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Mantra · Twelve Vedic verses that read A, U, M as waking, dream and sleep

Om Mantra

ॐ भद्रं कर्णेभिः शृणुयाम देवा भद्रं पश्येमाक्षभिर्यजत्राः । स्थिरैरङ्गैस्तुष्टुवांसस्तनूभिर्व्यशेम देवहितं यदायुः ॥

Also known as Mandukya Upanishad

In Devanagari, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and English — with the meaning of every word, and the one syllable most people pronounce wrongly.

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What the Om Mantra is

The Om mantra, the single syllable the Upanishads call the pranava, receives its fullest Vedic explanation in the Mandukya Upanishad, and that Upanishad is the text given here. It belongs to the Atharva Veda, names no author, and runs to twelve short prose verses, the shortest of the principal Upanishads. Its teaching moves in two passes. Verses 1 and 2 state that Om is all that was, is and will be, and that this Self is Brahman and has four quarters. Verses 3 to 7 describe the quarters: Vaishvanara in waking, Taijasa in dream, Prajna in dreamless sleep, and a fourth, called simply caturtha, which is none of the three. Verses 8 to 12 then lay the same quarters over the sounds of Om, A, U and M, with the fourth as the part of Om that has no sound. The text opens with the Atharva Veda peace invocation bhadram karnebhih, two verses taken from Rig Veda hymn 1.89.

A frog, Varuna and the Muktika's verdict

The Upanishad tells no story of its own; it is pure statement, and its setting has been supplied by later tradition. According to the Madhva tradition, the name comes from manduka, a frog: Varuna, lord of the waters, took the form of a frog and praised Hari with these verses. Other scholars connect the name with a Vedic line of teachers called the Mandukeyas, and the dating is disputed as well, with Hajime Nakamura and Patrick Olivelle placing the prose near the start of the common era and others several centuries earlier. Its standing rests on two later works. In the Muktika Upanishad, Rama tells Hanuman that the Mandukya alone is enough for one who seeks liberation; if knowledge does not come from it, the student should read the ten principal Upanishads, then thirty-two, then all one hundred and eight. In about the sixth or seventh century Gaudapada wrote 215 verses on it in four chapters, the first of which is read interleaved with the Upanishad's own prose. Adi Shankara, who called Gaudapada the teacher of his own teacher Govinda, commented on both together. The schools part ways here: Advaita treats the verses as Gaudapada's, while Madhva reads them as part of the revealed text itself.

The mantra, in six scripts

DevanagariSanskrit & Hindiॐ भद्रं कर्णेभिः शृणुयाम देवा भद्रं पश्येमाक्षभिर्यजत्राः । स्थिरैरङ्गैस्तुष्टुवांसस्तनूभिर्व्यशेम देवहितं यदायुः ॥

Tamilௐ பத்ரம் கர்ணேபிஃ ஶ்ருணுயாம தேவா பத்ரம் பஶ்யேமாக்ஷபிர்யஜத்ராஃ । ஸ்திரைரங்கைஸ்துஷ்டுவாம்ஸஸ்தநூபிர்வ்யஶேம தேவஹிதம் யதாயுஃ ॥

Teluguఓం భద్రం కర్ణేభిః శృణుయామ దేవా భద్రం పశ్యేమాక్షభిర్యజత్రాః । స్థిరైరఙ్గైస్తుష్టువాంసస్తనూభిర్వ్యశేమ దేవహితం యదాయుః ॥

Kannadaಓಂ ಭದ್ರಂ ಕರ್ಣೇಭಿಃ ಶೃಣುಯಾಮ ದೇವಾ ಭದ್ರಂ ಪಶ್ಯೇಮಾಕ್ಷಭಿರ್ಯಜತ್ರಾಃ । ಸ್ಥಿರೈರಙ್ಗೈಸ್ತುಷ್ಟುವಾಂಸಸ್ತನೂಭಿರ್ವ್ಯಶೇಮ ದೇವಹಿತಂ ಯದಾಯುಃ ॥

Malayalamഓം ഭദ്രം കര്ണേഭിഃ ശൃണുയാമ ദേവാ ഭദ്രം പശ്യേമാക്ഷഭിര്യജത്രാഃ । സ്ഥിരൈരങ്ഗൈസ്തുഷ്ടുവാംസസ്തനൂഭിര്വ്യശേമ ദേവഹിതം യദായുഃ ॥

EnglishRoman transliterationoṃ bhadraṃ karṇebhiḥ śṛṇuyāma devā bhadraṃ paśyemākṣabhiryajatrāḥ | sthirairaṅgaistuṣṭuvāṃsastanūbhirvyaśema devahitaṃ yadāyuḥ ||

“Om. O gods, may we hear with our ears what is good; O you who are worthy of worship, may we see with our eyes what is good. With steady limbs and bodies, singing your praise, may we live out the life span the gods have granted.”

