This pure king of mantras is a fire blazing in the
mind – burning day and night, it removes the
illusion that you are this body, thus freeing you
from death itself.
| Agni shuddha | |
| ug - nee shood - dhu | |
Note: The 'i' in agni is long. The consonant combination "dh" means there is a slight aspiration, as though you have extra air following the pronunciation of each consonant. When it's doubled-up as it is here, first pronounce the 'd' then the 'dh'; then start smashing them together. In Sanskrit, there would be a subtle distinction of pronunciation between saying shudha or shuddha. It's as though there's a really small pause on the first d to give it a moment on its own, then you roll into the next 'dh'. It's subtle though - don't get stressed about it (-: shuddha is a wonderful word appearing many times in the Guru Gita meaning pure, purity. (v.6, 51, 62, 65, 85, 89) |
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| samam taata | |
| su - mum taa - tu | |
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| jvaalaa | |
| jvaa - laa | |
| Note: Remember the movie Dr. Zhivago? that's kind of the sound you're going for here... jvaa | |
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| parichakaa dhiya | |
| pu - ri - chu - kaa dhee - yu | |
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| now glue... | |
| Agni shuddha samam taata, jvaalaa parichakaa dhiya | |
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| Mantra raajam | |
| mun - tra raa - jum | |
| Note: as in verse 15, the 'r' in mantra is the consonant variety, not the vowel, so it's not rolled all that much. Mantra means sacred syllables, words or texts which lead the mind to infinity, to God. Raaja means king. | |
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| imam manye | |
| ee - mum mun - yay | |
| Note: the 'i' is long. | |
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| harnisham | |
| hur - ni - shum | |
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| paatu | |
| paa - too | |
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| mrtyutah | |
| mr +(i) - t - yoo - tu + (hu) | |
| Note: the 'r' is a vowel, so you can kind of pronounce it like mrit.Look at the devanagari script above - notice the ':' at the end? That's the final visagra that tells us to echo the last vowel 'u'. Mrtyuta is death. | |
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| and link the second part together now... | |
| Mantra raajam imam manye, harnisham paatu mrtyutah | |
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Now repeat the entire verse all together: |
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Agni shuddha samam taata, jvaalaa parichakaa dhiya; Mantra raajam imam manye, harnisham paatu mrtyutah. |
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| and understand the keywords within the verse: | |
| Agni shuddha samam taata, jvaalaa parichakaa dhiya; Mantra raajam imam manye, harnisham paatu mrtyutah. | |
| This pure king of mantras is a fire blazing in the mind – burning day and night, it removes the illusion that you are this body, thus freeing you from death itself. | |
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