Daily Invocations

by Swami Krishnananda

namo agrevadhāya ca dūrevadhāya ca namo hantre ca
hanīyase ca namo vṛkṣebhyo harikeśebhyo namastārāya.

Prostration to Him who destroys enemies in front and who destroys them from behind; prostration to Him who is the Destroyer of things here and the Destroyer of everything in the end; prostration to Him who is in the form of trees filled with green leaves; prostration to Him who is embodied in Om (Pranava).

namaśśaṁbhave ca mayobhave ca namaḥ śaṁkarāya
ca mayaskarāya ca namaḥ śivāya ca śivatarāya ca.

Prostration to Him who is the source of bliss, spiritual as well as temporal; prostration to Him who dispenses all happiness, heavenly as well as earthly; prostration to Him who is the Auspicious One, and is more auspicious than anything else.

namastīrthyāya ca kūlyāya ca namaḥ pāryāya
cāvāryāya ca namaḥ prataraṇāya cottaraṇāya ca nama
ātāryāya cālādyāya ca namaḥ śaṣpyāya ca phenyāya
ca namaḥ sikatyāya ca pravāhyāya ca.

Prostration to Him who is in the holy waters of shrines and in emblems erected on their banks; prostration to Him who is on this shore (as the bestower of prosperity) and on the other shore (as the blessedness beyond mortality); prostration to Him who is the means to cross over sin by ritual as well as by knowledge; prostration to Him who is the cause of rebirths and the fact behind the experiences of the fruits of karma; prostration to Him who is in the tender grass and in the fleeting foam; prostration to Him who is in the sands and the flowing waters (of rivers).

nama iriṇyāya ca prapathyāya ca namaḥ kigïśilāya ca
kṣayaṇāya ca namaḥ kapardine ca pulastaye ca namo goṣṭhyāya ca
gṛhyāya ca namastalpyāya ca gehyāya ca namaḥ kāṭyāya ca
gahvareṣṭhāya ca namo hṛdayyāya ca niveṣpyāya ca.

Prostration to Him who is in fertile lands and in broad highroads; prostration to Him who is in rocky ground and in habitable places; prostration to Him who has matted locks and who reveals Himself to devotees; prostration to Him who is in cowsheds and in homes of people; prostration to Him who is in bedsteads and in palaces; prostration to Him who is in thorny jungles and in mountain caves; prostration to Him who is in whirlpools and in dewdrops.

namaḥ pāgïsavyāya ca rajasyāya ca namaḥ
śuṣkyāya ca harityāya ca namo lopyāya
colapyāya ca nama ūrvyāya ca sūrmyāya ca.

Prostration to Him who is in atoms and in dust; prostration to Him who is in what is dry and what is green; prostration to Him who is in rugged terrain and in the green grass; prostration to Him who is in the earth and in the gallant-waved rivers.

namaḥ parṇyāya ca parṇaśadyāya ca
namo'paguramāṇāya cābhighnate ca
nama ākhkhidate ca prakhkhidate ca.

Prostration to Him who is in fresh leaves and in heaps of dry leaves; prostration to Him who is with uplifted weapons and who strikes (the sinful); prostration to Him who afflicts (enemies) mildly as well as severely.

namo vaḥ kirikebhyo devānāgïhṛdayebhyo
namo vikṣīṇakebhyo namo vicinvatkebhyo
nama ānirhatebhyo nama āmīvatkebhyaḥ.

Prostration to You all who are the hearts of the gods, bestowing on devotees wealth (material as well as spiritual); prostration to You who are undecaying; prostration to You who grants the wishes of everyone; prostration to You who destroys evil from all sides; prostration to You who manifests Yourself abundantly.

drāpe andhasaspate daridrannīlalohita,
eṣāṁ puruṣāṇāmeṣāṁ paśūnāṁ mā
bhermā'ro mo eṣāṁ kiṁ canāmamat.

O Wielder of the rod of justice (Punisher)! O Lord of food! O Unattached Independent One (possessing nothing)! O Blue and Red One in hue! May there not be fear in these people and these cattle (of ours)! May not any one of them stray away (or perish)! May not any one of them be diseased!

yā te rudra śivā tanūh śivā viśvāha bheṣajī,
śivā rudrasya bheṣajī tayā no mṛḍa jīvase.

Rudra! That which is your auspicious form, auspicious as the universal panacea for all ills, auspicious as the bestower of (knowledge and realisation of) Your Rudra form—with that make us live in happiness.

imāgïrudrāya tavase kapardine kṣayadvīrāya prabharāmahe matim,
yathā naḥ śamasaddvipade catuṣpade viśvaṁ puṣṭaṁ grāme āsmin anāturam.

We dedicate this mind of ours to Rudra, the powerful, with matted hair, causing the waning (and destruction) of enemies, so that in this our locality (village, land or country) happiness may prevail on humankind and cattle, and all living beings may remain robust and free from troubles of any kind.

mṛḍā no rudrota no mayaskṛdhi kṣayadvīrāya namasā vidhema tey,
yacchaṁ ca yośca manurāyaje pitā tadaśyāma tava rudra praṇītau.

Rudra! Render us happy (both) here (with material prosperity) and in the hereafter (with spiritual blessedness); with our obeisance we propitiate You, the Destroyer of our enemies (internal and external); may we attain, Rudra, with Your loving Grace, all that happiness and freedom from sorrow which our father, Manu, acquired.

mā no mahāntamuta mā no arbhakaṁ mā na ukṣanta-muta mā na ukṣitam,
mā no'vadhīḥ pitaraṁ mota mātaraṁ priyā mā nastanuvaḥ rudrarīriṣaḥ.

Rudra! Destroy not our aged ones or our young ones, our infants or our babes in the womb; kill not our father or our mother, or our dear bodies.

mā nastoke tanaye mā na āyuṣi mā no goṣu mā no aśveṣu rīriṣaḥ,
vīrānmā no rudra bhāmito'vadhīr-haviṣmanto namasā vidhema te.

Rudra! Do not, in Your anger, bring trouble on our children, our sons, our lifespan, our cattle, our horses; destroy not our brave (useful) servants; we propitiate You with (our) prostrations, offering oblations (to You).

ārātte goghna uta pūruṣaghne kṣayadvīrāya sumnamasme te astu,
rakṣā ca no adhi ca deva brūhyathā ca naḥ śarma yacchadvibarhāḥ.

God! Let Thy gentle form, meant for our good, which spells destruction on cattle and human beings in the enemy’s fighting forces, be near us; protect us, exalt us (among all things) and confer grace on us—Thou the glory of here and hereafter.

stuhi śrutaṁ gartasadaṁ yuvānaṁ mṛganna bhīma-mupahatnumugram,
mruḍā jaritre rudra stavāno anyante asmannivapantu senāḥ.

Praise the celebrated One; the Dweller in the cave (of the heart); ever young (new and fresh); terrible at the time of destruction (of enemies and of the universe in the end), like a ferocious lion. O Rudra, make us, praying through this mortal frame, happy. Let Thy forces (armies) wipe out what is different from us (our foes).

Note:—This is a prayer for the success of oneself over one’s enemies, external as well as internal. What is different from us is what is other than the true Self or Atman.