The Pitru Mantra - "Om Pitru Devtaya Namah", the salutation to the Pitru Devatas (ancestors), chanted with Tarpan during Pitru Paksha and for Pitru Dosha shanti.
पितृ मन्त्र
ॐ पितृ देवताय नमः ॥
सर्व पितृ मन्त्र
ॐ सर्व पितृ देवताभ्यो नमः ॥
पितृ स्मरण श्लोक
ॐ देवताभ्यः पितृभ्यश्च महायोगिभ्य एव च ।
नमः स्वाहायै स्वधायै नित्यमेव नमो नमः ॥
पितृ गायत्री मन्त्र
ॐ पितृगणाय विद्महे जगत् धारिणे धीमहि ।
तन्नो पितरः प्रचोदयात् ॥
pitri mantra
om pitri devataya namah ॥
sarva pitri mantra
om sarva pitri devatabhyo namah ॥
pitri smarana shloka
om devatabhyah pitribhyashcha mahayogibhya eva cha ।
namah svahayai svadhayai nityameva namo namah ॥
pitri gayatri mantra
om pitriganaya vidmahe jagat dharine dhimahi ।
tanno pitarah prachodayat ॥
Om Pitru Devtaya Namah - the salutation to the ancestors, chanted with tarpan and shraddh so that the pitrus receive what is offered. It is used through Pitru Paksha and on the annual shraddh tithi.
Through the sixteen days of Pitru Paksha in Ashwin, and above all on the ancestor's own tithi. Where the tithi is not known, Sarva Pitru Amavasya at the close of the paksha is the day for it - find yours with the Shraddh tithi calculator.
Facing south, with the sacred thread over the right shoulder in the pitru manner, water with black til and darbha grass poured over the joined palms towards the base of the thumb. Priests differ in detail by tradition - follow the one your family keeps.
Ancestor tarpan, shraddh performed on time and daan in their name are the remedies the tradition names for it. Whether the dosha is actually present in your chart is a separate question - the Pitra dosha checker reads it from the placements.
Practice varies. The older convention placed the rite with the son, but many families and priests today accept a daughter performing shraddh and tarpan, particularly where there is no son. The chanting itself is open to anyone.
The Pitru Mantra - "Om Pitru Devtaya Namah", the salutation to the Pitru Devatas (ancestors), chanted with Tarpan during Pitru Paksha and for Pitru Dosha shanti.
A salutation to the Pitru Devatas - the deified ancestors and the divine guardians of the ancestral realm. The accompanying verse "Devatabhyah Pitrubhyashcha" bows to the gods, the forefathers and the great yogis, and to Svaha and Svadha, the powers that carry offerings to the gods and to the ancestors.
Chanted while offering Pitru Tarpan with water and black sesame, during Pitru Paksha, on Amavasya and in Shraddh rites; recited for the peace and blessings of the ancestors and as a daily remedy for Pitru Dosha.
Om Pitru Devtaya Namah - "Salutations to the Pitru Devata," the deified ancestor; the simplest daily remembrance. Om Sarva Pitru Devtabhyo Namah - "Salutations to all the ancestral deities," embracing every forebear of the family line at once. The Pitru Smaran shloka ("Devatabhyah pitrubhyashcha...") bows to the gods, the ancestors and the great yogis, and to Svaha and Svadha - the two sacred utterances by which offerings reach the gods and the ancestors respectively. The Pitru Gayatri follows the Gayatri pattern: "We know the host of ancestors; we meditate on the upholder of the world; may the Pitrus inspire us."
Pitru mantras are chanted facing south - the direction of the ancestors - usually in the morning after bathing. During tarpan, water mixed with black sesame seeds is offered from the joined palms, released over the pitru-tirtha (the base of the right thumb), while the mantra is recited for each ancestor. Keep a calm, grateful frame of mind; tradition treats remembrance and gratitude, not elaborate ritual, as the heart of pitru worship.
The chief occasions are Amavasya (the new-moon day, sacred to the Pitrus each month), the fortnight of Pitru Paksha ending in Mahalaya Amavasya, and the annual Shraddh tithi of the departed - you can find the exact Shraddh day for a family member with the Shraddh Tithi calculator.
Traditionally the eldest son performs tarpan, but any descendant may remember the ancestors with these mantras - daily, on Amavasya, or through Pitru Paksha. In Vedic astrology, unresolved ancestral debt is described as Pitru Dosha in the birth chart, and daily recitation of the Pitru mantra is its gentlest classical remedy; you can check your chart with the Pitru Dosha checker.
The tradition places ancestor remembrance among the five daily debts (pancha-rina) every householder carries - to the gods, the sages, the ancestors, fellow humans and all creatures. The Pitru mantra discharges the ancestral debt in its simplest form: a moment of daily gratitude to those from whom body and life were received. Feeding a cow, a crow or a person in need on Amavasya, in the ancestors' name, completes the remembrance in the traditional way.
The Pitru Mantra - Om Pitru Devtaya Namah 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.
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