Read-aloud uses a voice on your device. It reads our explanation; it is not a sung aarti or a Sanskrit pronunciation lesson.
Ganapati Atharvashirsha · protection prayer, section 3 · Chinmaya booklet, printed p. 3
The traditional text
अव दातारम्। अव धातारम्।
अवानूचानमव शिष्यम्।
अव पश्चात्तात्। अव पुरस्तात्।
अवोत्तरात्तात्। अव दक्षिणात्तात्।
अव चोर्ध्वात्तात्। अवाधरात्तात्।
सर्वतो मां पाहि पाहि समन्तात्॥
Roman reading aid
ava tvaṃ mām | ava vaktāram | ava śrotāram |
ava dātāram | ava dhātāram |
avānūcānam ava śiṣyam |
ava paścāttāt | ava purastāt |
avottarāttāt | ava dakṣiṇāttāt |
ava cordhvāttāt | avādharāttāt |
sarvato māṃ pāhi pāhi samantāt ||
Meaning in everyday language
Protect me; protect the speaker and the listener, the giver and the sustainer, the learned reciter and the student. Protect from behind and before, from north and south, from above and below. Guard me on every side, all around.
Understand the teaching
This prayer follows the opening declaration and a commitment to truth. It includes the people through whom learning and transmission become possible: speaker, listener, learned reciter, student, giver and supporter. The repeated ava, protect, gathers them into one field of concern. The passage can help readers notice that sacred study has a community around it.
The directional sequence expresses comprehensive protection in the language of prayer. In reflection, we can ask how to make an actual learning space considerate: allow questions, hear quieter participants and acknowledge support. These actions are a contemporary application of the prayer’s inclusiveness. They do not exhaust its devotional meaning, which is an appeal to Ganapati’s protection.
Words and phrases
- अव (ava)
- protect
- वक्तारं श्रोतारम् (vaktāraṃ śrotāram)
- speaker and listener
- दातारं धातारम् (dātāraṃ dhātāram)
- giver and sustainer
- अनूचानं शिष्यम् (anūcānaṃ śiṣyam)
- learned reciter and student
- सर्वतः समन्तात् (sarvataḥ samantāt)
- from every side, all around
Pause and think
Who supports your learning besides the person teaching the lesson?
See an explained answer
Listeners who ask questions, people who share materials and those who maintain the learning space also help. I can name their contribution and offer practical thanks.