Tracing a mantra

[Peter Wyzlic]

Am 06.05.2011 um 17:52 schrieb Finnian Moore Gerety:

> I am trying to find the provenance of this mantra:
> 
> lokāḥ samastāḥ sukhino bhavantu
> 
> It is quite popular but I have not seen it quoted with attribution.


That is part of a verse:
svasti prajābhyaḥ paripālayantāṃ
nyāyena mārgeṇa mahīṃ mahīpāḥ |
gobrāhmaṇebhyaḥ śubham astu nityaṃ
lokāḥ samastāḥ sukhino bhavantu
Śāntiḥ, śāntiḥ, śāntiḥ

I don't know where it occurs first. But it must be earlier than the 18th century, at least. Because the verse is cited in a report of the Lutheran missionaries in Tranquebar published in 1742, see A. Weber: Eine angebliche Bearbeitung des Yajurveda, in: ZDMG 7 (1853), p. 235-248, esp. 248.

Hope it helps
Peter Wyzlic

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