Explore yoga mantras used in meditation, japa, chanting, devotional practice, and yoga philosophy. Search by mantra, meaning, category, or intention, then open any mantra for pronunciation, translation, context, and practice guidance.
The Gayatri Mantra is a Vedic prayer to Savitr that asks for divine radiance and inspiration for one’s thoughts.
The Hare Krishna Maha Mantra is a 16-name Sanskrit invocation of Hare, Krishna, and Rama, central to Gaudiya Vaishnavism and practiced through japa, kirtan, and nama-sankirtana.
Hari Om Tat Sat is a Sanskrit devotional formula that joins the divine name Hari with Om Tat Sat, the Bhagavad Gita's threefold designation of Brahman.
Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu is a Sanskrit benediction that expresses a wish for happiness and well-being throughout all worlds.
The Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra is a Vedic prayer to Rudra, later associated with Shiva, asking for release from death without separation from amrita.
Neti Neti is an Upanishadic contemplative formula meaning “not this, not this,” used in Vedanta to question limiting descriptions of the Self and ultimate reality.
Om Dum Durgayei Namah is a Sanskrit mantra of homage to the Hindu goddess Durga, used in devotional chanting, meditation, puja, and some ritual traditions.
Om Aim Saraswatyai Namah is a Sanskrit salutation to Saraswati, traditionally associated with sacred speech, learning, music, knowledge, and the arts.
Om Gam Ganapataye Namah is a Sanskrit mantra honoring Ganapati, or Ganesha, traditionally chanted at beginnings and in devotional practice.
Om Krim Kalikayai Namah is a Sanskrit Shakta and tantric mantra dedicated to Goddess Kali, combining Om, the Kali-associated bija Krim, and homage to Kalika.
Om Mahakalaya Namah is a Sanskrit salutation to Mahakala, a Shaiva name of Shiva associated with great time, death, and dissolution.
Om Mani Padme Hum is a six-syllable Buddhist mantra associated with Avalokiteshvara, or Chenrezig, and commonly recited in Tibetan Buddhist meditation, prayer, and devotional practice.
Om Mitraya Namah is a Sanskrit salutation to Surya as Mitra, the friend or ally, and the first mantra in a twelve-name Surya Namaskara sequence.
Om Namah Shivaya is a central Shaiva mantra meaning “Homage to Shiva,” with Vedic roots and common use in japa, meditation, devotional chanting, and kirtan.
Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya is a Sanskrit twelve-syllable Vaishnava mantra of homage to Vāsudeva, understood in devotional traditions as Krishna or Vishnu.
Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo is the Kundalini Yoga Adi Mantra, a modern opening invocation traditionally chanted before practice in the Yogi Bhajan and 3HO lineage.
Om Namo Narayanaya is an eight-syllable Sanskrit mantra of reverence to Narayana, widely used for devotional repetition, meditation, and chanting.
Om Shakti Para Shakti Om is a short Sanskrit devotional chant invoking Shakti, divine power, and Para Shakti, supreme power, associated with modern Hindu devotional, yoga, and Sivananda-style kirtan practices.
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti is a Sanskrit peace invocation traditionally used to seek the calming of obstacles before or after sacred study, prayer, meditation, and yoga practice.
Om Sri Hanumate Namah is a Sanskrit devotional salutation to Hanuman, used in japa, prayer, puja, and contemporary group chanting.
Om Sri Maha Lakshmiyei Namah is a Sanskrit devotional salutation to Mahalakshmi, the Hindu goddess associated with auspiciousness, prosperity, and well-being.
Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha is Tārā’s root mantra, especially associated with Green Tārā in Tibetan Buddhism, and is used for recitation, meditation, prayer, and Tārā practice.
Purnamadah Purnamidam is an Upanishadic peace invocation that contemplates wholeness, completeness, and the idea that fullness is not diminished by manifestation.
Sat Nam is a Sikh scriptural expression meaning approximately “True Name” or “Eternal Identity,” widely used in modern 3HO-KRI Kundalini Yoga practice.
Om Namah Shivaya Gurave is a Sanskrit guru-praise verse honoring Shiva as the embodiment of being, consciousness, bliss, peace, independence, and radiance.
Shiva Shambho is a Sanskrit devotional name chant that addresses Shiva as Shambhu, the beneficent one, and Mahadeva, the Great God.
So Hum is a Sanskrit identity formula, often practiced in modern yoga as silent breath-linked meditation and commonly translated as I am That.
