Narayana Suktam

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Narayana Suktam

The Narayana Suktam - the Vedic hymn that glorifies Lord Narayana as the supreme being pervading all that exists.

ओं सह नाववतु । सह नौ भुनक्तु । सह वीर्यं करवावहै । तेजस्विनावधीतमस्तु मा विद्विषावहै ॥ ओं शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥

सहस्रशीर्षं देवं विश्वाक्षं विश्वशम्भुवम् । विश्वं नारायणं देवमक्षरं परमं पदम् ।

विश्वतः परमान्नित्यं विश्वं नारायणग्ं हरिम् । विश्वमेवेदं पुरुषस्तद्विश्वमुपजीवति ।

पतिं विश्वस्यात्मेश्वरग्ं शाश्वतग्ं शिवमच्युतम् । नारायणं महाज्ञेयं विश्वात्मानं परायणम् ।

नारायण परो ज्योतिरात्मा नारायणः परः । नारायण परं ब्रह्म तत्त्वं नारायणः परः ।

नारायण परो ध्याता ध्यानं नारायणः परः । यच्च किञ्चिज्जगत्सर्वं दृश्यते श्रूयतेऽपि वा ॥

अन्तर्बहिश्च तत्सर्वं व्याप्य नारायणः स्थितः । अनन्तमव्ययं कविग्ं समुद्रेऽन्तं विश्वशम्भुवम् ।

पद्मकोश प्रतीकाशग्ं हृदयं चाप्यधोमुखम् । अधो निष्ट्या वितस्त्यान्ते नाभ्यामुपरि तिष्ठति ।

ज्वालमालाकुलं भाती विश्वस्यायतनं महत् । सन्ततग्ं शिलाभिस्तु लम्बत्याकोशसन्निभम् ।

तस्यान्ते सुषिरग्ं सूक्ष्मं तस्मिन् सर्वं प्रतिष्ठितम् । तस्य मध्ये महानग्निर्विश्वार्चिर्विश्वतोमुखः ।

सोऽग्रभुग्विभजन्तिष्ठन्नाहारमजरः कविः । तिर्यगूर्ध्वमधश्शायी रश्मयस्तस्य सन्तता ।

सन्तापयति स्वं देहमापादतलमस्तकः । तस्य मध्ये वह्निशिखा अणीयोर्ध्वा व्यवस्थितः ।

नीलतोयदमध्यस्थाद्विद्युल्लेखेव भास्वरा । नीवारशूकवत्तन्वी पीता भास्वत्यणूपमा ।

तस्याः शिखाया मध्ये परमात्मा व्यवस्थितः । स ब्रह्म स शिवः स हरिः सेन्द्रः सोऽक्षरः परमः स्वराट् ॥

ऋतग्ं सत्यं परं ब्रह्म पुरुषं कृष्णपिङ्गलम् । ऊर्ध्वरेतं विरूपाक्षं विश्वरूपाय वै नमो नमः ।

ओं नारायणाय विद्महे वासुदेवाय धीमहि । तन्नो विष्णुः प्रचोदयात् ॥

ओं शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥

om saha navavatu । saha nau bhunaktu । saha viryam karavavahai । tejasvinavadhitamastu ma vidvishavahai ॥ om shantih shantih shantih ॥

sahasrashirsham devam vishvaksham vishvashambhuvam । vishvam narayanam devamaksharam paramam padam ।

vishvatah paramannityam vishvam narayanagm harim । vishvamevedam purushastadvishvamupajivati ।

patim vishvasyatmeshvaragm shashvatagm shivamachyutam । narayanam mahajneyam vishvatmanam parayanam ।

narayana paro jyotiratma narayanah parah । narayana param brahma tattvam narayanah parah ।

narayana paro dhyata dhyanam narayanah parah । yachcha kinchijjagatsarvam drishyate shruyate'pi va ॥

antarbahishcha tatsarvam vyapya narayanah sthitah । anantamavyayam kavigm samudre'ntam vishvashambhuvam ।

padmakosha pratikashagm hridayam chapyadhomukham । adho nishtya vitastyante nabhyamupari tishthati ।

jvalamalakulam bhati vishvasyayatanam mahat । santatagm shilabhistu lambatyakoshasannibham ।

tasyante sushiragm sukshmam tasmin sarvam pratishthitam । tasya madhye mahanagnirvishvarchirvishvatomukhah ।

so'grabhugvibhajantishthannaharamajarah kavih । tiryagurdhvamadhashshayi rashmayastasya santata ।

