Universal
Tvameva Mata
त्वमेव माता च पिता त्वमेव त्वमेव बन्धुश्च सखा त्वमेव । त्वमेव विद्या द्रविणं त्वमेव त्वमेव सर्वं मम देवदेव ॥
Tvam eva mātā ca pitā tvam eva, tvam eva bandhuś ca sakhā tvam eva, tvam eva vidyā draviṇaṁ tvam eva, tvam eva sarvaṁ mama deva-deva
Simple reading: Tva-me-va maa-taa cha pi-taa tva-me-va, tva-me-va ban-dhush-cha sa-khaa tva-me-va, tva-me-va vid-yaa dra-vi-nam tva-me-va, tva-me-va sar-vam ma-ma de-va de-va
About this mantra
The verse of total belonging, from the Pāṇḍava Gītā — a collection of verses of surrender to Vishnu, spoken mostly by figures of the Mahabharata. 'Tvam eva', you alone, is said seven times in four lines; the verse is built on that one repeated word.
Meaning
You alone are my mother and my father; you alone my kin and my friend; you alone knowledge and wealth; you are my all, O god of gods. The verse works by exhaustion: every support a human life leans on — parent, kin, friend, learning, means — is handed over one by one, until 'my everything' is not poetry but inventory. It closes worship because it is where worship arrives.
When to recite it
Prayer's last words — recited at aarti's end, at night as the final surrender, and in helplessness, when every other support has been counted and found partial.
Word by word
- त्वमेव माता च पिताtvam eva mātā ca pitā
- you alone are mother and father
- बन्धुश्च सखाbandhuś ca sakhā
- kin and friend
- विद्या द्रविणंvidyā draviṇaṁ
- knowledge and wealth
- त्वमेव सर्वं ममtvam eva sarvaṁ mama
- you are my everything
- देवदेवdeva-deva
- O god of gods
Source: Pāṇḍava Gītā (traditional prayer corpus)