Home › Mantras › Garuda Mantra

Mantra · Vedanta Desika's dandaka to Garuda, his mantra set in verse 5

Garuda Mantra

नमः पन्नगनद्धाय वैकुण्ठवशवर्तिने । श्रुतिसिन्धुसुधोत्पादमन्दराय गरुत्मते ॥

Also known as Garuda Dandakam

In Devanagari, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and English — with the meaning of every word, and the one syllable most people pronounce wrongly.

The Garuda Homam, performed for youBook →

What the Garuda Mantra is

The Garuda Dandakam is Vedanta Desika's hymn to Garuda, and the Garuda mantra sits in its fifth verse, the last of the long dandaka sections, which prays that Garuda's own five-syllable mantra, opening with Om and closing with Svaha, may protect the reciter. Desika, the fourteenth-century Sri Vaishnava teacher born Venkatanatha, signs the work as Venkatesha in its closing verse. Seven verses make it up. A short opening salutation calls Garuda the Mandara mountain that churned nectar from the ocean of the Vedas. Verses 2 to 5 are counted as one vast verse, each quarter 108 syllables long: Garuda carrying Vishnu on his shoulder and welcomed home by his consorts Rudra and Sukirti; the theft of nectar and the scar of Indra's thunderbolt; the wingbeat that makes the oceans overflow into the netherworld; and the mantra verse, which asks for steady knowledge of the truth and devotion to Mukunda. A verse on the metre and a signature verse close it.

A snake charmer's challenge at Kanchipuram

According to Sri Vaishnava tradition, Desika received the Garuda mantra from his teacher Appullar, for whose family it was a hereditary mantra. After Appullar's death Desika settled at Thiruvahindrapuram, beside the temple of Devanatha Perumal, and recited the mantra at length under an ashvattha tree on the hillock called Aushadhagiri. Tradition holds that Garuda appeared to him there, taught him the Hayagriva mantra and gave him an image of Hayagriva, which the town still shows beside Desika's own image. The Dandakam belongs to a later episode, set at Kanchipuram. A snake charmer, disputing Desika's title Sarvatantra Svatantra, master of every art, challenged him to a contest and set venomous snakes upon him. In one telling Desika drew seven lines on the ground; snake after snake died at the lines until the deadliest, Shankhapala, crossed all seven and rose to strike. Desika recited the Garuda mantra, and Garuda swooped down and carried the snakes away. Left without his snakes or his living, the charmer fell at Desika's feet. Desika forgave him, asked Garuda to give the snakes back, and composed the Dandakam as thanks. Tellings vary: some give a different number of lines, and some say it was the Garuda Panchashat that brought the snakes back.

The mantra, in six scripts

DevanagariSanskrit & Hindiनमः पन्नगनद्धाय वैकुण्ठवशवर्तिने । श्रुतिसिन्धुसुधोत्पादमन्दराय गरुत्मते ॥

Tamilநமஃ பந்நகநத்தாய வைகுண்டவஶவர்திநே । ஶ்ருதிஸிந்துஸுதோத்பாதமந்தராய கருத்மதே ॥

Teluguనమః పన్నగనద్ధాయ వైకుణ్ఠవశవర్తినే । శ్రుతిసిన్ధుసుధోత్పాదమన్దరాయ గరుత్మతే ॥

Kannadaನಮಃ ಪನ್ನಗನದ್ಧಾಯ ವೈಕುಣ್ಠವಶವರ್ತಿನೇ । ಶ್ರುತಿಸಿನ್ಧುಸುಧೋತ್ಪಾದಮನ್ದರಾಯ ಗರುತ್ಮತೇ ॥

Malayalamനമഃ പന്നഗനദ്ധായ വൈകുണ്ഠവശവര്തിനേ । ശ്രുതിസിന്ധുസുധോത്പാദമന്ദരായ ഗരുത്മതേ ॥

EnglishRoman transliterationnamaḥ pannaganaddhāya vaikuṇṭhavaśavartine | śrutisindhusudhotpādamandarāya garutmate ||

“Salutations to Garuda, who wears serpents bound upon him, who always moves at the will of the Lord of Vaikuntha, and who was the churning mountain Mandara that brought up nectar from the ocean of the Vedas.”

