Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha: Meaning, Translation, Pronunciation, and How to Chant

Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha is one of the principal mantras of Tārā, the female Buddhist figure associated with liberation, compassion, protection, and swift enlightened activity. Its Sanskrit form is oṃ tāre tuttāre ture svāhā. The mantra developed in Indian Buddhist tantric traditions and became especially important in Tibetan Buddhism, where it is closely associated with Green Tārā.

The mantra is used for recitation, meditation, prayer, and Tārā practice. Traditional teachings connect it with liberation from suffering, fear, obstacles, and ultimately the cycle of samsara.

The Mantra

Devanagari:
ॐ तारे तुत्तारे तुरे स्वाहा

Tibetan Script:
ཨོཾ་ཏཱ་རེ་ཏུཏྟཱ་རེ་ཏུ་རེ་སྭཱ་ཧཱ།

IAST Transliteration:
oṃ tāre tuttāre ture svāhā

Common English Spelling:
Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha

Other Common Spellings:
Om Tare Tuttare Ture Svaha
Om Tare Tuttare Ture Swaha

Common Tibetan Chanting Form:
Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha

Translation

Readable translation: “Oṃ. O Tārā, Deliverer; O Savior; O Swift One. Svāhā.”

Traditional interpretive sense: An invocation of Tārā as the swift liberator who leads beings beyond suffering, fear, obstacles, and samsara.

Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha does not form a conventional sentence that can be replaced neatly with one English sentence. The central sequence tāre tuttāre ture addresses Tārā through related names and epithets.

Traditional Buddhist sources understand these words through Tārā's liberating activity. Tāre addresses Tārā as the Deliverer or Liberator. Tuttāre intensifies this saving or rescuing quality. Ture addresses the Swift One, emphasizing the speed of Tārā's compassionate response.

Oṃ and svāhā function as sacred mantra elements and should not be forced into simplistic dictionary definitions.

The translation sometimes given as “I prostrate to the Liberator, Mother of all the Victorious Ones. You who liberate from all fears and grant all needs, I pay homage” reflects a broader traditional interpretation and related Tārā praise. It should not be presented as a literal word-for-word translation of the mantra itself.

How to Pronounce Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha

Sanskrit-oriented pronunciation: Oṃ Tāre Tuttāre Ture Svāhā: ohm tah-ray toot-tah-ray too-ray svaah-haah

Tibetan devotional pronunciation: om taré tuttaré turé soha

Text	Approximate Pronunciation	Pronunciation Note
Oṃ	ohm	Allow the ending to carry a gentle nasal resonance.
Tāre	tah-ray	The ā is a long vowel. The final e is also clearly sounded.
Tuttāre	toot-tah-ray	Keep the syllables distinct rather than compressing them into one sound.
Ture	too-ray	The final e remains audible.
Svāhā	svaah-haah	In Tibetan recitation this is commonly pronounced approximately “soha.”

Soha, Svaha, or Swaha?

All three spellings point to the same transmitted mantra element, although they represent different ways of writing or pronouncing it.

Svāhā is the scholarly Sanskrit transliteration.

Svaha is the same Sanskrit word written without diacritics.

Swaha is a common English spelling that approximates the Sanskrit consonant combination sv.

Soha reflects the Tibetan pronunciation of Sanskrit svāhā. This is why recordings and Tibetan teachers often chant “Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha” even when a Sanskrit edition prints oṃ tāre tuttāre ture svāhā.

For a Tibetan Buddhist practice context, “soha” is entirely normal. For scholarly representation of the Sanskrit mantra, svāhā is preferable.

Listen to the Green Tara Mantra

Use this recording as a chanting reference. Tārā practice has been transmitted through different Tibetan lineages and modern musical settings, so pronunciation, melody, rhythm, and pacing can vary.

How to Chant Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha

The Tārā mantra can be recited aloud, quietly, or mentally. Traditional Tārā practices can become elaborate, combining refuge, bodhicitta, visualization, mantra, offerings, and dedication. A simple recitation practice can remain focused on Tārā and her liberating activity.

