Graha mantras
Om Sram Ketave Namah: the Ketu mantra
The mantra of Ketu, the Moon's south node, number 7 in Ank Jyotish. Its seed is srām, and it has no weekday of its own.
The mantra
Short form
ॐ स्रां केतवे नमः
Oṁ Srāṁ Ketave Namaḥ
Full form (three seeds)
ॐ स्रां स्रीं स्रौं सः केतवे नमः
Oṁ Srāṁ Srīṁ Srauṁ Saḥ Ketave Namaḥ
| Short form from the book | Om Sram Ketave Namah |
|---|---|
| How to say it | Om Sraam Ke-ta-ve Na-ma-ha |
| Meaning | Om, homage to Ketu, the south node of the Moon. |
| Graha | Ketu |
| Deity (BPHS 3.18) | BPHS 3.18 names no deity for Rahu and Ketu |
| Japa count (BPHS ch. 84) | 17,000 Spread over 40 days, that is about 425 a day. |
| When to begin | On any day of the waxing Moon (shukla paksha). Rahu and Ketu rule no hora. Hora |
| Dana (BPHS ch. 84) | A goat In the verse this was a gift to the priest; today a gift within your means is given in its place. |
| Grain (Phaladeepika 2.28) | Horse gram (kulthi) |
| Gemstone (Phaladeepika 2.29) | Cat's eye (lahsuniya) By tradition the stone is worn after the mantra, when the graha is a functional benefic for your Lagna; the upaya calculator reads this from your chart. |
| Nakshatras | Ashwini, Magha, Mula |
| Number (Ank Jyotish) | 7 |
In your own chart
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A mantra is a traditional practice of speech and attention. It is not a medical or financial treatment and promises no outcome.
The words
Srām is the seed syllable of Ketu, spelled with a plain s, not the ś of the Moon's and Venus's mantras. Ketave is the dative of ketu, “to Ketu”, a word that means “banner” or “comet”. Namaḥ is “homage”: “Om, homage to Ketu.”
How to say srām and ketave
Begin with a clean, hissing s, then the tapped r and a long vowel: sraam, with the nasal hum. Do not slide the s into sh; the difference from śrām is exactly that.
In ketave every vowel is short and the two es are the “ay” of “say”: ke-ta-ve. Keep the three syllables even, then the faint echo of namaḥ.
Ketu in Jyotish
Ketu is the south node of the Moon, the counterpart of Rahu. It signifies detachment, release, the past, spiritual search and sudden endings. Like Rahu it has no sign of its own. Ank Jyotish gives it number 7, read as study, inwardness and a search for meaning.
Day and practice
In the usual order of the weekdays Ketu has none: the seven days go to the Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn. Manuals that give Ketu a day differ, so this site does not name one. You can say the mantra on any quiet day; 108 repetitions on a mala is customary and a handful of slow ones is plenty to start.
Questions
What does Om Sram Ketave Namah mean?
Which day is the Ketu mantra said on?
Is srām the same as śrām?
See also
Positions and tables: sidereal zodiac, Lahiri ayanamsha — the same as professional Jyotish astrologers use, and the same calculation as the charts in JyotiSoft. Updated 2026-10-19.
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