Warrier's COLLAGE September 7, 2021

Welcome to Warrier's COLLAGE On Monday September 6, 2021 A concert at Music Academy Madras 1966 https://youtu.be/nNnxNZ3Oc0o (Recitation by M D Ramanathan*) *See E Good Morning Nice Day M G Warrier IIT Madras 57th Convocation https://youtu.be/kPBeXzUG_MA Positive News Today https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/india-today-group-launches-good-news-today-first-only-good-news-channel-1849478-2021-09-05 India Today Group launches Good News Today, India's first and only positive news channel The India Today Group launches Good News Today (GNT), India's first and only good news channel that recognises that the news doesn't just have to mean bad news. (Link Courtesy : G Mohandas Chennai) A Messages 1) M G Warrier Mumbai Social Commitment Please visit https://www.rbrea-kochi.org.in/ to know more about the activities initiated by Reserve Bank Retiree Employees Association Kochi for the welfare of its members and much beyond. 2) V R Chittanandam Cheñnai "I always find Babusenan's writings very interesting and I am compelled to share them with my contacts. Collage response : Babusenan is one of the "Heads of Departments" in the "Collage". He has more "Students" outside "Collage" Thanks for sharing his writings further with your contacts. Regards 🙏-Warrier Babusenan said : "Thank you both for the kind words spoken about me." 3) Komal Khatri Mumbai Shared a Quote : "Teaching is a very noble profession that shapes the character, caliber, and future of an individual. If the people remember me as a good teacher, that will be the biggest honor for me." ~A. P. J. Abdul Kalam 4) V N Kelkar Mumbai Let us learn, learn, learn and continue to learn for ever' says Vathsala Madam in her contribution to Warrier's Collage on the Teachers' Day. The Collage at E Learning Together quotes a Shanti Mantra - 'Om Saha Nau Avatu .....' The above prompted me to share the following which gives sequence of steps and grammar of each word to enable the reader to digest the meaning of the ShantiMantra. The author has advised to chant this mantra for world peace. After reading the interesting article with plenty of exercises I felt like going back to school. By SLAbhyankar (Continued at H3) B Current Affairs Vaccinate and be Saved https://openthemagazine.com/cover-stories/vaccinate-and-be-saved/ Vaccines and Vaccinations Vaccines normally require years to develop, but safe and effective Covid-19 vaccines have been produced in record time. So far eight vaccines have received full use approval, 12 have early or limited use approval, about 100 are in clinical trials on humans, and over 75 vaccines are undergoing preclinical testing in animals. Multiple platforms have been used, which include inactivated viruses, viral vectors, mRNA and DNA. At least 200 countries have started vaccinating against Covid-19, but problems of access and equity remain. Seven vaccines have been approved for use in India, of which three—Covaxin (Bharat Biotech), Covishield (Serum Institute of India) and ZyCoV-D (Zydus Cadila)—are made locally. The others are mRNA-1273 (Moderna, the US), AZD122 (AstraZeneca, the UK), Sputnik V (Gamaleya Institute, Russia) and Ad26.COV2.S (Janssen, the US). Of the 59.1 crore doses administered in India till recently, Covishield accounts for 87.5 per cent, Covaxin for 12.4 per cent and Sputnik for 0.1 per cent. Although India has administered the world’s second highest number of vaccine doses, only 33 per cent people have received one vaccine dose and only 9.5 per cent are fully immunised. Over the past few weeks, about 14.5 crore doses have been administered, averaging about 50 lakh doses per day. This rate needs to double, but the domestic availability of doses remains a challenge. Between May and June, the Indian Government slashed its own projections of vaccine availability from 216.6 crore to 135 crore doses. C Collage in Classroom Indonesia and Sanskrit https://www.esamskriti.com/e/History/Indian-Influence-Abroad/Samskriti,-Sanskrit-and-Indonesia-1.aspx Without entering into an unnecessary debate, if we focus on the similarities of the lofty customs and traditions, or thesamskriti of the vast region referred to as the Jambudvipa in the ancient times - we can easily conclude that, indeed, the entire region from ancient Persia to the outer limits of Australia, and even beyond, sprouted from the same cultural and civilizational heritage. D Readers' Contribution Collage Interview : Vathsala Jayaraman Vathsala meets Ganesha Part III I had a serious afflatus to have a conversation with the Lord and hence I said, “Welcome back!" He stared at me as though I have committed a felony and not