shantipeaceupanishadvedanta

Om Purnamadah Purnamidam

Om Purnamadah Purnamidam in English · English

🕉️ hindu·📿 3× repetitions·🕐 Before and after reading scripture, before meditation, or any time as a contemplation on wholeness·📜 Isha Upanishad (Shanti Patha); also Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 5.1.1

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हिन्दी / देवनागरी తెలుగు தமிழ்ಕನ್ನಡ മലയാളം ગુજરાતી বাংলা ଓଡ଼ିଆ ਪੰਜਾਬੀEnglish

Origin & Story

Isha Upanishad (Shanti Patha); also Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 5.1.1 · Vedic seers (Shukla Yajurveda tradition) · Ancient (Vedic)

This verse opens the Isha Upanishad as its peace invocation. In a single image — the whole (purna) — it captures the non-dual vision of Vedanta: the infinite Brahman is complete, the universe born from it is complete, and the source remains complete even as the world pours forth. For millennia it has framed the study of the Upanishads, reminding the seeker that the Self they search for is already full and lacking nothing.

✦ As told in scripture

Teachers of Vedanta say this verse can shift a life: where the mind constantly feels it lacks something, the mantra insists you are already whole. Seekers who sit with 'Purnamadah Purnamidam' describe a quiet falling-away of grasping and anxiety — not because anything was added, but because they glimpsed the completeness that was never missing.

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Complete Text with Meaning

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Verse 1

Om Purnamadah Purnamidam Purnat Purnamudachyate Purnasya Purnamadaya Purnamevavashishyate

Meaning:That is whole; this is whole. From the whole, the whole arises. When the whole is taken from the whole, the whole alone remains. Om, peace, peace, peace.

Verse 2

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti

Meaning:It teaches that the infinite (Brahman) and the manifest world are both complete — and that the infinite, even as the universe springs from it, loses nothing and remains forever full.

Word-by-Word Meaning

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Purnam Adah🔊That (the unmanifest Absolute, Brahman) is whole, complete

Purnam Idam🔊This (the manifest universe) is also whole, complete

Purnat Purnamudachyate🔊From the whole, the whole comes forth

Purnasya Purnamadaya🔊Taking the whole away from the whole

Purnamevavashishyate🔊The whole alone still remains

Shanti🔊Peace — invoked thrice, for body, mind and spirit

Benefits of Chanting Om Purnamadah Purnamidam

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The 'Shanti Patha' (peace invocation) of the Isha Upanishad — chanted to open and close study of the Upanishads

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Expresses the heart of Vedanta: the infinite remains infinite even as the universe arises from it

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Recited before sacred reading, satsang and meditation to settle the mind in wholeness

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A profound contemplation that dissolves the sense of lack — 'you are already complete'

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Sealed with 'Om Shanti Shanti Shanti', the threefold peace

How to Chant Om Purnamadah Purnamidam

Repetitions3times

Best TimeBefore and after reading scripture, before meditation, or any time as a contemplation on wholeness

Chant slowly, letting the repeated word 'purnam' (whole, full) settle in the mind. Recite it before opening a sacred text and again on closing, finishing with 'Om Shanti Shanti Shanti'. Rest for a moment in the felt sense of completeness it points to.

Frequently Asked Questions

This page shows the complete Om Purnamadah Purnamidam written in the English script — the same Sanskrit/Hindi verses, transliterated character-by-character so you can read and chant comfortably. Tap any line (or the ▶ button) to hear it recited aloud.

Yes — only the script changes; the words and their meaning are the original. The verse-by-verse meaning, benefits and how-to-chant guidance on this page apply exactly the same.

'That is whole, this is whole; from the whole the whole arises; take the whole from the whole, and the whole still remains.' It declares that both the infinite Absolute (Brahman) and the manifest world are complete, and that the infinite is undiminished even as creation flows from it.

It is the Shanti Patha (peace invocation) of the Isha Upanishad, and also appears in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (5.1.1). It is one of the most celebrated peace mantras of Vedanta.

Traditionally before and after studying the Upanishads or any sacred text, and before meditation — to invoke peace and to frame the study within the truth of wholeness.