santapayati svam dehamapadatalamastakah । tasya madhye vahnishikha aniyordhva vyavasthitah ।

nilatoyadamadhyasthadvidyullekheva bhasvara । nivarashukavattanvi pita bhasvatyanupama ।

tasyah shikhaya madhye paramatma vyavasthitah । sa brahma sa shivah sa harih sendrah so'ksharah paramah svarat ॥

ritagm satyam param brahma purusham krishnapingalam । urdhvaretam virupaksham vishvarupaya vai namo namah ।

om narayanaya vidmahe vasudevaya dhimahi । tanno vishnuh prachodayat ॥

om shantih shantih shantih ॥

Frequently asked questions about Narayana Suktam

What is the Narayana Suktam?

A Vedic hymn from the Taittiriya Aranyaka declaring Narayana as the supreme being who pervades everything that is - whatever is seen or heard, within and without, is Narayana. It is the classic Vedic statement of Vishnu's all-pervasiveness.

When is it chanted?

On Thursdays and Ekadashis, at Vishnu abhishek and havan, and in the standard temple sequence after the Purusha Suktam. Vaishnava households recite it daily.

How does it relate to the Ashtakshari mantra?

The eight-syllable Om Namo Narayanaya is the mula mantra drawn from this tradition - the Suktam is the hymn, the Ashtakshari the japa formula distilled from it. Many recite the Suktam once and then the mantra on a mala.

What does the hymn describe?

Narayana seated in the lotus of the heart, the size of a thumb, flame-like - and simultaneously filling the universe. Holding both at once, the intimate and the infinite, is the meditation the hymn is teaching.

Is any initiation needed?

No for recitation. Some Vaishnava sampradayas give the Ashtakshari formally at diksha and keep it private after that; the Suktam itself is publicly chanted and freely learnt.

About the Narayana Suktam

The Narayana Suktam - the Vedic hymn that glorifies Lord Narayana as the supreme being pervading all that exists.

Meaning

The hymn declares Narayana as the supreme Purusha, the imperishable, who is all that was and will be; it locates him in the lotus of the heart and exalts him as the goal of all worship.

Benefits

Chanted (often with the Purusha Suktam) in Vishnu worship and homa for purity, peace, devotion and the realisation of the indwelling Lord.

What the Hymn Says

The Narayana Suktam declares Narayana as the Supreme: "the thousand-headed god, the eye of the universe, the wellbeing of the world" - all that was and all that will be. It then turns inward with one of the most striking meditations in the Veda: in the body, a hand-span below the throat and above the navel, hangs the heart like a lotus bud facing downward; within it burns a subtle flame, and within the tip of that flame the Paramatma - the Supreme Self - abides. That indwelling one, the hymn concludes, "is Brahma, is Shiva, is Hari, is Indra - the imperishable, the supreme, the self-luminous."

The sukta closes with the Vishnu Gayatri - "Narayanaya vidmahe, Vasudevaya dhimahi, tanno Vishnuh prachodayat" - asking Vishnu to impel our meditation toward him.

How to Recite

The Narayana Suktam is traditionally recited immediately after the Purusha Suktam in Vishnu worship, abhisheka and homa, and the two are best treated as a pair. For home practice, recite it in the morning after bathing, seated before a lamp; Ekadashi - the day of Vishnu observed twice each month - is the most favoured day, and you can see every Ekadashi of the year on the Ekadashi Calendar. As with all Vedic suktas, the fully accented chant should be learned from a teacher; the text here is given accent-free for devotional reading.

Who Chants It, and When

Devotees of Vishnu recite it in daily worship; meditators prize its heart-flame meditation as a complete inner practice - locating the Divine not in the sky but within the heart. It is also recited on Vaikuntha Ekadashi, during Satyanarayan puja and at the consecration of Vishnu images.

The heart-meditation of this sukta - the downward-facing lotus, the slender flame, the Self within the flame - became the model for the dahara-vidya, the "meditation on the small space within the heart" taught in the Upanishads. Even readers who never chant the Sanskrit keep the image as a meditation: sitting quietly, bringing attention to the centre of the chest, and resting there as the hymn instructs. In that sense the Narayana Suktam is both a text to recite and a practice to do.

The Narayana Suktam 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.

A mantra is a compact formula for japa, not a long hymn. Forty-verse hymns live under Chalisa; lamp-songs under Aarti; longer stotras under Stotram. Browse every formula on the Mantra index. Count repetitions with the online japa mala counter.