Svaha

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In Hinduism, Svaha is a minor goddess, wife of Agni. She was originally a nymph but became immortal after marrying Agni, with whom she is the mother of Karttikeya. Whenever fire sacrifices are made, "Svaha" is chanted, as per Agni's order.

In Hinduism and Buddhism, “Svaha” (Sanskrit: svāhā) is a component in mantras used roughly equivalent to the word amen in Christian prayers - a holy word used to indicate finality in prayers or holy sayings.

Svaha is defined as “svatva hanana” which means the destruction of self or the abnegation of self-reference. It could be translated as “I offer myself for the welfare of all beings.”

For example, the heart sutra concludes with the mantra “Gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha”, often translated as “gone, gone, gone beyond, gone completely beyond, praise to awakening.” This translation is not entirely literal.

Svaha literally means "self-spoken" or "spoken by me", and could be rendered "thus have I spoken". "Sva" means "self", and "aha" means spoken or said. That is why a mantra ends with "Svaha" - it doesn't at all mean "amen" or any of the other bogus meanings so often ascribed to it. It simply means "self-spoken" - for example, "om gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha" means "om, gone, gone, gone beyond, gone completely beyond, o! enlightenment! Thus have I spoken".

[edit] See also

• History of India
• Hindu scriptures
• Hindu Epics
  • Ramayana
  • Mahabharata
  • Puranas
• Hindu mythology
• Hindu deities
• List of Hindu deities
• List of Hinduism-related articles

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