नमः: namaḥ — salutations
पन्नगनद्धाय: pannaganaddhāya — to him bound with serpents
वैकुण्ठवशवर्तिने: vaikuṇṭhavaśavartine — who moves at Vishnu's will
श्रुतिसिन्धुसुधोत्पादमन्दराय: śrutisindhusudhotpādamandarāya — the Mandara that churned nectar from the Veda-ocean
गरुत्मते: garutmate — to Garuda, the winged one

Garuda Mantra lyrics in full

Seven verses: a salutation, the four long dandaka sections that form a single verse, a verse describing the metre, and the poet's closing signature.

All 7 verses, in Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and English, each with its meaning. Choose a script:

Download the Garuda Mantra PDFAll 7 verses with their meanings, in Sanskrit. Free to print and keep.

Download PDF

Verse 1

नमः पन्नगनद्धाय वैकुण्ठवशवर्तिने ।
श्रुतिसिन्धुसुधोत्पादमन्दराय गरुत्मते ॥

Salutations to Garuda, who wears serpents bound upon him, who always moves at the will of the Lord of Vaikuntha, and who was the churning mountain Mandara that brought up nectar from the ocean of the Vedas.

Verse 2

गरुडमखिलवेदनीडाधिरूढं द्विषत्पीडनोत्कण्ठिताकुण्ठवैकुण्ठपीठीकृतस्कन्धमीडे स्वनीडागतिप्रीतरुद्रासुकीर्तिस्तनाभोगगाढोपगूढस्फुरत्कण्टकव्रात वेधव्यथावेपमान द्विजिह्वाधिपाकल्पविष्फार्यमाण स्फटावाटिका रत्नरोचिश्छटा राजिनीराजितं कान्तिकल्लोलिनीराजितम् ॥

I praise Garuda, who sits on the Vedas as his nest, whose shoulder becomes the seat of Vishnu when the Lord sets out eager to crush his foes. When his consorts Rudra and Sukirti, glad at his return home, hold him close, his feathers stand on end and prick the serpent-kings he wears; as they writhe and spread their hoods, the rays of their gems seem to wave lamps before him, and he shines in waves of radiance.

Verse 3

जय गरुड सुपर्ण दर्वीकराहार देवाधिपाहारहारिन् दिवौकस्पतिक्षिप्तदम्भोळिधाराकिणाकल्प कल्पान्तवातूल कल्पोदयानल्पवीरायितोद्यच्चमत्कार दैत्यारि जैत्रध्वजारोहनिर्धारितोत्कर्ष संकर्षणात्मन् गरुत्मन् मरुत्पञ्चकाधीश सत्यादिमूर्ते न कश्चित् समस्ते नमस्ते पुनस्ते नमः ॥

Victory to you, Garuda, Suparna, eater of serpents, who carried away the nectar from the king of the gods; the scar left by Indra's thunderbolt is your ornament, and you are like the wind at the end of an age. Your wondrous valour, your greatness proven by riding on the victory banner of Vishnu, foe of the demons; you are a form of Sankarshana, lord of the five vital airs, with Satya and other forms. None is equal to you; salutations to you, and again salutations.

Verse 4

नम इदमजहत्सपर्याय पर्यायनिर्यातपक्षानिलास्फालनोद्वेलपाथोधि वीचीचपेटाहतागाधपाताळभांकारसंक्रुद्धनागेन्द्रपीडासृणीभावभास्वन्नखश्रेणये चण्डतुण्डाय नृत्यद्भुजङ्गभ्रुवे वज्रिणे दंष्ट्रया तुभ्यमध्यात्मविद्या विधेया विधेया भवद्दास्यमापादयेथा दयेथाश्च मे ॥

This salutation is to you, whose service never ceases: the wind of your beating wings makes the ocean overflow, its waves strike the depths of the netherworld, and your shining talons are a goad to the angered serpent-kings there. To you of fierce beak, with dancing serpents for eyebrows, armed with tusks hard as a thunderbolt: grant me the knowledge of the Self, make me your servant, and have mercy on me.

