing how many

days or months a practice will take to complete. This can be very beneficialin stabilizing a noisy mind, which is a common complaint.

Listening to this online Mahamrityunjaya mantra recording of 108 repetitions (18

minutes) is equivalent to one round of a mala. A mala is a set of counting beads

with 108 beads. Only 100 are counted, with the other 8 considered an offering to

the divine, however you personally hold that. You might choose to do 1, 2, 3, or 4rounds of 108 mantras per day, counting with a set of mala beads.

Or, you can use the Mahamrityunjaya Mantra CD instead of the mala beads, as

the CD has 4 tracks of 108 repetitions each. You might choose to do 1, 2, 3, or 4

tracks of 108 mantras per day. You might also want to alternate between doing

some with the recording and some without, counting instead with a set of malabeads.

It has been said that there is freedom in discipline; choosing to do a regular

practice frees the mind from wondering what practice will be done that day.  It isalso important not to do the mantra practice with rote repetition, but rather, with

feeling and awareness.

By running your own experiment for 40 days, you can decide for yourself whether

or not the practice is beneficial.

Extended practice 

A noticeable level of mantra siddhi (power of the mantra) is said to come with125,000 repetitions of a mantra (Such an extended practice is called a

 purascharna). This is equivalent to 1250 rounds of a mala.

Listening to this online Mahamrityunjaya mantra recording of 108 repetitions (18

minutes) is equivalent to one round of a mala (Or, you can also use the

Mahamrityunjaya Mantra CD). To complete the equivalent of 1250 rounds of amala, or a total of 125,000 repetitions of Mahamrityunjaya mantra, will take this

amount of time:

Rounds

per day

Time

per day

Total

days

Appx.

months

1 18 min 1250 42

2 36 min 625 21

 

Mahamrityunjaya 12/9/2013

http://www.swamij.com/mahamrityunjaya.htm 2 / 3

8/13/2019 Maha Mrityunjay A

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/maha-mrityunjay-a 3/3

3 54 min 417 14

4 1 hr, 12 min 313 10 1/2

5 1 hr, 30 min 250 8 1/2

6 1 hr, 48 min 209 7

7 2 hr, 6 min 179 6

Such an extended practice with Maha Mrityunjaya mantra can have a tremendous

effect in stabilizing the mind in preparation for advancing in meditation. Such apractice simply must be done personally to understand the benefits. It does take

quite a commitment to do this practice every day for such a long period, but it is

well worth the effort.

In choosing the level of practice per day, it is important to have stability from one

day to the next, and to not skip any days. It is best to choose the level thatworks for you consistently, rather than changing the number from day to day. For

example, if two rounds per day is a good number (34 minutes), then it's better to

stay with that amount each and every day, not to do none on one day, but four

on the next day.

 

-------

This site is devoted to presenting the ancient Self-Realization path of the Traditionof the Himalayan masters in simple, understandable and beneficial ways, while

not compromising quality or depth. The goal of our sadhana or practices is thehighest Joy that comes from the Realization in direct experience of the center of consciousness, the Self, the Atman or Purusha, which is one and the same withthe Absolute Reality. This Self-Realization comes through Yoga meditation of theYoga Sutras, the contemplative insight of Advaita Vedanta, and the intensedevotion of Samaya Sri Vidya Tantra, the three of which complement one another like fingers on a hand. We employ the classical approaches of Raja, Jnana,Karma, and Bhakti Yoga, as well as Hatha, Kriya, Kundalini, Laya, Mantra,Nada, Siddha, and Tantra Yoga. Meditation, contemplation, mantra and prayer finally converge into a unified force directed towards the final stage, piercing thepearl of wisdom called bindu, leading to the Absolute.

 

Mahamrityunjaya 12/9/2013

http://www.swamij.com/mahamrityunjaya.htm 3 / 3