ओं शम् नो मित्रः शम् वरुणः शम् नो भवतु अर्यमा शम् नः इन्द्रः बृहस्पतिः शम् नो विष्णुः उरुक्रमः नमः ब्रह्मणे नमस्ते वायो त्वम् एव प्रत्यक्षम् ब्रह्म असि त्वाम् एव प्रत्यक्षम् ब्रह्म वदिष्यामि ऋतम् वदिष्यामि सत्यम् वदिष्यामि तत् माम् अवतु तत् वक्तारम् अवतु अवतु माम् अवतु वक्तारम् ओं शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः
oṃ śam no mitraḥ śam varuṇaḥ śam no bhavatu aryamā śam naḥ indraḥ bṛhaspatiḥ śam no viṣṇuḥ urukramaḥ namaḥ brahmaṇe namaste vāyo tvam eva pratyakṣam brahma asi tvām eva pratyakṣam brahma vadiṣyāmi ṛtam vadiṣyāmi satyam vadiṣyāmi tat mām avatu tat vaktāram avatu avatu mām avatu vaktāram oṃ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ
Oṁ. May Mitra be weal to us, weal Varuṇa; may Aryaman be weal to us; weal to us Indra and Bṛhaspati; weal to us Viṣṇu of the wide stride! Homage to Brahman! Homage to you, Vāyu! You are the visible Brahman; you, the visible Brahman, shall I proclaim. I shall speak the right, I shall speak the true. May That protect me, may it protect the speaker; may it protect me, may it protect the speaker. Oṁ. Peace! Peace! Peace!
7cf896853f66 · published Jul 26, 2026, 7:50:25 PM UTC
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The Taittirīya opens with a śānti-pāṭha — a prayer for peace before the teaching, and that prayer is a whole charter of relations with the universe. śaṁ no mitraḥ — "weal to us Mitra": the guardians of the cosmic friendships and orders are named — Mitra (day, friendship), Varuṇa (night, law), Aryaman (the way of the forefathers), Indra (strength), Bṛhaspati (the sacred word), and viṣṇur urukramaḥ — "Viṣṇu of the wide stride" (the epithet of the three steps that embraced the universe): before opening his mouth about Brahman the pupil begs for concord with every tier of the world — knowledge begun in enmity with the cosmos will not rise.
namas te vāyo tvam eva pratyakṣaṁ brahmāsi — "homage to you, Vāyu: you are the visible (pratyakṣa — 'before the eyes') Brahman": of all the powers the wind-breath is chosen: Brahman, who cannot be seen, is most nearly manifest in what is forever moving and quickening all — in breath (the Praśna and the Kena say the same: the prāṇa is the first envoy of the Unseen). And the vows: ṛtaṁ vadiṣyāmi satyaṁ vadiṣyāmi — "I shall speak the right, I shall speak the true": ṛta is the cosmic order, satya fidelity to fact: the pupil's speech swears allegiance in advance both to the heavenly order and to earthly truth.
tan mām avatu tad vaktāram avatu — "may That protect me, may it protect the speaker": a double petition — for the listener and for the teacher: learning is handed on by a pair, and both ends of the wire need protection. oṁ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ — a threefold peace: from disturbances celestial, elemental and inward. So is the threshold of all genuine teaching built: peace with the universe, homage to the Manifest, the vow of truth — and only then the first word of the lesson.