Navagraha Stotram Mantra
नमः सूर्याय चन्द्राय मङ्गलाय बुधाय च । गुरुशुक्रशनिभ्यश्च राहवे केतवे नमः ॥In Devanagari, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and English — with the meaning of every word, and the one syllable most people pronounce wrongly.
Who Navagraha Stotram is
The Navagraha Stotram is the compact Sanskrit address that names all nine grahas in a single metrical breath: Surya, Chandra, Mangala, Budha, Guru, Shukra, Shani, Rahu and Ketu. Attributed in many southern manuscript colophons to Vyasa, the stotra functions as a collective salutation rather than a hymn to any one light. Each name appears in the dative, so the verse itself performs the act of offering. Temple practice places the recitation before the stone or metal Navagraha panel, where the nine figures stand on a single plinth in fixed directional order. The stotra therefore binds the separate planetary intelligences into one liturgical unit, acknowledging their joint governance of the ecliptic without isolating any single graha for independent praise.
Nine Names in One Verse
Traditional accounts preserved in smarta paddhatis and in the prefatory verses of certain South Indian palm-leaf collections state that Vyasa composed the Navagraha Stotram so that householders might honour the entire planetary court without reciting nine separate hymns. The verse opens with the luminous pair Surya and Chandra, proceeds through the five tara-grahas in the order of their weekday lordship, and closes with the two nodes Rahu and Ketu. By ending on the shadow grahas the stotra mirrors the astronomical fact that the nodes complete the set of influences recognised by classical Jyotisha. Temple legends linked to the Navagraha shrines at Kumbakonam and Tirunallar recount that the verse was first installed when the nine images were set on a common peetha, ensuring that no graha would receive homage in isolation from the others. The stotra thus became the verbal counterpart of that architectural unity.
The mantra, in six scripts
The seed mantra, and the form most devotees chant daily. No initiation is required — it is open to anyone, including a parent chanting for a child.
- नमः
- namaḥ — salutation
- सूर्याय
- sūryāya — to Surya
- चन्द्राय
- candrāya — to Chandra
- मङ्गलाय
- maṅgalāya — to Mangala
- बुधाय
- budhāya — to Budha
- च
- ca — and
- गुरुशुक्रशनिभ्यश्च
- guruśukraśanibhyaśca — and to Guru, Shukra and Shani
- राहवे
- rāhave — to Rahu
- केतवे
- ketave — to Ketu
- नमः
- namaḥ — salutation
The syllable people get wrong
Inside the compound guruśukraśanibhyaśca the syllable śu of śukra begins with the palatal sibilant ś, which must be formed against the hard palate. Speakers routinely substitute the dental s, producing sukra and thereby flattening the distinct sibilant colour that the stotra gives to the name of the planet Venus.
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 — an examination that decides a course, a performance, a child whose studies have stalled — 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.