The Panca Brahma Mantras: Brahma, Vishnu, Rudra, Mahavishnu, Sadashiva

Guruji's teaching, word for word

The Pañca Brahma Mantras

When you do the pūjā it is easier to do all the kalās first, and then repeat the Pañca Brahma mantras for each Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Rudra, Mahāviṣṇu, Sadāśiva. It also gives you an opportunity to really emphasize each chakra again.

These mantras are taken from the most ancient portion of the Vedas. I cannot really give you a meaning for these mantras entirely. I can give only a few portions that I know.

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Brahmā Mantra

Hguṁ sah śuciṣad vasuḥ antarīkṣasad hotā vedisad atithir duroṇasat nṛsad varasad ṛtsad vyomasad abja goja raja adrja ṛtaṁ bṛhat namaḥ.

Hguṁ sah — is an ancient archaic form.
śuci means the sun;
vasuḥ means the earth;
antarīkṣaḥ means space;
sat means the truth;
hotā is the one who offers the ghee into the fire;
vedi is the homa kuṇḍa;
atithi is the guest who comes without an appointment;
duroṇasat nṛsad — I do not know what this means;
varasad is the one who gives blessings;
ṛtsad is the flowing truth;
vyomasad is the truth established in the sky;
abja is the one who is born out of the waters;
goja is born out of the indriyas, the cognitive and active senses;
ṛtaja is the one who is born out of the non-flowing truth;
adrja is the mountain, the stability;
ṛtam is the truth.

The individual words have a meaning, but why they are placed in this context or what their true meaning is, I do not know. They are explaining in some sense the creation process itself. Probably if one uses this mantra and keeps repeating it one may get the perceptions about the creative process itself. It may have in it the genetic codes. That is why it is so difficult to explain.

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Viṣṇu Mantra

Pratad viṣṇus tavate vīryāya,
mṛgo no bhīmaḥ kucarogirṣṭhāḥ,
yasyorusu triṣu vikrameṣu,
adhikṣiyanti bhuvanāni viśvā namaḥ.

“For your power, strength, even the lion cannot be ferocious enough. Of Viṣṇu, when the three dimensions are expanded, they go beyond all that we see or have seen.”

Viśva is a technical term. What you are able to see in the waking state is called viśva. “Virāṭ”, “Hiraṇyagarbha” and “Īśvara” are the three terms, and the corresponding three terms are viśva, taijasa, and prajña. These relate to experiences of an individual in the waking state, dream state and sleeping state. “Virāṭ”, “Hiraṇyagarbha” and “Īśvara” relate to the cosmic experiences of the cosmic being in the waking, dream and sleeping states.

When we say viśva we mean all the worlds seen by an individual and also those that go beyond those seen. They can only be perceived in the united vision, not the individual vision.

What is the distinction between the universal vision and the individual vision? For instance, I am seeing you as so many people — that is individual vision. But when I see myself also through your eyes at the same time, and see what you are seeing at the same time, that is the universal vision.

Adhikṣiyanti bhuvanāni viśvā namaḥ — all the worlds through the individual perceptions; it goes beyond that.

Viṣṇu is the waters of life. They exist throughout the cosmos. His characteristic is pervasiveness, expanding all over, growing beyond. That is why yasyorusu triṣu vikrameṣu — the three dimensions in space. As they expand, whatever is seen in the three dimensions by all the individuals, your knowledge exceeds all these things. That is what the mantra of Viṣṇu is saying.

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Rudra Mantra

Tryambakaṁ yajāmahe sugandhiṁ puṣṭi-vardhanam,
urvārukam iva bandhanān mṛtyor mukṣīya māmṛtāt namaḥ.

Urvāruka is a snake gourd. As it becomes ripe it falls off by itself. So when one understands the tryambaka aspect of Śiva, not confining oneself to the lower centers, then He, Śiva, nourishes you in all aspects, and like the snake gourd that falls off the vine when it is ripe, He takes you away from the mṛtyu, the death, and gives you amṛta, the nectar.

This is actually the worship of the sun. The entire Rudram is the worship of the sun, the one who attracts and gives light, the life-giving force. It goes beyond life itself.

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Mahāviṣṇu Mantra

Tad viṣṇoḥ paramaṁ padam,
sadā paśyanti sūrayaḥ,
divīva cakṣur ātatam,
tadviprāso vipanyavo,
jāgṛvāṁsaḥ samindhate,
viṣṇor yat paramaṁ padam namaḥ.

“The ultimate abode of Viṣṇu, the knowledgeable, the always-seen. Like the sky, the eye is wide.”

What it means is: whereas our individual eyes are limited to seeing what is near as big and what is far away as small, for the eye as big as the universe, everything appears with the same clarity of vision. The next part I do not know what it means. Viṣṇor yat... “That is the ultimate abode of Viṣṇu. To that I pay my respects.”

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Sadāśiva Mantra

Viṣṇur yonim kalpayatu
tvaṣṭā rūpāṇi piṅgumsatu
āsiñcatu prajāpatiḥ
dhātā garbhaṁ dadātu te
garbhaṁ dhehi sinīvali
garbhaṁ dhehi sarasvatī
addhattām puṣkaras rajaḥ namaḥ

This is the mantra by which the cosmos is created. Space and time are being united. This is called the Garbha-dhāna mantra, which means the act of consummation.

Viṣṇur yonim kalpayatu — may Viṣṇu create the yoni, the source of life.
Tvaṣṭā rūpāṇi piṅgumsatu — may Tvaṣṭā, one of the Aśvinī gods, create the forms out of what is available.
Āsiñcatu prajāpatiḥ — Prajāpati is a typical name for the erect male member. It is also a name for the unit of time which the earth takes to orbit the sun. May that Prajāpati fill you with his seed.
Dhātā garbhaṁ dadātu te — may Dhātā fertilize the egg inside of you.
Garbhaṁ dhehi sinīvali — Sinīvalī and Sarasvatī are the two gods. Our awareness is associated with the ejaculatory sphincter muscles and the receptive forces controlling the movement of the sperm towards the seed.
Garbhaṁ dhehi sarasvatī — Sarasvatī is the force which controls propelling the right sperm towards the seed.
Garbhante aśvinau devau addhattām puṣkaras rajaḥ namaḥ — may the Aśvinī devatās, who are the creators of life, put the life into the female egg.

Kuntī was the mother of the Pāṇḍavas. She recited this Garbha-dhāna mantra keeping the idea of the various gods of the chakras and of the Ājñā chakra and she had six sons.

First she worshipped the Ājñā chakra and she had Karṇa.
Then she worshipped Yama in the Mūlādhāra chakra and got Dharmarāja.
Then she worshipped the Aśvinī devatās and got Nakula and Sahadeva.
Then she worshipped Vāyu with this mantra and obtained Bhīma.
She worshipped the Sun at the Maṇipūra chakra and got Arjuna.

From the teachings of Sri Amritananda Natha Saraswati (Guruji). Original post: "USCP (1998): Pañca Brahma Mantras — Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Rudra, Mahāviṣṇu, Sadāśiva", 21 April 2016, https://amritananda-natha-saraswati.blogspot.com/2016/04/uscp-panca-brahma-mantras-brahma-visnu.html. From Guruji's book, shared on his blog and posted by Vira Chandra.