Rahu Gayatri Mantra
राहु गायत्री मंत्र
Also known as: om nakadhwajaya vidmahe padmahastaya dhimahi · rahu gayatri · rahu dev gayatri mantra
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✦ Meaning
The Rahu Gayatri Mantra is the Vedic Gayatri-meter prayer to Rahu, the ascending lunar node and shadow-planet (Chhaya graha) among the Navagraha. Depicted as the severed head of the cosmic serpent, Rahu governs worldly desire, ambition, sudden change and the unexpected. The mantra invokes him to bless and illumine the intellect, and is chanted to pacify a malefic Rahu, remove obstacles and confusion, and grant protection and worldly success.
Origin & Story
The Gayatri mantra of Rahu, among the Navagraha Gayatris · Traditional (Vedic)
Each of the nine planets (Navagraha) has its own Gayatri — a prayer in the sacred Gayatri meter invoking that graha to bestow its blessings and illumine the intellect. The Rahu Gayatri invokes Rahu, the ascending lunar node and shadow-planet, who in the Puranas is the severed head of the asura Svarbhanu that swallows the Sun and Moon to cause eclipses. Depicted sky-bannered and lotus-bearing, Rahu is honoured through this mantra in the timeless pattern "Vidmahe… Dhimahi… Prachodayat," especially to pacify his powerful, unpredictable influence.
✦ As told in scripture
In the Puranas, Rahu's head became immortal after he tasted a drop of the nectar of immortality, and he forever pursues the Sun and Moon; those undergoing a difficult Rahu period are traditionally counselled to chant the Rahu Gayatri, and devotees report the clearing of confusion, the easing of sudden troubles and steadier progress in worldly affairs.
The Mantra
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ॐ नाकध्वजाय विद्महे पद्महस्ताय धीमहि । तन्नो राहुः प्रचोदयात् ॥
Om Nakadhwajaya Vidmahe Padmahastaya Dhimahi. Tanno Rahuh Prachodayat.
Meaning:Om. May we know the sky-bannered one; may we meditate upon the one holding a lotus; may that Rahu inspire and illumine our minds.
Word-by-Word Meaning
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Benefits of Chanting Rahu Gayatri Mantra
The Gayatri mantra of Rahu, a shadow-planet (Chhaya graha) among the nine planets (Navagraha) — invoked to pacify Rahu
Chanted to soften the malefic effects of an afflicted Rahu and the Rahu Mahadasha and antardasha periods
Helps remove confusion, fear, sudden upheavals and unseen obstacles that Rahu can cause
Sought for worldly success, ambition fulfilled through right means, and protection from deception and illusion
As a Gayatri, it illumines the intellect along the timeless pattern Vidmahe-Dhimahi-Prachodayat
Traditionally chanted on Saturday, and during Rahu Kaal and Rahu's planetary periods, at the sandhya times
How to Chant Rahu Gayatri Mantra
After a bath, sit facing south-west with a calm mind and chant "Om Nakadhwajaya Vidmahe Padmahastaya Dhimahi. Tanno Rahuh Prachodayat" 108 times on a mala. Rahu is propitiated on Saturdays and during Rahu Kaal; offering blue/dark flowers and lighting a lamp are traditional, and donations of black gram (urad) are recommended. Like all Gayatri mantras it is ideally recited at the sandhya times. It may be chanted daily, alongside other Navagraha prayers, especially during the Rahu Mahadasha.