त्र्यम्बकं यजामहे सुगन्धिं पुष्टिवर्धनम् ।
उर्वारुकमिव बन्धनान्मृत्योर्मुक्षीय मामृतात् ॥
tryambakaṃ yajāmahe sugandhiṃ puṣṭivardhanam |
urvārukamiva bandhanānmṛtyormukṣīya māmṛtāt ||
Meaning
We worship the three-eyed one (Tryambaka), fragrant, who increases nourishment and strength.
As the ripe cucumber is freed from its stalk, may I be freed from death, not from immortality.
About this bhajan
The last verse of Rigveda 7.59, in the mandala of Maharshi Vasishtha, and the same mantra stands in the Yajurveda (Taittiriya Samhita 1.8.6). The Rigvedic index calls it "raudri mrityu-vimochani", the verse of Rudra that frees from death. Its picture is homely: a ripe urvaruka, a cucumber-melon, comes away from the vine without being torn. Sayana explains Tryambaka as the father of the three, Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra, and "a-amritat" as "until liberation". It is chanted at the bedside of the sick, in Rudrabhishekam, and by pilgrims at Trimbakeshwar, whose Jyotirlinga bears the same name.
Ṛgveda 7.59.12 (maṇḍala of Vasiṣṭha; devatā Rudra), Sanskrit Wikisource ऋग्वेदः सूक्तं ७.५९ with Sāyaṇa's bhāṣya; also Taittirīya Saṃhitā 1.8.6.2