Navagraha Mantra: All 9 Planet Mantras, Meaning and Complete Chanting Guide

If your astrologer has told you that a specific Navagraha (planetary force) is weak or afflicted in your Kundali, you need to know which mantra to chant, on which day, how many times, and what the mantra actually means. Most Navagraha mantra articles give you a list. This guide gives you the complete picture: the source, the meaning of each mantra, the correct practice for each planet, and the one thing most practitioners get wrong about how these mantras work.

Here is what most Navagraha mantra articles miss entirely: the Navagraha mantras are not prayers asking the planets to be kind to you. They are invocations that align your own energy with the highest expression of each planet’s qualities. Chanting the Sun mantra does not ask the Sun to favour you. It cultivates within you the qualities the Sun governs: clarity, authority, discipline, vitality. The planet then reflects what you have become.

What Is Navagraha: The Complete Explanation

Navagraha is a Sanskrit compound: Nava (nine) and Graha (from the root grah, meaning to seize or grasp). In Vedic astrology, the nine Grahas are called this because they are understood as forces that seize and shape human consciousness and destiny.

The nine Grahas are not the same as the nine planets of modern astronomy. The Vedic system includes the Sun (Surya), Moon (Chandra) and two shadow points where the Moon’s orbit intersects the Sun’s ecliptic (Rahu and Ketu), alongside five visible planets: Mars (Mangal), Mercury (Budha), Jupiter (Guru/Brihaspati), Venus (Shukra) and Saturn (Shani).

The Navagraha mantras were composed by Rishi Vyasa and are preserved in the Purohit Darpan, a traditional Brahmanical Sanskrit text. Each mantra invokes the divine form of the planet’s presiding deity and requests alignment with that planet’s highest qualities.

The Universal Navagraha Mantra: One Chant for All Nine Planets

All 9 Navagraha Mantras: Complete Reference

Which Planet Governs What: The Complete Life Domains Table

Before chanting any Navagraha mantra, knowing which planet governs which area of life helps you identify which mantra to prioritise. If your astrologer has not told you which planet is afflicted, use this table to match your primary life difficulty to the corresponding planet.

How to Chant Navagraha Mantras: The Complete Method

Option 1: Single Planet Practice (When One Planet Is Afflicted)

1. Identify the afflicted planet from your birth chart with a qualified astrologer.
2. Chant that planet’s beej mantra 108 times on its prescribed day (see table above).
3. Face east for all planets except Saturn (face west for Shani) and Rahu and Ketu (face south).
4. Use the corresponding coloured mala where possible: red for Mars, yellow for Jupiter, white for Venus and Moon, black for Saturn and Rahu, mixed for Mercury and Ketu.
5. Best time: the planetary hora (hour) on that planet’s day. Alternatively, Brahma Muhurta works for all planets.

Option 2: Full Navagraha Sequence (All Nine Planets)

For complete planetary harmony, chant all nine mantras in sequence on Sunday morning:

1. Begin with the universal mantra (Adityaya Somaya…) 3 times to invoke all nine together.
2. Chant each planet’s beej mantra 12 times in the classical sequence: Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Rahu, Ketu.
3. Close with the universal mantra 3 times again.
4. Total practice: approximately 120 repetitions, 25 to 30 minutes.

The Three Types of Navagraha Mantras

Most practitioners are only aware of the beej mantras. The classical tradition has three distinct types, each with a different purpose and level of practice.

For most practitioners doing self-directed Navagraha practice, the beej mantras are the correct choice. They do not require special initiation, they work with consistent daily practice, and they are documented as effective in the Brihat Parasara Hora Shastra and Phaladeepika.

From Our Practice

Frequently Asked Questions

Begin This Sunday

The next Sunday morning is your starting point. Before sunrise if possible, or in the early morning after bathing.

Sit facing east. Chant the universal Navagraha mantra: Adityaya Somaya Mangalaya Buddhaya Cha, Guruve Shukraya Shanibhyashcha Rahave Ketave Namah. Say it 108 times. Move one bead per repetition. Sit quietly for 5 minutes after.

From the following week, add the individual planet mantra for the planet your astrologer has identified. Chant it 108 times on that planet’s day. Every week. Without exception.

The nine planets have been in motion for 4.5 billion years. Your 108 repetitions are not going to realign the solar system. What they will do, consistently practised over weeks and months, is align you with the qualities that each planet at its highest expression represents. The planet then has nothing to oppose in you. What was an affliction becomes a teacher whose lesson you have already begun to learn.