knowing what it was about, I asked, “What is the matter with you, Lord?” He shot back, “Despite your husband being a great worshipper of mine, you haven't picked up a little bit of knowledge even to know that I am always there before you initiate anything in your life". I was biting my tongue for irritating the Lord who had so many appointments on that day and sincerely apologized to Him. He gladly accepted our worship with Payasam and Modak. Suddenly, a silly question came to my mind again and I asked,“Eating so many Modaks in a day, won't it cause sugar trouble?” He replied with sarcasm,“That shows how much faith you have in the Lord" “First, I am above all the diseases that one could get as human and secondly, most of you keep the Modaks in front of me, sprinkle water on it and conclude that as the end of offering. Where is the opportunity for me to reach out to the Modaks?” “Do you have any further questions?” “Yes. There are a couple” I answered. When he looked at me with a frown and I reluctantly asked, “You are being such a busy Lord, why did you choose mouse as your vehicle? This issue even came up in discussions among the devotees”. This time he wasn't angry but responded, “My brother chose Peacock as His vehicle so that he could fly all over the world quickly to fight wars for the well-being of Devas. I realized that being the foremost Lord worshiped for complexities in life, it is much more important to choose Mouse capable of penetrating even a small hole to find out what is inside. You must have read what happened when Rishi Narada brought a unique Mango fruit, right?” He asked. I affirmatively nodded my head trying to comprehend the unique choice the Lord had made with His stunning intellect to win the fruit from His parents. “I need to run and what is your next question?” He asked. “When the whole world is worshiping you and when you need to visit so many people in a day, how do you have time to visit even the atheists who don't even go to your Temple and don't even celebrate Ganesh Chathurthi?” He replied, “They don't worship me, but they go and help so many people who are worshipers of me. If they lead an ideal and purposeful life, I am here to bless everyone, and they need not worship me”. Vathsala Jayaraman 2) Chasing Happiness Is happiness perceived or felt? This is a question that has been daunting me for a while. While most learned people taught us that “we have the Bliss Sheath inherent in one’s Self that has saturated happiness one could feel forever, if one gets to it. Is inaction the answer to perceive happiness as opposed to performing actions in life? (Continued at H2) E Music & Musicians M D Ramanathan* MDR attended Victoria College in Palghat, where he attained a B.Sc. degree majoring in Physics. He was well known in college as a talented vocalist. During this time, Ramanathan continued to progress his music studies and after completing his degree, he was taken to Madras by his father to further his musical career. (Continued at H1) *Received from Vathsala Jayaraman Chennai via Group mail. F Psychology Today Recovering from hurt feelings https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/when-kids-call-the-shots/201706/how-recover-when-life-crushes-you?amp "After nearly 25 years practicing psychotherapy, this is what I’ve learned: When you’re viciously knocked down by life, don’t get right back up. Like tripping and falling, you have the impulse to rise and start moving again. But ignoring a serious injury will make it worse. Pain demands attention; it needs to acknowledged and embraced before you can move on." -Gary Drevitch (Gary Drevitch is a Senior Editor at Psychology Today. He has previously been a senior editor at PBS, Time Inc., Scholastic, Macmillan/McGraw-Hill, and Parade Publications, and is the former editor-in-chief of Grandparents.com.) G Indonesia's Culture https://theculturetrip.com/asia/indonesia/articles/10-sayings-that-truly-represent-indonesias-culture/?amp=1 "Ancient wisdoms help shape a country's modern-day culture more than we may realise. Indonesia's ancient communities had many proverbs and sayings that are still perfect embodiments of the country's local culture, philosophies, and observations. Use the link to read on to discover the meanings behind these common sayings." H 1) Continued from E This was also the time when Smt Rukmini Devi Arundale had initiated the Sangita Siromani music course at Kalakshetra with the distinguished and respected Sri Tiger S. Varadachariar as Principal of the college. MDR auditioned for the course and was the only vocal student in the very first batch commencing in 1944. Being the only student in the course meant