- ध्यानम् (dhyānam)meditation
anvaya ध्यानम्
note A heading. The two verses that follow are the dhyāna, the picture of the god that is held in mind before the mantras are said.
रोगान्मे नाशयाऽशेषानाशु धन्वन्तरे हरे ।
आरोग्यं दीर्घमायुष्यं बलं तेजो धियं श्रियं
स्वभक्तेभ्योऽनुगृह्णन्तं वन्दे धन्वन्तरिं हरिम् ॥
- अच्युत (acyuta)O Achyuta, who never slips
- अनन्त (ananta)O Ananta, who has no end
- गोविन्द (govinda)O Govinda
- विष्णो (viṣṇo)O Vishnu
- नारायण (nārāyaṇa)O Narayana
- अमृत (amṛta)O nectar of life
- रोगान् (rogān)the diseases
- मे (me)my
- नाशय (nāśaya)put an end to
- अशेषान् (aśeṣān)all of them
- आशु (āśu)quickly
- धन्वन्तरे (dhanvantare)O Dhanvantari
- हरे (hare)O Hari
- आरोग्यम् (ārogyam)health
- दीर्घम् (dīrgham)long
- आयुष्यम् (āyuṣyam)life
- बलम् (balam)strength
- तेजः (tejaḥ)brightness
- धियम् (dhiyam)understanding
- श्रियम् (śriyam)prosperity
- स्वभक्तेभ्यः (svabhaktebhyaḥ)on those who love him
- अनुगृह्णन्तम् (anugṛhṇantam)who gives all this freely
- वन्दे (vande)I bow to
- धन्वन्तरिम् (dhanvantarim)Dhanvantari
- हरिम् (harim)Hari
anvaya अच्युत अनन्त गोविन्द विष्णो नारायण अमृत धन्वन्तरे हरे मे अशेषान् रोगान् आशु नाशय स्वभक्तेभ्यः आरोग्यम् दीर्घम् आयुष्यम् बलम् तेजः धियम् श्रियम् अनुगृह्णन्तम् धन्वन्तरिम् हरिम् वन्दे
chandas Anuṣṭubh, 8 syllables to a pāda; the block holds two verses
धन्वन्तरे O Dhanvantari — The physician of the gods, who came up out of the churned sea holding the pot of nectar. Ayurveda is taught in his name.
अमृत O nectar of life — Amṛta is what does not die, and the drink that keeps death away. It is one of the six names the first line calls him by.
अनुगृह्णन्तम् who gives all this freely — Anugraha is the favour shown by someone in a position to withhold it. Six things are asked for, health first.
note The first half calls on him by six names and asks for the diseases to go. The second half lists what is asked for in their place and ends with the bow.
सूक्ष्मस्वच्छातिहृद्यांशुक परिविलसन्मौलिमम्भोजनेत्रम् ।
कालाम्भोदोज्ज्वलाङ्गं कटितटविलसच्चारुपीताम्बराढ्यम् ।
वन्दे धन्वन्तरिं तं निखिलगदवनप्रौढदावाग्निलीलम् ॥
- शङ्खम् (śaṅkham)a conch
- चक्रम् (cakram)a discus
- जलौकाम् (jalaukām)a leech
- दधत् (dadhat)holding
- अमृतघटम् (amṛtaghaṭam)the pot of nectar
- चारुदोर्भिः (cārudorbhiḥ)with fine arms
- चतुर्भिः (caturbhiḥ)four
- सूक्ष्मस्वच्छातिहृद्यांशुकपरिविलसन्मौलिम् (sūkṣmasvacchātihṛdyāṃśukaparivilasanmaulim)about whose head a soft, clear, very pleasing cloth shines
- अम्भोजनेत्रम् (ambhojanetram)whose eyes are lotuses
- कालाम्भोदोज्ज्वलाङ्गम् (kālāmbhodojjvalāṅgam)whose body shines like a dark rain cloud
- कटितटविलसच्चारुपीताम्बराढ्यम् (kaṭitaṭavilasaccārupītāmbarāḍhyam)rich with a fine yellow cloth bright at the waist
- वन्दे (vande)I bow to
- धन्वन्तरिम् (dhanvantarim)Dhanvantari
- तम् (tam)that one
- निखिलगदवनप्रौढदावाग्निलीलम् (nikhilagadavanaprauḍhadāvāgnilīlam)whose play is the full-grown forest fire in the thicket of every disease
anvaya चतुर्भिः चारुदोर्भिः शङ्खम् चक्रम् जलौकाम् अमृतघटम् दधत् सूक्ष्मस्वच्छातिहृद्यांशुकपरिविलसन्मौलिम् अम्भोजनेत्रम् कालाम्भोदोज्ज्वलाङ्गम् कटितटविलसच्चारुपीताम्बराढ्यम् निखिलगदवनप्रौढदावाग्निलीलम् तम् धन्वन्तरिम् वन्दे
chandas Sragdharā, 21 syllables in each of 4 pādas
जलौकाम् a leech — Two of his four hands hold Vishnu's conch and discus. The other two hold a physician's kit: the leech used for drawing blood, and the pot of medicine.
