Om Namo Narayanaya (Sanskrit: ॐ नमो नारायणाय, romanized: Om Namo Nārāyanāya, lit. 'I bow to the Ultimate Reality, Narayana'), also referred to as the Ashtakshara (eight syllables), and the Narayana Mantra, is among the most popular mantras of Hinduism, and the principal mantra of Vaishnavism. It is an invocation addressed to Narayana, the god of preservation, the form of Vishnu who lays in eternal rest beneath the cosmic waters.