Dwadasakshari Mantra - Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya

The Dwadasakshari Mantra — "Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya", the twelve-syllable mula mantra of Lord Vishnu / Krishna.

Meaning

A salutation to Bhagavan Vasudeva (Krishna, the indwelling Lord, son of Vasudeva) — "I bow to the all-pervading Supreme Lord Vasudeva."

Benefits

Chanted for devotion, surrender, protection and liberation; a complete Vishnu mantra suitable for japa and the worship of Vishnu, Krishna and Vasudeva.

Word by Word Meaning

Om — the Pranava. Namo — salutation. Bhagavate — to the Bhagavan, the Lord possessed of the six full glories: sovereignty, righteousness, fame, prosperity, wisdom and dispassion. Vasudevaya — to Vasudeva: the son of Vasudeva (Krishna), and by the deeper reading "he who dwells (vasati) in all beings and in whom all beings dwell." Counted syllable by syllable — om-na-mo-bha-ga-va-te-va-su-de-va-ya — the mantra has twelve syllables, hence Dwadasakshari, "the twelve-lettered."

This is the mantra the child-sage Dhruva received from Narada in the Bhagavata Purana, and by which he attained the Lord's vision — it is honoured as a complete initiation mantra of the Vaishnava tradition.

How to Chant

Chant 108 repetitions on a tulsi mala after the morning bath, facing east, before an image or shalagrama of Vishnu or Krishna if you keep one. Thursdays and Ekadashi days are especially favoured — the Ekadashi Calendar lists them all for the year — as are Janmashtami and the month of Margashirsha. The mantra suits soft (upamshu) or mental (manasika) japa; many devotees also write it daily in a likhita-japa notebook.

Who Chants It, and When

Because Dhruva received it as a five-year-old, tradition holds this mantra open to everyone, with or without formal initiation — though receiving it from a guru is considered to quicken its fruit. It is chanted for devotion and protection, at the start of undertakings, during fasts of Vishnu, and as a lifetime daily mantra by those whose chosen deity is Krishna or Vishnu.

The Bhagavata's telling of Dhruva's story carries the mantra's promise: a five-year-old, wounded by a stepmother's words, walked into the forest with nothing but these twelve syllables — and within six months the Lord of the universe stood before him. The tradition reads the story as a teaching about the mantra itself: what it asks for is not skill in Sanskrit but Dhruva's quality of single-pointed resolve (dhruva means "the fixed one," the pole star he became).

The mantra also opens the Bhagavata Purana itself — its very first words after the invocation are "om namo bhagavate vasudevaya" — so reciters of the Bhagavata begin every reading with it, and many families keep it as the grace said before Srimad Bhagavata katha in the home.

The Dwadasakshari Mantra - Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya above is given in both Devanagari (Sanskrit) and Roman transliteration so you can read it in whichever script you are comfortable with — switch between the two using the buttons above, share the link, or download a PDF.