Overview
Vakratunda Mahakaya is a short, two-line Sanskrit verse to Ganesh, and among the most familiar of all his invocations — often the very first thing recited before an exam, a journey, a new task, or any undertaking that calls for a clear start. It addresses Ganesh through two of his best-known epithets, Vakratunda (“curved-trunked”) and Mahakaya (“great-bodied”), describes him as radiant as a crore suns, and then makes its one request: that he keep every undertaking free of obstacles, always.
Origin and source
Vakratunda Mahakaya circulates so widely — in household worship, school assemblies, and daily-use devotional compilations across Sanskrit-speaking regions — that it functions as common devotional property rather than a verse tied to one settled citation. Popular sources frequently gesture toward Puranic Ganesh literature as its background, but they do not agree with each other on a specific chapter and verse, and no single citation could be confirmed here with confidence. It is best treated as a traditional, extremely widely recited invocatory verse to Ganesh, rather than attributed to one particular text.
Word-by-word meaning
Tap a word to see what it means and where it sits in the verse.
curved, bent
| Sanskrit | IAST | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| वक्र | vakra | curved, bent |
| तुंड | tuṃḍa | trunk, snout — together vakratuṃḍa, "curved-trunked," a common epithet of Ganesh |
| महा | mahā | great, mighty |
| काय | kāya | body — together mahākāya, "great-bodied," or mighty of form |
| सूर्य | sūrya | the sun |
| कोटि | koṭi | ten million, a crore — together sūryakoṭi, "a crore of suns" |
| सम | sama | equal, the same as |
| प्रभ | prabha | radiance, splendor — together with sūryakoṭi, samaprabha describes one whose radiance equals that of a crore suns |
| निर् | nir | without, free from (negating prefix) |
| विघ्नं | vighnaṃ | obstacle, in the accusative — together nirvighnaṃ, "free of obstacle," the object of the verb kuru |
| कुरु | kuru | make, do — imperative of the verb kṛ |
| मे | me | my, for me |
| देव | deva | god, deity — vocative, addressing Ganesh directly |
| सर्व | sarva | all, every |
| कार्येषु | kāryeṣu | in tasks, in undertakings — locative plural of kārya, "work" — together sarvakāryeṣu, "in all undertakings" |
| सर्वदा | sarvadā | always, at all times |
Meaning of the whole
The first line is descriptive, building up an image of Ganesh in four words: vakratuṃḍa, curved-trunked; mahākāya, great-bodied; and sūryakoṭi-samaprabha, radiant as a crore (ten million) suns. Only in the second line does the verse turn from description to request: nirvighnaṃ kuru me deva, “O god, make [it] free of obstacles for me,” and sarva-kāryeṣu sarvadā, “in all undertakings, always.” Read as a whole, the verse first pictures Ganesh in his most recognizable form, then asks him — directly, in the vocative deva — to keep every task, always, free of obstacles. That request is the verse’s own content; it is not a promise this page is making, only a description of what the verse itself asks for.
How it is recited
Vakratunda Mahakaya is typically recited once, as a short opening invocation, rather than repeated as a counted japa mantra. It is commonly the first thing said before an exam, a journey, a new undertaking, or the start of Ganesh puja, often alongside other opening invocations such as the Saraswati Vandana in school and community settings.