1. Bring Tārā to mind. Recall Green Tārā as an embodiment of swift compassionate activity and liberation.
2. Establish your motivation. You may orient the practice toward freedom from fear, the removal of obstacles, compassion for beings, or progress toward awakening.
3. Recite the mantra clearly. Chant “Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha” at a natural, sustainable rhythm.
4. Remain connected to the meaning. Let each repetition return the mind to liberation, compassionate action, and freedom from fear.
5. Continue your practice. Recite for a chosen period or use a mala to count complete rounds.
6. Dedicate the practice. Traditional Buddhist practice commonly concludes by dedicating whatever merit has arisen for the welfare and awakening of beings.

Using a Mala

You can use a mala to support steady mantra recitation. Recite the full Green Tārā mantra once for each bead, completing all 108 repetitions for one full mala.

There is no single repetition count that applies to every Tārā practitioner. Some traditional instructions simply direct practitioners to recite the root mantra as many times as they can. Formal sadhanas, retreats, and lineage practices may establish specific repetition totals.

Visualization and Empowerment

Green Tārā practice frequently includes visualization. Tārā may be visualized green in color, seated upon a lotus and moon disc, with her right hand extended in a gesture of generosity and her left holding an utpala flower. More detailed practices may visualize seed syllables, mantra garlands, rays of light, offerings, purification, and the inseparability of practitioner and deity.

These details belong to specific Buddhist sadhanas rather than to mantra repetition alone.

The mantra itself is widely taught and publicly recited. Specific tantric practices have additional requirements. For example, some Green Tārā sadhanas require empowerment for full self-generation as Tārā, while permitting practitioners without empowerment to visualize Tārā in front of themselves rather than generating themselves as the deity.

Green Tara Mantra at a Glance

Mantra	Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha
IAST	oṃ tāre tuttāre ture svāhā
Tradition	Indian Vajrayāna Buddhism; especially prominent in Tibetan Buddhism
Language	Sanskrit, transmitted extensively through Tibetan
Classification	Tārā root mantra or vidyā
Associated With	Tārā, especially Green Tārā
Important Early Source	Tārā-mūla-kalpa, preserved in the Tibetan canon as The Tantra on the Origin of All Rites of Tārā, Mother of All the Tathāgatas
Historical Setting	Indian Buddhist Tārā traditions developing prominently from approximately the 6th to 8th centuries CE
Practice	Mantra recitation, meditation, prayer, Tārā sadhana, mala practice
Access	The root mantra is widely recited publicly. Full tantric self-generation practices may require empowerment.

Word-by-Word Meaning

Element	Basic Meaning	Traditional Context
Oṃ	Sacred mantra syllable, usually left untranslated	Functions as a sacred opening within many Buddhist mantras and receives additional interpretations within tantric practice.
Tāre	O Tārā; O Deliverer	A vocative form directly addressing Tārā, whose name is associated with crossing over, rescue, and liberation.
Tuttāre	O Savior; O Rescuing One	Traditionally associated with Tārā's saving activity and liberation from dangers and fears.
Ture	O Swift One	Emphasizes Tārā's swift enlightened activity and ability to carry beings toward liberation.
Svāhā	Ritual exclamation, generally left untranslated	A traditional mantra ending found throughout Indian religious literature. Tibetan pronunciation commonly renders it as “soha.”

The three central expressions tāre tuttāre ture are not three abstract spiritual concepts. They address Tārā herself. Traditional commentaries then develop these names into increasingly detailed teachings about the forms of liberation she represents.

What Does Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha Mean?

At its center, the mantra calls upon Tārā as the one who carries beings across.

Her Sanskrit name is related to the root meaning “to cross.” This makes the image of crossing fundamental to understanding Tārā. She is the one who guides, rescues, and ferries beings across danger and ultimately across the ocean of samsara.

The mantra then develops this liberating identity through three closely related forms:

Tāre: Tārā as Deliverer or Liberator.

Tuttāre: Tārā as Savior, especially in relation to fear and danger.

Ture: Tārā as the Swift One, whose enlightened activity responds rapidly to beings.

This progression helps explain why Green Tārā became so strongly associated with active compassion. Compassion here is more than a feeling of concern. It becomes movement toward suffering with the capacity and intention to act.

