Simha Ganapathi Mantra
ॐ सिंहगणपतये नमःIn Devanagari, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and English — with the meaning of every word, and the one syllable most people pronounce wrongly.
Who Simha Ganapathi is
Simha Ganapathi is the lion-mounted form of Ganesha counted among the thirty-two meditative images of the Mudgala Purana. Unlike forms that retain the mouse as vehicle, he sits astride a white lion whose mane is said to blaze with the same brilliance as the deity's own eight arms. The lion is not merely a mount but an extension of the deity's composed strength, its presence understood in the tradition as the settled power that faces what once alarmed. Simha Ganapathi is portrayed with a fair complexion and carries in his right hands the vina, the wish-granting creeper and a discus, with the fourth in the boon-giving gesture, and in his left hands a lotus, a pot of jewels and a spray of flowers, with the fourth raised in abhaya. The combination of musical instrument and discus marks him as the form in whom aesthetic grace and martial readiness coexist. Sculptures of this aspect appear most often in temples where the lion motif already holds local significance, allowing the icon to absorb regional leonine symbolism into the Ganesha cult.
The Lion-Faced Form
Simha Ganapathi is one of the thirty-two meditative forms of Ganesha whose dhyana verses are collected in the Sritattvanidhi, the nineteenth-century Mysore compendium popularly credited to the Mudgala Purana. The dhyana is a description for meditation rather than a narrative, and no Puranic episode of his appearance is attested. It calls him mṛgendra-vadana, lion-faced, and gives him eight arms. In the right hands he holds the vina, the wish-granting creeper and the discus, and shows the boon-giving gesture; in the left he holds a lotus, a pot of jewels and a spray of flowers, and shows abhaya, the gesture that removes fear. Many modern accounts describe the lion as his mount rather than his face. The vina held beside the discus joins grace with readiness to protect, and the abhaya hand together with the lion gives the form its association with fearlessness.
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
- सिंहगणपतये
- siṃhagaṇapataye — to Simha Ganapati, the lion-form lord of hosts
- नमः
- namaḥ — salutation
More Simha Ganapathi mantras
Simha Ganapathi Dhyana Shloka
The verse recited to picture the deity before japa.
- वीणां
- vīṇāṃ — the vīṇā
- कल्पलताम्
- kalpalatām — the wish-fulfilling creeper
- अरिं
- ariṃ — the discus (ari)
- च
- ca — and
- वरदं
- varadaṃ — the boon-giving gesture
- दक्षे
- dakṣe — on the right
- विधत्ते
- vidhatte — holds
- करैर्
- karair — in his hands
- वामे
- vāme — on the left
- तामरसं
- tāmarasaṃ — the lotus
- च
- ca — and
- रत्नकलशं
- ratnakalaśaṃ — a jewelled pot
- सन्मञ्जरीं
- sanmañjarīṃ — a fine flower-spray
- च
- ca — and
- अभयम्
- abhayam — the gesture of fearlessness
- शुण्डादण्डलसन्मृगेन्द्रवदनः
- śuṇḍādaṇḍalasanmṛgendravadanaḥ — lion-faced, with a shining staff-like trunk
- शङ्खेन्दुगौरः
- śaṅkhendugauraḥ — white as conch and moon
- शुभो
- śubho — auspicious
- दीव्यद्रत्ननिभांशुको
- dīvyadratnanibhāṃśuko — clad in garments glowing like gems
- गणपतिः
- gaṇapatiḥ — Gaṇapati
- पायाद्
- pāyād — may he protect
- अपायत्
- apāyat — from harm
- स
- sa — he
- नः
- naḥ — us
Source: Dhyāna śloka of this form in the Śrītattvanidhi's thirty-two Gaṇapati forms (no. 29 in the traditional list). One printing has विदत्ते; the others read विधत्ते (‘holds’), which is given. All sources read पायादपायत्; grammar would expect the ablative अपायात् (‘from harm’), but the received reading is kept unaltered.
The syllable people get wrong
The conjunct in siṃha is the syllable most often misheard. Speakers insert a full labial m and then a separate h, saying sim-ha, whereas the anusvāra should nasalize the preceding i and flow directly into the h, yielding a single continuous siṃha. When the nasal is omitted entirely the name collapses to siha, losing the leonine resonance the tradition attaches to that sound.
When Simha Ganapathi is chanted
Weekday. Tuesday
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
How to Chant
Mala, counts, timing and the mistakes that apply to any mantra.
Ganapathi Mula Mantra
The foundational mantra. Chanted at the start of any undertaking.
Vidya Ganapathi Mantra
For study, examinations and retention of what is learned.
Ganapathi Homa
The fire ritual, performed for you and telecast live.
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.