Ketu Beej Mantra

Meaning

The Ketu Beej Mantra is a Beej (seed) mantra addressed to Ketu. It belongs to the family of Navagraha beej mantras, the seed-mantra set used for the nine grahas, and its language is Sanskrit.

In Devanagari the mantra reads:

ॐ स्रां स्रीं स्रौं सः केतवे नमः

In IAST transliteration:

oṁ srāṁ srīṁ srauṁ saḥ ketave namaḥ

Its meaning is given simply as: Om srāṁ srīṁ srauṁ saḥ (seed syllables), salutation to Ketu.

The opening oṁ is the usual invocation. The four syllables srāṁ, srīṁ, srauṁ and saḥ are beej — seed sounds. In the Navagraha beej mantra tradition, each graha has its own set of seed syllables, and these four are the ones assigned to Ketu. The closing words ketave namaḥ mean "salutation to Ketu." So the mantra is both a sound-form and a namaskaram: the seed syllables are sounded, and the salutation is offered.

Because the syllables are seed sounds, the tradition does not usually treat them as ordinary words with dictionary meanings. They are recited as given. Their meaning is carried by the mantra as a whole — the seed sounds plus the salutation to Ketu.

Benefits

Ketu is one of the nine grahas in jyotish. In the Navagraha beej mantra set, each graha has its own mantra, and the Ketu Beej Mantra is the one traditionally associated with Ketu. Readers who keep a daily japa practice often include the graha mantras as part of that routine, and some chant the Ketu mantra on the days given in the tradition.

It is worth saying plainly what this page does and does not claim. The mantra is a traditional recitation. This guide does not promise any outcome — no result in health, money, marriage, career or legal matters — and it does not warn of any harm if the mantra is not chanted. Jyotish is a traditional system of interpretation, and views on what any graha "does" in a personal chart differ between traditions and between individual jyotishis. For anything specific to your own chart, the appropriate step is to consult a qualified jyotishi rather than to read a general page as if it were a personal reading.

What can be said with confidence is narrower and more useful: the mantra has a fixed text, a fixed source, a stated count, and stated days. Those are the practical facts, and they are the same for everyone who takes up the practice.

How to chant (count, time, posture)

The brief gives the following method, and it is best followed as stated.

• Count: 108 daily. For the full graha japa, the count is 17,000.
• When: Tuesdays or Saturdays.
• How: On a 108-bead mala (rudraksha or tulsi), seated facing east or north after bathing. One mala = 108 repetitions.

Putting these together: the daily practice is one mala of 108 repetitions, on a Tuesday or a Saturday, seated facing east or north, after bathing. The mala may be rudraksha or tulsi. The full graha japa is a larger undertaking at 17,000 repetitions, and the brief gives that figure without prescribing how it should be spread across days; those who take it up usually settle the schedule with their teacher.

The text to repeat is the mantra exactly as given above: ॐ स्रां स्रीं स्रौं सः केतवे नमः (oṁ srāṁ srīṁ srauṁ saḥ ketave namaḥ). It should not be altered, extended or re-transliterated. Chant it as it stands.

On facing direction, the brief specifies east or north. Some householders face the direction of their daily shrine instead; where traditions differ on such details, it is reasonable to follow the family or teacher's custom rather than to treat one arrangement as the only correct one.

Who should chant

The mantra is a Navagraha beej mantra for Ketu, and it is open to any reader who wishes to take up a graha japa practice in the traditional manner. No special qualification is stated in the source, and no restriction is given.

Two practical notes. First, the graha mantras are often chanted as a set rather than in isolation; readers who already keep a Navagraha practice will know where the Ketu mantra sits in their own sequence. Second, traditions differ — North and South Indian practice, Smarta and Vaishnava custom, and amanta and purnimanta reckonings of the lunar month do not always agree on details of timing and procedure. Where they differ, this page states the fact rather than choosing one side. A family priest or a qualified jyotishi can say what is customary in your own tradition.

For questions about your own chart and whether Ketu's position calls for this practice, consult a qualified jyotishi. This page describes the mantra; it does not read charts.