Who Is Green Tara?

Tārā is one of the most important female figures in Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna Buddhism. Her identity developed in India before becoming deeply integrated into the Buddhist traditions of Tibet, Nepal, Mongolia, Bhutan, and other Himalayan regions.

Different Buddhist sources describe her using overlapping categories such as bodhisattva, goddess, and buddha. Tibetan traditions commonly understand Tārā as a fully enlightened female buddha whose manifestations respond to the different needs of beings.

Green Tārā is among her most prominent forms. She is particularly associated with swift enlightened activity, protection, overcoming obstacles, and liberation from fear.

Her posture visually expresses this readiness. Green Tārā is commonly portrayed seated upon a lotus with one leg extended, suggesting a state of meditation that remains immediately prepared for compassionate action.

Her right hand commonly extends in the gesture of generosity or granting, while her left holds an utpala flower. Her green color is closely associated in Tibetan tantric systems with active enlightened activity.

Origin and History of the Tara Mantra

Indian Buddhist Origins

Om Tare Tuttare Ture Svaha should not be described as having originated in Tibet. The mantra is Sanskrit and belongs to the development of Tārā worship within Indian Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna Buddhism.

Evidence for Tārā as a distinct Buddhist figure becomes increasingly visible in India during approximately the sixth century CE. Early surviving representations place her in association with Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion.

One of the most important early textual witnesses is the Tārā-mūla-kalpa, a substantial Indian Buddhist ritual text devoted to Tārā. Current scholarship places its core composition in approximately seventh-century India. The surviving Sanskrit text was eventually lost, while a Tibetan translation preserved the work in the Tibetan Buddhist canon.

The text presents tāre tuttāre ture svāhā as Tārā's sacred vidyā and uses it in rituals invoking her protecting and liberating presence.

Tārā and Avalokiteshvara

Early Indian Buddhist sources frequently connect Tārā with Avalokiteshvara. In some traditions she appears as his female companion. In a later and enduring Buddhist narrative, Tārā arises from the tears of Avalokiteshvara's compassion as he looks upon the suffering of beings.

The historical development of this relationship is layered, yet the symbolism is clear within the tradition. Avalokiteshvara embodies compassion, and Tārā gives that compassion an especially active, rescuing form.

Transmission Into Tibet

Indian Buddhist texts, teachers, ritual systems, and Tārā practices entered Tibet as part of the wider transmission of Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna Buddhism.

Tārā eventually became one of the most widely venerated figures in Tibetan Buddhism. Her Sanskrit mantra was preserved while its pronunciation adapted to the Tibetan language. This transmission produced the familiar Tibetan chanting form:

Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha

Tibetan traditions subsequently developed extensive Tārā practices, commentaries, sadhanas, praises, empowerments, and systems involving multiple forms of Tārā.

Is This Specifically the Green Tara Mantra?

Calling Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha the Green Tara mantra is established and useful, especially in Tibetan Buddhist and modern meditation contexts.

There is an important distinction underneath that familiar name.

Traditional sources identify oṃ tāre tuttāre ture svāhā as Tārā's root mantra. It is not linguistically restricted to the word “Green,” nor is Green Tārā named explicitly within it.

Green Tārā is nevertheless regarded in many traditions as a principal or central form of Tārā, and the root mantra is strongly associated with her practice. This explains why “Green Tara Mantra” has become the common English name.

Other forms of Tārā can have expanded or modified mantras built upon this same root formula.

The Eight Fears and Tārā's Protection

Protection from fear is one of the most important themes in Tārā practice.

Traditional Buddhist literature describes Tārā protecting beings from dangers such as lions, elephants, fire, snakes, thieves, imprisonment, floods, and harmful spirits. Later Buddhist interpretation also reads these dangers inwardly as representations of mental and emotional patterns.

Different commentarial systems map the eight fears somewhat differently, yet they commonly include patterns such as:

• pride,
• ignorance,
• anger,
• envy,
• wrong views or confusion,
• attachment or avarice,
• desire,
• and doubt.

This creates two simultaneous dimensions of Tārā's protection. She is invoked traditionally in situations of external danger, while the same imagery can become a contemplation of the inner patterns that generate suffering.

