Mantras - 8

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8. Santi Mantras

 

The Santi Mantras are prayers for peace, in the Hindu Mythology. Santi

Mantras are also known as " Peace Mantras " . Santi Mantras form the part

of Upanishads. These mantras are believed to cool the mind of reciter

and the surroundings. Reciting these mantras at the beginning of any

task is considered to remove its obstacles.

 

Santi Mantras always end with three words of " Santi " which suggests

" Peace " . The reason behind speaking three times " Santi " is to cool the

surroundings and remove obstacles in three realms namely; " Physical " or

Adhi-Bhautika, " Devine " or Adhi-Daivika and " Internal " or Adhyaatmika.

These are called " Tapa-Traya " or three classes of troubles. When Santi

Mantras are recited, obstacles from these realms are believed to be

pacified. Various Santi Mantras from different Upanishads are as

follows:

 

From Brihadaranyaka Upanishad and Ishavasya Upanishad:

 

Harihi Om!

 

poornamadah poornamidam,

 

poornaat poornamudacyatE,

 

poornasya poornamaadaaya,

 

poornamEvaavaSishyatE,

 

Om Santihi, Santihi, Santihi.

 

Meaning: That (pure consciousness) is full (perfect); this (the manifest

universe of matter; of names and forms being maya) is full. This

fullness has been projected from that fullness. When this fullness

merges in that fullness, all that remains is fullness - Peace invocation

-Isa Upanishad.

 

The literal meaning of this mantra is: " That is Absolute, This is

Absolute, Absolute arises out of Absolute, If Absolute is taken away

from Absolute, Absolute remains OM Peace, Peace, Peace " .

 

Harihi Om!

 

asatOmaa sadgamaya,

 

tamasOmaa jyOtirgamaya,

 

mrityOrmaa amritamgamaya,

 

Om Santihi, Santihi, Santihi "

 

Meaning: The accurate sense of this mantra is: " OM lead me from unreal

to real, lead me from darkness to light, lead me from death to

immortality OM Peace, Peace, Peace " .

 

From Taittiriya Upanishad:

 

Harihi Om!

 

sanno mitraha sam varuNaha; sanno bhavatvaryamaa,

 

sanna indrObrihaspatihi, sannO vishNu-rurukramaha,

 

namO brahmanya, namastE vaayO;

 

tvamEva pratyaksham brahmaasi,

 

tvamEva pratyaksham brahma vadishyaami,

 

ritam vadishyaami; satyam vadishyaami,

 

tanmaamavatu; tadvaktaaramavatu, avatu maam; avatu vaktaaram,

 

Om Santihi, Santihi, Santihi.

 

Meaning: May Mitra, Varuna and Aryama be good to us! May Indra and

Brihaspati and Vishnu of great strides be good to us! Prostrations unto

Brahman! (Supreme Reality). Prostrations to Thee, O Vayu! Thou art the

visible Brahman. I shall proclaim Thee as the visible Brahman. I shall

call Thee the just and the True. May He protect the teacher and me! May

he protect the teacher! Om peace, peace, peace!

 

This Mantra also implies: " OM. May Mitra do good to us, may Varuna do

good to us, may Aryama do good to us, may Indra do good to us, may

Brihaspati do good to us, and may Vishnu who has vast coverage do good

to us. We Salute Lord Brahma and Lord Vayu, the only visible Brahman. We

say right, we say truth, may it protect us and may it protect teacher.

OM Peace, Peace and Peace "

 

From Kena Upanishad and Chandogya Upanishad:

 

Harihi Om!

 

Aapyaayantu Mamaangaani Vaak

 

praanaScakshuh SrotramathO,

 

balamindriyaani Ca Sarvaani sarvam brahmOpanishadam,

 

maaham brahma niraakuryaam maa maa brahma niraakarOd,

 

niraakaraNamastva niraakaraNam mE astu,

 

tadaatmani niratE ya upanishatsu dharmaaste,

 

mayi santu Te mayi santu

 

Om Santihi, Santihi, Santihi.

 

Meaning: The Mantra implies: " OM. May our organs, speech, Prana, eyes

and ears be nourished. May all our senses become strong. Upanishad says

all that the World is Brahman. We don't reject Brahman, may Brahma not

reject me. Let there be no rejection, let there be no rejection at all

in us, let us concentrate on ourselves, all those ways of righteous

living told in Upanishads be in us! Be in us, OM Peace, Peace and

Peace " .

