Gāyatrī Mantra
Purpose: center the gathering in divine light, wisdom and clarity. The booklet asks that the Supreme Creator’s light inspire and guide the intellect.
Gujarati community resource · guided reader
Gujarati Prathana Book, with meaning.
This reader follows the supplied Prathana Book and explains what each prayer is doing in the gathering.
Context: this reflects a Gujarati-community funeral gathering, not a universal Hindu funeral liturgy. Meanings below follow the supplied booklet.
Opening prayers
Īśāvāsyam
Purpose: remind mourners that the changing universe is pervaded by the Lord and that possessiveness should be loosened.
Tvameva Mātā
Purpose: express dependence on the Divine as mother, father, friend, knowledge, wealth and everything that sustains us.
Asato Mā
Purpose: ask to be led from falsehood to truth, darkness to light, and death toward immortality.
Wisdom for grief
Sthitaprajña
Purpose: give mourners a model of steadiness—contentment in the Self, freedom from fear and anger, disciplined senses and a mind not swept away by desire. The booklet also preserves the sequence from attachment to desire, anger, delusion and loss of discernment.
Gītā Sār
Purpose: summarize teachings on the enduring self, righteous action, surrender, meditation and devotion.
Bahu Puṇya Kerā Puñjathī
Purpose: reflect on the rarity of human life, mortality, attachment and the question of one’s true nature.
He Prabhu
Purpose: turn grief into humility, self-examination and a request for compassion and steadier devotion.
Devotional hymns
Sange Haricharanamā Rahīye
Remain together at the Lord’s feet, live nobly and preserve sacred bonds.
Hari Oṃ Tat Sat
Invoke the Supreme through many names and forms, widening the gathering’s devotional language.
Śrī Rāmachandra Kṛpālu
Praise Rāma as merciful protector and divine presence in the heart.
Raghupati Rāghava Rājārām
Create a familiar, participatory Sītā-Rāma remembrance.
Śambhu Śaraṇe Paḍī
Surrender to Śiva and ask for devotion, understanding and strength in sorrow.
Direct prayers for the departed
Antim Añjali Samarpan — Ab Saup Diyā
Purpose: place the life of the departed into divine hands—victory, defeat, virtues, faults and the final moment.
Prabhu Dvār Tamārā Kholo
Purpose: ask the Lord to open the divine gate for a blessed soul and receive that soul into divine care.
Bhakti Kartā Chhūṭe Mārā Prāṇ
Express the wish that life end while absorbed in devotion and remembrance of God.
Janmo Janmo Rahu Taro Dās
Ask to remain God’s servant through lifetimes and retain devotion through joy, sorrow and the final moment.
Hāre Vhālā Arjī Amārī
Appeal to Śrīnāthjī to receive the devotee into the divine abode.
He Nāth Joḍī Hāth
Ask the Supreme Lord to accept the soul, grant peace, cut the bonds of lifetimes and fill the being with divine love.
Family remembrance and closing
Mā Bāpne Bhūlsho Nahī
Turn grief into gratitude by remembering parents’ sacrifice and care.
Closing peace invocation
Pray for peace in the sky, earth, waters, plants, divine powers and all existence, followed in the booklet by a minute of silence and the prayer from darkness to light.
Using this at a service: keep the original PDF open for the actual recitation order and use this page alongside it for meaning. A priest or elder can decide which parts fit the family’s tradition.
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