Upaniṣads · Gaṇapati 3.2
॥
Devanāgarī
अव पश्चात्तात् । अव पुरस्तात् । अवोत्तरात्तात् । अव दक्षिणात्तात् । अव चोर्ध्वात्तात् । अवाधरात्तात् । सर्वतो मां पाहि पाहि समन्तात्
Transliteración (IAST)
ava paścāttāt | ava purastāt | avottarāttāt | ava dakṣiṇāttāt | ava cordhvāttāt | avādharāttāt | sarvato māṃ pāhi pāhi samantāt
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
अव पश्चात्-तात् अव पुरस्तात्ava paścāt-tāt ava purastātprotect from behind, protect from before
अव उत्तरात्-तात् अव दक्षिणात्-तात्ava uttarāt-tāt ava dakṣiṇāt-tātprotect from the north, protect from the south
अव च ऊर्ध्वात्-तात् अव अधरात्-तात्ava ca ūrdhvāt-tāt ava adharāt-tātprotect from above, protect from below
सर्वतः मां पाहिsarvataḥ māṃ pāhiguard me from everywhere
पाहि समन्तात्pāhi samantātguard on all sides
Traducción
Protect from behind, protect from before, protect from the north, protect from the south, protect from above, protect from below; guard me from everywhere, guard on all sides.
Versión
da7b93911fb3 · publicado 12 ago 2026, 5:00:00 UTC
Disponible enRUENPasa de verso en verso con
Eight requests in a row, all about one thing: from every side. Enumerating the directions in a protective prayer is an ancient device found among all peoples; in Sanskrit such a prayer is called a kavaca, "armor." Its point is that no direction should remain from which protection has not been sought.
Yet it is worth seeing what lies behind this, for it is not merely a turn of phrase. Behind the list of directions stands an acknowledgment of one's own exposure: a person understands that he is vulnerable from every side and that he cannot close himself off from all of them by himself. This acknowledgment, to my mind, constitutes the very essence of every prayer for protection; and that is why such prayers are never proud, however long they run.
Let us relate this to the first line of the book, for the comparison suggests itself. The one of whom it was said "you are that very thing" asks, a few lines later, to be shut in from below and above; and if he were the one he addresses, he would have no need of eight directions. The Vaiṣṇava side has prayers of this kind of its own and keeps them in practice: the Narasiṃha-kavaca, the Govinda-dāmodara; and their basis is the same as here — the defenselessness of the one who asks.
The last word, samantāt, "all around, on every side," is added to the sarvataḥ, "from everywhere," already said, as if for good measure. This repetition is not carelessness of style: so speaks a man who is afraid, and who, having listed everything, still adds "and everywhere in general."