Swayamvara Parvathi Mantra
ॐ ह्रीं योगिनि योगिनि योगेश्वरि योगभयंकरि सकलस्थावरजङ्गमस्य मुखहृदयं मम वशमाकर्षय आकर्षय स्वाहाIn Devanagari, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and English — with the meaning of every word, and the one syllable most people pronounce wrongly.
Who Swayamvara Parvathi is
Swayamvara Parvathi is Parvati invoked as the goddess who chose her own husband. The compound name joins swayamvara, the self-choice of a husband, with Parvathi, daughter of Himavan. The choice it remembers was made through tapas rather than in an assembly of suitors: in Kalidasa’s Kumarasambhava and in the Shiva Purana, Parvati undertakes severe austerities to win Shiva, Shiva tests her in the guise of a young brahmachari, and the Saptarishis then arrange the marriage with Himavan. The mantra addresses her as Yogini and Yogeshwari, and tradition credits it to the sage Durvasa. She is therefore the Goddess of a union chosen and held to with resolve rather than of generic marital fortune.
Parvati’s choice of Shiva
According to the Shiva Purana, after Kama is burned and the gods grow anxious for a son who can defeat Taraka, the way is prepared for Parvati’s marriage to Shiva. Parvati has already resolved to win the ascetic lord, and she turns to severe tapas on the mountain. In Kalidasa’s Kumarasambhava the same path is rendered with poetic fullness: in the fifth canto Shiva comes to her disguised as a young brahmachari to test her resolve, and in the sixth canto the Saptarishis go to Himavan and arrange the marriage. Neither text describes an assembly of suitors; the self-choice of the name is the choice Parvati made through her austerity. Tradition credits the Swayamvara Parvati mantra to the sage Durvasa. Its words address the Goddess as Yogini and Yogeshwari, she who both practises yoga and governs it, and ask her to draw the face and heart of every being, moving and unmoving, into accord with the one who prays.
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.
- ॐ
- oṃ — the sacred syllable
- ह्रीं
- hrīṃ — seed syllable of the Goddess
- योगिनि
- yogini — O Yogini
- योगिनि
- yogini — O Yogini
- योगेश्वरि
- yogeśvari — O mistress of yoga
- योगभयंकरि
- yogabhayaṃkari — O you who are formidable in yoga
- सकलस्थावरजङ्गमस्य
- sakalasthāvarajaṅgamasya — of all beings, moving and unmoving
- मुखहृदयं
- mukhahṛdayaṃ — the face and the heart
- मम
- mama — my
- वशम्
- vaśam — into accord
- आकर्षय
- ākarṣaya — draw
- आकर्षय
- ākarṣaya — draw
- स्वाहा
- svāhā — the call that closes an offering
More Swayamvara Parvathi mantras
Swayamvara Parvathi Dhyana Shloka (Shambhum Jaganmohana)
The verse recited to picture the deity before japa.
- शम्भुं
- śambhuṃ — Shambhu (Shiva)
- जगन्मोहनरूपपूर्णं
- jaganmohanarūpapūrṇaṃ — full of world-enchanting beauty
- विलोक्य
- vilokya — having beheld
- लज्जाकुलितां
- lajjākulitāṃ — overcome with shyness
- स्मिताढ्याम्
- smitāḍhyām — rich in smiles
- मधूकमालां
- madhūkamālāṃ — a garland of madhuka flowers
- स्वसखीकराभ्यां
- svasakhīkarābhyāṃ — with the two hands of her own friend
- सम्बिभ्रतीम्
- sambibhratīm — holding
- अद्रिसुतां
- adrisutāṃ — the Daughter of the Mountain (Parvati)
- भजेऽयम्
- bhaje'yam — I (this one) worship (bhaje + ayam)
Source: Dhyana shloka of the Swayamvara Parvathi mantra (Swayamvara Parvati Mantramala Stotram, attributed to Durvasa). Variant: जगन्मोहनरूपवर्णं.
The syllable people get wrong
In yogeśvari the syllable śva is often misread as a simple sva or even shwa, so the name becomes “yoga-svari” or “yogesh-wari” with an English w; the correct palatal ś followed by the labial v must be kept distinct, otherwise the title “mistress of yoga” loses its Sanskrit contour.
When Swayamvara Parvathi is chanted
Weekday. Friday
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.
Saraswathi Mantra
For learning, speech and the arts. The seed syllable is Aim.
Lakshmi Mantra
For prosperity and stability. The seed syllable is Shreem.
Swayamvara Kala Parvathi 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.