 

From Aitareya Upanishad:

 

Harihi Om!

 

vaang mE manasi pratishtitaa,

 

manoe mE vaaci pratishtitam,

 

aaviraaviirma Edhi; vEdasya ma aaniistaha,

 

srutam mE maa prahaaseehi, anEnaadhiitEna,

 

aho raatraan sandadhaami,

 

ritam vadishyaami; satyam vadishyaami;

 

tanmaamavatu, tadvaktaaramavatu,

 

avatu maam, avatu vaktaaramavatu vaktaaram,

 

Om Santihi, Santihi, Santihi.

 

Meaning: The accurate meaning of this mantra is: " OM. Let our speech be

established in our mind, and our mind be established in our speech. Let

Brahman reveal itself to us and may we understand the truths of the

Vedas. Let not what we have studied leave us. Let all of us spend both

day and night in study. We say right, we say truth and may it protect

us. May truth protect teacher. OM Peace, Peace, Peace " .

 

From Mundaka Upanishad, Mandukya Upanishad and Prashna Upanishad:

 

Harihi Om!

 

bhadram karnEbhihi srunuyaama devaaha,

 

bhadram paSyEmaakshabhir-yajatraaha,

 

sthirair-angais-tushTuvaagam sas-tanuubhihi,

 

vyaSEma dEvahitam yadaayuhu,

 

swasti na indrE vriddhaSravaaha,

 

swasti naha poosha viSwavEdaaha,

 

swasti nastaarkshyo arishtanEmihi,

 

swasti noe brihaspatir-dadhaatu,

 

Om Santihi, Santihi, Santihi.

 

Meaning: Om! May my speech be rooted in my mind; may my mind be rooted

in my speech; Brahman, reveal Thy self to me. Oh! My mind and speech

enable me to grasp the Truth that the Vedas teach. Let not what I have

heard forsake me. Let me continuously live my days and nights in my

studies. I think Truth. May that (Truth) protect me! May that protect

the teacher! Protect me; protect the teacher; protect the teacher. Om!

Peace be; peace be; peace be.

 

The literal meaning of this mantra is: " OM. O Gods! Let us hear

promising things from our ears. O respectful Gods! Let us see propitious

things from our eyes, let our organs and body be stable, healthy and

strong. Let us do what is pleasing to gods in the life span allotted to

us. May Indra, inscribed in the scriptures do well to us, May Pushan who

is knower of world do good to us and May Trakshya who devastates enemies

do good to us! May Brihaspati do well to us! OM Peace, Peace, Peace " .

 

From Chandogya Upanishad

 

Harihi Om!

 

aapyaayantu mamaangaani vaak-praanas-cakshuhu,

 

srOtram athO balaamindriyaani ca sarvaani,

 

sarvam brahmoupanishadam, maaham brahma niraa-kuryaam,

 

maamaa brahma niraakatOt, aniraakarana-mastva-niraakaranam mE astu,

taddatmaani niratE ya upanishatsu dharmaastE mavi santu tE mavi santu.

 

Om! Santihi, Santihi, Santihi.

 

Meaning: May my limbs, speech, vital air, eyes, ears as well as strength

and all sense organs become well developed! Everything is Brahman

revealed in the Upanishads. May I not deny Brahman, may not Brahman deny

me. Let there be no discarding of Brahman by me. May there be

non-rejection of the Lord for me. In me who is committed to the pursuit

of knowledge of Brahman, let there be all those qualities which are

mentioned as qualifications in the Upanishads. Let those qualities be in

me. Om! Peace be; peace be; peace be.

 

Katha, Naaraayana, Mahaanaaraayana, Kena, Kalisantarana Upanishads

 

Harihi Om!

 

Saha naavavatu, sahanau bhunaktu,

 

Saha veeryam karavaavahai,

 

tEjasvi naavadiitamastu maa vidvishaava hai,

 

Om Santihi, Santihi, Santihi.

 

Meaning: May He protect us both (teacher and the taught)! May He cause

us both to enjoy the bliss of Mukti (liberation)! May we both exert to

discover the true meaning of the sacred scriptures! May our studies be

fruitful! May we never quarrel with each other! Let there be threefold

peace.

 

In other words: May he protect us both together (by revealing

knowledge). May He protect us both. May we attain vigor together. Let

what we study be invigorating. May we not hate each other!

