rahushadow-planetnavagrahakavacham

රාහුකවචම්

राहुकवचम् in Sinhala · සිංහල

🕉️ hindu·📿 1× repetitions·🕐 Saturdays, during Rahu Kaal, and on Amavasya; during Navagraha or Rahu puja·📜 Mahabharata, Drona Parva (Dhritarashtra–Sanjaya dialogue)

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हिन्दी / देवनागरी తెలుగు தமிழ்ಕನ್ನಡ മലയാളം ગુજરાતી বাংলা ଓଡ଼ିଆ ਪੰਜਾਬੀ Englishසිංහල𑌗𑍍𑌰𑌨𑍍𑌥

Origin & Story

Mahabharata, Drona Parva (Dhritarashtra–Sanjaya dialogue) · Traditional; rishi Chandrama (the Moon) · Epic / Puranic

The Rahu Kavacham is preserved in the tradition as part of the Drona Parva of the Mahabharata, within the dialogue of Dhritarashtra and Sanjaya, with the Moon (Chandrama) named as its rishi. It depicts Rahu — the crowned, winnowing-basket-shaped, fearsome-faced son of Simhika, who though only half a body yet swallows the Sun and Moon at eclipses — and entreats this 'lord of planets' to shield the devotee limb by limb. As an armour-hymn of the shadow-planet it belongs to the Navagraha kavachas recited for graha shanti.

✦ As told in scripture

The kavacha's closing verse promises that the devoted, disciplined reciter gains 'kirtim atulam' — unequalled fame — together with prosperity, long life, health and self-mastery 'tat-prasadat', by the grace of Rahu himself; for this reason it is chanted during Rahu's testing periods to turn the shadow-planet's force from torment into success.

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Complete Text with Meaning

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Verse 1

.. ශ්රීගණේශාය නමඃ .. ඕං අස්ය ශ්රීරාහුකවචස්තෝත්රමන්ත්රස්ය චන්ද්රමා ඍෂිඃ, අනුෂ්ටුප් ඡන්දඃ, රාං බීජම්, නමඃ ශක්තිඃ, ස්වාහා කීලකම්, රාහුකෘත පීඩානිවාරණාර්ථේ, ධනධාන්ය ආයුරාරෝග්ය ආදි සමෘද්ධි ප්රාප්ත්යර්ථේ ජපේ විනියෝගඃ ..

|| śrīgaṇeśāya namaḥ || oṃ asya śrīrāhukavacastotramantrasya candramā ṛṣiḥ, anuṣṭup chandaḥ, rāṃ bījam, namaḥ śaktiḥ, svāhā kīlakam, rāhukṛta pīḍānivāraṇārthe, dhanadhānya āyurārogya ādi samṛddhi prāptyarthe jape viniyogaḥ ||

Meaning:श्रीगणेश को नमस्कार। ॐ। इस राहुकवच स्तोत्र मन्त्र के ऋषि चन्द्रमा हैं, छन्द अनुष्टुप् है, 'रां' बीज है, 'नमः' शक्ति है, 'स्वाहा' कीलक है; राहु के द्वारा उत्पन्न पीड़ा के निवारण तथा धन, धान्य, आयु, आरोग्य आदि समृद्धि की प्राप्ति हेतु इसका जप किया जाता है।

Verse 2

ප්රණමාමි සදා රාහුං ශූර්පාකාරං කිරීටිනම් . සෛංහිකේයං කරාලාස්යං ලෝකානාමභයප්රදම් .. 1..

praṇamāmi sadā rāhuṃ śūrpākāraṃ kirīṭinam | saiṃhikeyaṃ karālāsyaṃ lokānāmabhayapradam || 1||

Meaning:मैं सदा राहु को प्रणाम करता हूँ — जो शूर्प (सूप) के आकार वाले, किरीटधारी, सिंहिका के पुत्र, कराल मुख वाले, तथा लोकों को अभयदान देने वाले हैं।

Verse 3

නීලාම්බරඃ ශිරඃ පාතු ලලාටං ලෝකවන්දිතඃ . චක්ෂුෂී පාතු මේ රාහුඃ ශ්රෝත්රේ ත්වර්ධශරීරවාන් .. 2..

nīlāmbaraḥ śiraḥ pātu lalāṭaṃ lokavanditaḥ | cakṣuṣī pātu me rāhuḥ śrotre tvardhaśarīravān || 2||

Meaning:नीलाम्बर मेरे शिर की रक्षा करें, लोकवन्दित ललाट की; राहु मेरे नेत्रों की रक्षा करें, अर्धशरीरधारी कानों की।