ओमित्येतदक्षरमिदं: omityetadakṣaramidaṃ — Om, this syllable, is this
सर्वं: sarvaṃ — all
तस्योपव्याख्यानं: tasyopavyākhyānaṃ — its explanation (follows)
भूतं: bhūtaṃ — what was
भवद्: bhavad — what is
भविष्यदिति: bhaviṣyaditi — what will be
सर्वमोङ्कार: sarvamoṅkāra — all is Om
एव: eva — alone
यच्चान्यत्: yaccānyat — and whatever else
त्रिकालातीतं: trikālātītaṃ — beyond the three times
तदप्योङ्कार: tadapyoṅkāra — that too is Om
एव: eva — alone

Om Mantra lyrics in full

The twelve verses of the Mandukya Upanishad, preceded by the two-verse Atharva Veda peace invocation with which it is chanted.

All 14 verses, in Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and English, each with its meaning. Choose a script:

Download the Om Mantra PDFAll 14 verses with their meanings, in Sanskrit. Free to print and keep.

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Shanti Mantra 1

ॐ भद्रं कर्णेभिः शृणुयाम देवा भद्रं पश्येमाक्षभिर्यजत्राः ।
स्थिरैरङ्गैस्तुष्टुवांसस्तनूभिर्व्यशेम देवहितं यदायुः ॥

Om. O gods, may we hear with our ears what is good; O you who are worthy of worship, may we see with our eyes what is good. With steady limbs and bodies, singing your praise, may we live out the life span the gods have granted.

Shanti Mantra 2

स्वस्ति न इन्द्रो वृद्धश्रवाः स्वस्ति नः पूषा विश्ववेदाः ।
स्वस्ति नस्तार्क्ष्यो अरिष्टनेमिः स्वस्ति नो बृहस्पतिर्दधातु ॥ ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥

May Indra, of great fame, grant us well-being; may Pusha, who knows all, grant us well-being. May Tarkshya (Garuda), whose wheel is never broken, grant us well-being; may Brihaspati grant us well-being. Om, peace, peace, peace.

Verse 1

ओमित्येतदक्षरमिदं सर्वं तस्योपव्याख्यानं भूतं भवद् भविष्यदिति सर्वमोङ्कार एव ।
यच्चान्यत् त्रिकालातीतं तदप्योङ्कार एव ॥

Om, this syllable, is all this. What follows is its explanation: all that was, all that is and all that will be is Om alone. And whatever else lies beyond the three times, that too is Om alone.

Verse 2

सर्वं ह्येतद् ब्रह्मायमात्मा ब्रह्म सोऽयमात्मा चतुष्पात् ॥

All this is indeed Brahman. This Self is Brahman. This Self has four quarters.

Verse 3

जागरितस्थानो बहिष्प्रज्ञः सप्ताङ्ग एकोनविंशतिमुखः स्थूलभुग्वैश्वानरः प्रथमः पादः ॥

The first quarter is Vaishvanara, whose field is the waking state. Its awareness turns outward; it has seven limbs and nineteen mouths, and it enjoys gross objects.

Verse 4

स्वप्नस्थानोऽन्तःप्रज्ञः सप्ताङ्ग एकोनविंशतिमुखः प्रविविक्तभुक्तैजसो द्वितीयः पादः ॥

The second quarter is Taijasa, whose field is the dream state. Its awareness turns inward; it has seven limbs and nineteen mouths, and it enjoys subtle objects.

Verse 5

यत्र सुप्तो न कञ्चन कामं कामयते न कञ्चन स्वप्नं पश्यति तत् सुषुप्तम् ।
सुषुप्तस्थान एकीभूतः प्रज्ञानघन एवानन्दमयो ह्यानन्दभुक् चेतोमुखः प्राज्ञस्तृतीयः पादः ॥

Deep sleep is the state in which the sleeper desires nothing and sees no dream. The third quarter is Prajna, whose field is deep sleep: it has become one, a single mass of awareness, made of bliss and enjoying bliss, with consciousness as its doorway.

Verse 6

एष सर्वेश्वर एष सर्वज्ञ एषोऽन्तर्याम्येष योनिः सर्वस्य प्रभवाप्ययौ हि भूतानाम् ॥

This is the lord of all, this is the knower of all, this is the inner controller. This is the source of everything, for it is where beings arise and where they return.

