Sanskrit carries a body of chanted verse that has been recited, unbroken, for around three thousand years — longer than any other living oral tradition. This section gives you the mantras and the verses in full, word by word, so you know exactly what you are saying; and a plain, honest account of what the science does and does not show about chanting.
Everything here is offered as language, meaning and practice — not as medicine. Where research exists it is described accurately, including how weak some of it is. Where claims are popular but unsupported, that is said plainly too. Nothing on this page is a treatment for any illness.
ॐ
The syllable taken as the sound of the whole — beginning, middle and end together.
Word by word → Rigveda 3.62.1010 wordsॐ भूर्भुवः स्वः ।तत्सवितुर्वरेण्यं ।
We contemplate the glorious light of the sun, the giver of life. May it set our thinking in motion.
Word by word → Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1.3.288 wordsअसतो मा सद्गमय ।तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय ।
From the unreal lead me to the real; from darkness lead me to light; from death lead me to deathlessness.
Word by word → Taittiriya Upanishad (Krishna Yajurveda)8 wordsॐ सह नाववतु ।सह नौ भुनक्तु ।
May we two be protected together; may we be nourished together; may we work together with vigour; may our study be full of light; may we never quarrel.
Word by word → A traditional peace invocation6 wordsसर्वे भवन्तु सुखिनः ।सर्वे सन्तु निरामयाः ।
May all be happy; may all be free from illness; may all see what is good; may no one come to sorrow.
Word by word → Isha Upanishad6 wordsॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदंपूर्णात्पूर्णमुदच्यते ।
That is whole; this is whole. From the whole, the whole arises. Take the whole from the whole, and the whole alone remains.
Word by word → Rigveda 7.59.128 wordsॐ त्र्यम्बकं यजामहेसुगन्धिं पुष्टिवर्धनम् ।
We honour the three-eyed one, fragrant, who increases nourishment. As a ripe cucumber is freed from its stem, may I be freed from death — not from deathlessness.
Word by word → Guru Gita5 wordsगुरुर्ब्रह्मा गुरुर्विष्णुःगुरुर्देवो महेश्वरः ।
The teacher is the creator, the preserver and the transformer; the teacher is the ultimate itself. To that teacher, I bow.
Word by word → Traditional6 wordsया कुन्देन्दुतुषारहारधवलाया शुभ्रवस्त्रावृता ।
She who is white as jasmine, the moon and a garland of frost; who is wrapped in bright cloth; whose hand is adorned with the veena; who is seated on a white lotus.
Word by word → Traditional morning verse5 wordsकराग्रे वसते लक्ष्मीःकरमध्ये सरस्वती ।
At the tip of the hand dwells Lakshmi; in the middle of the hand, Saraswati; at the base of the hand, Govinda. In the morning, look at your hand.
Word by word → Traditional4 wordsत्वमेव माता च पिता त्वमेवत्वमेव बन्धुश्च सखा त्वमेव ।
You alone are my mother and my father; you alone my kinsman and my friend; you alone my knowledge and my wealth; you alone are everything to me.
Word by word → Traditional invocation6 wordsवक्रतुण्ड महाकायसूर्यकोटि समप्रभ ।
Curved-trunked, great-bodied, with the radiance of ten million suns: make my work free of obstacles, in all tasks, always.
Word by word →
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