Maha Mrutyunjaya Mantra - The Ayurvedic Perspective

ॐ त्र्यम्बकं यजामहे सुगन्धिं पुष्टिबर्धनं ।

उर्वारुकमिव बन्धनान मृत्योर्मुक्षीय माऽमृतात् ॥

aum tryambakaṃ yajāmahe sugandhiṃ puṣṭibardhanaṃ ।

urbārukamiva bandhanān mṛtrornukṣīya mā'mṛtāt ॥

The maha mrutyunjaya mantra is a healing mantra for immortality and comes from Taittiriya Upanishad. This morning I heard a beautiful explanation of this mantra from the Ayurvedic point of view. Here I share on behalf of the teacher who expounded this knowledge.

त्र्यम्बकं - Usually translated as a trident, refers here to the Tri-Dosha. It can protect or destroy based on how it is treated.

यजामहे - Fire Sacrifice, every activity inside the cell & body is considered as a fire sacrifice

सुगन्धिं - Literal translation is good (सुष्टि) smelling (गन्धि), Compared with good destruction or natural death after living a full life as per one's duties (dharma) and completing one's karma

पुष्टिबर्धनं - Nourishment and growth of healthy life

उर्वारुकम - Like a cucumber

बन्धनान - Attached with the mother plant

मृत्योर्मुक्षीय माऽमृतात् - Ripens and bursts open so its seeds can spread to create new life forms, and continues to live (immortal).

Literal translation:

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.

Ayurvedic Translation:

The Tri-Doshas, Vata, Pitta & Kapha protect us as well as destroy us based on how we manage the Agni Tattva (Fire Sacrifice) happening inside our body continuously just like how it is happening outside in the Universe. There is a constant transformation happening where the old has a natural death after living a full-life; and following the Sanatana Dharma (Universal Law) this death nourishes and grows the new and healthy life; and this process is why life is Universal and immortal.

The process can be described by comparing it with a cucumber that remains attached to the plant, grows and matures to a full-life, and then ripens to burst open to distribute its seeds for giving birth to new life. So, the old continues to live in the new as if immortal.

Ayurvedic students and professional must live by this definition and live a full-filling life as per the Sanatana Dharma; that commands everyone must complete their duties; i.e Dharma, Artha & Kama before they are liberated.

Dharma is threefold, to create a happy space inside our body (Maternal Space), the physical space we live in (Paternal Space) and the space we share with all other living beings (Mother Earth). Life is immortal and moves between death and birth as it continues through a rule of fire-sacrifice (or self-sacrifice) that's happening in the form of transformation - in the microcosm as a cell and in the macrocosm from human life, planets, solar systems, constellations to the entire universe.

Artha is to experience the life using our 5 senses and

Kāma is fulfilling the desires of life.

Therefore, Life is liberated (Moksha, मोक्ष) when we fulfill our desires (Kāma, काम) generated by experiencing life through the 5 senses (Artha, अर्थ) by following Sanatana Dharma (धर्म) to create a happy space within and outside ourselves for this immortal life to survive.