Mantrapushpanjali

Mantrapushpanjali (Sanskrit, Devanagari मंत्रपुष्पांजलि, IAST mantrapuṣpāñjali, IPA \mɐn̪t̪rɐpuɕpɑːɲɟɐli\) is a popular prayer in Maharashtra, and it means “a prayer with an offering of flowers”. It comprises four hymns from Vedic sources, and is the final prayer sung at the end of āratīs. The word Mantrapushpanjali is made up of three elements, mantra (incantation), pushpa (flower), and anjali (a bowl-shaped cavity formed by hollowing and joining open palms together, as when offering or receiving alms). Mantrapushpanjali is a cultural icon in Maharashtra and is perhaps the most widely recited Vedic prayer in modern times, mainly due to its place in the Ganesh festival.

Text

Devanagari

ॐ | यज्ञेन यज्ञमयजन्त देवास्तानि धर्माणि प्रथमान्यासन् | ते ह नाकं महिमानः सचन्त यत्र पूर्वे साध्याः सन्ति देवाः || 1 || ॐ | राजाधिराजाय प्रसह्यसाहिने नमो वयं वैश्रवणाय कुर्महे | स मे कामान्कामकामाय मह्यम् कामेश्वरो वैश्रवणो ददातु | कुबेराय वैश्रवणाय महाराजाय नमः || 2 || ॐ स्वस्ति| साम्राज्यं भौज्यं स्वाराज्यं वैराज्यं पारमेष्ठ्यं राज्यं माहाराज्यमाधिपत्यमयं समंतपर्यायी स्यात्सार्वभौमः सार्वायुष आंतादापरार्धात्पृथिव्यै समुद्रपर्यंताया एकराळिति || 3 || तदप्येषः श्लोको ऽभिगीतो | मरुतः परिवेष्टारो मरुत्तस्यावसन् गृहे | आविक्षितस्य कामप्रेर्विश्वे देवाः सभासद इति || 4 ||

IAST

om | yajñena yajñamayajanta devāstāni dharmāṇi prathamānyāsan | te ha nākam mahimānaḥ sacanta yatra pūrve sādhyāḥ santi devāḥ || 1 || om | rājādhirājāya prasahyasāhine namovayam vaiśravaṇāya kurmahe | sa me kāmānkāmakāmāya mahyam kāmeśvaro vaiśravaṇo dadātu | kuberāya vaiśravaṇāya mahārājāya namaḥ || 2 || om svasti | sāmrājyam bhaujyam svārājyam vairājyam pārameṣṭhyam rājyam māhārājyamādhipatyamayam samantaparyāyī syātsārvabhaumaḥ sārvāyuṣa āntādāparārdhātpṛthivyai samudraparyantāyā ekarāḷiti || 3 || tadapyeṣa śloko 'bhigīto | marutaḥ pariveṣṭāro maruttasyāvasan gṛhe | āvikśitasya kāmaprerviśve devāḥ sabhāsada iti || 4 ||

Origin

The auspicious salutations ॐ (om) and ॐ स्वस्ति (om svasti) are later additions to the original Vedic text.

Hymn 1 (yajñena ... devāḥ) is from Ṛgveda, Mandala 1, Sūkta 164, Ṛc 50.^[1] This hymn also occurs in Ṛgveda, Mandala 10, Sūkta 90, Ṛc 16 and in Atharvaveda, Kāṇḍa 7, Sūkta 5, Mantra 1.

Hymn 2 (rājādhirājāya ... namaḥ) is from Taittiriya Aranyaka, Prapāṭhaka 1, Anuvāka 31, Mantra 6.

Hymn 3 (sāmrājyam ... ekarāḷiti) is from Aitareya Brahmana, Pañcikā VIII, Khaṇḍa 15.

Hymn 4 (tadapyeṣa ... iti) is also from Aitareya Brahmana, Pañcikā VIII, Khaṇḍa 21.

Meaning

Hymn 1

By means of sacrifice the Gods accomplished their sacrifice: these were the earliest ordinances. These Mighty Ones attained the height of heaven, there where the Sādhyas, Gods of old, are dwelling.^[2]

Hymn 2

We bow to Rājādhirāja Prasahyasāhī Vaiśravaṇa. May he, Kāmeshvara Vaiśravaṇa, grant me my desires for enjoyment of pleasures. [We] bow to Mahārāja Vaiśravaṇa Kubera.^[3]

Hymn 2 honours Vaiśravaṇa Kubera, a Vedic deity. Vaiśravaṇa (descendant of Viśravas), Rājādhirāja (king of kings), Prasahyasāhī (victorious conqueror), Kāmeshvara (god of wishes or desires), and Mahārāja (a great king) are all epithets of Kubera.

Hymn 3

... Universal sovereignty, enjoyment (of pleasures), independence, distinguished distinction as a king, the fulfilment of the highest desires, the position of a king, of a great king, and supreme mastership, that he might cross (with his arms) the universe, and become the ruler of the whole earth during all his life, which may last for an infinitely long time, that he might be the sole king of the earth up to its shores bordering on the ocean.^[4]

Hymn 3 is a wish-list of a priest for his Kśattriya host of the Mahābhiśeka ("great inauguration") ceremony. Context for Hymn 3 is provided by the portion [...] below from the translation by Haug.

