Sanskrit for ‘homage formula’, the Namaskāra-mantra is the fundamental religious formula of the Jains. A daily prayer always recited in the original Prākrit, it pays homage to the supreme beings or five types of holy being:

1. arhat – enlightened teacher
2. siddha – liberated soul
3. ācārya – mendicant leader
4. upādhyāya – preceptor or teacher
5. sādhu – mendicant

Note that chanting the mantra is not praying for something, material or otherwise. Also known as the Pañca-namaskāra-mantra or ‘Fivefold Homage mantra’, it is also called the Navakāra-mantra or Navkār-mantra in modern Indian languages.