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Play the video and follow the stotra text below.
1. Om Ketave Namah
2. Om Sthoolashirase Namah
3. Om Shiromaatraaya Namah
4. Om Dhvajaakritaye Namah
5. Om Navamagrahaaya Namah
6. Om Simhikaasureesambhootaaya Namah
7. Om Mahaabheetikaraaya Namah
8. Om Chatravarnaaya Namah
9. Om Pingalaakshaya Namah
10. Om Phulladhoomrasankaashaaya Namah
11. Om Teekshnadamshtraaya Namah
12. Om Mahaarogaaya Namah
13. Om Raktanetraaya Namah
14. Om Chitrakaarine Namah
15. Om Teevrakopaaya Namah
16. Om Mahaasuraaya Namah
17. Om Krodhanidhaye Namah
18. Om Paapakantakaaya Namah
19. Om Chhaayaagrahaaya Namah
20. Om Antyagrahaaya Namah
21. Om Mahaasheershaaya Namah
22. Om Sooryaaraye Namah
23. Om Pushpavadgraahine Namah
24. Om Varadahastaaya Namah
25. Om Gadaapaanaye Namah
26. Om Chitrashubhradharaaya Namah
27. Om Chitrarathaaya Namah
28. Om Chitradhvajapataakaaya Namah
29. Om Kulutthabhakshakaaya Namah
30. Om Vaidooryaabharanaaya Namah
31. Om Utpaatajanakaaya Namah
32. Om Shikhinendakaaya Namah
33. Om Shukamitraaya Namah
34. Om Mandasakhaaya Namah
35. Om Antarvedeeshvaraaya Namah
36. Om Jaimineegotrajaaya Namah
37. Om Chitraguptaatmane Namah
38. Om Dakshinaabhimukhaaya Namah
39. Om Ghanavarnaaya Namah
40. Om Ghoraaya Namah
41. Om Mukundavarapradaaya Namah
42. Om Mahaasurakulodbhavaaya Namah
43. Om Lambadehaaya Namah
44. Om Shikhine Namah
45. Om Utpaataroopadharaaya Namah
46. Om Mrityuputraaya Namah
47. Om Kaalaagnisannibhaaya Namah
48. Om Narapeethakaaya Namah
49. Om Sarvopadravakaarakaaya Namah
50. Om Vyaadhinaashakaraaya Namah
51. Om Analaaya Namah
52. Om Grahanakaarine Namah
53. Om Chitraprasootaaya Namah
54. Om Adrishyaaya Namah
55. Om Apasavyaprachaarine Namah
56. Om Navamepaadaaya Namah
57. Om Uparaagagocharaaya Namah
58. Om Panchameshokadaaya Namah
59. Om Purushakarmane Namah
60. Om Tureeyasthe Sukhapradaaya Namah
61. Om Triteeyevairadaaya Namah
62. Om Paapagrahaaya Namah
63. Om Sphotakakaarakaaya Namah
64. Om Praananaathaaya Namah
65. Om Panchame Shramakaraaya Namah
66. Om Dviteeye Asphutavaakpradaaya Namah
67. Om Vishaakulita Vaktraaya Namah
68. Om Kaamaroopine Namah
69. Om Chaturthemaatrinaashakaaya Namah
70. Om Navamepitrinaashakaaya Namah
71. Om Antevairapradaaya Namah
72. Om Simhadamshaaya Namah
73. Om Satye Anritavate Namah
74. Om Sutaanandanabandhakaaya Namah
75. Om Sarpaakshijaataaya Namah
76. Om Karmaraashyudbhavaaya Namah
77. Om Upaantekeertidaaya Namah
78. Om Saptamekalahapradaaya Namah
79. Om Oordhvamoordajaaya Namah
80. Om Anangaaya Namah
81. Om Ashtamevyaadhikartre Namah
82. Om Dhanebahusukhapradaaya Namah
83. Om Jananerogadaaya Namah
84. Om Grihottamsaaya Namah
85. Om Asheshajanapoojitaaya Namah
86. Om Paapadrishtaye Namah
87. Om Khecharaaya Namah
88. Om Shaambhavaaya Namah
89. Om Nataaya Namah
90. Om Shaashvataaya Namah
91. Om Shubhaashubhaphalapradaaya Namah
92. Om Sudhaapaayine Namah
93. Om Dhoomraaya Namah
94. Om Simhaasanaaya Namah
95. Om Raveendudyutishamanaaya Namah
96. Om Ajitaaya Namah
97. Om Vichitrakapolasyandanaaya Namah
98. Om Bhaktavatsalaaya Namah
99. Om Karaalavadanaaya Namah
100. Om Raktalochanaaya Namah
101. Om Pingalaakshaaya Namah
102. Om Vidaahakaaya Namah
103. Om Bhaktarakshakaaya Namah
104. Om Bhaktaabheeshtaphalapradaaya Namah
105. Om Ketumoortaye Namah
106. Om Kapilaakshaaya Namah
107. Om Kaalaagnisannibhaaya Namah
108. Om Himagarbhaaya Namah
Iti Shree Ketu Ashtottara Shatanaamaavali Samaptaha
Meaning
Ketu Ashtottara Shatanamavali gives the 108 names of Ketu, ninth and last in the navagraha list. It opens Om Ketave Namah, Om Sthulashirase Namah, Om Dhvajakrutaye Namah. That third name is the one to hold on to: dhvaja is a banner and akriti is form, so Ketu is being called the one shaped like a flag. He is the southern lunar node, a chaya graha with no body of his own.
Significance
The word ketu is older than the graha. In early Sanskrit it means a banner, a bright sign, a comet, anything that appears in the sky and is read as a mark. Dhvajakruti keeps that older sense alive inside the namavali, which is why the flag turns up in his iconography and on temple banners rather than as a later decoration. The Puranic half of the story is the other one: when Vishnu severed Svarbhanu after he drank the amrita, the head became Rahu and the trunk became Ketu, so the two are halves of one asura and sit permanently opposite each other in the chart, one hundred and eighty degrees apart. Jyotisha then reads Ketu as moksha karaka, the graha of detachment, of endings, of what a person is finished with rather than what they are chasing. That last reading belongs to jyotisha, not to the Puranas, and it is worth keeping the two apart. In the Vimshottari scheme Ketu holds Ashwini, Magha and Mula, and his dasha runs seven years. Tradition holds that Ketu is approached calmly. The names do not ask him to go away; they name him for what he is.
How and when to chant
Ketu is almost always recited with Rahu, and the reason is that the two nodes are a single axis, so parihara for one alone is considered incomplete. Tuesday is the common day, and rahu kala on the chosen day is the usual window. Light a lamp, keep a coconut, dark cloth and dark flowers. Where families follow the navagraha grain correspondences, horse gram, huruli in Kannada, is the grain given to Ketu. Some temples take a small flag or dhvaja as the offering, following the meaning of his name. For those who travel for navagraha parihara, Keezhperumpallam in Tamil Nadu is the Ketu sthala and is normally visited on the same trip as Thirunageswaram for Rahu.
Frequently asked questions
Why does the Ketu Ashtottara Shatanamavali name houses of the birth chart?
What do the names Kuluttha Bhakshaka and Vaiduryabharana say about Ketu?
Which lineage does the Ketu namavali give him?
When is the Ketu Ashtottara Shatanamavali usually recited?
How long does it take to recite the 108 names of Ketu?
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