A Guide to Buddhist Mantras

Clicking on the link for each mantra below will take you to a page where you can read about that mantra, see the figure associated with the mantra (where applicable), and listen to an audio version of the mantra.

You can chant along to the mantra until you’re confident that you have it fully memorized. There are ten repetitions of each mantra (more or less) to help give you time to learn the mantra and chant along. You can replay the mantra until you think you’ve got it.

Please note that the mantras as written on this site lack some of the diacritic marks that allow for an accurate representation of the pronunciation.

(Diacritics, or accents, are little marks that indicate how a letter should be pronounced. Pali and Sanskrit have many more letters than the Roman alphabet, and these marks allow us to extend the number of characters available to us. Diacritics include the macron — a bar over a vowel that lengthens the vowel sound — overdots, underdots, and tildes. Unfortunately not all fonts possess those diacritic marks, and although some fonts do have the full range of accents not all computers have those fonts installed. There’s therefore no reliable way to represent diacritics on the web. You therefore may sometimes see strange characters or question marks in words.)

It’s best to listen to the audio files in order to get a better appreciation of how they are pronounced (taking into account the fact that I have a Scottish accent). In the heading of each page I’ve represented long vowels with a double vowel (eg. aa) or, where it’s possible to reproduce these in html, with a letter and diacritic mark (e.g. ?).

Note: Tibetans typically pronounce some Sanskrit sounds in a non-Indian way. For example they’ll tend to pronounce “padme” (pa-dmé) as peh-mé, and “svaha” as soha. Those who are familiar with the Tibetan pronunciation will therefore notice differences such as these.

Buddhist Mantras not associated with figures

Sabbe satta sukhi hontu
Om shanti shanti shanti
Gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha

Buddhist Mantras associated with Buddhas and Bodhisattvas

Avalokitesvara: Om Mani Padme Hum
Manjushri/Manjughosa: Om A Ra Pa Ca Na Dhih
Vajrapani: Om Vajrapani Hum
Green Tara: Om Tare Tuttare Ture Svaha
Amitabha: Om Amideva Hrih
White Tara: Om Tare Tuttare Ture Mama Ayuh Punya Jnana Pushtim Kuru Svaha
Shakyamuni: Om Muni Muni Mahamuni Shakyamuni Svaha
Padmasambhava: Om Ah Hum Vajra Guru Padma Siddhi Hum
Bhaisajyaguru (Medicine Buddha): Om Bhaishajye Bhaishajye Mahabhaishajye Bhaishajyaraje Samudgate Svaha
Vajrasattva: 100-Syllable Mantra.

By following the links you can find out the meanings, pronunciations, and benefits of the Buddhist mantras listed above.

  • Amitabha mantra
  • Avalokitesvara mantra
  • Bhaisajyaguru (Medicine Buddha) Mantra
  • Gate gate pāragate pārasaṃgate bodhi svāhā
  • Green Tara mantra: Oṃ Tāre Tuttāre Ture Svāhā
  • Manjushri mantra
  • Om shanti shanti shanti
  • Padmasambhava mantra
  • Sabbe satta sukhi hontu
  • Shakyamuni mantra
  • Vajrapani mantra
  • Vajrasattva mantra of 100 syllables
  • White Tara mantra
  • The three refuges and five precepts
  • Postcript: About Transcendental Meditation

    • View Comments

    • Dear Bodhipaksa,

      Read about this dharani posted by Anibal, described as 'Powerful Dharani'.
      Please help to fill in the 'blank' boxes as I do not know the missing alphabet letters.

      Marvelously Beneficial Disaster Preventing Dharani is directed for what purpsoe or use, specifically
      as it is titled 'Disaster'. In other words, what benefits can be bring for chanting, and is this a popular
      dharani?

      Thanks & brgds

      Namaḥ samanta buddhānāṃ
      Apratihata śāsanānāṃ
      Tadyathā Oṃ kha kha
      Khāhi khāhi h?ṃ h?ṃ
      Jvala jvala prajvala prajvala
      Tiśṭha tiśṭha śṭri śṭri
      Sphuṭ sphuṭ
      śāntika śrīye svāhā!

    • The site Aníbal linked to says, "As the name suggests, the recitation of this Dharani is intended to avoid the calamities of all kinds" and also that the dharani is recited daily in Sōtō monasteries. So it seems to be common.

    • Hi Anibal,

      Would you know the missing alpabet letters ( blank boxes ) in the dharani?
      Thank you.

      Namaḥ samanta buddhānāṃ
      Apratihata śāsanānāṃ
      Tadyathā Oṃ kha kha
      Khāhi khāhi h?ṃ h?ṃ
      Jvala jvala prajvala prajvala
      Tiśṭha tiśṭha śṭri śṭri
      Sphuṭ sphuṭ
      śāntika śrīye svāhā!

      • Hi K.

