Antiquity of the mantra: p ūrṇam adaḥ pū rṇam idam ...

[Deshpande, Madhav]

Dear Colleagues,

     The very popularly recited mantra "pūrṇam adaḥ pūrṇam idam.." occurs as the beginning Śāntimantra for the Īśāvāsya-Upaniṣad.  It came to me as a surprise that Bloomfield's Vedic concordance does not list this among the mantras, nor does Jacob's Concordance of the Upanishads list it.  I was equally surprised that most published editions of the Īśāvāsya-Upaniṣad do not begin with this mantra, but, as expected, they begin with the mantra: īśā vāsyam idam ...   Among the editions I have consulted, only the Ānandāśrama (Pune) edition of the Īśāvāsya-Upaniṣad with Śāṃkarabhāṣya offers this mantra before the text of the Upaniṣad proper, but Śaṃkara does not comment on it, nor does any other commentary that I have seen comment on it.  I am wondering if anyone has seen any research relating to the antiquity of this mantra.  I would be most happy to receive any information on this subject.  Best,

Madhav

Madhav M. Deshpande
Professor of Sanskrit and Linguistics
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA