Bhagavad Gita 17.15

anudvega-karaṁ vākyaṁ

satyaṁ priya-hitaṁ ca yat

svādhyāyābhyasanaṁ caiva

vāṅ-mayaṁ tapa ucyate

 

Words that cause no fear or distress,

Truthful, kind, and meant to bless;

Study and recitation done with care,

These are austerities of speech laid bare.

 

My dear Lord, the power of speaking is probably among my most under-tapped, or even most under-recognized, powers. Help me better sense the power I have through my daily words in routine conversations, and indeed the power my daily words have over me—not just through spoken conversations, but even through my unspoken self-talk.

O omnipotent Lord, lead me to see how every word I speak has an impact—not just on others, but also on me, in shaping my vision of the world, the people in it, and indeed my vision of myself. Whenever words rush out of me, please give me the strength to pause, to check whether my words will hurt others, and whether there are ways to speak the same truth—if it needs to be spoken—in a way that is more palatable or at least less unpalatable.

O merciful Lord, please protect me from the destructive urges that reduce the distance between my mind and my mouth to zero, and thereby sometimes reduce relationships that I have built over years to zero. May you, the supreme Lord of all words, reside in my mind, on my mouth, and in the space between them, so that whatever words come to me and come through me are constructive, sensitive, and affirmative. May my words expand my contribution in this world as well as enhance my, and others’, connection with you.

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17.15 Austerity of speech consists in speaking words that are truthful, pleasing, beneficial, and not agitating to others, and also in regularly reciting Vedic literature.