Vidya Rajagopala Mantra
ॐ श्रीविद्याराजगोपालाय नमःIn Devanagari, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and English — with the meaning of every word, and the one syllable most people pronounce wrongly.
Who Vidya Rajagopala is
Vidya Rajagopala is a South Indian form of Krishna in which the cowherd prince appears simultaneously as sovereign and as the inner preceptor of sacred learning. Worshipped most prominently at Mannargudi in Tamil Nadu, where he is the processional bronze of the Rajagopalaswamy temple, he is distinguished by the epithet Vidya that prefixes his pastoral title. At Mannargudi he is a seated bronze, accompanied by his consorts Rukmiṇī and Satyabhāmā. Sri Vaishnava and Smarta lineages regard this aspect as the deity before whom the first letters of a child were traditionally traced in rice, marking the formal entry into study. Unlike Gopala forms that dwell solely on play or romance, Vidya Rajagopala carries the quiet authority of one who has already mastered every syllable yet still wears the forest garland.
Krishna at Mannargudi
The legend of the Rajagopalaswamy temple at Mannargudi tells that Krishna appeared there to two sages, Gopilar and Gopralayar. The temple that grew up on the site is one of the great Vaishnava shrines of Tamil Nadu. Its main sanctum holds Paravāsudeva, with Śrīdevī and Bhūdevī, while the festival image is Rajagopala, a seated bronze with his consorts Rukmiṇī and Satyabhāmā. It is this processional form that carries the name Vidya Rajagopala and that devotees associate with study. The temple’s great tank, about 353 by 255 metres, is called Haridra Nadi. In the month of Panguni the temple holds an eighteen-day Brahmotsavam, in which the processional deity is carried in state through the town.
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 — Om
- श्रीविद्याराजगोपालाय
- śrīvidyārājagopālāya — to the glorious Vidyā Rājagopāla
- नमः
- namaḥ — salutation
The syllable people get wrong
In śrīvidyārājagopālāya the d of vidyā is a dental sound, made with the tongue tip against the upper teeth. The word divides as vid-yā: the d closes the first syllable and the y opens the second, which carries a long ā. Speakers often soften the d into an English ‘j’ or shorten the ā. Keep the d dental, let the y follow cleanly, and give each long ā in the name its full length.
When Vidya Rajagopala is chanted
Weekday. Thursday
Festival. Panguni Brahmotsavam at Mannargudi
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.