VIDEO: Learn a Simple Ganesha Mantra ~ Om Gam Ganapataye Namaha

Sri Ganesha is an all-pervasive energy filling the cosmos

Jai Sri Ganesha! Well, I finally used my adorable Snowball microphone and recorded a very simple little baby video to help people learn a short but powerful Ganesha mantra, “Om gam ganapataye namaha.” This mantra attracts the energy of Sri Ganesha, who helps us to develop our discrimination, willpower and intuitive awareness. Sri Ganesha helps us enter onto the path of true spirituality and then guards our well-being as we make each step towards higher and higher states of divine consciousness.

I picked such a simple mantra because I’ve never put a video together before, and I had to work all the kinks out. It was actually really fun to do, and I felt a lot of divine energy in the process…what a blessing! I’d love to do more videos, because I think it’s a great teaching medium, and there are lots of powerful chants that I know people find quite challenging or intimidating, so I would love to help with that. I’ve started a YouTube channel, so feel free to visit my channel and subscribe! Here is the video, and below I provide some little pronunciation tips to supplement the material in the video. (You may need to turn up the volume a tad.) Hope you enjoy it!

Learn a Simple Ganesha Mantra – Om Gam Ganapataye Namaha

Pronunciation Tips

This mantra is written in English transliteration

Warning: The dots and dashes you see in the picture to the left are known as “diacritics” or “diacritical marks.” They are used for rendering foreign sounds in the English script, and they indicate the special pronunciation of sounds that aren’t easily represented in the English language.

However, I haven’t figured out how to use diacritics in the text of blog posts, and have them display reliably on everyone’ s computer. So I will do my best to be clear in the tips below!

Om: This should sound like the om in the English word “home.”

Gam: This should sound like the English word “gum.”

Gana: This should sound somewhat like the garne in the English word “garner.” As you pronounce the n in “garner,” notice how your tongue curls back due to the preceding r. Your tongue should also curl back when you pronounce the special “n” sound in the Sanskrit word “gana.” It is known as  a “retroflex” n sound.

Pataye: The “t” in pataye should sound like thu in the English word “thud.” When pronouncing the “t” in pataye, the tip of the tongue should touch the front upper teeth and even extend slightly beyond, because this is a “dental” t sound.

Namah: When you see an h with the dot underneath, this is known as “visarga” in Sanskrit, and it tells you to gently echo the vowel preceding the visarga. So you pronounce this like “namaha.”

Sanskrit pronunciation is not always easy, and it’s actually like yoga for the tongue! You may need to practice a bit to make it come out right, but the rewards are tremendous. Accurate pronunciation will release a powerful flow of cosmic energy in your subtle body, filling you with positive vibrations.

Om matruka varna rupinyai namaha

I offer my loving reverence to Divine Mother, who has taken the form of all the Sanskrit sounds.