Here is the complete and clear meaning (arth) of the Navkar (Namokar) Mantra, preserved in the traditional Jain sense.

Mantra (Prakrit, common recital)

• Namo Arihantāṇaṁ
• Namo Siddhāṇaṁ
• Namo Āyariyāṇaṁ
• Namo Uvajjhāyāṇaṁ
• Namo Loe Savva Sāhūṇaṁ
• Eso paṇca namokkāro, savva-pāva-ppaṇāsaṇo;

maṅgalāṇaṁ ca savvesiṁ, paḍhamaṁ havai maṅgalaṁ.

Simple, faithful meaning

• I bow to the Arihants: the enlightened beings who have destroyed inner enemies (kashāyas) and reveal the path.
• I bow to the Siddhas: the liberated souls, forever free from karma, residing at the apex (Siddha-śilā).
• I bow to the Āchāryas: the heads of the Jain order who uphold discipline and doctrine.
• I bow to the Upādhyāyas: the learned teachers who impart scriptural knowledge.
• I bow to all Sādhus/Sādhvīs: the monks and nuns who practice the path with right faith, knowledge, and conduct.
• This fivefold obeisance destroys all sinful karmas and is, of all auspicious things, the foremost auspicious.

Clear sense (what the mantra is teaching)

• We do not ask for favors or material gains. We reverentially salute pure qualities wherever they are fully present.
• By contemplating and honoring these five highest states (Panch Parmeshthi), our passions calm, humility arises, and karmic impurity is shed.
• The mantra is thus the highest mangal (auspiciousness) because it turns our mind from attachment/aversion toward purity and liberation.

Word-by-word nuance (brief)

• Arihant: “Ari” (inner enemies) + “hant” (destroyer) — the living Ford-makers who teach.
• Siddha: the perfected, bodiless, eternally blissful liberated souls.
• Āchārya: guardians of discipline (charitra) and conduct of the order.
• Upādhyāya: expositors of āgamas and tattvas.
• Sādhu/Sādhvī: practitioners striving for self-conquest through vows and restraint.
• Savva-pāva-ppaṇāsaṇo: “destroyer of all pāpa” — reduces the bondage/obscuration of karma through right reverence.
• Paḍhamaṁ havai maṅgalaṁ: the first, supreme auspiciousness.

Digambar and Śvetāmbara traditions

• The wording, order, and meaning are the same in essence. Minor differences are only in pronunciation/transliteration (e.g., Āyariyāṇaṁ/Āchāryāṇam; Uvajjhāyāṇaṁ/Upādhyāyāṇam). Both uphold the five obeisances and the closing verse declaring it the foremost mangal.

How to hold it in the heart (bhāva)

• Recite with humility and focus on the qualities, not personalities.
• Let each line awaken the corresponding virtue in you: enlightenment, purity, discipline, learning, and practice.
• Begin the day or any task with Navkar to center the mind and lessen passions; this aligns you with the path of liberation.

This is the traditional, universally accepted meaning in Jain Dharma.