Dhanvantari Mantra
ॐ नमो भगवते धन्वन्तरयेIn Devanagari, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and English — with the meaning of every word, and the one syllable most people pronounce wrongly.
Who Dhanvantari is
Dhanvantari is the physician of the gods, the form of Viṣṇu who rose from the ocean of milk bearing the pot of amṛta and the science of healing. He is depicted as a youthful two- or four-armed figure, dark or deep blue, holding a leech, a pot of nectar, herbs, and sometimes the cakra. Āyurvedic lineages regard him as the celestial origin of their knowledge; the Suśruta Saṃhitā opens by saluting him as the one who taught the surgical art to the sages. Unlike martial or royal avatāras, Dhanvantari’s brief is the restoration of balance within the body and the quieting of disease. The mantra addressed to him therefore names the deity who stands at the intersection of divine compassion and empirical medicine, the one who carries the kalasha of immortality yet teaches the measured use of herbs, minerals and surgical instruments.
Emergence with the Nectar Pot
During the churning of the ocean of milk, recounted in the Bhāgavata Purāṇa’s eighth skandha and in the Viṣṇu Purāṇa, successive treasures emerged: the cow Surabhi, the horse Uccaiḥśravas, the elephant Airāvata, the Kaustubha jewel, the pārijāta tree, and then Dhanvantari himself. He rose clad in white garments, adorned with garlands, carrying in his hands the pot of amṛta that would free the gods from the fear of death. The demons immediately seized the vessel, precipitating the further intervention of Mohinī. Yet the texts pause to identify Dhanvantari as an avatāra of Viṣṇu whose specific gift is the knowledge of medicine. Later Purāṇic passages state that he incarnated again as a king of Kāśī in order to teach Āyurveda to humanity. The mantra therefore recalls not a battle but an epiphany of healing: the moment when the ocean yielded the physician who holds both nectar and the means to restore mortal bodies.
The mantra, in six scripts
The name mantra, and the form most devotees chant daily. No initiation is required — it is open to anyone, including a parent chanting for a child.
- ॐ
- oṃ — the primal syllable
- नमो
- namo — salutation
- भगवते
- bhagavate — to the Blessed Lord
- धन्वन्तरये
- dhanvantaraye — to Dhanvantari
More Dhanvantari mantras
Dhanvantari Gayatri Mantra
The verse in the Gayatri metre, asking for understanding as well as presence.
- ॐ
- oṃ — the sacred syllable Om
- वासुदेवाय
- vāsudevāya — to Vasudeva (Vishnu)
- विद्महे
- vidmahe — may we know
- सुधाहस्ताय
- sudhāhastāya — to the one with nectar (sudhā) in hand
- धीमहि
- dhīmahi — may we meditate
- तन्नो
- tanno — may that one ... us (tat + naḥ)
- धन्वन्तरिः
- dhanvantariḥ — Dhanvantari
- प्रचोदयात्
- pracodayāt — may he inspire / impel (our minds)
Source: Dhanvantari Gayatri as printed with the Dhanvantari mantra (vignanam). Variant: drikpanchang gives ॐ तत्पुरुषाय विद्महे अमृतकलशहस्ताय धीमहि …
Dhanvantari Stotra Verse (Namami Dhanvantarim)
The verse of salutation, recited before or after japa.
- नमामि
- namāmi — I bow to
- धन्वन्तरिमादिदेवं
- dhanvantarimādidevaṃ — Dhanvantari, the first god (dhanvantarim + ādidevam)
- सुरासुरैर्वन्दितपादपद्मम्
- surāsurairvanditapādapadmam — whose lotus feet are honoured by gods and demons
- लोके
- loke — in the world
- जरारुग्भयमृत्युनाशं
- jarārugbhayamṛtyunāśaṃ — destroyer of old age, disease (ruk), fear and death
- धातारमीशं
- dhātāramīśaṃ — the sustainer and lord (dhātāram + īśam)
- विविधौषधीनाम्
- vividhauṣadhīnām — of the many kinds of healing herbs
Source: Opening verse of the popular 'Namami Dhanvantarim' Dhanvantari stotra (recited on Dhanteras and in Ayurveda colleges); original text not named in the sources.
The syllable people get wrong
The opening syllable dhan of dhanvantaraye begins with the voiced aspirate dha, which requires an audible breathy release. Speakers commonly reduce it to an unaspirated dan, producing danvantaraye and thereby stripping the name of the aspiration that Sanskrit phonology and traditional Āyurvedic recitation both demand.
When Dhanvantari is chanted
Weekday. Thursday
Festival. Dhanteras, the thirteenth lunar day of the dark fortnight of Āśvina, when Dhanvantari is remembered as the bringer of the nectar pot and the guardian of health within the household.
Questions
Have your chart read before you decide
Chanting is yours to do, and free. But which deity your situation calls for — and whether a mantra alone is the right response — depends on your chart. Sometimes it is; sometimes it is not.
- Over 30 years in the Guru–Sishya Parampara, from the age of five
- He reads every chart himself — 60 minutes, one to one, never delegated
- Charts are read only between sunrise and sunset, following tradition
Related
Chanting is yours to do. Some things are performed for you.
Where a matter carries real weight, devotees sponsor the homa alongside their own practice. Performed for you and any family members you name, at our Yagna Ashram, in your name and gotra, on a muhurta calculated from your chart, and telecast live so you can watch it done for you.