Traditional Interpretations of the Mantra

Tibetan teachers often expand the mantra beyond its grammatical translation and interpret each element through progressive liberation.

Tāre: Liberation from Samsara

Tāre is connected with Tārā's fundamental identity as the one who carries beings across. At the broadest level, this means liberation from samsara, the conditioned cycle of suffering, death, and rebirth.

Tuttāre: Liberation from Fear

Tuttāre is frequently connected with liberation from the eight fears and from the internal disturbing emotions represented by them.

The practice therefore moves beyond seeking protection from difficult circumstances. It turns toward the mental causes through which fear, attachment, anger, and confusion continue to bind experience.

Ture: Swift Liberation

Ture emphasizes swiftness and Tārā's active capacity to carry beings toward freedom.

This quality becomes particularly visible in Green Tārā. Her compassionate activity is traditionally described as immediate, responsive, and ready to move.

Svāhā: The Mantra's Ritual Completion

Svāhā is an ancient ritual expression found across Indian religious traditions. In mantra it functions as a concluding sacred utterance rather than an ordinary word that needs a single English equivalent.

Traditional teachers may give it additional contemplative interpretations according to their lineage. These interpretations belong to those teachings rather than to the basic dictionary meaning of the Sanskrit term.

The Praises to the Twenty-One Taras

The Green Tārā mantra is frequently practiced alongside the Praises to the Twenty-One Tārās, one of the most important devotional and ritual texts associated with Tārā.

The praise invokes twenty-one expressions of Tārā through different names, appearances, activities, and qualities. Tibetan traditions developed numerous systems for interpreting these twenty-one forms.

An introductory verse associated with the praise draws directly upon the three central epithets found in the mantra: Tārā the Deliverer, Tuttārā the Savior, and Turā the Swift One.

This relationship makes the Twenty-One Tārā practice useful for understanding how a short mantra can unfold into a much larger field of Buddhist symbolism and practice.

You can explore this more fully in Asivana's Green Tara Prayers and Mantra guide.

Traditional Benefits of Green Tara Mantra Practice

Buddhist traditions make extensive claims for Tārā practice. These should be understood within their religious and contemplative context rather than converted into medical or scientific claims.

Traditional teachings associate Tārā mantra recitation with:

• Liberation from fear: Tārā is particularly invoked in relation to danger and the eight fears.
• Protection: Tārā practices traditionally seek protection from outer and inner obstacles.
• Swift assistance: Green Tārā is especially associated with rapid enlightened activity.
• Compassion: Tārā's activity arises in response to the suffering of beings.
• Removal of obstacles: practitioners invoke Tārā when conditions interfere with beneficial activity or Dharma practice.
• Purification: mantra and deity practice may be understood as purifying obscurations and disturbing mental patterns.
• Merit: recitation, prayer, and devotion are traditionally understood as creating positive karmic conditions.
• Liberation: the ultimate aim of Tārā practice is awakening rather than merely improving temporary circumstances.

The emphasis on protection and assistance can make Tārā appear primarily as a deity called upon to solve problems. Traditional teachings place those benefits inside a larger Buddhist path. Her deepest function is to help beings cross beyond the conditions that perpetuate suffering.

Sanskrit and Grammar

The grammatical structure of the mantra clarifies its meaning.

The important central sequence is:

tāre tuttāre ture

These are understood as vocatives. A vocative directly addresses someone. The mantra is therefore calling to Tārā through a sequence of closely related titles rather than making a statement about her.

This matters because English explanations sometimes turn the mantra into an entire prayer containing subjects, verbs, requests, and statements that are not literally present in the Sanskrit.

The mantra itself is considerably more concentrated:

Oṃ. O Tārā. O Savior. O Swift One. Svāhā.

The larger theology of freedom from samsara, the eight fears, obstacles, compassion, and awakening comes from the Buddhist traditions interpreting and practicing those names.

What Does the Name Tara Mean?

The Sanskrit name Tārā carries several related associations.

It can mean star, an image connected with guidance through darkness.

