What the verse says
In plain translation: "We worship the three-eyed one [Tryambaka], fragrant, who nourishes and increases all beings — as the ripe cucumber is freed from its stem, may I be released from death, not from immortality." The final clause, mā'mṛtāt, is grammatically ambiguous and has been read two ways: "not from immortality" (i.e., released from death into immortality) or, less commonly, as a request not to be separated from the immortal/deathless state one already possesses.
When and how it is used
The mantra is recited for healing the sick, for protection during illness or danger, and as part of longevity rituals. It is one of the most commonly taught mantras outside strictly ritual contexts because of this association with health and protection from untimely death.
Word-by-word grammar
| त्र्यम्बकं | tryambakaṃ | accusative, epithet | "The three-eyed one" — Rudra/Śiva, object of worship. |
| यजामहे | yajāmahe | verb, 1st pl. present middle | "We worship / we sacrifice to." |
| सुगन्धिं | sugandhiṃ | accusative adjective | "Fragrant" — qualifies Tryambaka. |
| पुष्टिवर्धनम् | puṣṭi-vardhanam | accusative compound | "Increaser of nourishment/prosperity." |
| उर्वारुकम् | urvārukam | accusative noun | "Cucumber, gourd" — the simile's subject. |
| इव | iva | particle | "Like, as" — introduces the simile. |
| बन्धनान् | bandhanān | ablative plural | "From bonds/stems" — what the cucumber is freed from. |
| मृत्योर् | mṛtyoḥ | ablative singular | "From death" — parallels bandhanān. |
| मुक्षीय | mukṣīya | verb, 1st sg. optative middle | "May I be released" — the central request. |
| मा | mā | negative particle | "Not" — negates separation from what follows. |
| अमृतात् | amṛtāt | ablative singular | "From immortality/the deathless" — what is not to be lost. |
Vedic source and later elaboration
The verse's earliest attestation is Ṛg Veda 7.59.12, within a hymn attributed to Vasiṣṭha addressing the Maruts, with this particular verse directed to Rudra. It also appears in the Yajur Veda (both Taittirīya and Vājasaneyi recensions) in slightly varied ritual contexts, generally associated with the Rudra litany.
Rudra to Śiva
"Tryambaka" as a name for Rudra is itself significant to the tradition's history: Rudra is the Vedic deity later identified with the Purāṇic and classical Śiva, and this verse is among the textual bridges the tradition points to in tracing that identification back into the Vedic corpus.
Advaita and Śaiva readings
Within Śaiva traditions, the mantra is read as a direct plea to Śiva as conqueror of death (in the mythological register, Śiva is remembered as having overcome Yama, the god of death, to protect his devotee Mārkaṇḍeya). Within more philosophically oriented Vedāntic reading, "release from death" is sometimes read as release from the cycle of birth and death (saṃsāra) rather than literal physical death — extending the verse's original apparent concern with bodily longevity toward mokṣa.