Let this Light illuminate our higher Self, and help us connect with
the sacred-ness of Nature, and true enjoyment.
the sacred-ness of Nature, and true enjoyment.
Moola Mantra
meaning, discussion.
om sat chit ānanda
om sat chit aananda
ॐ true pure eternal
real consciousness happiness
(Let our) pure consciousness be true and real. (Let us experience the) eternal happiness (of the Presence of Deity.)
para Brahma
fully developed renewal, motivation
(Let our) motivation for spiritual practice be fully developed. (Let us) renew our efforts (after a slump), as best we can.
purushot hāma param ātma
purushot haama param aatma
Divine guidance fully higher self
perfected restored
(Let our heart) be perfectly guided by Deity (towards the spiritual Qualities). (Let our) higher self be fully restored.
śrī b hāgavati sameta
shrii b haagavati sameta
radiance enlightened connect to
human
śrī b hāgavate namah
shrii b haagavate namah
radiance enlightened dedicated to,
human honour
(Let us) honour and be dedicated to this radiance of the enlightened human being : the Presence of Deity, (in ourselves and others.)
Hari om tat sat
Presence ॐ that is real and true (to the spiritual Qualities.)
(note : I have broken up some words into sections to help you pronounce the lyrics.)
om sat chit aananda
ॐ true pure eternal
real consciousness happiness
(Let our) pure consciousness be true and real. (Let us experience the) eternal happiness (of the Presence of Deity.)
para Brahma
fully developed renewal, motivation
(Let our) motivation for spiritual practice be fully developed. (Let us) renew our efforts (after a slump), as best we can.
purushot hāma param ātma
purushot haama param aatma
Divine guidance fully higher self
perfected restored
(Let our heart) be perfectly guided by Deity (towards the spiritual Qualities). (Let our) higher self be fully restored.
śrī b hāgavati sameta
shrii b haagavati sameta
radiance enlightened connect to
human
śrī b hāgavate namah
shrii b haagavate namah
radiance enlightened dedicated to,
human honour
(Let us) honour and be dedicated to this radiance of the enlightened human being : the Presence of Deity, (in ourselves and others.)
Hari om tat sat
Presence ॐ that is real and true (to the spiritual Qualities.)
(note : I have broken up some words into sections to help you pronounce the lyrics.)
The Song
Deva Premal and her band provide a really beautiful rendering of this mantra, from 2007. The whole album is devoted to this one mantra, which is repeated in blocks of three repetitions throughout the album. Interspersed is impressive instrumental of high musicianship by five musicians, jazz style. Soraya Saraswati also provides an excellent melody for this mantra on “Journey into Space,” by Terry Oldfield, 2012. This album also has an exceptional recording of mangalam bhagavan Vishnu.
You can hear a good sample of each track of Deva Premal’s album on –
https://devapremalmiten.com/moola-mantra/
This is an album that I recommend you buy, for the whole album meets my criteria of good Kirtan -
- good melody that is easy to sing along to, and
- good singing, and
- good instrumental.
The Mantra Discussed
This is an important mantra, for Moola = mūla means the basis, foundation and root of the Presence of Deity. This piece of music by Deva Premal portrays the experience of Presence. This piece of music is about : how it actually feels when the spiritual Qualities are strong in our heart and our experience. And the defilements are absent. I offer a translation to go with Deva’s song, to enhance our music meditation while we sing along to the recording.
But when we are not singing along with Deva Premal, we can also approach this mantra as a study of philosophy. The Moola Mantra recites a list of words that summarise important and foundational themes in the Wisdom of the East. Much has been published on each of these themes, on this and many other websites. So I will refer you to other pages on my website for discussion of the Moola Mantra.
sat-chit-ānanda and chid-ānanda are key Hindu themes to describe Presence. I offer a simplified interpretation for this song, that suits the experience of being fully immersed in the beauty of the music and joining in with the song.
But for everyday life, we need a different interpretation to effectively handle everyday ups and downs. Something more detailed. I offer this for another song by Deva Premal entitled chid-ānanda rupa Shivo-ham = “I am Transcendence in the form of chid-ānanda.”
Brahma is part of a trio in Hinduism, called tri-mūrti or three forms of Presence, three phases in our spiritual practice. In tri-mūrti:
- Brahma is the principle of creation and beginnings,
- Shiva is the principle of dissolution and ending of defilements and pain,
- Vishnu is the principle of support and protection of our spiritual Qualities.
In our spiritual practice, Brahma is the first step in the healing process. When we are in a slump, and then we wake up and turn towards healing. When we return to and renew our efforts in spiritual practice. Going back to the bottom rung of the ladder and recommence the climb back up to happiness. Consciously and purposefully. NOT behaving like a cork bobbing up and down in the waves of life.
Brahma is also the motivation or determination to practice, to make efforts to release the pain and rise up. Our commitment to develop, practice and protect our spiritual Qualities.
If there is no motivation, or if the first step in healing is not taken, there will be no recovery, and we will continue to wallow in our troubles. So Brahma is most important in spiritual practice. In fact, Brahma is sometimes given the highest rank in the Hindu pantheon.
I discuss purusha = puruṣa in my treatise on Deity and Kirtan, section “2 e. Deity as Immanent, All Pervasive”. purushothāma can mean “fully developed purusha”.
David Frawley offers a more detailed discussion on Purusha = puruṣa where purushot hāma can mean fully developed Purusha. On this website under “Hindu Themes,” now nested under “Scriptures.”
I discuss ātmā = ātman in my treatise on “Spiritual Practice”, chapter on “Self Realisation”. ātman is often translated as “Self”.
bhagavā has many meanings : in this mantra I have translated it as “enlightened human”, where bhagavāti is the female form and bhagavāte is the male. Or bhagavāti can be the locative form and bhagavāte can be the dative form of the noun bhagavān. This gives the following translations –
bhagavāti can mean : “Let us move towards the enlightened state”, and
bhagavāte can mean : “Let us be located in the enlightened state.”
I discuss the enlightened state in my chapter on “Buddha’s Enlightenment”.
Soraya offers a song for the mantra om namo bhagavate vasudevaya, and I offer a different interpretation for bhagavā on my webpage for this song and mantra.
I have adapted the spelling of bhagavā to b hāgava to improve the pronunciation. If the h of bhagavā is not pronounced, it sounds like something else in this language! It’s important to get the right sound for these mantras when we recite them.