Verse 5

मनुरनुगत पक्षिवक्त्र स्फुरत्तारकस्तावकश्चित्रभानुप्रियाशेखरस्त्रायतां नस्त्रिवर्गापवर्गप्रसूतिः परव्योमधामन् वलद्वेषिदर्पज्वलद्वालखिल्यप्रतिज्ञावतीर्ण स्थिरां तत्त्वबुद्धिं परां भक्तिधेनुं जगन्मूलकन्दे मुकुन्दे महानन्ददोग्ध्रीं दधीथा मुधाकामहीनामहीनामहीनान्तक ॥

O bird-faced one, may your mantra protect us - the mantra that shines with the sacred syllable and is crowned with Svaha, the source of the three aims of life and of liberation. O dweller in the highest heaven, born to fulfil the vow of the Valakhilya sages against the pride of Indra, O great destroyer of serpents: grant to us, who are free of vain desires, a steady knowledge of the truth and a supreme devotion to Mukunda, the root of the world, a devotion that yields great bliss like a wish-giving cow.

Verse 6

षट्त्रिंशद्गणचरणो नरपरिपाटीनवीनगुम्भगणः ।
विष्णुरथदण्डकोऽयं विघटयतु विपक्षवाहिनीव्यूहम् ॥

This dandaka on Garuda, the chariot of Vishnu, has thirty-six syllable groups in each quarter, freshly woven in a sequence of na and ra groups. May it break apart the ranks of hostile armies.

Verse 7

विचित्रसिद्धिदः सोऽयं वेङ्कटेशविपश्चिता ।
गरुडध्वजतोषाय गीतो गरुडदण्डकः ॥

This Garuda Dandaka, which the verse says grants wondrous attainments, was sung by the learned Venkatesha to please the Lord who bears Garuda on his banner.

The syllable people get wrong

In verse 2, dvijihvā (द्विजिह्वा, 'two-tongued', a name for serpents) is often said 'dvi-jiv-ha'; the h comes before the v, so say dvi-JIH-vaa, letting the breath of the h run into the v.

When the Garuda Mantra is chanted

Weekday. Thursday

Festival. Garuda Panchami

Questions

The fifth verse, the fourth of the long dandaka sections, beginning manuranugata. It does not print the mantra openly; it describes it. The verse speaks of Garuda's mantra in which the taraka, the syllable Om, shines, and which is crowned by the beloved of Chitrabhanu, the fire god, that is Svaha. The traditional commentary reads this as the five-syllable Garuda mantra Desika had received by initiation, and the verse asks that mantra to protect the reciter.

Three verses carry the hymn's own claims. Verse 5 calls Garuda's mantra the source of the three aims of life and of liberation. Verse 6 prays that the dandaka break the ranks of hostile armies, and verse 7 says it gives wondrous attainments and was sung to please Vishnu, who bears Garuda on his banner. Tradition adds that daily recitation shields a home from snakes, scorpions and other venomous creatures; the text itself does not say so.

No. Both are by Desika, but the Garuda Panchashat runs to fifty verses in regular metres, while the Dandakam is seven verses built around one long dandaka. The traditional commentary says Desika set the Garuda mantra into one verse of the Panchashat after Garuda appeared to him at Thiruvahindrapuram; the Dandakam names it in verse 5. Accounts of the snake charmer's contest differ on which of the two hymns won the snakes back.

They are written in dandaka, a metre whose quarters run past the usual limit of 26 syllables. Desika gave each quarter 36 groups of three syllables, 108 syllables in all: two groups of light syllables, then 34 groups in a heavy-light-heavy pattern. Verse 6 records this itself, describing 36 groups to a foot woven in na and ra groups. The four quarters count as a single verse, so printed texts show no break inside them.

Not sure a mantra is enough?

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.

Brahmashree Shivaaya

Chief Operating Officer & Head of Astrological & Spiritual Solutions

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

Book a consultation Ask Nirnaya — free

+91 96295 55442 WhatsApp us support@astrobhava.com

Continue