This is one of my favourite chants of ALL time
Om tryambakam yajamahe
sugandhim pusti vardhanam
Urvarukamiva bandhanan
mrtyor mukshiya mamritat
Translation:
Om. We worship and adore you, O three-eyed one, O Shiva. You are sweet gladness, the fragrance of life, who nourishes us, restores our health, and causes us to thrive. As, in due time, the stem of the cucumber weakens, and the gourd is freed from the vine, so free us from attachment and death, and do not withhold immortality.
Here’s a word by word translation of the Mahamrityunjay Mantra:
tri-ambaka-m “the three-eyed-one”
yaja-mahe “we praise”
sugandhi-m “the fragrant”
pusti-vardhana-m “the prosperity-increaser”
urvaruka-m “disease, attachment, obstacles in life, and resulting depression”
iva “-like”
bandhanat “from attachment Stem (of the gourd); but more generally, unhealthy attachment”
mrtyor “from death”
mukshiya “may you liberate”
ma “not”
amritat realization of immortality
Very few mantras stand on par with Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra (also known as Mahamrityunjay Mantra, Rudra Mantra, Tryambakam Mantra or Maha Sanjivini Mantra). This mantra is said to have the power to remove all sufferings, ward off all evils, remove diseases and bestow the aspirant with health and energy. When this mantra is chanted with great devotion and serious contemplation, it is said that the knowledge of this birth and death cycle is revealed to the aspirant. And thus, it helps in overcoming the fear of death.
The literal translation of this name means Great Death-conquering Mantra. This mantra is from the Vedas. It is written in the Yajur Veda (3-60). This mantra worships a three-eyed deity commonly identified with Lord Shiva. It is also called Tryambakam Mantra or Mrita-Sanjivini mantra or Rudra Mantra. It is named Tryambakam Mantra is self-explanatory because it worships a three-eyed deity. Similarly, since the mantra observes Shiva in His fiery aspect of Rudra, it is also called Rudra Mantra.
The name Mrita-Sanjivini mantra has a story behind it. It is said that Sage Sukracharya accepted a challenge of Lord Indra and took up a rigorous penance of hanging upside down from a tree with his face being fanned with fumes of fire directly beneath his hanging body. And after Sukracharya did this for Vimsottari dasa period (twenty years), Lord Shiva appeared before him and gave him this Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra, to restore his physical condition. Hence the name Maha Sanjivini Mantra.
Anybody can chant the Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra. It is important one understands the meaning of this mantra word for word before chanting it. By knowing the meaning, the aspirant can easily contemplate the aspect of the birth and death cycle.
Source: 9Dozen’s Blog
