Shubham Karoti: Lyrics and Meaning
शुभं करोति कल्याणम्
Traditional
Shubham Karoti is a short Sanskrit prayer to the light of a lamp. It is said in the evening, when the lamp is lit in the home. The first verse greets the lamp's light, which brings what is good and auspicious, health and wealth, and takes away hostile thoughts. The second verse calls the lamp's light the supreme Brahman and Janardana (Vishnu), and asks the lamp to take away one's wrongdoing.
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Verse 1
शुभं करोति कल्याणं आरोग्यं धनसंपदः ।शत्रुबुद्धिविनाशाय दीपज्योतिर्नमोऽस्तु ते ॥
Shubham karoti kalyanam arogyam dhanasampadahShatrubuddhivinashaya dipajyotirnamostu te
IAST
śubhaṃ karoti kalyāṇaṃ ārogyaṃ dhanasaṃpadaḥ |śatrubuddhivināśāya dīpajyotirnamo’stu te ||
Our explanation Word by word: śubham, what is auspicious and good; karoti, brings about (makes); kalyāṇam, well-being; ārogyam, good health; dhana-sampadaḥ, wealth and plenty; śatru-buddhi, a hostile frame of mind, thoughts of enmity; vināśāya, for the ending of; dīpa-jyotiḥ, light of the lamp; namaḥ astu te, let there be a bow to you. The verse says that the light of the lamp brings what is good, well-being, health and wealth, and that it ends thoughts of enmity, and the one who says it bows to that light. These are the verse's own words.
हिंदी अर्थ शब्दार्थ: शुभं, जो शुभ और अच्छा है; करोति, करती है (लाती है); कल्याणं, कल्याण, भलाई; आरोग्यं, अच्छा स्वास्थ्य; धनसंपदः, धन और संपत्ति; शत्रुबुद्धि, शत्रुता वाली बुद्धि, वैर के विचार; विनाशाय, मिटाने के लिए; दीपज्योतिः, दीपक की ज्योति; नमोऽस्तु ते, तुम्हें नमस्कार हो। श्लोक का भाव: दीपक की ज्योति को नमस्कार। श्लोक कहता है कि यह ज्योति शुभ, कल्याण, आरोग्य और धन-संपदा लाती है, और वैर के विचारों को मिटाती है; इसलिए बोलने वाला दीपक की ज्योति को नमस्कार करता है। ये श्लोक के अपने शब्द हैं।
The text’s own words about its benefits, not a promise from Pujadeep.
6 printings differ
Edition differences. Another printing or text reads this place differently.
- Word The 1914 Bombay (printed); Poona (published) printing reads: शुभं करोति कल्याणं आरोग्यं धनसंपदाम् । शत्रु-बुद्धि-विनाशाय दीपोज्योतिर्नमोऽस्तु ते धनसंपदाम् for धनसंपदः; दीपोज्योतिर् (दीपो ज्योतिर्, 'the lamp, the light') for दीपज्योतिर् ('the light of the lamp'); hyphens in शत्रु-बुद्धि-विनाशाय (spelling). Quoted inside Marathi prose with no closing danda (p. 119, leaf n123).
- Word Today's text from Gita Press, Gorakhpur reads: शुभं करोतु कल्याणमारोग्यं धनसंपदः । शत्रुबुद्धिविनाशाय दीपज्योतिर्नमोऽस्तु ते ॥ करोतु ('may it bring') for करोति ('brings'); otherwise as ours. Bhajan-Sudha, p. 36, leaf n32.
- Word Today's text from Gita Press, Gorakhpur reads: शुभं करोतु कल्याणमारोग्यं सुखसम्पदम् । शत्रुबुद्धिविनाशं च दीपज्योतिर्नमोऽस्तु ते ॥ The ritual handbooks' form: करोतु, सुखसम्पदम् ('happiness and plenty') for धनसंपदः, 'विनाशं च' ('and the end of') for विनाशाय. Printed after the verse 'दीपो ज्योतिः परं ब्रह्म'. Nitya-karma-puja-prakash, leaf n170.
- Word The 1928 Bombay printing reads: शुभं करोतु कल्याणमारोग्यं सुखसम्पदम् । शत्रुबुद्धिविनाशं च दीपज्योतिर्नमोऽस्तु ते । The base printing (public domain, from 15 Oct 2026). The same handbook form, in a printing of 1927–28 (Shaka 1849, Samvat 1984): करोतु, सुखसम्पदम्, 'विनाशं च'. Printed second, after 'दीपो ज्योतिः परं ब्रह्म'. P. 293, leaf n310. The base printing ends the verse with a single danda; the display has the double danda, as the household printings do (punctuation).
