Brahmanasamskara

Inside view about few important Vivaha Mantras


Vakdhanamcha, pradhanamcha, varanam,panipeedanam,
Sapthapadhinee- panchanko vivaham parikeerthitha :

The above sloka states that the following five are the important angas of our marriages

1. In Vakdhaanam: The bride’s father agrees and promises to give his daughter in marriage to the proposed bridegroom.

2. In Pradhaanam: The bride is given to bridegroom with all Streedhanams like jewels, dresses etc. The mantra for this part is chanted as under:

Kanyam, kanaka sampannam, kanakabharana bhushitham,Dhaasyami Vishnave Thubhyam Brahmaloka jigeeshaya

Viswarambara:, sarvabootha: Sakshina: sarvadevathaa:
Imam Kanyam pradhaasyami pitrunam tharanaya cha

Kanye mamagratho bhooya: Kanye mea bhava parswayo:
Kanyeme saravatho bhooya: twa dhaana moshamapnuyam
Imam kanyam praja sahathwa karmabhya: prathipadhayami.

Prathigrunnami ithi prathivachanam by bridegroom.

Kanya Samskara:- Divya mantra Snanam & New Bridal Dress

3.Varanam: The prospective bridegroom is considered as Lord Vishnu and all required upcharas are performed on him.

4.Paanigrahanam:-

The meaning of Panigrahana Mantras as under:-

All brides first belong to God Soma, Then they belong to gandharva and in the third place they belong to the Fire God. Having been possessed by such great beings, I am an ordinary mortal to take hold of you. But being blessed by the above Gods, I am confident that wealth, prosperity and children will accrue to me by taking you as my wife.

I am taking hold of your hand as a symbol of ever-lasting love and friendship between us, till we become old ,and as a pledge to bring forth good progeny. The Gods BAGAN , ARYAMAN, SAVITHA, INDRA have given you unto me to carry on the gruhastha Aasrama Dharma.. This gruhashta aasrama has been sanctified by the Gods from time immemorial and it is to this high heritage that I am now coming ,by taking your hand.

O Godess Saraswathi even as you have attained endless fortune and food may we too by this “Panigrahanam” attain wealth and grains,may we be blessed to love and live long happily .We will praise your glory in the presence of all living creatures.

May the Air ,who pervades every where and in all directions purify everything, who is the friend of Fire God, and who cooks all kind of food and is ready with gold in his hand to give to his devotees, may he enter our mind O Godess Saraswathi, and make our friendship everlasting.

5.Sapthapathi:-

The essence of the Sapthapathi mantras are as under:

i. May the Lord Narayana, who pervades the entire universe, satisfy your physical hunger by feeding you in response to the first step you are taking.

ii. May your second step give you physical strength by the grace of the Lord Narayana.

iii. May He follow your third step and help you fulfill your good actions.

iv. My He follow your fourth step to bless you with happiness

v. My He bless you with the wealth of cattle by following you fifth step.

vi. My He confer happiness on you during all the six seasons by following your sixth step.

vii. By following the seventh step of yours, may He bless you to perform the soma-sacrifice by the worship of the seven Ritviks, namely Hotha, Prasttha,Bhrahma-naathasamsi, Botha, Neshta,Acchavahan and Agnidhara.

“O” Bride of mine” I Pray to the Lord to bless you at every step of yours as though following me. By following me by taking seven steps with me you have become my friend. We shall be friends always and we shall never part from each other. By our coming together each one getting the other, we become happy radiant, and peaceful. We shall enjoy together health giving food and drinks and keep up our family life together. We shall consult each other in carrying out every piece of work. Let us put our minds together and try to think alike. Let us do righteous deeds together. Let us enjoy together whatever is to be gained by our senses and mind.

You are the rik and I am the Soma. I am the heaven and you are the earth. I am the mind and you are the spirit. May you- by following me to create Male progeny- ‘O’ you virgin of sweet worlds, come along with me.

By stepping on the stone, the bridegrooms chant/pray the following:-

“O bride you should stand on this stone- like this stone- you shall stand firm against all buffetings of life. You shall stand up fearless against those who resist you. “ O Virgin” you shall disgrace your enemies.

By doing pradhakshinam around Agni and asking the bride stand on the stone again the following words are recited by Bridegroom.

O fire God you have married the Virgin Godess “soorya” who is the friend of brides, and therefore, they are all under your kind control and guidance. Kindly give me a bride who is free from all blemish and who can bring forth my progeny. The fire God must give me a bride, who is beautiful healthy and long living. By your help we must be able to get across all enemies and difficulties.

