The mahamritunjaya mantra revisited

                ||prayers||

I bow down to My eternal mother, The Great Goddess of the universe who is the very cause of all Causes, The daughter of king Janka, Mother Sītā. I Prostrate before the Lord of The universe, the undisputed supreme being of the universe, whose lotus feet is worshipped by All the Gods, The Lord of the raghus, Sri Rama. I seek the blessings of my elder brother, The Greatest amongst warriors, The annihilator of Lanka, the one who defeated Rāvana and is the Greatest devotee of Lord Rāma, Lord Hanūmān. May the bless me always.

        Introduction to the topic

The mahamritunjaya mantra is said to be an extremely powerful mantra, which finds it's origin in the Vedas. It is found in the 59th chapter of seventh mandala of rig veda (7.59) and Also in Yajur veda Taittiriya samhita 1.8.6. The mantra is dedicated to the God "Tryambaka" or the Three eyed God. The common notion about this Mantra is that it is dedicated to Lord Shiva, since he is Widely recognised as the Three eyed Lord, but through this article, I will explain the mantra from the prespective of The Vaishnavas, from the prespective of Vaishnav Pāraka, since Vedas are universal texts and Can be Interpreted by all. 

                 The mantra

ॐ त्र्य॑म्बकं यजामहे सु॒गन्धिं॑ पुष्टि॒वर्ध॑नम् ।

उ॒र्वा॒रु॒कमि॑व॒ बन्ध॑नान् मृ॒त्योर्मु॑क्षीय॒ माऽमृता॑॑त् ।।

Meaning : We worship the three-eyed One, who is fragrant and who nourishes all. Like the fruit falls off from the bondage of the stem, may we be liberated from death, from mortality.

 narasimha the Three eyed God

As explained before, The mantra is dedicated to the "Three eyed one" or tryambaka, who Grants one "Victory" over death. The Three eyed God here is none other than Lord Narasimha because he has also been portrayed as the Three Eyed God in the scriptures :

Ling Puran :

Now this puran contains the Bogus story of Sharaba avatar killing the Lord, which is Totally against not only the vedas but also the Epics and Upanishads, so one might think of disregarding this, but a similar thing is stated in the Narasimha Tapniye Upanishad as well :

"He is "Maha Vishnu", because he pervades in all the worlds and makes all the world pervade, similar to the fatty gum that spreads in all meat, from this side to that and also from other side to this side. There is nothing in the world that is not him. He is pervading in all things in the world. He is the leader of all souls. Worship of souls is His worship. He exists in all the three shining things viz. Moon, Sun and fire."

Hence, this part from the Linga puran can be accepted. Further references of Bhagvan Narasimha having Three eyes is also found in the Panchmukhi Hanuman kavach, which is found in the Sudarshan samhita :

vandē vānara nārasĩha khagarāṭ | krōdāśva vaktrānvitaṁ || nānālankaraṇaṁ tripancanayanaṁ | dēdīpyamānamruca hastābjairasikhēṭa || pustaka sudhākumbhānkuṣādrin halaṁ | khaṭvangaṁ phaṇi bhūruhaṁ ca daśabhujaṁ || sarvāri garvāpahaṁ | sarvāri garvāpahaṁ ||

“Prostrations to Hanuman who has five faces viz., vanara (monkey), narasimha (man-lion), garuda (eagle), varaha (boar), and ashva (horse headed Hayagriva); who is decorated with many types of ornaments, who has fifteen eyes which shine brilliantly; who holds in his ten hands – sword, shield, book, pot of nectar, goad (javelin), mountain, plough, leg of a cot, a snake and a tree; who takes away the pride of every enemy; who takes away the pride of every enemy”.

One of the faces of Sri Panchmukhi Hanuman is of Bhagvan Narasimha also, hence Fifteen eyes on five faces implies three on each. Moreover Sripada Vedanta Desika in his Kamasikashtakam verse 2, refers to Lord Lakshmi Narasimha as the three-eyed one.

He also connects it with the Tapaniya Upanisad.

tapanēndvagni-nayanaḥ tāpānapacinōtu naḥ |

tāpanīya-rahasyānāṃ sāraḥ kāmāsikāhariḥ ||

where "tapana indu agni nayanaḥ" means He has three eyes – the Sun, the Moon and the Fire.

