Om Namo Bhagavate Hanumate Namah
Overview
Om Namo Bhagavate Hanumate Namah is a fuller devotional salutation to Hanuman, built by inserting namo bhagavate — “salutation to the blessed one” — between Om and Hanumate. A shorter form of the same basic salutation, without that addition, also exists as Om Hanumate Namah; this page’s version is the more elevated devotional form of the two.
Origin and source
The Om + namo bhagavate + [deity, in the dative] + namah pattern is a well-attested way of addressing a deity with heightened reverence in devotional Sanskrit, built around bhagavat, a title usually reserved for a supreme or greatly venerated figure. The same construction is used to address Krishna in “Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya,” found elsewhere in this collection — applying it to Hanuman places him within that same register of address, even though Hanuman is not counted among Vishnu’s avatars in mainstream Vaishnav tradition. No single named scripture is confidently attached to this exact wording here, so it’s presented as a fuller devotional variant of the standard salutation rather than a verse drawn from one specific text.
One detail worth noticing in the wording itself: the salutation appears twice, framing the honorific and name between it — namo near the start and namah at the close. This kind of bracketing repetition for emphasis is common in devotional Sanskrit and isn’t a copying error or redundancy to smooth over.
Word-by-word meaning
| Sanskrit | IAST | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ॐ | oṃ | Om — the primordial syllable, prefixed to countless Sanskrit mantras as their opening sound |
| नमो | namo | "salutation" — the sandhi form namas takes before a following voiced consonant; the same root, nam, "to bow," that also gives namaḥ at the close |
| भगवते | bhagavate | to the blessed, glorious one (dative of bhagavat/bhagavān) — a title of high reverence, often applied to a supreme or greatly venerated figure |
| हनुमते | hanumate | to Hanuman (dative of Hanumat) |
| नमः | namaḥ | salutation, obeisance, bowing down |
Meaning of the whole
Read straight through, the mantra is: Om, salutation, to the blessed one, to Hanuman, salutation — a doubled bow that opens and closes on the same act of salutation, with bhagavate hanumate held between the two. It makes no request and promises no outcome; it is an address, offered as devotion in itself, that treats Hanuman with the same elevated title of reverence used elsewhere for Krishna and other greatly venerated figures.
How it is recited
Om Namo Bhagavate Hanumate Namah is chanted as japa, typically in rounds of 108 on a mala, in home worship and personal practice devoted to Hanuman. Because it carries the same basic address as the shorter Om Hanumate Namah, the two are sometimes chanted interchangeably, with this longer form reserved for moments calling for a more deliberate, unhurried recitation.