purnam adah purnam idam

Let us be receptive to the beauty of Mother Nature,
appreciate her gifts, and so receive her nurturing.

purnam adah purnam idam

meaning, discussion

पूर्णमद पूर्णमिदं ।
pūrṇam         adah              pūrṇam         idam
puurnam      adah               puurnam      idam
purity             out there      purity             in here
(when) out there is pure, (and) in here is pure, then …

पूर्णात्पुर्णमुदच्यते ।
pūrṇāt                      pūrṇam        udacyate
puurnaat                  puurnam      uda-chyate
from purity              purity             is sent out
we can radiate pure intention from our pure heart, and

पूर्णस्य पूर्णमा             दाय   ।
pūrṇasya                 pūrṇam        adāya
puurnasya puurnam      adaaya
that of purity           to purity        returns
things generated by purity will return, be received by us, and

पूर्णमेवा वशिष्यते   ॥
pūrṇam         -eva                vasiṣyate
puurnam      eva                 vasi-shyate
purity             surely             will dwell within
surely, purity is undiminished and strengthened.

(Note on pronunciation. Dots below and bars above a letter, called diacritics, are important,
for they indicate proper pronunciation of sacred language.
Please read my webpage “Pronouncing the Sanskrit.”)

The Song.

This very beautiful song, in music, meaning and simplicity, was recorded by Sacred Space, on “Wisdom of the Heart”, 2008, using a different translation. I believe that Nilong and Arjuna are no longer recording Kirtan, but you can listen to and buy this song at –
https://sacredspace.bandcamp.com/album/wisdom-of-the-heart

The Mantra Discussed.

This mantra is about pūrṇaḥ, which appears in three forms : pūrṇam, (purnam), pūrṇāt, pūrṇaysa. The closest English word in sound and meaning is “pure”, or purity. This Sanskrit mantra begins the briha-dāran-yaka and īsha Upanishads.

Mantras are written to be concise and brief, with all superfluous words omitted. We really need to add words to make real sense of the mantra. Adding a few interpretative words, we get –

“When it’s pure out there in our world, and when it’s pure in our heart, then
from the pure the pure is sent out, and
things of pure nature will return to and be received by purity.
Surely, purity will be undiminished and strengthened.”

Let me explain the first line –

pūrṇam         adah              pūrṇam         idam
purity             out there      purity             in here

In Nature meditation.
pūrṇam (purnam) adah can mean the beauty of Nature, and
pūrṇam (purnam) idam can mean our own receptivity to it.

In the social situation.
pūrṇam (purnam) adah can mean the receptivity of other people, and
pūrṇam (purnam) idam can mean when the spiritual Qualities are strong in us.

In our pursuits.
pūrṇam (purnam) adah can mean favourable conditions and opportunities, and
pūrṇam (purnam) idam can mean our determination to do our best.

Lines 2 & 3 are a pair, and differ primarily by the last word –

pūrṇāt                      pūrṇam        udacyate
from purity              purity             is sent out

pūrṇasya                 pūrṇam        adāya
that of purity           to purity        returns

udacyate signifies the important spiritual practice of sending out, radiating out the spiritual Qualities from our heart. This is best done in the quiet of meditation. We can bring our attention to the work we have done during the day or recent hours, without getting entangled in the busy-ness of it. Then consciously and purposefully we can imagine the spiritual Qualities radiating out from us as we do these tasks. Then our work can become true Service, whether our tasks are paid or unpaid.

a-dāya or ādāya is best understood by reflecting on the meaning of the word dāya = giving, donating, making a present. In a-dāya we do the opposite, we allow the donations, gifts and presents of others to flow in to our Being. Then we may be nourished and nurtured by the generosity of others. This includes the generosity of Mother Nature, as Deity, who is the Source of all life and healing. We can also perceive all that comes to us, usually through purchases paid in money, as a gift to nurture and nourish our Being.

Thus udachyate and a-dāya are opposites. They need each other to properly function. Lines 2 and 3 can be condensed and summarised thus –

Giving and receiving goodness.

This leads naturally to the meaning of the last line –

pūrṇam         -eva                vasiṣyate
purity             surely             will be undiminished, strengthened.

vasiṣyate means “remain, dwell within” as a dictionary word.

In context of our mantra of giving out then receiving back, our objective is to become balanced, neither depleted nor oversupplied (or greedy). This gives additional interpretation –

vasiṣyate can mean “undiminished, strengthened.”

However, vasiṣyate comes from the root word vas = “remain, live in, dwell in”, and vasiṣyate is the future and dative form of the root word vas. This gives additional meaning –

vasiṣyate can mean “will be bestowed undiminished and strengthened,”
pūrṇam         -eva                vasiṣyate
purity             surely             will be bestowed undiminished and strengthened.”

This mantra can be quite powerful, when we reflect on it. Osho Rajneesh once declared it to a mantra that summarises much of the Dharma.

Pan-theistic Deity or puruṣa.

I have interpreted our mantra in terms of Deity that dwells within us, as the manifestation of Goodness. This is called vasu-deva, and appears in the mantra : om namo bhagavāte vasu-dev-āya.   However, other websites interpret our mantra in terms of pan-theistic Deity, called puruṣa. This is Deity that pervades and permeates all life, even to the foundations of life : the sun, the rain and stream water, the soil and soil fertility, and the air. Pan-theistic Deity is the vitality and health of all life, and the sacredness of all life and the foundations of life. For us humans, it is also our spiritual essence. Kevin James calls it “The Essence of All” in his song on this website.

