Mantra · Hindu practice
Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya
Oṃ — homage to the Blessed One, Vāsudeva
ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय
Oṃ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
The twelve-syllable mantra of Viṣṇu, and one of the oldest Vaiṣṇava formulas still in use. In the Bhāgavata Purāṇa it is the mantra the boy Dhruva is given, and by which he attains his vision.
Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa; the dvādaśākṣara (twelve-syllable) Vaiṣṇava mantra
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ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय
Oṃ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
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What the words say
Bhagavate is 'to the Blessed One', the standard respectful address. Vāsudevāya names Kṛṣṇa as the son of Vasudeva — but the word is older than that reading and was already a divine name in its own right. Twelve syllables when counted in the traditional way, which is what gives it its name.
Where it comes from
The mantra is attested in the Bhāgavata Purāṇa and in the Pāñcarātra literature, and belongs to Vaiṣṇava practice broadly rather than to one school. Its currency long predates the Gauḍīya movement.
How it is practised
Counted on a tulasī mala, and used as a japa mantra after initiation in several Vaiṣṇava lineages.
References
- Bhāgavata Purāṇa 4.8 (the instruction to Dhruva)
- Pāñcarātra Āgama tradition
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