Krishna Mantra
ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवायIn Devanagari, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and English — with the meaning of every word, and the one syllable most people pronounce wrongly.
Who Krishna is
Krishna is the dark-hued cowherd of Vraja, the eighth of the traditional dashavatara and the speaker of the Bhagavad Gita on the field of Kurukshetra. In the Bhagavata Purana he is born to Devaki and Vasudeva in the prison of Kamsa, yet raised among the gopas and gopis of Gokula and Vrindavana. He is simultaneously the playful child who steals butter, the youthful flute-player who draws the herds and the hearts of the cowherd women, and the mature charioteer who reveals the discipline of action without attachment. Vaishnava theology identifies him as svayam bhagavan, the original person from whom even Vishnu expands. His body is described as the colour of a rain-cloud, his eyes as lotus petals, and the peacock feather in his crown as the mark that distinguishes him from every other form of the divine.
The Lifting of Govardhana
The episode is narrated in the tenth skandha of the Bhagavata Purana. The cowherds of Vraja had long prepared an annual offering to Indra, lord of rain. Krishna, still a youth, questioned the custom and persuaded Nanda and the elders to direct the same offerings instead to Mount Govardhana, whose grasses fed their cattle and whose slopes gave them shelter. Indra, slighted, released torrential rains and storm-winds meant to drown the settlement. Krishna then lifted the entire mountain with the little finger of his left hand, holding it aloft for seven days and nights so that the people, cows and calves could stand dry beneath it. When Indra’s pride was broken he descended, offered homage, and, with the cow Surabhi, conferred the name Govinda on the child who had just overruled him. The story establishes Krishna not merely as a local protector of herds but as the one who reorders cosmic hierarchy by the lightest gesture.
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 sacred syllable
- नमो
- namo — salutation
- भगवते
- bhagavate — to the Blessed Lord
- वासुदेवाय
- vāsudevāya — to Vāsudeva
More Krishna mantras
Krishna Gayatri Mantra
The verse in the Gayatri metre, asking for understanding as well as presence.
- ॐ
- oṃ — the sacred syllable Om
- देवकीनन्दनाय
- devakīnandanāya — to the son (joy) of Devaki
- विद्महे
- vidmahe — may we know
- वासुदेवाय
- vāsudevāya — to Vāsudeva, the son of Vasudeva
- धीमहि
- dhīmahi — may we meditate
- तन्नः
- tannaḥ — may that one ... us (tat + naḥ)
- कृष्णः
- kṛṣṇaḥ — Krishna
- प्रचोदयात्
- pracodayāt — may he inspire / impel (our minds)
Source: Krishna Gayatri as printed in Gayatri collections (one widely used list, no. 44 and 146; also widely quoted in general accounts of the Gayatri mantra).
Krishna Pranama (Vasudevasutam Devam)
The verse of salutation, recited before or after japa.
- वसुदेवसुतं
- vasudevasutaṃ — son of Vasudeva
- देवं
- devaṃ — the god
- कंसचाणूरमर्दनम्
- kaṃsacāṇūramardanam — crusher of Kamsa and Chanura
- देवकीपरमानन्दं
- devakīparamānandaṃ — the supreme joy of Devaki
- कृष्णं
- kṛṣṇaṃ — Krishna
- वन्दे
- vande — I bow to
- जगद्गुरुम्
- jagadgurum — the teacher of the world
Source: Gita Dhyanam, verse 5 (also the first verse of the Krishnashtakam ascribed to Shankara).
The syllable people get wrong
In vāsudevāya the opening syllable vā carries a long ā that speakers habitually shorten, producing a clipped “vasu-devaya.” The length must be held fully; otherwise the name loses the Vedic weight that distinguishes Vāsudeva from ordinary compounds beginning with a short va.
When Krishna is chanted
Weekday. Thursday
Festival. Krishna Janmashtami
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.