Birthday Blessing
A prayer for their year ahead, offered in their name.
A birthday in a Hindu home is not only cake and candles; it is a janmadin, a day the family pauses to ask for light on the year ahead. This blessing carries their name into one of the oldest prayers for that journey.
Begin this blessing, from $7.99
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The prayer at its heart
Word for word, the way it has always been said. Their name goes at its head, and your words travel with it. The Sanskrit never arrives alone: a transliteration, so anyone can say it aloud, and its meaning in plain English.
Paśyema Śaradaḥ Śatam: A Hundred Autumns
तच्चक्षुर्देवहितं पुरस्ताच्छुक्रमुच्चरत् । पश्येम शरदः शतं जीवेम शरदः शतं शृणुयाम शरदः शतं प्र ब्रवाम शरदः शतमदीनाः स्याम शरदः शतं भूयश्च शरदः शतात् ॥
tac cakṣur devahitaṁ purastāc chukram uccarat | paśyema śaradaḥ śataṁ jīvema śaradaḥ śataṁ śṛṇuyāma śaradaḥ śataṁ pra bravāma śaradaḥ śatam adīnāḥ syāma śaradaḥ śataṁ bhūyaś ca śaradaḥ śatāt ||
That radiant eye, ordained by the gods, rises in the east. May we see a hundred autumns; may we live a hundred autumns; may we hear a hundred autumns; may we speak a hundred autumns; may we stand unbowed for a hundred autumns, and beyond a hundred autumns.
See a finished Birthday blessing, names and all → (an example family)
Take your time. A blessing is care made into words, and it is prepared on your schedule.
