When you chant the Maha Mritunjaya Mantra, know that it is in essence, a petition to Shiva for Enlightenment.

 

The ancient Rishi sang a prayer for Enlightenment.

The modern man has made even that prayer a chant for longevity.

In the age of "Re-mixes" we need to know some songs are better in their original forms! The next time you chant the Maha Mritunjaya Mantra, know that it is in essence, a petition to Shiva for Enlightenment.

Aum Tryambakaṃ yajāmahe sugandhiṃ puṣṭi-vardhanam

urvārukam iva bandhanān mṛtyor mukṣīya māmṛtāt

Hail the three eyed One! O fragrant (pleasant),

healthy (pleasing to look at) Lord,

sever us from false worldly realm, gently, like a cucumber, whose umbilical cord gets severed without any painful process, just lying on the ground; But O lord, do not divest us from your Amrita, your nectar of Gyan, (gnosis) , which liberates from death itself.

Thus we see that although the Mantra is being used for prolonging life, it is essentially a prayer for enlightenment: A prayer to Shiva, who has the third eye of Viveka, the Gyan chakshu that can destroy all false perception, to raise our level of consciousness.

~ Shail Gulhati: Shiva and Mysticism.