# शम
## Hindi
### Etymology

Learned borrowing from Classical Sanskrit शम (śama).

### Pronunciation

* (Delhi) IPA: /ʃəm/, [ʃɐ̃m]

### Noun

शम • (śam) m (literary)
* tranquillity, peacefulness, calmness, rest
* lack or abstinence from passion; total asceticism
** Bhawan Singh Rana, योग वाशिष्ठ [Vasishtha's yoga], Diamond Pocket Books, →ISBN, page 25, →ISBN:वशिष्ठ राम से बोले—अपने चित्त को भोगों में मत गिरने दो। शम और दम को अपनाओ। संसार की इच्छा त्यागकर उदार बनना शम है। इन्द्रियों को वश में करना दम है।vaśiṣṭh rām se bole—apne citt ko bhogõ mẽ mat girne do. śam aur dam ko apnāo. sansār kī icchā tyāgkar udār bannā śam hai. indriyõ ko vaś mẽ karnā dam hai.Vasishta said to Rama—don't let your mind fall into pleasures. Apply apathy and self-restraint. Apathy is giving up worldly desires and becoming noble. Controlling the senses is self-restraint.

#### Declension
### Further reading

* Dāsa, Śyāmasundara (1965–1975) “शम”, in Hindī Śabdasāgara [lit. Sea of Hindi words] (in Hindi), Kashi [Varanasi]: Nagari Pracarini Sabha, page 4693
* Platts, John T. (1884) “शम”, in A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: W. H. Allen & Co., page 733
* McGregor, Ronald Stuart (1993) “शम”, in The Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary, London: Oxford University Press, page 943

## Sanskrit
### Alternative scripts

* শম (Assamese script)
* ᬰᬫ (Balinese script)
* শম (Bengali script)
* 𑰫𑰦 (Bhaiksuki script)
* 𑀰𑀫 (Brahmi script)
* ၐမ (Burmese script)
* શમ (Gujarati script)
* ਸ਼ਮ (Gurmukhi script)
* 𑌶𑌮 (Grantha script)
* ꦯꦩ (Javanese script)
* 𑂬𑂧 (Kaithi script)
* ಶಮ (Kannada script)
* ឝម (Khmer script)
* ຨມ (Lao script)
* ശമ (Malayalam script)
* ᡧᠠᠮᠠ (Manchu script)
* 𑘫𑘦 (Modi script)
* ᠱᠠᠮᠠ᠋ (Mongolian script)
* 𑧋𑧆 (Nandinagari script)
* 𑐱𑐩 (Newa script)
* ଶମ (Odia script)
* ꢯꢪ (Saurashtra script)
* 𑆯𑆩 (Sharada script)
* 𑖫𑖦 (Siddham script)
* ශම (Sinhalese script)
* 𑩿𑩴 (Soyombo script)
* 𑚧𑚢 (Takri script)
* ஶம (Tamil script)
* శమ (Telugu script)
* ศม (Thai script)
* ཤ་མ (Tibetan script)
* 𑒬𑒧 (Tirhuta script)
* 𑨮𑨢 (Zanabazar Square script)

### Etymology 1

From Proto-Indo-European *ḱem- (“hornless”). Cognate with Russian комо́лый (komólyj, “hornless”), Lithuanian šmùlas (“hornless”), Proto-Germanic *hindiz (“female deer < *hornless”)), Ancient Greek κεμάς (kemás, “young deer whose antlers have not yet branched”). Also related to Proto-Germanic *hamalaz (“mutilated, truncated < *with cut off horns”).
Monier-Williams and Ralph Griffith translate the term as “tame, mild, meek”, tying it to the root शम् (śam, “to be tranquil”), but Rigveda 1.32.15 contrasts this adjective with शृङ्गिन् (śṛṅgin, “having horns; horned”), thus implying that the word essentially means “hornless”. From this verse, Monier-Williams and Ralph Griffith may have inferred that the term means "tame, meek" by reasoning that horns on a beast signify wildness and aggression.
Mayrhofer, Lubotsky, and Beekes agree on "hornless" as the correct translation of this word.

#### Pronunciation

* (Vedic) IPA: /ɕɐ́.mɐ/
* (Classical Sanskrit) IPA: /ɕɐ.mɐ/

#### Adjective

शम • (śáma) stem
* (Rigvedic) hornless; without horns
** c. 1700 BCE – 1200 BCE, Ṛgveda 1.32.15:इन्द्रो॑ या॒तोऽव॑सितस्य॒ राजा॒ शम॑स्य च शृ॒ङ्गिणो॒ वज्र॑बाहुः । सेदु॒ राजा॑ क्षयति चर्षणी॒नाम॒रान्न ने॒मिः परि॒ ता ब॑भूव ॥índro yātóʼvasitasya rā́jā śámasya ca śṛṅgíṇo vájrabāhuḥ. sédu rā́jā kṣayati carṣaṇīnā́marā́nná nemíḥ pári tā́ babhūva.Indra is King of all that moves and moves not, of creatures hornless and horned, the Thunder-wielder. Over all living men he rules as sovereign, containing all like spokes within the felly.
** c. 1700 BCE – 1200 BCE, Ṛgveda 1.33.15:आवः॒ शमं॑ वृष॒भं तुग्र्या॑सु क्षेत्रजे॒षे म॑घव॒ञ्छ्वित्र्यं॒ गाम् । ज्योक्चि॒दत्र॑ तस्थि॒वांसो॑ अक्रञ्छत्रूय॒तामध॑रा॒ वेद॑नाकः ॥ā́vaḥ śámaṃ vṛṣabháṃ túgryāsu kṣetrajeṣé maghavañchvítryaṃ gā́m. jyókcidátra tasthivā́ṃso akrañchatrūyatā́mádharā védanākaḥ.O Maghavan, thou helpest Śvitrā's hornless steer, in combat for the land, mid Tugra's houses. Long stood they there before the task was ended: thou wast the master of the foemen's treasure.

