The great "conqueror of death", chanted for healing, for strength in illness, and for the ripening that lets go of fear.
The mantra
ॐ त्र्यम्बकं यजामहे सुगन्धिं पुष्टिवर्धनम् उर्वारुकमिव बन्धनान् मृत्योर्मुक्षीय मामृतात्
oṁ tryambakaṁ yajāmahe sugandhiṁ puṣṭi-vardhanam urvārukam iva bandhanān mṛtyor mukṣīya māmṛtāt
Meaning
We worship the three-eyed One, fragrant, the nourisher of all; as the ripe cucumber is released from its stem, so may I be released from death, not from immortality.
In the tradition
The image at its heart is agricultural and exact: the ripe cucumber leaves the vine of its own readiness. The tradition reads death itself that way, fear of it lessens as one ripens, and the mantra is chanted at bedsides for exactly that double comfort: healing if healing comes, ripeness either way.
Sources & further reading
- Ṛgveda , Vasiṣṭha's family book (7.59.12, tryambakam yajāmahe)
- Śaiva purāṇic & āgamic liturgy , the Śaiva traditions (the mantra's long afterlife in healing japa)