Praṇāma-mantra for Śrī Gaṅgā-devī

Today is the auspicious appearance day of both Śrīmatī Gaṅgāmātā Gosvāminī and Śrī Gaṅgā-devī. In honor of this sacred occasion, I’m sharing with you a beautiful praṇāma-mantra for Śrī Gaṅgā-devī in Navadvīpa, which you'll find at the bottom of the page.

Tonight at 8PM IST (view in your timezone), I’ll be doing a live verse memorization session for this praṇāma-mantra. If you’d like to join me and learn it together, you can click here to join live. (That link will also remain accessible for watching the recording afterward if you can’t make it live.)

Last year on this day, I visited the banks of the Gaṅgā and recorded a video reading of Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s eulogy to her:

And this morning, we read some beautiful glorifications of Gaṅgāmātā Gosvāminī, which you can watch here.

Now, here is the praṇāma-mantra. It’s composed in the same meter as Śrī Manaḥ-śikṣā, Jagannāthāṣṭakam, and Nityānandāṣṭakam—though you’ll notice the sixth line has three syllables missing in the middle.:

Obeisance to Śrī Gaṅgā-devī 

She is enveloped by the fragrance of multitudes of flowers from Navadvīpa’s groves, adorned with rows of shining jewels on her banks, and dotted with numerous holy places. Her body is sprinkled with the dust of Śrī Gaurāṅga Hari’s matchless feet, and she resounds with tumultuous waves of prema arising from the rasa of hari-saṅkīrtana. 

She is the vessel for the Lord’s playful pastimes, her form is made of ambrosial rasa, and her glories are extolled by sages, Śiva, Brahmā, Indra, and others. She appears radiant, her saffron lotuses swarm with honey bees, and she is filled with profuse compassion. I offer my obeisance to Gaṅgā-devī, whose drops of water destroy multitudes of sins. 

Wishing you an auspicious Gaṅgā-daśaharā!