Upanishads · Śvetāśvatara 3.6
॥
Devanāgarī
याम् इषुं गिरिशन्त हस्ते बिभर्ष्य् अस्तवे ।
शिवां गिरित्र तां कुरु मा हिंसीः पुरुषं जगत्
Transliteration (IAST)
yām iṣuṃ giriśanta haste bibharṣy astave /
śivāṃ giritra tāṃ kuru mā hiṃsīḥ puruṣaṃ jagat
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
याम् इषुम्yām iṣumwhat arrow; that arrow which
गिरिशन्तgiriśantaO giver of peace from the mountain; dweller on the mountain
हस्तेhastein the hand; with the hand
बिभर्षिbibharṣiThou holdest; Thou bearest
अस्तवेastaveto shoot; for loosing
शिवाम्śivāmbenign; gracious
गिरित्रgiritraO guardian of the mountain; who protects from the mountain
ताम् कुरुtām kurumake it; turn it
मा हिंसीःmā hiṃsīḥdo not harm; do not injure
पुरुषम्puruṣamman; the person
जगत्jagatand the living world; and everything that lives
Translation
That arrow which Thou holdest in Thy hand to shoot, O giver of peace from the mountain — make it benign, O guardian of the mountain: harm neither man nor the living world.
Version
dd7861bc8d9d · published Jul 28, 2026, 2:13:46 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The second prayer from the Śatarudriya, and it is more direct still: what is asked is not that the weapon be turned aside but that it be turned to good. The arrow is neither taken from God nor declared to be someone else's — the request is that its action be changed.
In this lies the whole structure of Vedic prayer in trouble. It does not deny that the trouble comes from the Lord, nor try to exempt Him from responsibility; it asks the very one who holds the arrow to turn it otherwise. Hence too the later conclusion of Vedānta: the same power that binds also unbinds, and therefore one should turn not to another but to Him.
The petition is widened to the utmost: "harm neither man nor the living world". The suppliant does not ask for himself alone; into the circle of his care is taken everything alive, jagat, literally "that which moves".
And one more nicety. Both addresses — giriśanta and giritra — are bound to the mountain: "who quiets from the mountain" and "who guards from the mountain". In the Veda the mountain is an image of the height from which all is visible; and so the prayer is addressed to Him who sees the whole, while the suppliant sees only his own patch.