Om Ham Sham Nam Gam Kam Sam Kham Mahakala Bhairavaya Namah
The seven-bija mantra of Mahakala Bhairava, given in the mantra section of the Ashta Bhairava Dhyana Stotram.
Ashta Bhairava Dhyana Stotram mantra sectionedition
Sanskrit · संस्कृत
Read in another script
No verified recitation yet. We publish audio only with a named reciter and a recorded licence, rather than files of unknown provenance.
Meaning
Salutation to Mahakala Bhairava, with the seven seed syllables that precede his name.
This rendering is by a DharmSetu editor, not a quotation from a published translation. Compare with the public-domain translation.
A Hindi meaning has not been written for this mantra yet. Hindi is authored by a named editor rather than machine-translated, so it arrives more slowly.
How to recite
- Repetitions
- 11 · 108
- Mala
- rudraksha
- Time
- brahma muhurta, sandhya
Pronunciation key — sounds commonly got wrong
- ट ठ ड ढ ण · ṭ ṭh ḍ ḍh ṇ
- Retroflex — the tongue curls back and touches the roof of the mouth. Distinct from the dental त थ द ध न, where the tongue touches the teeth.
- श ष स · ś ṣ s
- Three different sounds: ś as in “shy”, ṣ retroflex and further back, s plain. Collapsing them changes words.
- ः · ḥ (visarga)
- A soft outward breath echoing the preceding vowel — not a hard “ha”.
- ं · ṃ (anusvara)
- Nasalises the vowel; the closing sound follows the consonant that comes next.
- Long vs short vowels — a / ā, i / ī, u / ū
- Vowel length is meaningful in Sanskrit. Hold the macron vowels roughly twice as long.
- Aspirated consonants — kh, gh, ch, th, dh, ph, bh
- A distinct puff of breath. ph is an aspirated p, never an English “f”.
Word by word
- ॐoṃ
- the primordial soundMW1899-CDSL p.235
- हं षं नं गं कं सं खंhaṃ ṣaṃ naṃ gaṃ kaṃ saṃ khaṃ
- seven seed syllables; bījas are not translatable words
- महाकालभैरवायmahākālabhairavāya
- to Mahakala Bhairava — 'Bhairava of great time'(dat. sg.)
- नमःnamaḥ
- salutation, homage(nom. sg. n.)MW1899-CDSL p.528
Glosses are confirmed against a Sanskrit–English dictionary; the reference after each entry names the edition consulted.
Context
Shadanga — the six limbs
The traditional analytic frame for a mantra. Blank limbs are simply not recorded for this text.
- devata
- Mahakala Bhairava
- bija
- haṃ ṣaṃ naṃ gaṃ kaṃ saṃ khaṃ
Before you begin
In the living lineages this form is received through dīkṣā from a teacher, and practitioners commonly hold that the full range of Bhairava sādhanā is not a household practice. The text is printed here in full as it appears in published editions; a verified acharya can advise on whether and how to take it up.
Recited at / traditionally recited for
Classified as Tantric — From the Tantras. Typically built on bija (seed) syllables. Basis for this classification.
Related mantras
Namaste Rudra Manyava — opening of the Shri Rudram
The first line of the Shri Rudram, the central Vedic hymn to Rudra — Taittiriya Samhita 4.5.1.
Navarna Mantra (Chamunda nine-syllable)
The nine-syllable Devi mantra used in the recitation of the Durga Saptashati.
Aham Brahmasmi
The mahavakya of the Yajurveda — I am Brahman. Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1.4.10.