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Mantra · Serpent queen's dhyana, name mantra and twelve Puranic names

Manasa Devi Mantra

श्वेतचम्पकवर्णाभां रत्नभूषणभूषिताम् । वह्निशुद्धांशुकाधानां नागयज्ञोपवीतिनीम् ॥

Also known as Manasa Devi Dvadashanama Stotram

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

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What the Manasa Devi Mantra is

The Manasa Devi mantra, in the form the Puranas give it, has three parts, all addressed to Manasa, the goddess of serpents who is called the sister of Vasuki and the mother of the sage Astika. First comes a two-verse dhyana from the Devi Bhagavata Purana (9.48), which that chapter assigns to the Sama Veda branch: it pictures her the colour of a white champaka flower, in fire-purified cloth, with a serpent for her sacred thread. Next is the short name mantra, Om namo manasayai, which the Brahmavaivarta Purana (Prakriti Khanda 45) sets just before her names. Last is the Dvadashanama Stotram, taken from the same chapter of the Brahmavaivarta Purana (Prakriti Khanda 45), with a parallel in the Devi Bhagavata (9.47): two verses carrying twelve names, from Jaratkaru to Mahajnanayuta, followed by four verses of phala shruti about release from fear of snakes. The Puranas also give a twelve-syllable mula mantra with seed syllables; it is passed on through initiation and is not printed here.

The mind-born daughter of Kashyapa

The Brahmavaivarta Purana and the Devi Bhagavata tell her life in two linked chapters. She was born from the mind of the sage Kashyapa, which is why she is Manasa, and the texts add that her own mind rested always on the Supreme. On Kailasa, Shiva taught her sacred learning and song and gave her a mantra of Krishna, so she is called Shaivi as well as Vaishnavi. She then kept penance to Krishna for three ages; seeing her body worn thin, he named her Jaratkaru, granted her a boon at Pushkara and worshipped her first, after which Shiva, Kashyapa, the gods and the nagas did the same. Kashyapa gave her in marriage to the ascetic Jaratkaru. As he slept under a banyan, sunset came, and she woke him so that he would not miss the evening rite. He took it as an insult and resolved to leave, the Sun god calmed the quarrel, and before going he foretold a son devoted to Vishnu. That son, Astika, was raised and taught by Shiva. When a king's fire rite threatened Takshaka and Indra with him, Astika, at his mother's bidding, asked that they be spared. Indra then worshipped Manasa with sixteen offerings and a long hymn of praise.

The mantra, in six scripts

DevanagariSanskrit & Hindiश्वेतचम्पकवर्णाभां रत्नभूषणभूषिताम् । वह्निशुद्धांशुकाधानां नागयज्ञोपवीतिनीम् ॥

Tamilஶ்வேதசம்பகவர்ணாபாம் ரத்நபூஷணபூஷிதாம் । வஹ்நிஶுத்தாம்ஶுகாதாநாம் நாகயஜ்ஞோபவீதிநீம் ॥

Teluguశ్వేతచమ్పకవర్ణాభాం రత్నభూషణభూషితామ్ । వహ్నిశుద్ధాంశుకాధానాం నాగయజ్ఞోపవీతినీమ్ ॥

Kannadaಶ್ವೇತಚಮ್ಪಕವರ್ಣಾಭಾಂ ರತ್ನಭೂಷಣಭೂಷಿತಾಮ್ । ವಹ್ನಿಶುದ್ಧಾಂಶುಕಾಧಾನಾಂ ನಾಗಯಜ್ಞೋಪವೀತಿನೀಮ್ ॥

Malayalamശ്വേതചമ്പകവര്ണാഭാം രത്നഭൂഷണഭൂഷിതാമ് । വഹ്നിശുദ്ധാംശുകാധാനാം നാഗയജ്ഞോപവീതിനീമ് ॥

EnglishRoman transliterationśvetacampakavarṇābhāṃ ratnabhūṣaṇabhūṣitām | vahniśuddhāṃśukādhānāṃ nāgayajñopavītinīm ||

“I meditate on the goddess who glows with the colour of the white champaka flower and is decked in jewelled ornaments. She wears garments made pure by fire and a serpent as her sacred thread.”

ॐ: oṃ — Om, the sacred syllable
नमो: namo — salutations
मनसायै: manasāyai — to Manasa

Manasa Devi Mantra lyrics in full

The two-verse dhyana and the name mantra, then the six-verse twelve-name stotra as it is printed on its own.

All 9 verses, in Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and English, each with its meaning. Choose a script:

Download the Manasa Devi Mantra PDFAll 9 verses with their meanings, in Sanskrit. Free to print and keep.

