Fwd: 'shanti, shAnti, shAnti:' - The Refrain of Peace

[Guest guest]

tiruvengadam, "Sudarshan M.K." <sampathkumar_2000>

wrote:

Dear friends,

 

You might have noticed that whenever Vedic chanteurs or

'ghanapAtin-s' begin their chants they will preface their recitation

with a brief invocation called "shAnti-pATam".

 

For example, before the famous 'purusha-suktam' is chanted one will

first hear the invocation of 'tacchamyO rAvriNamahE, gAtum

yagnyAyA..."etc. Similarly before we proceed with reciting the

'sIkshAvalli' in the Taittiriya-upanishad we first chant the

invocation "shamno mitra-sham varuNa:..." etc. Again, before we begin

the 'narAyaNavalli' we are taught to begin with the preliminary chant

of "sahanAvavatu sahanow bhunaktu...etc".

 

In every Vedic recitation there is always a prefatory chanting of

what is called a 'shAnti-pATam'. This 'shAnti-pATam' is repeated at

the end also.

 

You will notice that the 'shAnti-pATam' chant, both in the beginning

and the end, tapers off to the resonating chant of "shAnti, shANti,

shAnti:" meaning "Let Peace ever prevail" and this is recited thrice

in a most emphatic manner.

 

We must inquire into the reason why all Vedic chanting is prefaced by

this 'shAnti-pATam'. It is not without significance.

 

All religions lay down that the purpose of human life is to realize

divine purpose. Religions help in that endeavour. The Vedas tell us

however that nobody can practice religion outside an environment

conducive to 'shAnti' or peace. Such peace is three-fold... 'shAnti',

'shAnti' and 'shAnti'...

 

(1) In the first case of 'shAnti', what is conveyed is that one

becomes truly religious-minded only after one has learnt to be at

peace with oneself. We cannot be angry with ourselves and at the same

time hope to contemplate upon the glories of God. Anger and

contemplation are diametric opposites.

 

(2) In the second instance of 'shAnti', the Veda say we must be at

peace with our fellow-men. In the world we live today, we may not

have compelling causes that make us love our fellow-men. Nonetheless

we cannot have great hate for them either if we each want to pursue

our religious ends. If we are all the time at war with each other --

especially at "religious war" with each other, as we increasingly

seem to be these days everywhere in the world, from Palestine to

Kabul, and from New York to Islamabad -- we will be left with simply

no time in life to practice our religion. In the 'shAnti-pATam'

beginning with 'sahanAvavatu...' the chant prays for peace to prevail

between even the Master ('guru') and the ('sishyA') disciple. It

makes us wonder why the Vedas presume ill-will between even such

close partners in religious pursuits like a guru and his sishyA. The

Vedas do so because they know in their wisdom that in the history of

mankind it is not infrequent to find even gurus and sishyAs falling

out and going to savage war with each other. And when they do, the

Vedas wisely remind us, the warring master and disciple can no longer

say they are engaged in the pursuit of religious end.

 

(3) In the third instance of 'shAnti', the Vedas teach us that if we

are to be regarded as being religious, we have to be first at peace

with the world at large. We cannot practice religion in a world with

which we are in deep disharmony. If we go on destroying the forests

of this world, how can we expect to go into them to engage in

contemplation? If we all turn the temples, mosques and churches of

this world into arenas of secular conflict, how can we enter into

them and offer worship? If we wish the hills and the rivers of this

world to be our main destinations of pilgrimage, how can we afford to

turn them into war-zones and fortresses?

 

By prefacing the Vedas with the 'shAnti-pATam', the Vedic religion

hence clearly teaches us that we must learn to be peaceful before we

can learn to be religious. And that there is no such thing as a

"religious war" or a "holy war". If anything is holy, it cannot be

war; and if it is war, it cannot be holy.

 

In the troubled times in which we live today and in this insane world

into which we all seem to be waking up every morning, where can we

find, adiyane often asks myself, where can we find the true source of

comfort and balm for our minds and souls? Surely it is in the

universal chant of 'shANti,shANti, shANti:' that echoes at both ends

of the eternal Vedas?

 

Regards,

dAsan,

Sudarshan

--- End forwarded message ---