 

The literal meaning of this mantra is: " OM. Let all of us protect each

other together, may all of us enjoy together, may all of us work

together and let our study become radiant. Let there be no hatred

between us. OM! Peace, Peace, Peace "

 

This prayer seems to be especially imperative in the study of

scriptures, where the chances for wasteful and useless arguments are so

many that they can lead us into the meshes of ruinous misunderstanding,

understanding and non-understanding of the scripture at every step.

 

The great masters of the Upanishads knew no desire for the sense-world

which they had enquired into and discovered to be hollow and riddled

with carping sorrows. They prayed only for the cultural evolution of the

entire kingdom of beings. This national character of Vedic period is

stamped so faithfully in the words of the Shanti stanza in each of the

Upanishads. Both the master and disciple sincerely wished and prayed

that they should, during their spiritual life, see and hear nothing but

auspiciousness. The sense organs—the eyes, and ears are the

great-trunk-roads through which Satan enters the realm of Godly, within

man. The other sense objects do not so directly pave a way to the mental

suicide in an. Both the outer scenes of viciousness and the inner

murmurs of foul intentions directly sweep us in front of them and then

defile the edifice of spiritualism in our bosom; Hence the great prayer

of the Vedic seers that they should hear and see nothing but goodness

and purity. In the peace invocation, the thing desired or invoked is not

something to satisfy the physical comforts or the mental desires of the

student. The student is not begging anything at the feet of the Lord as

we often do while offering prayers. All that he demands of Cosmic

Powers, whom he is invoking, is that no obstacles shall come during the

study of the Saastras from his master.

 

Their invocation to Indra, Vaayu, Surya etc makes us remember that Rama,

Krishna-Gods are the products of a much later stage. They were deities

that were sanctioned in the puranic times. In the Vedic period, the

Masters knew only the five great Elements and such other manifestations

to be the Divine personalities (Devatas). They are invoked here both by

the Guru and the disciple.

 

If each one, in a society or a community, is to ardently and sincerely

pray so as to meet with only auspiciousness and act for the same, in

such a country at such an era of culture, jails will be redundant, slum

areas will be unknown, poverty unimaginable, disease a mere exception.

From the state of affairs available today, we may despair and fail even

to visualize that such perfect spiritual communism would be ever

possible in the world, but this seems to be the pattern aimed at by the

rishis of old and their prayers clearly indicate to what perfection they

brought their vision, in their own times as facts realized.

 

No peace invocation concludes without thrice repeating or invoking

Santi. The three repetitions are - it is explained by Aachaaryas like

Sankara, Raamaanuja, and Madhwa - addressed to the three groups in which

all the probable obstacles in the study of the scripture can be

classified. They are: Aadhidaivika (cosmic disturbances); Aadhibhoutika

(environmental disturbances; Aadhyaatmika (inner disturbances). The

first type of disturbance is from the phenomenal powers like lightning,

thunder, rain, earthquake etc. Hence the first Santi is chanted loudly.

The second type is the environmental disturbance like noise around,

animals prowling, insects crawling etc. The second chant is softer than

the first to indicate that it is directed to the environmental

disturbances. The third type is disturbance springing from one's own

body like sickness, worry etc. The last chant is therefore in whispers

directed to the inner disturbances.

 

The invocation is thus rounded up with a thrice repeated " call for

peace " . This is to avert all possible obstacles. Obstacles are many

and to exhaust all possibilities by name is impossible. But all

obstacles can be classified under the three heads with reference to the

source from which they arise.

 

Thus, the sources can be: a) unseen b) seen and unknown c) subjective,

within us in our own mind. In order to avert all obstacles arising from

the above three types of causes, we have the thrice repeated peace call.

It is believed that which is said thrice comes true. In the court of

Law, one who takes witness stand says, " I shall speak the truth, the

whole truth and nothing but truth " , repeating the word truth three

times.

 

There is a difference in the tense of verbs used in the closing peace

invocation. While in the opening passage the invocation expressed a

humble submission to the Supreme, here at the end it is the joy cry of

the devotee who feels the recipient of the grace. There if it was a cry

to be blessed, here it is the cry of satisfaction at having been

blessed.

 

In short, the student feels that the study all through the chapter has

been fruitful and in this invocation he is expressing his gratitude for

the blessings received from the Cosmic Powers, whom he had invoked in

the beginning of the lessons.