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In Hinduism, there is importance of taking bath before doing rituals, and an important part of ritual purification in Hinduism is the bathing of the entire body.

It is considered auspicious to perform this form of purification before any festival, before visiting a temple or performing a worship. One not only purifies one's body but also the mind during taking a bath.

Below is one famous shloka that I am aware of, typically used while taking a bath

गङ्गेच यमुने चैव गोदावरी सरस्वति । नर्मदा सिन्धु कावेरी जलेऽस्मिन् संनिधिं कुरु ॥

Meaning: In this water, I invoke the presence of divine waters from the rivers Ganga, Yamuna, Godavari, Saraswati, Narmada, Sindhu and Kaveri. These rivers are considered as goddesses and I pray to them for considering me for their blessings.

Are there any other similar shloka/mantra recommended in Hindu scriptures which one can chant when taking a bath?

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    Here is a similar shloka - गंगा सिंधु सरस्वति च यमुना गोदावरि नर्मदा । कावेरि शरयू महेन्द्रतनया चर्मण्वती वेदिका ।। क्षिप्रा वेत्रवती महासुरनदी ख्याता जया गण्डकी । पूर्णा:पूर्णजलै:समुद्रसहिता:कुर्वन्तु मे मंगलम् ।। -May rivers Ganga, Sindhu, Saraswati, Yamuna, Godavari, Narmada, Kaveri, Sharyu, Mahendratanaya, Chambala, Vedika, Kshipra, Vetravati (a rivulet), chiefly the Mahasurnadi, Jaya and Gandaki become sacred and absolute, and along with the sea, shower benevolence on me.
    – SwiftPushkar
    Apr 23, 2017 at 7:58
  • If you have the book mentioned in my answer then you will get the descriptions of how to bath including the given stotram on its 45th page.
    – Rickross
    Apr 23, 2017 at 8:23
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    Here is the link of the book Nitya Karma Puja Prakash - ia802504.us.archive.org/34/items/…
    – SwiftPushkar
    Apr 23, 2017 at 8:33

2 Answers 2

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There is stotram comprised of 12 names of Ganga Devi. It is said that whoever recites this stotram (before taking bath) in front of any water body Gangaji immediately obliges and comes into that water body making that water most pure by her grace.

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Transliteration(ITRANS)

nandinI naLinI sItA mAlatI cha mahApagA
viShNupAdAbjasaMbhUtA ga~NgA tripathagAminI
bhAgIrathI bhogavatI jAhnavI tridasheshvarI
dvAdashaitAni nAmAni yatra yatra jalAshaye
snAnodyataH smarennityaM tatra tatra vasAmyahaM

The above verses in bold means that Ganga Devi once said that if anyone who is gong to bath utter these 12 of her names then she will grace the water body by her presence. So, by means of this sloka anyone can effectively bath in Ganges.

Needless to say, one who is bathing naked should not chant this sloka.

Also, according to Scriptures there are 5 kinds of bathing. Not all of them require water bath. One of them is called Mantra Snana or Brahma Snana. Here purification is accomplished by means of chanting mantras only. If you are looking for these info then I will update this answer with them later.

Source of the stotram is the Gita Press Book called Nitya Karma Puja Prakash (check around page 45 where it is describing how to bath properly).

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    nice. i will wait for community to hopefully put more answer for this, from scriptures, if any!
    – AADHinduism
    Apr 23, 2017 at 13:57
  • btw, taking bath naked is not allowed - should atleast have koupinam (komanam or loin cloth). they also say you should do sankalpam before snanam.
    – mar
    Apr 23, 2017 at 18:49
  • @ram Yes not allowed but its worth to highlight that in today's context. And yes all kinds of baths (nitya, naimmitika, grahana, nadi, tirtha etc) are preceded by sankalpas.
    – Rickross
    Apr 24, 2017 at 4:52
  • @AADHinduism The given sloka is also from one of the Puranas. But in this case we don't know the explicit source that's all.
    – Rickross
    Apr 24, 2017 at 4:54
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गङ्गेच यमुने चैव गोदावरी सरस्वती ।
नर्मदा सिन्धु कावेरी जलेऽस्मिन् संनिधिं कुरु ॥

gaṅgeca yamune caiva godāvarī sarasvatī ।
narmadā sindhu kāverī jale'smin saṃnidhiṃ kuru ॥

gangecha yamune chaiva godavari sarasvati |
narmada sindhu kaveri jale'smin sannidhim kuru ||

Om Namo Narayanaya Om Namo Narayanaya Om Namo Narayanaya

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  • Ashtakshari mantra is not chanted during the bath. Pundarikaksha mantra is chanted.
    – Sarvabhouma
    Dec 9, 2017 at 3:35
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    You can also add some explanation.
    – Pandya ♦
    Dec 9, 2017 at 5:34
  • I mentioned above shloka while asking the Question itself. Do you know any additional/similar shloka that is usually chanted while taking bath?
    – AADHinduism
    Dec 9, 2017 at 15:38

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