- Word The 1921 Bombay printing reads: शुभं करोतु कल्याणमारोग्यसुखसंपदः । शत्रुबुद्धिविनाशं च दीपज्योतिर्नमोस्तु ते ॥ A handbook form in a printing of 1921 (Nirnaya Sagar, Shaka 1843): करोतु, the compound आरोग्यसुखसंपदः ('health, happiness and plenty'), 'विनाशं च'; नमोस्तु without the avagraha. Printed second, after the lamp-as-Brahman verse. Leaf n446.
- Word Today's text from Yajnadatta Durgashankar Shastri, Valukeshwar Sanskrit Pathashala, Mumbai reads: शुभं करोतु कल्याणमारोग्यं सुखसम्पदम् । शत्रुबुद्धिविनाशं च दीपज्योतिर्नमोऽस्तु ते ॥ The handbooks' form, word for word as the base, in a present-day printing (Mumbai, 1969, 9th edition). P. 122, leaf n139.
Verse 2
दीपज्योतिः परब्रह्म दीपज्योतिर्जनार्दनः ।दीपो हरतु मे पापं दीपज्योतिर्नमोऽस्तु ते ॥
Dipajyotih parabrahma dipajyotirjanardanahDipo haratu me papam dipajyotirnamostu te
IAST
dīpajyotiḥ parabrahma dīpajyotirjanārdanaḥ |dīpo haratu me pāpaṃ dīpajyotirnamo’stu te ||
Our explanation Word by word: dīpa-jyotiḥ, light of the lamp; para-brahma, the supreme Brahman, the highest reality; janārdanaḥ, Janardana, a name of Vishnu; dīpaḥ, the lamp; haratu, may it take away; “me”, the speaker's; pāpam, wrongdoing (sin); namaḥ astu te, let there be a bow to you. The verse sees God in the lamp's light: the light is the supreme Brahman, the light is Vishnu. It asks the lamp to take away the speaker's wrongdoing, and it ends, like the first verse, with a bow to the lamp's light.
हिंदी अर्थ शब्दार्थ: दीपज्योतिः, दीपक की ज्योति; परब्रह्म, परम ब्रह्म, सबसे ऊँचा सत्य; जनार्दनः, जनार्दन, यानी विष्णु; दीपः, दीपक; हरतु, दूर करे; मे, बोलने वाले का; पापं, पाप, बुरा कर्म; नमोऽस्तु ते, तुम्हें नमस्कार हो। श्लोक का भाव: दीपक की ज्योति में भगवान को देखा गया है: ज्योति परब्रह्म है, ज्योति जनार्दन (विष्णु) है। दीपक से प्रार्थना है कि वह बोलने वाले के पाप दूर करे, और पहले श्लोक की तरह अंत में दीपक की ज्योति को नमस्कार है।
4 printings differ
Edition differences. Another printing or text reads this place differently.
- Word Today's text from Gita Press, Gorakhpur reads: दीपो ज्योतिः परं ब्रह्म दीपो ज्योतिर्जनार्दनः । दीपो हरतु मे पापं सांध्यदीप नमोऽस्तु ते ॥ The ritual handbooks' form: 'दीपो ज्योतिः परं ब्रह्म दीपो ज्योतिर्जनार्दनः' ('the lamp is light, the supreme Brahman; the lamp is light, Janardana') and 'सांध्यदीप नमोऽस्तु ते' ('evening lamp, I bow to you'); this verse comes first there. Nitya-karma-puja-prakash, leaf n170. The same publisher's Bhajan-Sudha (p. 36) prints our wording word for word.
- Word The 1928 Bombay printing reads: दीपो ज्योतिः परं ब्रह्म दीपो ज्योतिर्जनार्दनः । दीपो हरतु मे पापं संध्यादीप नमोऽस्तु ते ॥ The base printing (public domain, from 15 Oct 2026). The same handbook form, in a printing of 1927–28, printed first under the heading 'दीपस्तुतिः'. P. 293, leaf n310.
- Word The 1921 Bombay printing reads: दीपज्योतिः परब्रह्म दीपज्योतिर्जनार्दनः । दीपो हरतु मे पापं संध्यादीप नमोस्तु ते ॥ A printing of 1921 (Nirnaya Sagar, Shaka 1843) with the household first three quarters and the handbooks' close 'संध्यादीप नमोस्तु ते' (नमोस्तु without the avagraha). Printed first, under 'दीपप्रार्थना'. Leaf n446.
