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Rahu Gayatri Mantra

Rahu Gayatri Mantra in English · English

🕉️ hindu·📿 108× repetitions·🕐 On Saturday and during Rahu Kaal; at dawn and the sandhya times·📜 The Gayatri mantra of Rahu, among the Navagraha Gayatris

Read in your language / script

हिन्दी / देवनागरी తెలుగు தமிழ்ಕನ್ನಡ മലയാളം ગુજરાતી বাংলা ଓଡ଼ିଆ ਪੰਜਾਬੀEnglishසිංහල 𑌗𑍍𑌰𑌨𑍍𑌥

✦ 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.

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The Mantra

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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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Om🔊the primordial sound, the Supreme Brahman

Nakadhwajaya🔊to the one whose banner reaches the heavens (the sky-bannered one)

Vidmahe🔊may we know / we seek to know

Padmahastaya🔊to the one holding a lotus in his hand

Dhimahi🔊we meditate upon

Tannah🔊therefore, for us / may that

Rahuh🔊Rahu, the ascending lunar node (the shadow-planet, head of the serpent)

Prachodayat🔊may he inspire and illumine (our intellect)

Benefits of Chanting Rahu Gayatri Mantra

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The Gayatri mantra of Rahu, a shadow-planet (Chhaya graha) among the nine planets (Navagraha) — invoked to pacify Rahu

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Chanted to soften the malefic effects of an afflicted Rahu and the Rahu Mahadasha and antardasha periods

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Helps remove confusion, fear, sudden upheavals and unseen obstacles that Rahu can cause

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Sought for worldly success, ambition fulfilled through right means, and protection from deception and illusion

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As a Gayatri, it illumines the intellect along the timeless pattern Vidmahe-Dhimahi-Prachodayat

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Traditionally chanted on Saturday, and during Rahu Kaal and Rahu's planetary periods, at the sandhya times

How to Chant Rahu Gayatri Mantra

Repetitions108times

Best TimeOn Saturday and during Rahu Kaal; at dawn and the sandhya times

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

This page shows the complete Rahu Gayatri Mantra written in the English script — the same Sanskrit/Hindi verses, transliterated character-by-character so you can read and chant comfortably. Tap any line (or the ▶ button) to hear it recited aloud.

Yes — only the script changes; the words and their meaning are the original. The verse-by-verse meaning, benefits and how-to-chant guidance on this page apply exactly the same.

It is the Gayatri mantra of the shadow-planet Rahu: "Om Nakadhwajaya Vidmahe Padmahastaya Dhimahi. Tanno Rahuh Prachodayat". Set in the sacred Gayatri meter, it invokes Rahu — the sky-bannered, lotus-bearing ascending lunar node — to bless and illumine the intellect, in the pattern "Vidmahe… Dhimahi… Prachodayat".

It is chanted to pacify a malefic or afflicted Rahu and to ease the Rahu Mahadasha. It helps clear confusion, fear and sudden obstacles, and is sought for protection from deception and illusion, and for worldly success achieved by honest means.

Rahu is the ascending lunar node — one of the two 'shadow planets' (Chhaya grahas), envisioned as the severed head of the cosmic serpent that swallows the Sun and Moon at eclipses. Rahu governs worldly desire, ambition, foreign matters, sudden change and the unconventional, and its mantras are chanted to balance these powerful, unpredictable influences.

Chant it 108 times on a mala, traditionally on Saturday and during Rahu Kaal, at dawn and the other sandhya times. Donating black gram (urad) and offering a lamp are recommended. It can be made part of a daily Navagraha or Gayatri sadhana, especially during the Rahu Mahadasha.