Verse 4

නාසිකාං මේ ධූම්රවර්ණඃ ශූලපාණිර්මුඛං මම . ජිහ්වාං මේ සිංහිකාසූනුඃ කණ්ඨං මේ කඨිනාඞ්ඝ්රිකඃ .. 3..

nāsikāṃ me dhūmravarṇaḥ śūlapāṇirmukhaṃ mama | jihvāṃ me siṃhikāsūnuḥ kaṇṭhaṃ me kaṭhināṅghrikaḥ || 3||

Meaning:धूम्रवर्ण मेरी नासिका की रक्षा करें, शूलपाणि मेरे मुख की; सिंहिकासूनु मेरी जिह्वा की रक्षा करें, कठिनाङ्घ्रिक मेरे कण्ठ की।

Verse 5

භුජඞ්ගේශෝ භුජෞ පාතු නීලමාල්යාම්බරඃ කරෞ . පාතු වක්ෂඃස්ථලං මන්ත්රී පාතු කුක්ෂිං විධුන්තුදඃ .. 4..

bhujaṅgeśo bhujau pātu nīlamālyāmbaraḥ karau | pātu vakṣaḥsthalaṃ mantrī pātu kukṣiṃ vidhuntudaḥ || 4||

Meaning:भुजङ्गेश मेरी भुजाओं की रक्षा करें, नीलमाल्याम्बर हाथों की; मन्त्री मेरे वक्षःस्थल की रक्षा करें, विधुन्तुद कुक्षि की।

Verse 6

කටිං මේ විකටඃ පාතු ඌරූ මේ සුරපූජිතඃ . ස්වර්භානුර්ජානුනී පාතු ජඞ්ඝේ මේ පාතු ජාඩ්යහා .. 5..

kaṭiṃ me vikaṭaḥ pātu ūrū me surapūjitaḥ | svarbhānurjānunī pātu jaṅghe me pātu jāḍyahā || 5||

Meaning:विकट मेरी कटि की रक्षा करें, सुरपूजित ऊरुओं की; स्वर्भानु मेरे जानुओं की रक्षा करें, जाड्यहा मेरी जङ्घाओं की।

Verse 7

ගුල්ඵෞ ග්රහපතිඃ පාතු පාදෞ මේ භීෂණාකෘතිඃ . සර්වාණ්යඞ්ගානි මේ පාතු නීලචන්දනභූෂණඃ .. 6..

gulphau grahapatiḥ pātu pādau me bhīṣaṇākṛtiḥ | sarvāṇyaṅgāni me pātu nīlacandanabhūṣaṇaḥ || 6||

Meaning:ग्रहपति मेरे गुल्फों की रक्षा करें, भीषणाकृति मेरे पादों की; नीलचन्दनभूषण मेरे समस्त अङ्गों की रक्षा करें।

Verse 8

රාහෝරිදං කවචමෘද්ධිදවස්තුදං යෝ භක්ත්යා පඨත්යනුදිනං නියතඃ ශුචිඃ සන් . ප්රාප්නෝති කීර්තිමතුලාං ශ්රියමෘද්ධිමායු- රාරෝග්යමාත්මවිජයං ච හි තත්ප්රසාදාත් .. 7..

rāhoridaṃ kavacamṛddhidavastudaṃ yo bhaktyā paṭhatyanudinaṃ niyataḥ śuciḥ san | prāpnoti kīrtimatulāṃ śriyamṛddhimāyu- rārogyamātmavijayaṃ ca hi tatprasādāt || 7||

Meaning:जो भक्तियुक्त, नियमी एवं पवित्र होकर राहु के इस समृद्धिप्रद कवच का प्रतिदिन पाठ करता है, वह उनके प्रसाद से अतुल कीर्ति, श्री, ऋद्धि, आयु, आरोग्य एवं आत्मविजय प्राप्त करता है।

Verse 9

.. ඉති ශ්රීමහාභාරතේ ධෘතරාෂ්ට්රසඤ්ජයසංවාදේ ද්රෝණපර්වණි රාහුකවචං සම්පූර්ණම් ..

|| iti śrīmahābhārate dhṛtarāṣṭrasañjayasaṃvāde droṇaparvaṇi rāhukavacaṃ sampūrṇam ||

Meaning:इस प्रकार महाभारत के द्रोणपर्व में धृतराष्ट्र-सञ्जय संवाद के अन्तर्गत राहुकवच सम्पूर्ण हुआ।

Word-by-Word Meaning

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රාහු🔊rāhuRahu — the ascending lunar node, the shadow-planet that causes eclipses

ප්රණමාමි සදා රාහුම්🔊praṇamāmi sadā rāhumI bow always to Rahu

ශූර්පාකාරම්🔊śūrpākāramShaped like a winnowing basket (shurpa)