David Frawley’s article about Purusha = puruṣa is an excellent description of pan-theistic Deity.   He calls it the Cosmic Person and “consciousness.”   His choice of words goes straight to the heart, and helps awaken our own spiritual understanding, using quotes from the Upanishads. Published on this website under “Hindu Themes.”

The pan-theistic view provides additional meaning to the words of our mantra.

udacyate = “radiating from” external Deity as the Original Cause and
udacyate also means “radiating out from our heart.”
a-dāya = “receiving, returning” and refers to us making effort to draw in this illuminating and liberating Light.
pūrṇam idam = “completely filled (pūrṇam) am I (idam)”
pūrṇam (purnam) also means “purity”
vasiṣyate = “dwells within”, and
vasiṣyate also means “remains undiminished”.
pūrṇam adah = “purity (pūrṇam) outside us (adah), and this refers to puruṣa.

We do this in White Light meditation. We imagine beautiful pure white light shining down (udacyate) on us, and entering into our Being, thru the crown of our head. We consciously and purposefully draw this (a-dāya) down into our Being, thru head, neck, and into the torso. We make effort to draw down and fill up our Being with this beautiful healing Light, until we are fully saturated with it (pūrṇam idam).

When we are completely filled with healing light (pūrṇam idam), then we can radiate (udacyate) this healing energy to all that is important in our lives. Usually people and pursuits who are significant to us.

The purpose of this meditation is to strengthen and build up the spiritual Qualities (pūrṇam = purnam) within. Then pūrṇam can dwell with and stay within (vasiṣyate) us.

The ultimate Source of this healing energy is best understood to reside outside us (pūrṇam adah). By this I mean beyond this sense of self created by thinking and identification with this human body. This Original cause (pūrṇam adah) is the first word, and this suggests it’s primary importance. pūrṇam adah is likened to the Sun (savitur) in the Gayatri mantra, and described as beyond (param) our self (ātma) in the Moola mantra

No matter how much we draw healing energy from the Original Cause = puruṣa, it is never diminished nor depleted (vasiṣyate).

Five Line Translation.

We can also put the translation into verse form that goes with the rhythm of Nilong’s song. Then we get –

“When out there’s Perfect, and in here’s Perfect, then
From the Perfect,    springs the Perfect.
That of the Perfect, returns to the Perfect, and
Surely the Perfect will be here!”

Putting everything together, we get a five line translation –

पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं
puurnam      adah              puurnam      idam
pure                out there        pure             in here
when it’s pure out there, and when it’s pure in our heart
- when out there’s perfect, & in here’s perfect -

पूर्णात्पुर्णमुदच्यते
puurnaat         puurnam   uda-chyate
from purity        pure             arises
then, from purity pure will arise, and
- then from the perfect, springs the perfect -

पूर्णस्य पूर्णमा दाय
puurnasya                puurnam      adaya
of pure,                      pure             return, received
things of pure nature will return to/be received by purity
- that of the perfect, returns to the perfect -

र्णमेवावशिष्यते
puurnam      eva     vashi-shyate
pure                truly    undiminished, strengthened
and surely purity will be undiminished and strengthened.
- and the perfect will surely be here –

Etymology.

I have adapted from greenmessage website, which gives the Devanagari and word-for-word translation. However, the words of line 1 need special attention in translation. For the dictionary meanings are –

pūrṇam (purnam) = full, complete

atas   = from that (as an adverb)
ayam { idam }   = this

Then a simplistic and unhelpful translation of our mantra will be –

“The full that, the full this. From the full the full arises …”

Consequently, all sorts of imaginative translations of this mantra may be found on the internet. More investigation is needed.   We know mantras are about Presence (of Deity), so –

pūrnam (purnam)   can mean “full of Presence”. Using the closest English word in sound and meaning, we get –

pūrnam (purnam)   can mean “the pure, or purity”.

The Advaita philosopher Atmānanda explains :

adah can mean “the outer world”, or “that out there”, and
idam can mean “the inner world”, or “this in here.”

Inflexion or Declension.

Our mantra can also be a demonstration of the different cases in Sanskrit, and how a highly inflected language like Sanskrit can be very concise and succinct by just changing the word ending of a noun, also called inflection or declension.

This mantra is about pūrṇaḥ = purity or “the pure”.

In line 1, pūrṇam (purnam) is in the accusative case, and therefore is the object of the two sentences : (When) out there is pure. (When) in here is pure, then …

In line 2, pūrṇāt is in the ablative case, and means “away from purity”.

In line 3, pūrṇasya is in the genitive case and means “generated by purity”, or “belonging to purity”. pūrṇam is in the accusative case, and means that something goes to purity.

In line 4, pūrṇaḥ is better understood to be the subject of the sentence, and pūrṇa is in the nominative case. Yet the mantra goes pūrṇam-eva vasiṣyate. I am no grammarian, but I guess that it is written as pūrṇam (purnam) because of Sandi, not because of declension.

The end of the word also changes due to Sandi.

Sanskrit is written as it is spoken, with several words run together as a continuous string of letters or sounds. These long strings of words are called euphonic combinations, called Sandi in Sanskrit. In effect, we do the same in English without writing it. The sentence ‘Do you want to get a cup of tea?’ can be pronounced : ‘Jawannageddacuppatee?’

In these long strings of many words, the ending of each individual word is modified to blend into the next word. Note the Devanagari is one word : पूर्णमेवा whereas I have written the transliteration as two words : pūrṇam -eva

For more translated Sanskrit mantras :
click onto the + at the top of this webpage, then click again onto the +

My introductory webpages “Mantras Translated A - C”
discuss how to gain the full benefit of these mantra writeups.

​​purnam adah purnam idam meaning, discussion​

​Etymology.

purnam adah purnam idam

meaning, discussion

Etymology.