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Dhyanam 1

श्वेतचम्पकवर्णाभां रत्नभूषणभूषिताम् ।
वह्निशुद्धांशुकाधानां नागयज्ञोपवीतिनीम् ॥

I meditate on the goddess who glows with the colour of the white champaka flower and is decked in jewelled ornaments. She wears garments made pure by fire and a serpent as her sacred thread.

Dhyanam 2

महाज्ञानयुतां तां च प्रवरज्ञानिनां वराम् ।
सिद्धाधिष्ठातृदेवीं च सिद्धां सिद्धिप्रदां भजे ॥

I worship her who is endowed with great knowledge, the foremost among the wisest. She is the presiding goddess of the perfected ones, perfect herself and the giver of perfection.

Mantra 1

ॐ नमो मनसायै ।

Om, salutations to Manasa.

Verse 1

जरत्कारुर्जगद्गौरी मनसा सिद्धयोगिनी ।
वैष्णवी नागभगिनी शैवी नागेश्वरी तथा ॥

Jaratkaru, Jagadgauri (fair one of the world), Manasa, Siddhayogini (perfected yogini), Vaishnavi, Nagabhagini (sister of the serpents), Shaivi, and also Nageshvari (queen of the serpents).

Verse 2

जरत्कारुप्रियाऽऽस्तीकमाता विषहरीति च ।
महाज्ञानयुता चैव सा देवी विश्वपूजिता ॥

Jaratkarupriya (beloved of the sage Jaratkaru), Astikamata (mother of Astika), Vishahari (remover of poison), and Mahajnanayuta (endowed with great knowledge): that goddess is worshipped by the whole world.

Verse 3

द्वादशैतानि नामानि पूजाकाले च यः पठेत् ।
तस्य नागभयं नास्ति तस्य वंशोद्भवस्य च ॥

The verse says that whoever recites these twelve names at the time of worship has no fear of serpents, nor does anyone born in that person's family.

Verse 4

नागभीते च शयने नागग्रस्ते च मन्दिरे ।
नागशोभे महादुर्गे नागवेष्टितविग्रहे ॥

When the bed is feared to hold a serpent, when the house is overrun by serpents, in a great fortress astir with serpents, or when the body is coiled about by a serpent,

Verse 5

इदं स्तोत्रं पठित्वा तु मुच्यते नात्र संशयः ।
नित्यं पठेद्यस्तं दृष्ट्वा नागवर्गः पलायते ॥

The verse says that by reciting this hymn one is set free, without doubt, and that the serpents flee on seeing one who recites it every day.

Verse 6

नागौघं भूषणं कृत्वा स भवेन्नागवाहनः ।
नागासनो नागतल्पो महासिद्धो भवेन्नरः ॥

The verse says that such a person may wear a host of serpents as ornaments and ride upon a serpent; with a serpent for a seat and a serpent for a bed, that person becomes a great adept.

The syllable people get wrong

In Verse 2 the son's name is āstīka, with a long ā and a long ī, said AAS-tee-ka; said with short vowels as āstika it becomes the ordinary word for a believer, so āstīkamātā is the mother of the sage, not of a believer.

When the Manasa Devi Mantra is chanted

Weekday. Friday

Festival. Manasa Puja on Shravana Sankranti

Questions

Both the goddess and the sage she married bear the name. The Brahmavaivarta Purana says that Krishna, seeing her body wasted by three ages of penance, called her Jaratkaru, and the Devi Bhagavata agrees. Her twelve names therefore open with Jaratkaru and, in the second verse, add Jaratkarupriya, the beloved of the sage Jaratkaru, so the list holds her own title and her bond to her husband side by side.

Verses 1 and 2 hold the twelve names; Verses 3 to 6 are the phala shruti. The verse says that whoever recites the names at the time of worship, and their descendants, need not fear serpents, and that serpents flee from one who recites it daily. The last verse uses the image of serpents as ornament, mount, seat and bed. In the Puranas a further couplet on perfecting the hymn sits among these, but the stand-alone stotra does not carry it.

The temple on Bilwa Parvat in the Shivalik hills above Haridwar honours her as Mansa Devi, and its tradition, like the Puranas, calls her the sister of the serpent king Vasuki. Pilgrims there also read her name as the goddess who grants what the heart wishes. The temple is counted among the five holy spots of Haridwar. The hymn on this page belongs to the Puranic Manasa and is not a temple text.

The Manasamangal is a cycle of Bengali devotional poems in which Manasa wins the worship of the merchant Chand Sadagar, a devotee of Shiva, after Behula brings her husband Lakhindar back to life. That is a regional vernacular tradition. The twelve-name stotra is older Sanskrit from the Puranas and does not tell the Behula story. In Bengal both meet at Manasa Puja, where Behula and Lakhindar are often honoured beside her.

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