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SriRangaSri List Archive: Message 00001 Mar 2003

 
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Dear friends,

You might have noticed that whenever Vedic chanteurs or
'ghanapAtin-s' begin their chants they preface their recitation
with a brief invocation called "shAnti-pATam".

For example, before the famous 'purusha-suktam' of the Rg Veda 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 'katOpanishad' 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, or be filled
with self-hate or guilt, 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. In fact, we
find it increasingly difficult these days, and for an ever increasing
number of reasons, to be able to "love thy neighbour". Unfortunately,
it is the Law of Nature that one cannot accomplish both things at
once -- i.e. being able to hate the neigbour and pursue religious end
as well. 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 Baghdad to Pyongyang -- 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 to crop up between even such close partners in religious
pursuit as 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 and fundamental 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 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, I often ask 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,

Sudarshan

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