दावाग्नि a forest fire — Disease is pictured as a thicket of trees and his work as the fire that goes through it. The word līlā at the end makes it something he does easily.
कालाम्भोद a dark rain cloud — Kāla is black and ambhoda a cloud. It is the colour Vishnu is described in, and it also promises rain.
note The metre changes to Sragdharā, whose long pādas let the whole figure be described in one sweep, head to waist and then what he does.
अनारोग्यं न तेषां स्यात् सुखं जीवन्ति ते चिरम् ॥
- धन्वन्तरेः (dhanvantareḥ)of Dhanvantari
- इमम् (imam)this
- श्लोकम् (ślokam)verse
- भक्त्या (bhaktyā)with love
- नित्यम् (nityam)every day
- पठन्ति (paṭhanti)recite
- ये (ye)those who
- अनारोग्यम् (anārogyam)ill health
- न (na)not
- तेषाम् (teṣām)for them
- स्यात् (syāt)would there be
- सुखम् (sukham)in comfort
- जीवन्ति (jīvanti)they live
- ते (te)they
- चिरम् (ciram)for a long time
anvaya ये धन्वन्तरेः इमम् श्लोकम् भक्त्या नित्यम् पठन्ति तेषाम् अनारोग्यम् न स्यात् ते चिरम् सुखम् जीवन्ति
chandas Anuṣṭubh, 8 syllables in each of 4 pādas
अनारोग्यम् ill health — Said the long way round, as the absence of ārogya, health. Ārogya itself is built the same way, from roga, disease.
note The phalashruti of the two dhyāna verses. What follows it is no longer verse but the mantras themselves.
- मन्त्रम् (mantram)the mantra
anvaya मन्त्रम्
note A heading for the prose mantra below it.
- ॐ (oṃ)Om
- नमः (namaḥ)salutation
- भगवते (bhagavate)to the Lord
- वासुदेवाय (vāsudevāya)to Vasudeva
- धन्वन्तरये (dhanvantaraye)to Dhanvantari
- अमृतकलशहस्ताय (amṛtakalaśahastāya)to the one with the pot of nectar in his hand
- वज्रजलौकहस्ताय (vajrajalaukahastāya)to the one with the diamond leech in his hand
- सर्वामयविनाशनाय (sarvāmayavināśanāya)to the destroyer of every illness
- त्रैलोक्यनाथाय (trailokyanāthāya)to the lord of the three worlds
- श्रीमहाविष्णवे (śrīmahāviṣṇave)to Shri Mahavishnu
- स्वाहा (svāhā)svaha
anvaya ॐ भगवते वासुदेवाय धन्वन्तरये अमृतकलशहस्ताय वज्रजलौकहस्ताय सर्वामयविनाशनाय त्रैलोक्यनाथाय श्रीमहाविष्णवे नमः स्वाहा
स्वाहा svaha — The word said as an offering goes into the fire. It has no meaning to translate and is left as the sound it is.
वज्रजलौकहस्ताय to the one with the diamond leech in his hand — Printed in brackets as another reading for अमृतकलशहस्ताय. Both hands are a physician's: the pot in one reading, the leech in the other.
note This is prose rather than verse, so there is no metre to give. The mantra is a string of datives, and the नमः at the front and the स्वाहा at the end hold them all.
- पाठान्तरः (pāṭhāntaraḥ)another reading
anvaya पाठान्तरः
note A note in the text itself, marking the longer form of the mantra that follows as a variant of the one above.
