Sacred Learning

Oṃ śrī gaṇeśāya namaḥ

Public nāmamantra of Gaṇeśa (Purāṇic-devotional; not a restricted tantric bīja sequence).

Canonical source text

ॐ श्री गणेशाय नमः

IAST transliteration

oṃ śrī gaṇeśāya namaḥ

Close translation

Oṃ. Salutation to blessed Gaṇeśa.

Reader-friendly meaning

A short bow to the lord of the troop, asked to sit at the start of work.

Meenananda editorial explanation

Bengal’s houses know this line at the doorway of a letter, a journey, a puja. It is public devotion. Seed-mantras of Gaṇeśa given in diksha are not printed here.

Practice context

Speak once or thrice at the beginning of an undertaking, as your house does.

Word meanings

गणेशाय — to Gaṇeśa
नमः — salutation

Public nāmamantra; not copied from a commercial stotra book as a unique translation. Sanskrit: public domain. Foundation translations: CC BY-SA 4.0.