The Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra

We worship the three-eyed One (Lord Siva) Who is fragrant and Who nourishes well all beings; may He liberate us from death for the sake of immortality even as the cucumber is severed from its bondage (to the creeper). The Mahamrityunjaya Mantra (Sanskrit: महामृत्युंजय मंत्र, mahāmá¹›tyuṃjaya mantra "Great Death-conquering Mantra"), also called the Tryambakam Mantra, is a verse of the Rigveda (RV 7.59.12). It is addressed to Tryambaka, "the three-eyed one", an epithet ofRudra, later identified with Shiva.^[1][2] The verse also recurs in the Yajurveda

History

The Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra is said to have been found by Rishi Markandeya. It was a secret mantra, and Rishi Markandeya was the only one in the world who knew this mantra. The Moon was once in trouble, cursed by King Daksha. Rishi Markandeya gave the Mahamritryunjaya Mantra to Sati, Daksha's daughter, for the Moon. According to another version this is the Bija mantra as revealed to Rishi Kahola that was given by Lord Shiva to sage Sukracharya, who taught it to Rishi Dadhichi, who gave it to King Kshuva, through whom it reached the Shiva Purana.^[6]

It is also called the Rudra mantra, referring to the furious aspect of Lord Shiva; the Tryambakam mantra, alluding to Shiva's three eyes; and it is sometimes known as the Mrita-Sanjivini mantra because it is a component of the "life-restoring" practice given to the primordial sage Sukracharya after he had completed an exhausting period of austerity. Its Devata is Rudra or Lord Shiva in his fiercest and most destructive roopa or aspect.

The Prayer