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What does the Sanskrit refrain “Shantih shantih shantih” mean in The Waste Land?

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T.S. Eliot stands at a chalkboard, writing a diagram with letters and Greek symbols representing characters for a play, in his office at the Institute for Advanced Study. — T.S. Eliot T.S. Eliot working on his play *The Cocktail Party* in his office at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University, 1948. The letters of the alphabet in his diagram represent characters in the play. The Greek letters represent characters yet to be invented.

In his 1922 poem The Waste Land, T.S. Eliot concludes the work with the Sanskrit refrain “Shantih shantih shantih.” While this phrase originates from Hindu scripture, specifically the Upanishads, Eliot provided his own translation in the poem's footnotes as “The peace which passeth understanding.”1

This translation serves as a deliberate allusion to the Christian New Testament, specifically Philippians 4:7. By incorporating this refrain, Eliot offers a note of redemption to conclude the poem’s depiction of spiritual emptiness and modern disillusionment.1