शांति मंत्र
Shanti Mantras
Four traditional prayers for peace
ॐ सर्वे भवन्तु सुखिनः सर्वे सन्तु निरामयाः।
Om sarve bhavantu sukhinah sarve santu niramayah.
सर्वे भद्राणि पश्यन्तु मा कश्चिद्दुःखभाग्भवेत्॥
Sarve bhadrani pashyantu ma kashchid duhkhabhag bhavet.
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः॥
Om shantih shantih shantih.
ॐ असतो मा सद्गमय।
Om asato ma sadgamaya.
तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय।
Tamaso ma jyotirgamaya.
मृत्योर्मा अमृतं गमय॥
Mrityor ma amritam gamaya.
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः॥
Om shantih shantih shantih.
ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात् पूर्णमुदच्यते।
Om purnamadah purnamidam purnat purnamudachyate.
पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते॥
Purnasya purnamadaya purnam evavashishyate.
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः॥
Om shantih shantih shantih.
ॐ सह नाववतु।
Om saha navavatu.
सह नौ भुनक्तु।
Saha nau bhunaktu.
सह वीर्यं करवावहै।
Saha viryam karavavahai.
तेजस्विनावधीतमस्तु मा विद्विषावहै॥
Tejasvi navadhitamastu ma vidvishavahai.
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः॥
Om shantih shantih shantih.
When it is sung or recited
When they are recited: Shanti mantras are traditionally said at the beginning or end of a puja, a prayer, a class or a talk. Purnamadah and Saha Navavatu are peace invocations of the Upanishads, and teacher and student say Saha Navavatu together before study. Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah is widely recited as a prayer for the well-being of all.
Meaning
Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah asks that all beings be happy, free from illness, able to see what is good, and spared from sorrow. Asato Ma Sadgamaya asks to be led from the unreal to the real, from darkness to light, and from death to immortality. Purnamadah says that the whole is complete: that (the infinite) is whole, this (the world) is whole, and when wholeness is taken from wholeness, wholeness remains. Saha Navavatu is a prayer for teacher and student: may we be protected together, nourished together, work with energy, may our study be bright, and may we never quarrel. Each prayer ends with Om shanti said three times. The three utterances are traditionally said to ask for peace from three kinds of obstacles: those from the outer world, from divine forces, and from within ourselves.
Please note
All four are traditional. Asato Ma Sadgamaya is from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (1.3.28) and is also called a Pavamana mantra. Purnamadah is the peace invocation of the Isha Upanishad and also appears in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. Saha Navavatu is the peace invocation of the Taittiriya and Katha Upanishads. For Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah we found no reliable information about its source text, so it is listed as traditional. Some printings of Asato Ma Sadgamaya leave out the opening Om and the closing shanti line; here every prayer is given with them, as in the shanti mantra tradition.
Text compared with: shlokam.org, en.wikipedia.org, hi.wikipedia.org. A comparison with printed editions is still in progress. Wording differs between sources, so follow your priest’s version.