Mantra Raja Pada — opening verse

Notes · scriptural context, prerequisites, phalas

The 'king of mantras' of the Narasimha tradition. Its single anuṣṭup verse is attested in the Taittiriya Aranyaka (10.1.7) as part of the Mahānārāyaṇa Upaniṣad sequence, and elaborated in the Sankarsana Samhita of the Pancharatra. Twelve compound names are gathered into one śloka — Ugra, Vīra, Mahā-Viṣṇu, Jvalanta, Sarvatomukha, Nṛsiṁha, Bhīṣaṇa, Bhadra, Mṛtyu-mṛtyu, Namāmi, Aham — and each is laid (nyāsa) upon a specific limb: head, brow, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, throat, heart, navel, knees, feet, and finally the whole body. Sri Vaishnava acharyas — most notably Vedanta Desika in his Mantrārtha-prakāśikā — treat it as the seal of the avatara: one verse that contains the full ugra-and-saumya nature of the Lord. Recitation in 32 rounds is prescribed in the Sankarsana Samhita; 12 rounds (one per pada) is a common compromise. Best chanted at sandhi-velā — dawn, noon, and dusk, the very junctions at which the Lord originally manifested. Phalas described in the source: removal of mahā-bhaya (great fear), repulsion of black magic and mantra-prayoga directed against the chanter, healing of fever, and protection of children from graha-bālā-pīḍā. Formal initiation is preferred for the nyāsa application; the verse itself may be devotionally chanted by any earnest sadhaka. Doddacharya in the Ramanuja parampara famously used this very mantra at Sholingar.