It is also associated with the Sanskrit verbal root for crossing. This supports meanings such as one who carries across, guides across, rescues, or liberates.

Both images suit her Buddhist role. A star provides orientation through darkness. A ferrier carries beings from one shore to another. Tārā guides beings through danger and across the ocean of samsara toward liberation.

Her Tibetan name, Drölma, likewise carries the sense of saving or liberating.

Variations of the Green Tara Mantra

Canonical Sanskrit Form

oṃ tāre tuttāre ture svāhā

Common English Form

Om Tare Tuttare Ture Svaha

Common Tibetan Chanting Form

Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha

Common English Variant

Om Tare Tuttare Ture Swaha

These forms represent the same root mantra rather than separate mantras.

Expanded Tara Mantras

Many additional Tārā mantras build upon the root oṃ tāre tuttāre ture structure and add words connected with particular forms or activities.

White Tārā practices, for example, commonly use an expanded mantra associated with long life. Traditions of the Twenty-One Tārās also preserve specialized mantras corresponding with particular manifestations and enlightened activities.

Those formulas should be treated as related members of the larger Tārā mantra family rather than interchangeable spellings of the Green Tārā mantra.

How the Green Tara Mantra Is Used Today

Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha remains a living Buddhist mantra rather than merely a historical text.

Within Tibetan Buddhist practice, it may appear in:

• daily personal practice,
• Tārā sadhana,
• group prayer,
• the Praises to the Twenty-One Tārās,
• retreat practice,
• mantra accumulation,
• prayer for protection or removal of obstacles,
• and practices dedicated to the welfare of others.

The mantra has also spread widely beyond formal Tibetan Buddhist communities. It is now encountered in yoga classes, mantra meditation, recordings, festivals, devotional music, and contemplative communities throughout the world.

Musical versions can change melody, pacing, repetition, and pronunciation. These adaptations can support devotional practice while remaining distinct from formal Tibetan liturgical recitation.

Bringing the Green Tara Mantra Into Daily Practice

A simple mantra practice can create a repeated return to compassionate action.

For seated meditation: Recite Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha continuously while holding Tārā and the meaning of liberation in awareness.

For mala practice: Recite the mantra once per bead for one full round of 108 repetitions.

Before difficult action: Chant the mantra when courage, clarity, or compassionate action is needed.

When experiencing fear: Use the mantra as a way of remembering Tārā and turning toward fear consciously rather than allowing it to direct the mind automatically.

For others: Recite with a person, community, or group of beings in mind, dedicating the practice toward their welfare.

With Tārā prayer: Combine mantra recitation with the Praises and prayers of Green Tara.

For a broader approach to establishing a regular practice, see Asivana's guide to mantra meditation.

Related Concepts

• Tārā: the Buddhist liberator and female enlightened figure at the center of the mantra.
• Green Tārā: Tārā in her especially active, swift, and protective form.
• Vidyā: a technical Buddhist tantric category for sacred formulas particularly associated with female deities.
• Mantra: sacred or authoritative speech used within ritual, meditation, devotional, and tantric practice.
• Samsara: the conditioned cycle of suffering and rebirth from which Buddhist practice seeks liberation.
• Bodhicitta: the orientation toward awakening for the benefit of beings.
• Sadhana: a structured spiritual practice that may combine visualization, mantra, prayer, offerings, and meditation.
• Mala: prayer beads used to count mantra recitations.

Related Mantras

• Om Mani Padme Hum, the six-syllable mantra of Avalokiteshvara or Chenrezig.
• Complete List of Yoga Mantras for the broader Asivana mantra library.

Common Questions About Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha

What does Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha mean?

The mantra directly addresses Tārā through a sequence of names associated with liberation and swift activity. A close interpretive rendering is: “Oṃ. O Tārā, Deliverer; O Savior; O Swift One. Svāhā.” Tibetan Buddhist traditions develop these words into teachings on liberation from suffering, fear, obstacles, and samsara.

Is Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha the Green Tara mantra?

Yes. It is widely known as the Green Tārā mantra because Green Tārā is one of the principal forms through which the mantra is practiced. More precisely, Buddhist sources identify it as Tārā's root mantra, so it belongs to Tārā more broadly rather than exclusively to her green form.