          Freedom from death

There are many refernces in the shastras of The Gods or devotees praying to Lord Narasimha for protection from death. The famous story of Maharishi Markandeya defeating Death is well known to be by the Grace of Lord Narasimha swamy, as said in the Narasimha Puran. Let us see the story from the puran. (important : The narasimha Tapniye is an Up-puran, but that doesn't Affects its authenticty as It has been quoted by Adi shankaracharya plenty of times ; hence it's authority is Actually more than some Bogus purans which have been labelled as "mahapurans")

The story is found in the chapter 7. As per the Puran, he was the son of Devi sumitra and sage Mrkandu and the Grandson of sags bhrigu. A well known astrologer had predicted his death at a young age of 12 years, which shocked his parents. Young markandeya promised his parents that he will conquer death one day and Approached his grandfather, who advised him to Worship Lord Narayana (Lord narasimha more accurately) inorder to achieve the same. As advised by maharishi bhrigu, He went the mountain Sahaya, near the tungabhadra river, Established an image of Lord narayana there, and began reciting the tweleve letter hym i.e Om namo bhagvate Vasudevaye. He was deeply immersed in the Thoughts of the almighty Lord, when the Represtatives of Lord yama i.e Yamdoots came around, inorder to take him away, but they were Beaten up by The Representatives of Bhagavan Narayana and had to flee. After that, Lord yama himself had to descend, but even he couldn't Go near maharishi markandeya owing to the Vishnudoots, who were Ever-Ready to slaughter Lord yama along with his attendents. Maharishi markandeya Began reciting Pslam of Lord Vishnu and that coupled with the thrashing given by Vishnu doots compelled Lord yama to leave the Spot, and thus maharishi markandeya conquered death with the grace of Lord Narayana. The Stotram which he had recited, was called the mritunjaya stotram which was preached by the Lord himself. 

The narasimha Tapniye upanishad mentions how Brahma deva taught the Ugra narasimha mantra to the Gods, after which they won over death. Here's the snippet :

"Devas were afraid of death, sins and family life. They approached Praja Pathi. He told them about the Narasimha Mantra which was “the King of all Mantras” written in Anushtup meter. Because of this, they won victory over death. They won over all sins and also destroyed the problems of family life. So any of those who are afraid of death, sins and family life, should get themselves taught the “Narasimha Mantra” which is called “the King of Mantras” and which is written in anushtup meter."

This is further elaborated as :

"He is called "Mruthyu-Mruthyum [death and deathlessness]" because just by mere thought of His devotees, he destroys death and untimely death to them. He is one who gives the knowledge of the soul and also one who gives strength. All devas bow before Him and praise Him. Let us satisfy Him by offering Him "Havis-food" through the fire sacrifice because even his shadow is nectar and he is the death which destroys death."

He is the kal of kal, hence Lord narasimha is also called "mahakala".

Hence there is no doubt that The name "Tryambka" is actually for Lord narasimha as he has got three eyes and with his grace, The Gods won over death. 

    Explaining the name "Rudra" 

The rig veda doesn't mentions Anything specifically as to who is the "Tryambaka" here, but on visiting the Taittiriya samhita, we find It has been given to the Deity named "Rudra". Now who is this Rudra? In This post, i have clearly explained How all names of the vedas, including Rudra, shiva, mahadeva etc are used to denote the almighty i.e Lord narayana who is the original beholder of all these names, and later gave it to all Gods. So without a doubt, "Rudra" of not only taittiriya samhita, but the entire vedas denote Lord Narayana alone. I will show some more proofs here how other names also denote Narasimha alone. In the Very beginning of the Narasimha Tapniye upanishad, He (Lord narasimha) has been addresses by names like Shankar and pinaki :

"Bhagawan Narasimha who is partly human and partly lion shines as Parabrahma with Rutha (discipline of the visible world) and Sathya (basic truth). He appears with two colours viz. black and golden red. His nature is to go up and he has a very terrible and fearsome stare but he is a "Sankara" doing good to people. He is called "Neela Lohitha (He who is red and black)" because his neck is black and the top of it is red. In another of his aspects he is Umapathi (Lord of fame) and Pasupathi (Lord of all beings). He holds the bow called "Pinaka" and has great luster. He is the god of all knowledge. He is god of all beings. He is the Lord of all Vedas. He is the boss of Brahma and He is praised by Yajur Veda. One should know the praise of Sama Veda of him."

not only these, the same upanishad also calls him Mahadeva (The Greatest God) and mahesvara (The great ishvara).  Further, in his Prayers to Lord narayana, maharishi markandeya addresses him by names like "Shiva", "Shankar","mahesvar","sambhu" :

He prays to the Lord by using the names "Shiva" and "bhuvneswara"

The name "shankar"

The name "shambhu"

And finally, Mahadeva and Mahesvara. Moreover, the Lord himself says in Geeta 15.15 :

"I am seated in the hearts of all beings. Memory, knowledge, as well as their loss come from Me. I alone am to be known from all the Vedas; I am indeed the author of Vedanta as well as its knower."

