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Meaning & Translation
Sanskrit
ॐ श्री राम जय राम जय जय राम
Transliteration
Om Sri Ra-ma Ja-ya Ra-ma Ja-ya Ja-ya Ra-ma
Deity / Quality Invoked
Rama
Word by Word
Pronunciation
ohm shree RAH-mah JAH-yah RAH-mah JAH-yah JAH-yah RAH-mah
Full Translation
This is the celebrated Rama Taraka Mantra — the "liberating" mantra of Rama. Taraka means "that which carries across": tradition holds that this mantra ferries the chanter across the ocean of worldly existence. Opening with Om and the honorific Sri, it proclaims jaya — victory — to Rama again and again: the triumph of dharma, compassion, and truth within the heart of the one who chants.
Spiritual Significance
The taraka mantra is treasured as a complete path in itself: chanted continuously (japa), it is said to confer the benefit of reciting the thousand names of Vishnu. Where the shorter Ram chants are sung in celebration, this thirteen-syllable form is often taken up as a sustained discipline — a vow of repetition that steadies the mind and saturates it with Rama's qualities of steadfastness and grace.
Cultural Context & History
The core "Sri Rama Jaya Rama Jaya Jaya Rama" was spread across Maharashtra by the 17th-century saint Samarth Ramdas, and later anchored the teaching of Gondavalekar Maharaj, whose lineage continues its round-the-clock repetition today. In the Western kirtan scene it is sung in soaring call-and-response; the ISKCON teacher Sacinandana Swami recorded a live rendition with London kirtan leader Radhika Das at OmNom London, carrying this classic form to a new generation.