- Word Today's text from Yajnadatta Durgashankar Shastri, Valukeshwar Sanskrit Pathashala, Mumbai reads: दीपज्योतिः परब्रह्म दीपज्योतिर्जनार्दनः । दीपो हरतु मे पापं सन्ध्यादीप नमोऽस्तु ते ॥ The same as the 1921 printing, in a present-day printing (Mumbai, 1969). Printed first. P. 122, leaf n139.
Sanskrit text: a reading text, checked against today’s editions; dated by the 1928 Bombay printing. Meanings: written for Pujadeep and checked against the cited edition. Source and changes
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Shubham Karoti
शुभं करोति कल्याणं आरोग्यं धनसंपदः ।
शत्रुबुद्धिविनाशाय दीपज्योतिर्नमोऽस्तु ते ॥
Shubham karoti kalyanam arogyam dhanasampadah
Shatrubuddhivinashaya dipajyotirnamostu te
Word by word: śubham, what is auspicious and good; karoti, brings about (makes); kalyāṇam, well-being; ārogyam, good health; dhana-sampadaḥ, wealth and plenty; śatru-buddhi, a hostile frame of mind, thoughts of enmity; vināśāya, for the ending of; dīpa-jyotiḥ, light of the lamp; namaḥ astu te, let there be a bow to you. The verse says that the light of the lamp brings what is good, well-being, health and wealth, and that it ends thoughts of enmity, and the one who says it bows to that light. These are the verse's own words.
(Meaning written for Pujadeep and checked against the cited edition.)
Text: a reading text, dated by the 1928 Bombay printing.
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About the Shubham Karoti
The verses are traditional and have no named author. A Marathi book of household work printed in 1914 gives the first verse as the words to say after lighting the evening lamp: one bows to the lamp, says the verse, and then everyone sitting there bows to each other. That book does not print the second verse. Handbooks of daily rites, such as one printed in Bombay in 1927–28, give the two verses in another form: the verse on the lamp as Brahman comes first ("dīpo jyotiḥ paraṃ brahma"), and the other reads "śubhaṃ karotu ... sukhasampadam".
The Sanskrit shown here is the form families say at home. It is printed in this form in Kanthabharanam, a book of verses for daily recitation printed in Bombay in 1957, as numbers 113 and 114. The cited source is the 1927–28 handbook; each word shown that it does not print is found in a printing of 1914 or 1921 or in present-day books. Families say a few words in more than one way, for example "dhanasampadā" or "dhanasampadaḥ" ("wealth"); the differences between the printings are listed under the verses.
How to say it
The IAST line writes every sound as spelled. A final ṃ (anusvāra), as in "kalyāṇaṃ", is said as m before a vowel or a pause. In "namo'stu" the sign ऽ (avagraha) marks a lost short a: namaḥ + astu is said "namostu". "Dīpajyotir namo'stu te" is said as one phrase. A final ḥ (visarga) is a light h with an echo of the vowel before it: "janārdanaḥ" sounds like "janārdanaha".
More daily prayers: on waking, before study, before meals and at lamp-lighting
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Questions families ask
Who wrote the Shubham Karoti?
Traditional.
Which text does this page follow?
Sanskrit text: a reading text, checked against today’s editions; dated by the 1928 Bombay printing. Meanings: written for Pujadeep and checked against the cited edition. See the source
Source and licence
- Dated witness
- Yajurvedinām Āhnika-karma-sūtrāvaliḥ (यजुर्वेदिनाम् आह्निककर्मसूत्रावलिः), a handbook of daily rites for followers of the Yajurveda, compiled and corrected by Pandit Shivdatta Sharma (Shivdatta Sharma, Khemraj Shrikrishnadas, Shri Venkateshwar Steam Press, Bombay, 1928). Public domain. Used only to date the text. The Devanagari on this page is a reading text and is not copied from this printing.
- Common wording
- In this text, 2 words follow today's common wording, checked against Dharmashri Sahitya, Pune and Mayuresh Prakashan, Margao (Goa).
- Our explanation
- Explanation written for this site from the sources listed here, and checked against the cited edition. It is not a translation and not the only way to read the text. Free to quote with credit.
- Checked
- Checked against the cited edition, October 15, 2026.