15 simple mantras you can start learning
For someone who is enchanted by the idea of Vedic mantras, but not sure where to start. We suggest 15 simple mantras you can start learning right away.
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If you are a mantra lover, and you feel inspired to learn the art of chanting, there is a simple mantra for you to start from.
This guide is dedicated to helping you follow that desire to chant. With our list of recommended mantras, we want to make it easier for you to start experiencing the joy of chanting.
Here are some of the simple mantras that you can start learning, listed according to their complexity from easy to moderately easy.
1. Om
This is the first and the easiest Sanskrit mantra to chant along. ‘Om' may appear to be just a syllable, but it is a sound that your mind and spirit are deeply connected to.
Om is chanted as aa-uu-mmm, while observing the effects of each sound within the body. With practice, you will be able to extend a long, even, and strong ‘Om'.
Regular practice will improve your breath control and help you feel refreshed and energized.
2. Om Shaanti
Om Shaanti is an affirmation mantra for peace and harmony with oneself and with the Universe. The word Shaanti means peace, and chanting this mantra is a way of creating peace no matter where we are.
Om Shaanti can be chanted in the morning, as a form of prayer, or even at night, to have deep, dreamless sleep.
The mantra can also instantly calm anger, frustration, or other dominant emotions, and protect one's peace of mind.
3. Om Namah Shivaya
Once you start to enjoy chanting along ‘Om,' you are ready to learn this other universal mantra. Om Namah Shivaya in Sanskrit literally means ‘I bow to Lord Shiva.'
However, the true power of this Shiva mantra lies in enunciating every syllable of this chant.
When we chant this mantra in a slow and deliberate way, we start strengthening our focus, memory, and creativity.
It is quite normal to lose track of time while chanting this mantra, hence it is chanted a specific number of times, anywhere between 3 to 21 to 108.
4. So Hum
So Hum is another easy mantra to chant for the instant presence of mind and positivity.
The mantra simulates the sound of your breath and can help you break through mental tension, anxiety, or overwhelm.
By trying to extend the chant as much as possible, you relax and deepen your breath, instructing your mind and body to relax along with it.
Chanting So Hum anywhere between 3 to 21 times allows you to feel centered, alert and mindful.
5. Aham Prema
Aham Prema is a mantra through which we activate our inner powers of love, compassion, and empathy. The mantra literally translates to ‘I am love.'
By chanting this simple line repeatedly and with intention, we guide ourselves to release love outwards and inwards unconditionally.
This mantra eases the process of forgiveness towards others and yourself for past events.
6. Om Mani Padme Hum
Om Mani Padme Hum is an ancient chant of the Buddha of compassion. Chanting this mantra for meditation helps release the burden of past emotions, and make room for positive ones.
While chanting for meditation, it is common to visualize the mind as a sparkling diamond sitting in the center of a blossoming lotus – pure, radiant, and clear.
The mantra Om Mani Padme Hum can be chanted anywhere between 3 to 11 times during meditation.
7. Hare Krishna Mahamantra
If you wish to have a light, blissful experience while meditating, we recommend chanting the Hare Krishna Mahamantra.
The sounds of this mantra have a mesmerizing effect on our minds, attracting one beautiful thought after the other.
Chanting this mantra during an intense meditation session is like being engulfed in a state of joyful trance.
8. Om Namo Bhagavathe Vasudevaya
This is a powerful chant for guiding our lives towards prosperity in all walks of life. It is the most important mantra in Vaishnavism, a faith focused on Lord Vishnu.
Through Om Namo Bhagavathe Vasudevaya, we strengthen our intention for our own success and that of our loved ones.
9. Icchapurti Mantra
The Icchapurti mantra is a chant for the manifestation of all desires.
By practicing this mantra every day, we activate our powers of attraction and intuition, while soothing our inner resistance.
10. Sarveshaam Svastir Bhavatu
This mantra is an inner prayer for peace and harmony between all things and beings in the Universe. One of the most enlightening chants for empaths and healers the mantra invokes a sense of affection, tolerance, and love toward the Universe.
The mantra can be chanted at any time of the day, and any number of times in repetition.
It is part of the excellent Blissful Morning Mantras album, which focuses on bringing inner peace to set the stage for a productive day.
11. Shaanti Paath
This beautiful peace mantra takes our minds on a divine journey away from our existing anxiety.
In its beautiful words, the chant carries the focus of the mind away from the shackles of worries, to a place of love and appreciation for the natural Universe.
It observes, adores, and marvels at the peace and harmony in the mountains, waters, skies, space, and all of nature around us.
The Shaanti Paath guides our consciousness away from anxiety, towards that same sense of inner peace and harmony.
12. Om Purnamadah
This peace mantra gives us the superpower of contentment.
When we can find contentment wherever we are, we make decisions and set desires from a place of belief, rather than a place of desperation.
The Om Purnamadah mantra opens our inner eye to see that everything around us, within us, and everything that will ever come, is grand and complete within itself.
13. Ajai Alai
Ajai Alai is a Gurmukhi mantra that re-affirms the infinite powers of the Divine Source of all things. It makes us aware of the same powers within us, as extensions of the Divine Source itself.
Through this mantra, we learn to trust our potential, to shed our fears, and to embrace our ever-evolving reality with confidence and willpower.
The Ajai Alai grants us the superpower of fearlessness. It is not surprising that these words came from Sikh Guru and warrior-poet, Guru Gobind Singh.
Through this mantra, we describe the attributes of our inner being – which exists as the pure, positive energy that can conquer and deliver anything.
With each attribute that the mantra names, we channel deeper into our inner being, until we are free of our crippling fears.
14. Om Aapadaamapa Hartaaram
This is an ancient Sanskrit chant that re-affirms our trust in the Divine forces of the Universe.
Whenever we feel overwhelmed by doubt, this mantra helps us remember that we are children of the Universe, and it is our destiny to flourish and prosper in this life.
15. Gayatri Mantra
The Gayatri Mantra is a chant for purifying vibrations. This Devi chant is an intense activation of positive energy within the mind or any physical space.
With this mantra, we guide our inner being to make room for peace and prosperity by gently letting go of any negative emotions or beliefs.
Final Note
These are some of the most effective, yet easy Sanskrit mantras to chant along for peace and harmony.
Choose the one that serves your intention the most, and experience the joy of chanting.
If you would like to know more about mantras, we have a detailed take on the meanings of mantras.
Listen to 15 simple mantras
Here's a list of mantras that you can listen to right now. These are meditation mantras that are simple to learn and chant.