Looking at the Stars: Arundhathi/Druva: By showing the the following stars the bridegroom to the bride, he prays as follows:

By looking at the star Arundhathi- the wife of Rishi Vasishta, and one of the krittikaas, who had attained the highest position in chastity and this was acknowledged by the other six Krittikaas ( wives of saptharishees) may my wife too be chaste and be reckoned by the world as the eight Krittikaa.

By showing the Dhruva star,in the northern direction, who has reached the immortal position with no destruction whatsoever, you are the symbol of stability and inspirer of stability in others. You are the polestar, the pole around which other stars revolve. My you protect us from the evil foes.

Samavarthanam for bridegroom, Sprouting of Palika, Kanyaka Samskaram for Bride, Vara Pooja, Nandee Sraadham,Kanyaka Dhanam,Mangalya Dharanam, Panigrahanam,Sapthapathee-Agniprdhakshinam, Main Homa, Lajahomam- Gruha pravesam, Pravesahomam, Jayathi Homam,Agne sthalipaka, Aupasanam, Noothana Gruha Pravesam,Seshahomam, Phaladhanam, thamboola charvanam, Mahaashirvadam are some of the important rituals , in the marriage.

To elaborate what is stated above , the important stages in Brahmin marriage are as under:-

Sending messages to the Vara and promise to give the proposed bride to the bridegroom by way of Nichyatartham.( Vaakdhaanam)

Samavarthanam ( vrathapoorthi and symbolic kasi yatra) : Brahmacharya Aasrama is for learning. At the end of completion of education and before marriage this samskaram to be performed for the bridegroom. This samskaram is done as prayaschitta for not correctly doing- or for not performing the required samskarams at the appropriate times from the birth of the bridegroom to the date of the marriage. After this the boy is leaving the bramacharya aasrama and entering the gruhastha aasrama.

Vara pooja, considering the Bridegroom as “VISHNU”.
Madhuparkam.( that is giving mixture of Honey and Curd) to be given to the bridegroom.

Kanyaka Dhanam-by chanting GOTHRAPRAVARA. Then follows Agni prathishta, Vivaha Sankalpa. Then Kanyaka Samskarams follows.

In the main Sankalpam the person who is doing KANYAKA DHANAM prays to the Lord Vishnu that his previous 10 generations and the coming 10 generations along with his generation thus totaling 21 generations, should get permanent Bliss in Brahma Loka. Thereafter considering the bridegroom as the “avatara of Vishnu” he is doing pooja to the VARA.

By Chanting the Gothra Pravarams the people gathered are announced about the proposed marriage. Thereafter the bride decorated with golden ornaments are given as Dhana to the bridegroom, who is considered as “Vishnu”, who has come to take the bride as dhanam to fulfill his sankalpam.

The bridegroom when he first see the bride has to chant some prayer mantras invoking Varuna, Bruhaspathi,Indra,and Soorya. The bridegroom also prays by the touching the forehead of the bride by porcupine needle or by dharba grass for driving away from her evil forces if any present in her for the welfare of the family.

After Kanyaka Mangala Snanam Noothana traditional Vastra Dharanam is followed by Mangalya Pooja. Thereafter placing symbolic wheel and Nukam over the head of the bride, some mantras are chantd. This is considered as auspicious and by this ritural all sins/blemishes of the bride are removed and purified. It is reported that Indra purified daughter of Athri Muni, ABALA, from her skin disease and made her a beautiful women by drawing her three times through the wheel, through the hole of the chariot and through the hole of the nukam. Placing of a ring made of dharba grass- symbolic nukam with holes, and placing a piece of Gold under the nukam the bridegroom is making a payer to Indra to purify the bride and remove from her all diseases.

In PANIGRAHANAM the bride would be holding the right hand of the bride by his right hand while chanting a set of prayers for the welfare of their family..

By performing Sapthapathi, Agni Pradhashinam, Asmaarohanam,laja homam, the bridegroom along with bride prays with God to give them all material things and confortable life. They also take oath to lead a Gruhasthasrama Life as ordained in scriptures.

Certain homams life Jayathi Homam, Pravesa Homam, Aupasana Homam, Sesha Homam etc etc are performed by the bridegroom along with the bride for their and their families welfare thereafter.

DHRUVA- ARUNTHATHI” Darsanam in the evening and prayer thereon are also important in a marriage.

The marriage is completed by Phala Dhanam, Thamboola Charvanam and Garbha dhana mantras and Maha Ashirvada Mantras.

Our marriage system is adopted after the marriage of “SOMAN”
WITH “SOORYA” ( daughter of Slavish ) A reference to this available in Rig Veda 10th Mandala, 85th Sooktha.

Apasthampar codified some of the mantras from all the four Vedas and created a treatise by name “ MANTRAPRASANAM”


Though the above text about marriage mantras are not exhaustive an attempt has been made to give all important aspects in brief. Trust the material would be of use to you.

Mangalam Bhavathu.