The verse and its meaning · Vedas · Vedas — Peace Chants

Peace from Sky to Self

Shukla Yajurveda 36.17

द्यौः शान्तिरन्तरिक्षं शान्तिः पृथिवी शान्तिरापः शान्तिरोषधयः शान्तिः। वनस्पतयः शान्तिर्विश्वे देवाः शान्तिर्ब्रह्म शान्तिः सर्वं शान्तिः शान्तिरेव शान्तिः सा मा शान्तिरेधि ॥

Meaning · English

Peace the sky, the mid-air, the earth; peace the waters, plants and trees; peace all the gods, the sacred word, all things; peace itself. May that peace be mine.

The chant moves through the world and asks each part of it to be at peace. First the sky above, then the mid-air between, where wind and cloud move, then the earth below. Then the waters, the plants and the great trees. Then all the gods together, and the sacred word, which the old commentators take as the Veda and later readers as the ground of everything. Then all things at once, and peace as it is in itself. Only at the end does the one chanting ask for anything: that this same peace come to them.

1. Sit where you study, just before you open the book or just after you close it. 2. Bring the sky to mind and ask that it be at peace. Then do the same for the mid-air, and then the earth beneath you. 3. Go on in the same order: the waters, the plants, the trees, all the gods, the sacred word, all things. 4. If the mind drifts, go back to the last thing you named and continue from there. 5. Last of all, ask that the same peace be yours. Stop there, and begin or end your study.

अर्थ · हिन्दी

In this book

• Before: Hearing and Seeing Good · Rig Veda 1.89.8
• All of Vedas · Ask Krishna about it

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