What is the difference between Soha, Svaha, and Swaha?

Svāhā is the Sanskrit form. Svaha removes the diacritics. Swaha is a common English spelling. Soha reflects Tibetan pronunciation of the Sanskrit word. This is why Tibetan recitation commonly ends in “soha.”

How do you pronounce Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha?

A Sanskrit-oriented pronunciation is approximately ohm tah-ray toot-tah-ray too-ray svaah-haah. Tibetan devotional recitation commonly sounds like om taré tuttaré turé soha.

Who is Green Tara?

Green Tārā is a major form of Tārā associated with swift compassionate activity, overcoming fear, protection, liberation, and the removal of obstacles. Tibetan traditions commonly regard Tārā as a fully enlightened female buddha, while other Buddhist sources also use bodhisattva and goddess terminology.

Can beginners chant the Green Tara mantra?

Yes. The mantra itself is widely taught and publicly recited. Specific tantric Tārā practices can carry additional requirements. In particular, full self-generation as Green Tārā may require empowerment according to lineage.

Do I need an empowerment to chant Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha?

Mantra recitation itself is commonly practiced without empowerment. Tibetan Buddhist organizations distinguish this from full deity-yoga practice. An empowerment may be required before performing particular Green Tārā sadhanas exactly as written, especially when the practitioner visualizes themselves as Tārā.

How many times should I chant the Green Tara mantra?

There is no universal number required for every practitioner. Traditional instructions may simply say to recite as much as possible. If you use a mala, one complete 108-bead mala provides a full counted round of 108 repetitions. Formal practices may establish other accumulation requirements.

What is Green Tara traditionally invoked for?

Green Tārā is traditionally associated with swift assistance, protection from fear and danger, removal of obstacles, compassionate activity, purification, and ultimately liberation. These are Buddhist religious and contemplative teachings rather than guaranteed material or medical outcomes.

Sources and Further Reading

Primary Buddhist Sources

• The Tantra on the Origin of All Rites of Tārā, Mother of All the Tathāgatas , 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha. A major Tārā tantra preserving the mantra as Tārā's dhāraṇī, mantra, and heart mantra.
• Praise to Tārā with Twenty-One Verses of Homage , 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha. Identifies Tārā's root mantra and discusses the grammatical meaning of tāre tuttāre ture.

Traditional and Lineage Sources

• Praises to the Twenty-One Tārās, Lotsawa House . Includes traditional explanation of Tārā, Tuttārā, and Turā as Deliverer, Savior, and Swift One.
• Dudjom Rinpoche, A Daily Practice of Noble Lady Tārā, Lotsawa House . A lineage Green Tārā sadhana showing the Tibetan text, Tibetan pronunciation, Sanskrit transliteration, visualization, mantra recitation, and dedication. The full practice is marked restricted by the publisher.
• Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition, Mantras . Explains mantra practice and distinctions between mantra recitation and deity practices requiring empowerment.
• FPMT, Short Green Tara Practice with Praises to the Twenty-One Taras . Discusses Green Tārā as an enlightened buddha and clarifies empowerment requirements for full self-generation practice.
• Lama Zopa Rinpoche, The Uncountable Benefits of Tara Practice . Presents traditional Tibetan Buddhist teachings concerning Tārā, protection, fear, obstacles, and the benefits of recitation.

Academic and Historical Sources

• Susan Landesman, Background on Tārā, The Tara Tantra . Historical and textual study of the Tārā-mūla-kalpa, early Indian Tārā traditions, the meaning of Tārā's name, her relationship with Avalokiteshvara, and the Sanskrit vidyā.
• Susan Landesman, Goddess Tārā: Silence and Secrecy on the Path to Enlightenment . Academic study of Tārā, her early tantric development, and the Tārā-mūla-kalpa tradition.

About the Author

Written by Jack Utermoehl
Yoga Teacher and Mantra Practitioner
E-RYT 200 · YACEP

Last reviewed and updated August 8, 2026. Sanskrit text, Tibetan pronunciation, translation, historical sources, traditional practice context, access requirements, and existing audio were reviewed during this update.