Twameva Mata Cha Pita Twameva (Prayer of Surrender)

Where the verse is found

Most people learn this verse at the end of an aarti or in a school prayer and assume it comes from the Bhagavad Gita. It doesn't. The text it is found in is the Pandava Gita, also called the Prapanna Gita ("the song of those who have taken refuge"). This is a short anthology, not a chapter of the Mahabharata: about eighty devotional verses, each put in the mouth of a figure from the epic and the Puranas. Prahlada, Narada, Vyasa, Bhishma, Arjuna, Subhadra, Abhimanyu, Karna, Drona and others each get a verse of praise or surrender addressed to Vishnu-Krishna. Its compiler and date are unknown. The edition on sanskritdocuments.org describes it as an anthology drawn from the Mahabharata, the Bhagavata and the Vishnu Purana.

In that collection, Tvameva mata is verse 28 and is spoken by Gandhari, right after a verse given to her husband Dhritarashtra and before one given to Drupada. Verse numbers can differ slightly between printed editions. No older source for the verse has been established, so the honest statement is "found in the Pandava Gita", not "composed by Gandhari".

It has also travelled far beyond that book. In Maharashtra it is part of the closing sequence of the Ganesh aarti, after Sukhkarta Dukhharta and Ghalin Lotangan, followed by the Kayena vacha verse of the Bhagavata Purana (11.2.36). It is woven into the bhajan Shri Krishna Govind Hare Murari, and its idea echoes in the Hindi line मात पिता तुम मेरे, शरण गहूं मैं किसकी of Om Jai Jagdish Hare.

What each line says

• Tvam eva mata cha pita tvam eva: you alone are my mother, and you alone my father. Eva means "only, none but", and it is repeated eight times in four lines. That repetition is the whole force of the verse.
• Tvam eva bandhush cha sakha tvam eva: you alone are my kinsman, and you alone my friend. Bandhu is a relative you are tied to by birth; sakha is a friend you choose. Both kinds of closeness are given to God.
• Tvam eva vidya dravinam tvam eva: you alone are my learning, you alone my wealth. Dravinam means wealth or property. These are the two things people most often rely on in place of God.
• Tvam eva sarvam mama deva deva: you alone are my everything, O God of gods. Mama is "my". The last line gathers up the list: not only these six, but all.

The verse moves outward: parents first, then relatives and friends, then the things one earns (knowledge and wealth), and finally everything. It is a prayer of sharanagati, complete surrender, which is why the anthology it sits in is called the Prapanna Gita.

Read against the speaker the anthology chose, it gains weight. Gandhari lost all hundred of her sons at Kurukshetra. Giving her the words "you alone are my mother, father, kin and everything" turns the verse from a pleasant sentiment into the prayer of someone with nothing else left.

When and how it is recited

• At the close of aarti or puja: with folded hands, after the aarti and before or after the prayer for forgiveness such as Kara-charana kritam.
• As a morning or school prayer: because it names no particular deity, it is used across sampradayas and in school assemblies.
• In difficult times: many people simply repeat it, slowly, when they feel alone. It needs no mala, count or initiation.
• With your own ishta devata in mind: in the Pandava Gita it is addressed to Krishna, but deva deva lets each devotee hold their own deity, or their guru, while saying it.

The verse is in the upendravajra metre, eleven syllables per line, which is why it falls so naturally into a sung rhythm.

Variants worth knowing

• "Deva deva" or "devadeva": some print it as two words (a doubled call, "O God, O God"), others as one compound, "God of gods". The sound is the same and both readings are used.
• "Bandhushcha" or "bandhu": in sung Hindi versions, including the Shri Krishna Govind bhajan, the second line is often sung त्वमेव बंधू सखा त्वमेव, dropping the cha, and the last word becomes देवा. The Sanskrit text has बन्धुश्च and देव.
• "Tumhi ho mata pita tumhi ho": the well-known Hindi prayer (sung by Lata Mangeshkar in the 1962 film Main Chup Rahungi) is a separate song that takes up the same idea, not a translation of this verse.

Frequently asked questions

Is Twameva Mata from the Bhagavad Gita?

No. It is not in the Bhagavad Gita. It is found in the Pandava Gita (Prapanna Gita), an anthology of devotional verses, where it is verse 28 and is spoken by Gandhari.

Who wrote Twameva Mata Cha Pita Twameva?

The author is not known. The Pandava Gita attributes its verses to figures like Gandhari, Karna and Bhishma, but the anthology's compiler and date are unknown, and no earlier source for this verse has been established.

Which god is this prayer addressed to?

In the Pandava Gita, to Krishna as Vishnu. The verse itself only says deva deva, "O God of gods", so it is used for Ganesh, Shiva, the Devi, or one's guru as well.

What does "dravinam" mean in the third line?

Wealth or property. The line says "you alone are my learning, you alone are my wealth", naming the two things people most often lean on.

When should Twameva Mata be recited?

Most commonly at the end of aarti or puja, in morning prayer, and in school assemblies. It has no fixed time or count; it can be said whenever you want to remember that God is your refuge.

Is it part of the Marathi Ganesh aarti?

It is part of the closing sequence sung after the Ganesh aarti in Maharashtra, together with Ghalin Lotangan and the Kayena vacha verse, but it is a Sanskrit verse in its own right, not a line written for that aarti.

Can women or children recite it?

Yes. It is a prayer, not an initiated mantra, and has no restrictions. Children often learn it as their first Sanskrit verse.