Sangh Prarthana — full text with meaning
-
Salutation1
A bow to the ever-affectionate motherlandमातृभूमि-नमस्कारः
नमस्ते सदा वत्सले मातृभूमे,
त्वया हिन्दुभूमे सुखं वर्धितोऽहम्।
महामङ्गले पुण्यभूमे त्वदर्थे,
पतत्वेष कायो नमस्ते नमस्ते॥namaste sadā vatsale mātṛbhūme
tvayā hindubhūme sukhaṁ vardhito'ham ।
mahāmaṅgale puṇyabhūme tvadarthe
patatveṣa kāyo namaste namaste ॥Salutations, ever-affectionate Motherland. Nurtured in your lap, O land of dharma, I have grown in joy. Auspicious one, sacred one — may this body fall in your service. Salutations, salutations.
The stanza begins and ends with "namaste" — framing the whole prayer in the posture of a bow. "Patatveṣa kāyo" — "may this body fall" — is the single strongest line in modern Hindu devotional literature, placing one's physical existence in the custody of the land itself.
-
Pledge of Service2
We have girded ourselves for your workसेवा-सङ्कल्पः
प्रभो शक्तिमन् हिन्दुराष्ट्राङ्गभूता,
इमे सादरं त्वां नमामो वयम्।
त्वदीयाय कार्याय बद्धा कटीयम्,
शुभामाशिषं देहि तत्पूर्तये॥
अजय्यां च विश्वस्य देहीश शक्तिं,
सुशीलं जगद्येन नम्रं भवेत्।
श्रुतं चैव यत् कण्टकाकीर्णमार्गं,
स्वयं स्वीकृतं नः सुगं कारयेत्॥prabho śaktiman hindurāṣṭrāṅgabhūtā
ime sādaraṁ tvāṁ namāmo vayam ।
tvadīyāya kāryāya baddhā kaṭīyam
śubhāmāśiṣaṁ dehi tatpūrtaye ॥
ajayyāṁ ca viśvasya dehīśa śaktiṁ
suśīlaṁ jagadyena namraṁ bhavet ।
śrutaṁ caiva yat kaṇṭakākīrṇa-mārgaṁ
svayaṁ svīkṛtaṁ naḥ sugaṁ kārayet ॥Mighty Lord, we — limbs of this ancient civilisation — bow to you in reverence. We have girded ourselves for your work; grant your blessing that it may be fulfilled. Grant us invincible strength that the world may bow before virtue; and make smooth for us the thorny road we have chosen for ourselves.
The reversal in the final couplet is important: the stanza does not ask that the thorns be removed, only that the chosen walk be made easier. The path was svayaṁ svīkṛtaṁ — accepted of our own will.
-
Resolve3
The unshakeable vowदृढ-निष्ठा
समुत्कर्षनिःश्रेयसस्यैकमुग्रं,
परं साधनं नाम वीरव्रतम्।
तदन्तः स्फुरत्वक्षया ध्येयनिष्ठा,
हृदन्तः प्रजागर्तु तीव्रानिशम्॥
विजेत्री च नः संहता कार्यशक्तिर्,
विधायास्य धर्मस्य संरक्षणम्।
परं वैभवं नेतुमेतत् स्वराष्ट्रम्,
समर्था भवत्वाशिषा ते भृशम्॥
॥ भारत माता की जय ॥samutkarṣa-niḥśreyasasyaikam ugraṁ
paraṁ sādhanaṁ nāma vīravratam ।
tad antaḥ sphuratv akṣayā dhyeya-niṣṭhā
hṛd-antaḥ prajāgartu tīvrānisham ॥The vow of the brave is the one supreme means to worldly flourishing and liberation alike. May that unshakeable loyalty to the ideal burn within us; may it keep our heart awake day and night. May our united, victorious strength protect this dharma, and may your blessing make us capable of leading our nation to its highest glory.
The twin aims of this stanza are telling: samutkarṣa (worldly rising) and niḥśreyasa (ultimate release). The Prarthana refuses to choose between them — both are, together, the fruit of vīravrata, the vow of the brave.
Completed Sangh Prarthana?
Mark it, light a diya, or share it with your shakha.
Read nextEkatmata Stotraएकात्मता स्तोत्रThe pledge in Sanskrit
Namaste Sadā Vatsale Mātṛbhūme
Three Sanskrit stanzas composed in 1939 — a daily salutation to the motherland, a pledge of disciplined service, and a resolve to carry dharma forward. Recited at the close of every sabha and shakha, and by households at sunrise and sunset.
Written in Sanskrit in 1939 by Narahari Narayan Bhide, a Sanskrit scholar from Nagpur, and first sung in public by pracharak Yadavrao Joshi at the Nagpur training camp in May 1940, the Prarthana is the single most-recited devotional poem of the modern Hindu civic imagination. It is sung in Sanskrit — not Hindi or any regional tongue — because Sanskrit is the common tongue of the whole land, equal to Bengali speaker and Tamil speaker alike.
"May this body fall in your service, O Motherland. Salutations, salutations." — the vow in the first stanza.
The three stanzas progress like a śloka should: salutation first, then pledge, then resolve. The first stanza ends with "namaste namaste" — a return to the opening posture of reverence — and the recitation closes with "भारत माता की जय".
How to recite
The Prarthana is simple to begin — stand straight, face the rising sun or a Bhagwa flag, and chant with full voice. These are the four markers of proper recitation.
- Stand in attention Feet together, back straight, hands folded at the chest in namaskāra mudrā. The posture itself is part of the prayer — one does not sit for the Prarthana.
- Chant in rhythm The metre is bhujangaprayāta — four counts per line. Each stanza should take about forty-five seconds. Pause briefly between stanzas; do not rush.
- Seal with the jaighosh After the third stanza, the triple shout — Bhārat Mātā kī Jay! — rings out thrice, each with raised right hand. This closes the Prarthana as a public act.