        There are no blank letters -- it's just that you don't have a unicode font installed in your browser. Here's the mantra in a Harvard-Kyoto transliteration (I hope I got this right):

        namaH samanta buddhAnAM
        apratihata zAsanAnAM
        tadyathA OM kha kha
        khAhi khAhi hUM hUM
        jvala jvala prajvala prajvala
        tiSTha tiSTha STri STri
        SphuT sphuT
        zAntika SrIye svAhA!

    • Well, only in the case of the mantra Sphuṭ, the correct Harvard-Kyoto transliteration is sphuT:

      namaH samanta buddhAnAM
      apratihata zAsanAnAM
      tadyathA OM kha kha
      khAhi khAhi hUM hUM
      jvala jvala prajvala prajvala
      tiSTha tiSTha STri STri
      sphuT sphuT
      zAntika SrIye svAhA!

    • dear mantra master :

      Om Ye Dharma Hetu Prabhava Hetu ..........?
      is a mantra to be found on Tsa-Tsa's , miniature conical shaped clay 'stupa's , this mantra is maybe like an 'essence-mantra'? what is the complete mantra ?, and would be it's transliteration ? thanks ! Paul

      • Hi Paul,

        I'm no "mantra master," or Sanskrit scholar, but this appears to be a Sanskrit phrase that's been turned into a mantra and Tibetanized: [OM ] Ye dharma hetu prabhava, hetun teshan Tathagato hyavada, Teshan cha yo nirodha, evam vadi Maha Shramanah [ye svaha]. This would seem to mean "All things proceed from a cause; this cause has been declared by the Tathagata; all things will cease to exist; this is what is declared by the Maha Samana." In other words it's a statement of pratitya-samutpada, or conditioned co-production (also known as dependent arising).

    • Respected sir,
      I would be greatly privileged if u write the homage mantra to Ashtamahabodhisattvas. And have got any knowledge about the meaning of the following verses from the homage song to five jina Buddhas, as i have been performing classical dance on this for long, and yet some words are out of my forte,:

      second verse: varada tripta nara lokesham
      aha mokchhya wangchhita manasa
      swami charana ratnashri.

      last verse: watsara shri nepalikum
      aha geet granthita kusuma mala
      namami shri dharmadhatu sharanum

      and isn't dharmadhatu another name for avalokiteshvara or is it the bodhitatwa that he holds. tell me its literal meaning n meaning of above mentioned verse.

      faithfully,
      Indukumuda

      • Hi, Indukumuda.

        Thanks for sharing this. The Sanskrit seems rather garbled, and I'm not a Sanskrit scholar by any means and would have difficulty working out what it says.

        I can tell you, though, that dharmadhatu is a term meaning Reality, or the way things are in their inherent emptiness. Dharmadhatu isn't a name for Avalokiteshvara, although his nature (along with all things) is Dharmadhatu.

        I'll ask my friend Jayarava to take a look at the Sanskrit.

        All the best,
        Bodhipaksa

    • Indukumuda - do you have it in देवनागरी or another Indian script. My Sanskrit has got pretty rusty, but without the proper spellings it is a hopeless case.

      The last line might be something like:
      नमामि श्रीधर्मधातु शारणं
      "I call the glorious Dharmadhatu my refuge"

      Best Wishes
      Jayarava

    • nawayz my sanskrit teacher anwered me to some extends.
      b sides i wonder if u know any long homage mantra to tara . if u do plz answer n wat 'bout mantra for 8 bodhisattva?

      p.s:(i'm a tenth grade student from nepal)

      • Hi Indukumuda.

        I'm not sure whether you're addressing your question to me or Jayarava, but I don't know any long mantra to Tara, nor any mantra for the eight bodhisattvas.

        If you do manage to get an accurate version of the homage mantra you originally asked about, could you please post it here?

        Many thanks,
        Bodhipaksa

    • dear bodhipaksa,
      well i hav managed to get both mantras in my new bought Daily Practice mantra Book from swayambhunath stupa but its in tibetan... is it ok?

      well wishes,
      indukumud

      • I don't think it makes much difference what language the mantra is in if we don't understand the literal meaning of the mantra (assuming it has one). If a mantra has a literal meaning then presumably it's better to understand that since the mantra is then working on more levels (that is, in addition to the mantra being a pleasant sound that we're mindful of, and the chanting being a devotional act, it's also a source of meaning). But if we don't understand the literal meaning of the mantra (which is the case, for example, when I chant anything in Tibetan) the mantra is still effective as a practice of devotion and mindfulness. It doesn't seem to me to make much difference whether the sounds we're chanting (and don't understand) are in Sanskrit, Tibetan, or some mangled form of one of these languages -- which is often the case :)

    • n i suppose u should involve the seven linear prayer to guru rimpoche(padmasiddhi) too. trust me its really owesome!!
      tc!

      • I'm familiar with and love the seven-line prayer to Padmasambhava. I've never thought to include it here, although perhaps I should.

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