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Asivana Mantra Library
A mantra is a sacred sound, word, phrase, or verse used within contemplative, devotional, ritual, and meditative traditions. In yoga communities, mantra may be practiced quietly through japa, sung in kirtan, repeated during meditation, or recited as prayer.
This yoga mantra directory is designed to help you move beyond simply knowing the words. Each mantra page brings together meaning or translation, pronunciation, chanting guidance, historical context, and information about the tradition in which the mantra is practiced.
The word mantra is commonly used for sacred verbal formulas found across Indian religious and contemplative traditions. Many yoga mantras are Sanskrit, although the broader mantra traditions encountered in modern yoga also include texts and practices transmitted through Buddhist and other linguistic traditions.
Some mantras form complete phrases or verses that can be translated into English. Others are invocations, divine names, seed syllables, or traditional formulas that cannot be reduced to a single literal English sentence.
The short line beneath each mantra in this directory gives you a concise meaning, translation, invocation, or association depending on what is accurate for that mantra.
On the individual mantra page, the translation section goes deeper by separating readable English from literal or grammatical meaning when that distinction matters. This helps preserve the difference between translation, traditional interpretation, and later commentary.
You do not need to already know Sanskrit or yoga philosophy to begin. Start with the mantra that brought you here, then use the individual page to understand what you are chanting before deciding how you want to practice it.
There is no single method that applies to every mantra. The appropriate form of practice depends on the mantra and the tradition that carries it. Several methods commonly encountered in yoga include japa, meditation, prayer, kirtan, and call-and-response chanting.
Japa is the repeated recitation of a mantra. It may be spoken aloud, repeated quietly, or practiced mentally. A mala can be used to keep one's place during repetition and to give the practice a steady physical rhythm.
Kirtan is a musical devotional practice that often uses repeated divine names or mantra phrases. The musical form may repeat or rearrange a mantra beyond its underlying textual form, which is why individual Asivana mantra pages distinguish a mantra itself from common kirtan arrangements when necessary.
Some practitioners use mantra as the central object of meditation. Others approach a mantra as prayer, contemplation, remembrance, or devotional recitation. The intention and method should come from the mantra's actual context rather than a generic promise attached to mantra practice.
Some mantras circulate openly and are widely chanted. Others belong to practices with specific teaching, initiation, ritual, or lineage requirements. When those distinctions are relevant, the individual mantra guide identifies them rather than assuming every mantra is practiced in the same way.
A bija, or seed syllable, should not automatically be treated like an ordinary Sanskrit word with a dictionary definition. Bija mantras may carry traditional associations within particular traditions, yet those associations are different from literal lexical translation. The Asivana Mantra Library keeps that distinction explicit.
Pronunciation matters because mantra is an oral practice as well as a written one. Many Sanskrit mantra pages therefore include the original script, scholarly transliteration, a common spelling, and an English-friendly pronunciation guide. These serve different purposes.
Scholarly transliteration preserves distinctions that ordinary English spelling often loses. The phonetic guide is there to help you practice, not to replace the more precise form. If you encounter an unfamiliar Sanskrit term while studying mantra, you can also use the Asivana Sanskrit Dictionary to explore terminology found throughout yoga philosophy and practice.
A modern yoga practitioner may encounter Vedic mantras, Hindu devotional mantras, Shaiva and Shakta mantras, Buddhist mantras, bija mantras, and songs or chants that are casually called mantras even when their textual history is different. Treating all of them as one interchangeable category strips away useful context.
The purpose of this library is not to force those traditions into one system. It is to make each mantra easier to approach while retaining the distinctions that matter: language, source, translation, deity or principle, historical development, living practice, and tradition-specific interpretation.
I created the Asivana Mantra Library for the same reason I return to mantra in my own practice: the words matter more when I understand what I am actually chanting. A mantra can be easy to repeat long before its language, history, or philosophical context is clear.
Each guide is built to serve the practitioner first while taking the source tradition seriously. That means giving you useful pronunciation and practice guidance without collapsing translation into interpretation, presenting every mantra as Sanskrit, or assigning convenient meanings where the evidence does not support them.
The library will keep growing as more mantra pages are researched and reviewed. My goal is a resource that is useful in a yoga class, at a kirtan, during japa, or while studying the philosophy and traditions that continue to shape modern yoga practice.
Jack Utermoehl
Founder of Asivana Yoga · Yoga teacher · E-RYT 200 · YACEP
