Narayana Suktam — opening
The opening verse of the Narayana Suktam — Mahanarayana Upanishad 13.1.
Mahanarayana Upanishad 13.1edition
Sanskrit · संस्कृत
This text is shown without svara (Vedic accent) marks — no marked edition has been verified for it yet. Accent matters in Vedic recitation, so we would rather show none than show the wrong ones.
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Meaning
The thousand-headed god, whose eyes are everywhere, who is the well-being of all; the universe itself, Narayana, the god, imperishable, supreme, the lord.
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
- 1 · 3 · 11
- 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
- सहस्रशीर्षम्sahasraśīrṣam
- thousand-headed(acc. sg.)MW1899-CDSL p.1196
- देवम्devam
- the god(acc. sg.)MW1899-CDSL p.492
- विश्वाक्षम्viśvākṣam
- whose eyes are everywhere(acc. sg.)MW1899-CDSL p.994
- विश्वशम्भुवम्viśvaśambhuvam
- the well-being of all(acc. sg.)MW1899-CDSL p.994
- विश्वम्viśvam
- the universe(acc. sg.)MW1899-CDSL p.992
- नारायणम्nārāyaṇam
- Narayana(acc. sg.)MW1899-CDSL p.536
- अक्षरम्akṣaram
Context
Shadanga — the six limbs
The traditional analytic frame for a mantra. Blank limbs are simply not recorded for this text.
- chhanda
- Anushtubh
- devata
- Narayana
Recited at / traditionally recited for
Classified as Vedic — From the Vedic corpus — Samhita, Brahmana, Aranyaka or Upanishad. Carries a rishi, a metre, and accent marking. Basis for this classification.
Related mantras
Gayatri Mantra
The most widely recited Vedic verse, addressed to the light of the sun — Rigveda 3.62.10.
Mahamrityunjaya Mantra
The Tryambaka verse of the Rigveda, addressed to Rudra — a prayer for release, likening it to a ripe fruit loosening from its stem.
Asato Ma Sad Gamaya
Three movements — from the unreal to the real, from darkness to light, from death to what does not die. Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1.3.28.