- ॐ (oṃ)Om
- नमः (namaḥ)salutation
- भगवते (bhagavate)to the Lord
- महासुदर्शनाय (mahāsudarśanāya)to the great Sudarshana
- वासुदेवाय (vāsudevāya)to Vasudeva
- धन्वन्तरये (dhanvantaraye)to Dhanvantari
- अमृतकलशहस्ताय (amṛtakalaśahastāya)to the one with the pot of nectar in his hand
- सर्वभयविनाशाय (sarvabhayavināśāya)to the undoing of every fear
- सर्वरोगनिवारणाय (sarvaroganivāraṇāya)to the one who keeps off every disease
- त्रैलोक्यपतये (trailokyapataye)to the master of the three worlds
- त्रैलोक्यनिधये (trailokyanidhaye)to the store of the three worlds
- श्रीमहाविष्णुस्वरूप (śrīmahāviṣṇusvarūpa)O form of Shri Mahavishnu
- श्रीधन्वन्तरीस्वरूप (śrīdhanvantarīsvarūpa)O form of Shri Dhanvantari
- श्री (śrī)Shri
- श्री (śrī)Shri
- श्री (śrī)Shri
- औषधचक्रनारायणाय (auṣadhacakranārāyaṇāya)to Narayana of the wheel of medicines
- स्वाहा (svāhā)svaha
anvaya ॐ भगवते महासुदर्शनाय वासुदेवाय धन्वन्तरये अमृतकलशहस्ताय सर्वभयविनाशाय सर्वरोगनिवारणाय त्रैलोक्यपतये त्रैलोक्यनिधये श्रीमहाविष्णुस्वरूप श्रीधन्वन्तरीस्वरूप श्री श्री श्री औषधचक्रनारायणाय नमः स्वाहा
महासुदर्शनाय to the great Sudarshana — Sudarshana is Vishnu's discus, worshipped as a deity in its own right. Bringing it into a healing mantra puts a weapon on the side of the patient.
औषधचक्रनारायणाय to Narayana of the wheel of medicines — Auṣadha is a herb or a drug. The wheel of medicines sets the discus and the pharmacy side by side.
श्री श्री श्री Shri, three times — Said three times as a mark of honour, the way a title is written out in full at the head of a letter.
note The longer of the two forms, and the one used where the shorter is thought too brief. It names the fears and the diseases it is against, which the shorter form leaves unsaid.
- गायत्री (gāyatrī)Gayatri
- मन्त्रम् (mantram)the mantra
anvaya गायत्री मन्त्रम्
note A heading. What follows is a deity gayatri, built on the pattern of the Gayatri mantra with this god's names put into it.
तन्नो धन्वन्तरिः प्रचोदयात् ।
- ॐ (oṃ)Om
- वासुदेवाय (vāsudevāya)of Vasudeva
- विद्महे (vidmahe)may we know
- सुधाहस्ताय (sudhāhastāya)of the one with nectar in his hand
- धीमहि (dhīmahi)we meditate
- तत् (tat)that
- नः (naḥ)us
- धन्वन्तरिः (dhanvantariḥ)Dhanvantari
- प्रचोदयात् (pracodayāt)may he set moving
anvaya ॐ वासुदेवाय विद्महे सुधाहस्ताय धीमहि तत् धन्वन्तरिः नः प्रचोदयात्
chandas Gāyatrī, 3 pādas of 8 syllables
विद्महे धीमहि may we know, we meditate — The two verbs of the Gayatri mantra, kept in place. A deity gayatri changes the names and leaves this frame standing.
सुधाहस्ताय of the one with nectar in his hand — Sudhā is nectar, another word for amṛta. The hand that holds it is what marks Dhanvantari out.
प्रचोदयात् may he set moving — The last word of the Gayatri mantra, kept here as it stands. What is asked is that he start the mind going.
note Every god has a gayatri made this way, on the frame of Rig Veda 3.62.10. Read against that verse, the changes are the whole content.
ॐ धं धन्वन्तरये नमः ।
- तारकमन्त्रम् (tārakamantram)the taraka mantra
- ॐ (oṃ)Om
- धं (dhaṃ)dhaṃ
- धन्वन्तरये (dhanvantaraye)to Dhanvantari
- नमः (namaḥ)salutation
anvaya तारकमन्त्रम् ॐ धं धन्वन्तरये नमः
धं dhaṃ — A bija, a seed sound. It is the first sound of the name Dhanvantari made into a syllable of its own, and it is left as a sound rather than given a meaning.
तारकमन्त्रम् the taraka mantra — From tāraka, what carries across. It is the shortest of the forms here, meant to be said many times over.
note The last of the four mantras and the shortest: the seed sound, the name and the bow.