Opening dohas
ॐ त्र्यम्बकं यजामहे
oṃ tryambakaṃ yajāmahe
Ritual practice prefixes ॐ, and commonly the Mahavyahritis ॐ भूर्भुवः स्वः, before the verse. NOTE: these prefixes are liturgical additions and are NOT part of Rigveda 7.59.12 as transmitted.
The text
त्र्यम्बकं यजामहे सुगन्धिं पुष्टिवर्धनम् ।
उर्वारुकमिव बन्धनान्मृत्योर्मुक्षीय मामृतात् ॥
tryambakaṃ yajāmahe sugandhiṃ puṣṭivardhanam |
urvārukamiva bandhanānmṛtyormukṣīya māmṛtāt ||
We worship Tryambaka, the fragrant one, the increaser of nourishment. As a cucumber is freed from its stalk, so may I be released from death — but not from immortality.
When and how it is recited
Monday; Pradosha; Mahashivaratri; the whole month of Shravana. Prescribed for serious illness, danger to life, and as a protective japa. Standard counts: 108 times (one mala) daily; a laghu anushthana of 11,000; a purascharana of 125,000; and the Mahamrityunjaya Japa of 1,250,000 performed by priests on behalf of the gravely ill. Recited extensively at Mahakaleshwar, Ujjain, and at all Jyotirlingas. Also the core mantra of the Rudrabhisheka.
About the text
| Author | Rishi Vasishtha (the traditional seer of Rigveda Mandala 7). Anonymous in any historical sense. |
|---|---|
| Dating | Rigveda 7.59.12 — roughly 1500–1200 BCE for the Rigvedic corpus. The identical verse recurs at Yajurveda (Vajasaneyi Samhita) 3.60 and Taittiriya Samhita 1.8.6.i. |
| Language | Vedic Sanskrit |
Variant readings
Editions differ in a few lines. We give both readings with their sources rather than picking one silently.
| pada b | उर्वारुकमिव बन्धनान् — Rigveda 7.59.12 as transmitted (Sanskrit Wikisource) उर्वारुकमिव बन्धनात् — widely printed in devotional editions |
|---|---|
| opening | त्र्यम्बकं यजामहे — Rigveda 7.59.12; no ॐ in the Samhita text ॐ त्र्यम्बकं यजामहे — universal in devotional and ritual use |
Sources
- https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/ऋग्वेदः_सूक्तं_७.५९
- https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rigveda/rv07059.htm
- https://archive.org/details/MrityunjayaMantra