Original text
ॐ सह नाववतु । सह नौ भुनक्तु । सह वीर्यं करवावहै । तेजस्विनावधीतमस्तु मा विद्विषावहै । ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥ ॥ तैत्तिरीयोपनिषद्, ब्रह्मानन्दवल्ली ॥
Transliteration
Om saha navavatu. Saha nau bhunaktu. Saha viryam karavavahai. Tejasvi navadhitamastu. Ma vidvishavahai. Om shantih shantih shantih ||
A prayer for two
Sanskrit has a grammatical form most languages have lost: the dual, for exactly two people. This prayer is written in it. Nau means "us two", and the verbs karavavahai and vidvishavahai mean "may we two do" and "may we two hate". The two are the teacher and the student, about to begin a lesson. It is the shanti path that opens the Brahmananda Valli and the Bhrigu Valli of the Taittiriya Upanishad, and it is chanted at the start of the Katha and other Upanishads of the Krishna Yajurveda.
What it asks
- Saha navavatu: may He protect us both together.
- Saha nau bhunaktu: may He nourish us both together. Bhunaktu also means "feed" or "let us enjoy", the fruit of learning or, literally, food.
- Saha viryam karavavahai: may we two work together with energy.
- Tejasvi nav adhitam astu: may what we two study be full of brilliance.
- Ma vidvishavahai: may we two not resent or hate each other.
The last line is the most human. An ancient prayer before study does not end with a request for intelligence or success but with a request that teacher and student not fall out. Anyone who has taught or learned anything difficult will recognise why. Learning needs trust running in both directions, and the prayer asks that it hold.
Why it is also a meal prayer
Because saha nau bhunaktu can be read "may we eat together", the verse has become a popular grace before meals, a bhojan mantra, in Indian schools, gurukuls and ashrams, where the whole group says it before eating. That use fits its spirit well. Sharing food, like sharing knowledge, is something done together, and the prayer asks that it be done without ill-will.
When it is said
It is chanted at the beginning of Vedic and Upanishad study, at the start of yoga and meditation classes around the world, before lectures and satsang, and before group meals. Teacher and students say it together, which is the whole point. It ends with the triple shanti, peace from within, from the world around and from forces beyond our control. It pairs naturally with Asato ma sadgamaya and Om purnamadah, the other shanti mantras that frame Upanishadic study.
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