කිරීටිනම්🔊kirīṭinamWearing a crown

සෛංහිකේයම්🔊saiṃhikeyamSon of Simhika — a matronymic of Rahu

කරාලාස්යම්🔊karālāsyamOf fearsome (gaping) face

ලෝකානාමභයප්රදම්🔊lokānām abhayapradamBestowing fearlessness upon the worlds

නීලාම්බරඃ🔊nīlāmbaraḥClad in dark-blue garments — guarding the head

අර්ධශරීරවාන්🔊ardhaśarīravānPossessing (only) half a body — guarding the ears

ධූම්රවර්ණඃ🔊dhūmravarṇaḥSmoke-coloured — guarding the nose

ශූලපාණිඃ🔊śūlapāṇiḥHolding a trident in hand — guarding the mouth

සිංහිකාසූනුඃ🔊siṃhikāsūnuḥSon of Simhika — guarding the tongue

භුජඞ්ගේශඃ🔊bhujaṅgeśaḥLord of serpents — guarding the arms

විධුන්තුදඃ🔊vidhuntudaḥThe tormentor of the Moon (the eclipse-causer) — guarding the belly

විකටඃ🔊vikaṭaḥThe huge / fearsome one — guarding the waist

ස්වර්භානුඃ🔊svarbhānuḥ'Light of heaven', a Vedic name of Rahu — guarding the knees

ජාඩ්යහා🔊jāḍyahāDestroyer of dullness / inertia — guarding the shins

ග්රහපතිඃ🔊grahapatiḥLord of the planets — guarding the ankles

නීලචන්දනභූෂණඃ🔊nīlacandana-bhūṣaṇaḥAdorned with dark sandal-paste — guarding all the limbs

කීර්තිමතුලාම්🔊kīrtim atulāmUnequalled fame

ශ්රියමෘද්ධිමායුරාරෝග්යම්🔊śriyam ṛddhim āyur ārogyamProsperity, abundance, long life and health

Benefits of Chanting राहुकवचम्

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A limb-by-limb 'kavacha' (armour) invoking Rahu's protection over the whole body, warding off the fear, confusion and sudden troubles associated with the shadow-planet.

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Recited to pacify Rahu Dosha and the malefic effects of Rahu's mahadasha, antardasha and transits, including Kala Sarpa Dosha.

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Its phalashruti promises unequalled fame, prosperity (Shri), abundance (Riddhi), long life, health and self-mastery to the daily reciter.

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Rahu rules ambition, foreign matters and the hidden — its kavacha is invoked to turn its restless energy toward worldly success rather than affliction.

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Especially recited on Saturdays and during Rahu Kaal, and during Navagraha or Rahu puja.

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Said to grant 'abhaya' (fearlessness) and to relieve anxiety, phobias, addictions and unexplained obstacles attributed to Rahu.

How to Chant राहुकवचम्

Repetitions1times

Best TimeSaturdays, during Rahu Kaal, and on Amavasya; during Navagraha or Rahu puja

Bathe and sit facing south or south-west before an image of Rahu (or the Navagraha), with dark-blue or smoke-coloured flowers and a sesame-oil lamp; offerings of black sesame are appropriate. Recite the viniyoga with its bija 'Ram', then the salutation verse, then the kavacha verses guarding each limb, and finally the phalashruti. It is most potent on Saturdays and during Rahu Kaal, and may be recited daily through a difficult Rahu period.

Frequently Asked Questions

This page shows the complete राहुकवचम् written in the Sinhala 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.

The Rahu Kavacham is a protective hymn (kavacha = spiritual armour) to Rahu, the shadow-planet and ascending lunar node that causes eclipses. The Moon (Chandrama) is named as its rishi, and it is traditionally drawn from the Drona Parva of the Mahabharata. Each verse asks Rahu, under one of his many names, to guard a part of the body.

It is recited to pacify Rahu Dosha and the unsettling effects of Rahu's mahadasha, antardasha and transits, and as part of remedies for Kala Sarpa Dosha. By invoking Rahu's protection and grace, it is believed to convert his restless, ambitious energy into worldly success and to grant fearlessness.

On Saturdays, during the daily Rahu Kaal period, and on Amavasya (new moon), as well as during any Navagraha or Rahu puja. For a remedy it may be recited daily through a challenging Rahu dasha or transit.

Its concluding verse promises that one who recites it daily with devotion, pure and disciplined, attains unequalled fame, prosperity, abundance, long life, health and victory over oneself by Rahu's grace. It is also valued for granting fearlessness and relief from anxiety and hidden obstacles.