So when one of the most commented, Accepted and hailed texts says something like this, this has to be followed at all costs. The Sri Ram Rahasya Upanishad Highlights the shiv Avatar of Lord Rama :

"I worship Lord Rama, Who has three eyes,Who wears the crescent,Who holds the trident, Who is anointed all over by ash,And who is with matted hair. I worship the three eyed one,Who is Abhirama, the pinnacle of beauty,Who wears the crescent as ear ring,And who holds the noose, the goad, the bow and the arrow."

 Further, Sri madhwacharya In his Brahmsutra bhasya 1.3.3 quotes a verse from brahmanda puran which says :

brahmāṇḍe ca -rujaṃ drāvayate yasmādrudrastasmājjanārdanarḥ /iśānādeva ceśāno mahādevo mahattvataḥ // pibanti ye narā nākaṃ muktāssaṃsārasāgarāt / tadādhāro yato viṣṇuḥ pinākīti tataḥ smṛtaḥ // śivaḥ sukhātmakatvena śarvaḥ. śaṃrodhanāddhariḥ / kṛtyātmakamimaṃ dehaṃ yato vaste pravartayan // kṛttivāsāstato devo viriñcaśca virecanāt /
bṛṃhaṇādbrahmanāmāsāvaiśvaryādindra ucyate 

"Janardana (i.e., the redeemer, Vishnu) is called Rudra for He cures the disease (of life). He is Ishana (the ruler) for He rules the lords of the world; He is Mahadeva; for He is great and splendid; He is known as Pinakin; for those that have crossed the sea of life and obtained release, take their stand on Him and drink in pure pleasure. He is Siva, for, He is absolutely blissful.
Hari is Sarva, for He closes (the gates of) happiness against (the wicked). The Lord is called Krittivasa, for He shelters or dwells in the body covered over with skin, to guide it in life. He is called Virincha; for He produces the world out of Himself; He is Brahma, for He is perfect and He is Indra (the wealthy), for He is the sole Lord."

Now someone may ask that why isnt it there in current version of the Brahmanda puran, then for them, Scriptures are lost over time, verses are lost over time ; not only in madhwacharya's bhasya, but even in The bhasyas of Adi shankara, parasara bhattar etc one can find those verses which are no where to be found today, but that doesn't means They never existed. Also, Sri adi Shankaracharya Explains the name "Sampramardanah" in His Vishnu sahasrnam bhasya, by saying he manifests as Rudra (Shiva), Death etc. He explains the name "Bhutakrit" by saying he assumea Rudra form to Carry out destruction of universe.

So, there is no doubt that The name "Rudra" and all such names belong to Lord Narayana alone.

                    Conclusion

Summing up all points :

• The word "Tryambaka" denotes Lord Narasimha/Lord Rama, who have three eyes.
• The Gods and even maharishi markandeya prayed to Lord narasimha To conquer death.
• the Stotram which maharishi markandeya Recited was known as "Mritunjaya" stotram.
• all names such as "Bhava", "sarva", "Rudra","shiva","mahesvara" etc they denote Lord narayana alone.
• there are stories of Markandeya rishi praying to shiva also, and so to Claim the final thing, we have to see what mahabharata says and there in the markandeya samasya parva, maharishi markandeya Praises Lord narayana above all, whom maharishi markandeya saw alone, Before and after the universe ended. so, the story of narasimha puran is more Accurate.
• some people doubt the word "umapati" in the narasimha Tapniye, claiming it to be for shiva, but in This post, i have explained why umapati points towards NAraimsha only. 

and so, it becomes an undisputable fact that the deity of Mahamritunjaya mantra is Lord narashima alone. 

                ||Sri SitaRama||

                              ||Jai Hanuman||