##### Declension

* ¹Vedic
* ¹Vedic
* ²Brāhmaṇas
* ¹Vedic

### Etymology 2

From the root शम् (śam, “to be tired; finish; stop; rest; to be pacified, calm, peaceful”). Related to शान्ति (śānti), शान्त (śānta), शमन (śamana), शाम्यति (śāmyati).

#### Pronunciation

* (Classical Sanskrit) IPA: /ɕɐ.mɐ/

#### Noun

शम • (śama) stem, m (Classical Sanskrit)
* tranquillity, peacefulness, calmness, rest, equanimity, quietness
** c. 500 BCE – 100 BCE, Rāmāyaṇa 6.70.38:हर्षः कामश्च दर्पश्च धर्मः क्रोधः शमो दमः । अर्थादेतानि सर्वाणि प्रवर्तन्ते नराधिप ॥harṣaḥ kāmaśca darpaśca dharmaḥ krodhaḥ śamo damaḥ. arthādetāni sarvāṇi pravartante narādhipa.Happiness, desire, arrogance, morality, anger, calmness, and self-control, in fact, all of these keep rotating, O king.
** c. 400 BCE, Mahābhārata 1.32.17.3:धर्मे मे रमतां बुद्धिः शमे तपसि चेश्वर ॥dharme me ramatāṃ buddhiḥ śame tapasi ceśvara.May my intellect abide by morality, calmness, and austerity, O Lord.
** c. 400 BCE, Bhagavad Gītā 18.42:शमो दमस्तपः शौचं क्षान्तिरार्जवमेव च । ज्ञानं विज्ञानमास्तिक्यं ब्रह्मकर्म स्वभावजम् ॥śamo damastapaḥ śaucaṃ kṣāntirārjavameva ca. jñānaṃ vijñānamāstikyaṃ brahmakarma svabhāvajam.Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, patience, honesty, knowledge, wisdom and religiousness are the natural duties of a Brahmana.
** c. 400 BCE, Bhagavad Gītā 11.24.2:दृष्ट्वा हि त्वां प्रव्यथितान्तरात्मा धृतिं न विन्दामि शमं च विष्णो ॥dṛṣṭvā hi tvāṃ pravyathitāntarātmā dhṛtiṃ na vindāmi śamaṃ ca viṣṇo.Indeed, O Vishnu, on seeing you, my inner soul becomes perturbed; I feel not the firmness and calmness.
* mitigation; pacification; cessation, extinction, ending
** c. 700 CE – 900 CE, Bhāgavata Purāṇa 3.7.14.1:अशेषसंक्लेशशमं विधत्ते गुणानुवादश्रवणं मुरारेः ।aśeṣasaṃkleśaśamaṃ vidhatte guṇānuvādaśravaṇaṃ murāreḥ.One can achieve the cessation of all sufferings, by listening to Lord Krishna's praise repeatingly.
* lack or abstinence from passion; apathy
** c. 400 BCE, Bhagavad Gītā 6.3:आरुरुक्षोर्मुनेर्योगं कर्म कारणमुच्यते । योगारूढस्य तस्यैव शमः कारणमुच्यते ॥ārurukṣormuneryogaṃ karma kāraṇamucyate. yogārūḍhasya tasyaiva śamaḥ kāraṇamucyate.For the muni yet to advance in yoga, work is said to be the means; for one who is already advanced, apathy is the means.

##### Descendants

* Pali: sama
* Prakrit: सम (sama)

### References

* ↑ Mayrhofer, Manfred (1996) “śáma”, in Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen [Etymological Dictionary of Old Indo-Aryan]‎ (in German), volume II, Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag, page 610
* ↑ Lubotsky, Alexander (2011) “śáma-”, in The Indo-Aryan Inherited Lexicon (in progress) (Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Project), Leiden University
* ↑ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “κεμάς”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), volume I, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 671

### Further reading

* Monier Williams (1899) “शम”, in A Sanskrit–English Dictionary, […], new edition, Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 1053.
* Hellwig, Oliver (2010–2025) “śama”, in DCS - The Digital Corpus of Sanskrit, Berlin, Germany.
* Apte, Vaman Shivram (1890) “शमः”, in The practical Sanskrit-English dictionary, Poona: Prasad Prakashan, page 1534
* Arthur Anthony Macdonell (1893) “शम”, in A practical Sanskrit dictionary with transliteration, accentuation, and etymological analysis throughout, London: Oxford University Press, page 308
* Turner, Ralph Lilley (1969–1985) “śáma”, in A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages, London: Oxford University Press, page 713