Om shanti shanti shanti: why three times

Many yoga classes in the Sivananda stream and beyond end with the same few syllables: Om shanti shanti shanti. The school is named after that word — Santhi is simply a common Malayalam spelling of the Sanskrit shanti, peace.

It is worth knowing what you are saying, and why it is said three times.

What shanti means

Shanti is usually translated as “peace”, but the English word is a little thin. It does not only mean the absence of war or noise. It points to a settled state of mind — undisturbed, clear, at rest in itself. The kind of quiet that remains even when the room is not quiet.

That is also a fair description of what the practice is for. Postures, breath and relaxation are not the goal; they are ways of arriving at that state more often, and staying there a little longer.

Why three times

The chant appears at the end of many of the Upanishads, the philosophical texts at the heart of Vedanta. A widely taught explanation of the threefold repetition is that it asks for peace from three kinds of disturbance:

1. Adhyatmika — disturbances that arise within us: illness, pain, restlessness, anxiety, our own habits of mind.
2. Adhibhautika — disturbances that come from other beings and the world around us: noise, conflict, other people’s demands.
3. Adhidaivika — disturbances from forces beyond our control: weather, natural events, the large movements of life that no amount of planning prevents.

Each shanti addresses one of these. Traditionally the voice often becomes softer with each repetition, as if moving from the outer world inwards.

How it lands in a class

After two hours of practice and a long relaxation, the chant is not decoration. It gathers the whole session into one intention: that the steadiness you found on the mat might hold a little when you walk back out into the lane — into the traffic, the heat, the phone.

You do not need to believe anything in particular to say it. Many students simply notice the vibration of the sound, and the silence after it. That silence is the point.

Peace as a practice

Vedanta has a strikingly practical view of peace. It suggests that we already have it — that it is our natural state — and that what we call practice is mostly the removal of what covers it. Less adding, more putting down.

That is also, not by accident, how a traditional Hatha class is built: breath first, then posture held long enough to become still, then deliberate rest. You can read how those pieces fit together in inside a two-hour Hatha class, or learn more about the school and its lineage.

The syllable that opens the chant has a long story of its own: what Om means.

Common questions

What does shanti mean?

Shanti (also written santhi or shanthi) is a Sanskrit word for peace — not only the absence of conflict, but a settled, undisturbed state of mind.

Why is shanti said three times?

In the Vedantic tradition the three repetitions are commonly explained as invoking peace from three sources of disturbance: from within ourselves, from other beings and the world around us, and from forces beyond our control such as nature.

Do I have to chant in a yoga class?

No. Chanting is offered, never required. Many students simply sit quietly and listen, which is a complete practice in itself.

Is shanti the same as santhi?

Yes. Santhi is a common Malayalam spelling of the same Sanskrit word, which is where the school’s name comes from.