[Fourth chapter (The Mahābhisheka ceremony performed on a King. What Rishis performed it, and for what Kings they performed it.) 15. (The consequences of Mahābhisheka. The oath which the King must take before the priest performs the ceremony.) The priest who, with this knowledge (about the Mahābhisheka ceremony) wishes that a Kshattriya should conquer in all the various ways of conquest, to subjugate all people, and that he should attain to leadership, precedence, and supremacy over all kings, and attain everywhere and at all times to ] universal sovereignty, enjoyment (of pleasures), independence, distinguished distinction as a king, the fulfilment of the highest desires, the position of a king, of a great king, and supreme mastership, that he might cross (with his arms) the universe, and become the ruler of the whole earth during all his life, which may last for an infinitely long time, that he might be the sole king of the earth up to its shores bordering on the ocean; [such a priest should inaugurate the Kshattriya with Indra's great inauguration ceremony. But before doing so, the priest must make the king take the following oath: "Whatever pious works thou mightest have done during the time which may elapse from the day of thy birth to the day of thy death, all together with thy position, thy good deeds, thy life, thy children, I would wrest from thee, shouldest thou do me any harm." The Kshattriya then who wishes to attain to all this, should well consider and say in good faith all that is above mentioned (thou mayest wrest from me, &c. &c.)]

Monier Williams provides different translations of some words.^[5] For example, Monier Williams translates bhuaujya as "the rank of a king with the title of bhoja", vairājya as "extended sovereignty", māhārajya as "the rank of a reigning prince or sovereign", pārameṣṭhya as "highest position, supremacy", samantaparyāyin as "all-embracing", and sārvāyuṣa as "possessing full vitality or vigour".

Hymn 4

Regarding this event there is the following Stotra chanted: “The Maruts resided as the distributors of food in the house of Marutta, the son of Avikshit, who had fullfilled all his desires; all the gods were present at the gathering.”^[6]

Hymn 4 describes an episode about Marutta, a king inaugurated with the Mahabhiśeka ceremony, who went on to conquer the whole earth and performed the horse sacrifice. Context for Hymn 4 is provided by the portion [...] below from the translation by Haug.

[21. (What kings had the Mahābhisheka ceremony performed; their conquest of the whole earth, and the horse sacrifices. Stanzas on Janamejaya, Vishvakarma and Marutta.) … With this inauguration ceremony Samparta, the son of Angiras, inaugurated Marutta, son of Avikshit. Thence Marutta went conquering everywhere over the whole earth up to its ends, and sacrified the sacrificial horse.)] Regarding this event there is the following Stotra chanted: “The Maruts resided as the distributors of food in the house of Marutta, the son of Avikshit, who had fullfilled all his desires; all the gods were present at the gathering.”

Monier Williams translates Āvikśita as a descendant of Avikśit, and Kāmapri as son of Kāmapra, name of Marutta. Monier Williams also translates viśve devāḥ as "all the gods collectively" or the "All-gods" (a particular class of gods, plural of viśva deva, forming one of the nine gaṇas enumerated under gaṇadevatā).

Recitation

During the Ganesh Festival, Mantrapushpanjali is sung after the āratīs (to Ganesh, Shankar, Durga, and other deities) and the "Ghālīn Loṭāṅgaṇa" bhajan. Unlike the āratis and the bhajan, Mantrapushpanjali is not accompanied by clapping or by hand cymbals. Mantrapushpanjali is enunciated reverentially by devotees holding flower(s) in their palms. After the recitation, the flowers are offered to the Ganesh idol.

See also

• Āratī
• Ganesh festival

Notes

1. ^ Rig-Veda-Sanhita, the sacred hymns of the Brahmans; together with the commentary of Sayanacharya. Edited by Max Müller, 1849, page 719
2. ^ The Hymns of the Rigveda, Translated with a Popular Commentary by Ralph T.H. Griffith, Volume I, Benares, E.J. Lazarus and Co., 1889, page 144
3. ^ The Taittiriya Aranyaka of the Black Yajur Veda, with the Commentary of Sayanacharya, ed. by Rajendralala Mitra, Calcutta, 1872, page 187
4. ^ *The Aitareya Brahmanam of the Rigveda containing the earliest speculations of the Brahmans on the meaning of the sacrificial prayers, and on the origin, performance, sense of the rites of the vedic religion edited, translated and explained by Martin Haug, Ph.D., Volume II, Translation with notes, Bombay Government Central Book Depot, London: Trubner & Co., 60, Paternoster Row, 1863, pages 519-520
5. ^ * "A Sanskrit-English dictionary, etymologically and philologically arranged, with special reference to Greek, Latin, Gothic, German, Anglo-Saxon, and other cognate Indo-European languages, by Monier Williams, Oxford: at the Clarendon Press, 1872"
6. ^ *The Aitareya Brahmanam of the Rigveda containing the earliest speculations of the Brahmans on the meaning of the sacrificial prayers, and on the origin, performance, sense of the rites of the vedic religion edited, translated and explained by Martin Haug, Ph.D., Volume II, Translation with notes, Bombay Government Central Book Depot, London: Trubner & Co., 60, Paternoster Row, 1863, page 523-525