Verse 7

नान्तःप्रज्ञं न बहिष्प्रज्ञं नोभयतःप्रज्ञं न प्रज्ञानघनं न प्रज्ञं नाप्रज्ञम् ।
अदृष्टमव्यवहार्यमग्राह्यमलक्षणमचिन्त्यमव्यपदेश्यमेकात्मप्रत्ययसारं प्रपञ्चोपशमं शान्तं शिवमद्वैतं चतुर्थं मन्यन्ते स आत्मा स विज्ञेयः ॥

Not aware inwardly, not aware outwardly, not aware both ways, not a mass of awareness, neither knowing nor unknowing. Unseen, beyond dealings, beyond grasp, without marks, unthinkable, beyond words, known only as the one Self, where the world comes to rest, peaceful, auspicious, without a second: this they call the fourth. That is the Self; that is what is to be known.

Verse 8

सोऽयमात्माध्यक्षरमोङ्कारोऽधिमात्रं पादा मात्रा मात्राश्च पादा अकार उकारो मकार इति ॥

This same Self, seen as a syllable, is Om, taken by its sounds. The quarters are the sounds and the sounds are the quarters: A, U and M.

Verse 9

जागरितस्थानो वैश्वानरोऽकारः प्रथमा मात्राऽऽप्तेरादिमत्त्वाद्वाऽऽप्नोति ह वै सर्वान् कामानादिश्च भवति य एवं वेद ॥

Vaishvanara, whose field is waking, is the sound A, the first sound, because it pervades and because it comes first. The verse says that one who knows this attains all desires and becomes first.

Verse 10

स्वप्नस्थानस्तैजस उकारो द्वितीया मात्रोत्कर्षादुभयत्वाद्वोत्कर्षति ह वै ज्ञानसन्ततिं समानश्च भवति नास्याब्रह्मवित्कुले भवति य एवं वेद ॥

Taijasa, whose field is dream, is the sound U, the second sound, because it is higher and because it stands between the two. The verse says that one who knows this raises the line of knowledge, is regarded equally by all, and that no one ignorant of Brahman is born in that family.

Verse 11

सुषुप्तस्थानः प्राज्ञो मकारस्तृतीया मात्रा मितेरपीतेर्वा मिनोति ह वा इदं सर्वमपीतिश्च भवति य एवं वेद ॥

Prajna, whose field is deep sleep, is the sound M, the third sound, because it measures and because everything merges into it. The verse says that one who knows this measures all this and becomes the place where all merges.

Verse 12

अमात्रश्चतुर्थोऽव्यवहार्यः प्रपञ्चोपशमः शिवोऽद्वैत एवमोङ्कार आत्मैव संविशत्यात्मनाऽऽत्मानं य एवं वेद ॥

The fourth has no sound; it is beyond all dealings, the stilling of the world, auspicious and without a second. So Om is the Self itself. The verse says that one who knows this enters the Self by the Self.

The syllable people get wrong

In sarvamoṅkāra (Verse 1) the m of Om changes to ṅ, the 'ng' of 'sing', because a k follows: say om-KAA-ra as ong-KAA-ra, with a long aa. Saying 'om-kar', with a closed m and a clipped final vowel, loses both the sandhi the text is written with and the long ā of kāra.

Questions

Verses 9 to 11 give reasons drawn from the sounds themselves. A is the first sound and pervades all speech, as waking is the first quarter and pervades experience (apti, adimattva). U is higher and stands between A and M, as dream lies between waking and sleep (utkarsha, ubhayatva). M closes the syllable, so it measures the other two and is where they merge, as everything merges in sleep (miti, apiti).

Yes. The twelve verses call it only caturtha, 'the fourth'; later commentary, beginning with Gaudapada's verses, uses the name turiya for the same idea. Verse 7 describes it almost entirely by negation: not aware inwardly or outwardly, unseen, beyond words, without a second. Verse 12 then says the fourth has no matra, no sound, so it corresponds to the silence in which the spoken Om ends rather than to any letter of it.

Shankara's commentary reads the seven limbs from the Chandogya Upanishad's picture of the cosmic Vaishvanara: heaven as head, the sun as eye, air as breath, space as trunk, water as bladder, earth as feet and fire as mouth. The nineteen mouths are the ways experience is taken in: five senses, five organs of action, five vital breaths, and mind, intellect, ego and memory. Verse 4 repeats both numbers for the dreamer, who enjoys subtle rather than gross objects.

It is the peace invocation said before the Upanishads of the Atharva Veda, so the Mundaka and Prashna Upanishads and the Ganesha Atharvashirsha open with it too. Its two verses come from Rig Veda hymn 1.89 (verses 8 and 6), asking to hear and see what is good and for well-being from Indra, Pushan, Tarkshya and Brihaspati. It differs from the dyauh shantih invocation of the Shukla Yajur Veda, which names sky, earth and waters as peace.

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