that Ramanathan could receive extra special attention from Tiger Varadachariar. It is to be noted that Ramanathan is recognised as Tiger's most renowned disciple. Ramanathan held his guru in very high regard and always showed the highest respect towards him. Indeed, a special relationship between the guru and sishya developed with Tiger also recognising his sishya's talents. It has been said that MDR inherited even his guru's squint! This relationship continued for six years until the death of Sri Varadachariar. Ramanathan's musical knowledge was highly respected among fellow musicians. He received the 'Padmasri' in 1974, the Sangeet Natak Akademi award in 1975 and the Indian Fine Arts Society's 'Sangita Kala Sikhamani' title in 1976. He was a member of the Madras Music Academy's Experts Committee for many years. The music of M D Ramanathan is quite unique. There is no one who has a similar style of music, a style that has captivated the hearts of many music lovers. A colleague of MDR (D. Pasupathi) notes that Ramanathan was a nadopasaka - one who worships sound/music. He sang music for music's sake and was not bothered by a lack of audience or criticism of his style. He also sang for his own satisfaction. His style was in striking contrast to many of his contemporaries and offered peaceful music rich with bhava. Ramanthan's music was sober, serene and soothing. There was prasanthi in his recitals. is slow rendering not only gave him time for introspective exploration, but also provided the audience with the opportunity to receive the message and ponder over it. The atmosphere he created during a performance was comparable to the bliss one would get while seated on a river bank on a moonlit night. MDR's music is easily recognised. Perhaps foremost is the rich, deep voice.Next, is the tempo of his music. By and large MDR preferred the vilambita kala (slow speed), although it is wrong to classify his music as totally slow - he would often include a few faster items with speedy kalpana swara passages. Nonetheless, MDR knew where his musical strength lied and his deep voice was suited to the vilambita kalam and it is was in this that Ramanathan excelled. The combination of these two features makes his music very relaxing. It has been suggested that continued listening to his music can lower the blood pressure and relieve stress. His raga alapana-s were characterised by effective use of gamakam. They were full of bhavam. Again, his bass tone complemented this facet. His raga essays were not long but were concise and precise. Close listening to these essays will reveal the necessary phrases of the raga, without going into gimmickry or wizardry. The listener was always clear of what the raga was and could get the sweetest essence of the raga. Ramanathan's alapana-s in Sahana, Sri, Ananda Bhairavi, Reethigowla and Yadukula Kambhoji will forever hold a special place in Carnatic music history. These moving ragas took on a new dimension when rendered by MDR. Some other ragas that were his favourites include Kedaram, Kambhoji, Hamsadhwani. Like many of the old time greats, MDR did not venture into complicated arithmetic during kalpana swaras but was always had a good control of layam. MDR had a large repertoire of songs but also had his favourite ones. Nonetheless, every rendition (even of the same song) was different. I have heard his Endaro Mahanabhavulu many times but each is different. During the raga alapana of Sri raga preceding the Thyagaraja's Pancharatna, he correctly avoided the use Dha as this swara does not occur in this particular composition. In many of Dikshitar's compositions where a madhyama kala passage occurs he will sing the passage in two speeds creating a dazzling effect. This is the case in Sri Subramanyena Namasthe (Kambhoji) and Manasa Guruguha (Ananda Bhairavi). Also, in the Arabhi pancharatna, he sang the charana-s in two speeds as in a varnam. There are many more such examples of his imaginative music that other MDR fans can relate. Some will say that MDR was more famous for his stage mannerisms and abhinaya (facial expressions) than his music. His facial contortions are well renowned. Together with his squint and kudumi (tuft of hair), watching MDR sing was not the most aesthetic experience. If you listen to his live concert recordings, you see him chat and joke with his accompanists or the audience. MDR would take his own time before a concert, between items and even sometimes during items if he wasn't quite ready. Perhaps his kudumi was a little too tight (or loose) for his liking and he would thus tie and untie it on many instances during a concert. The mridangist would always have to be prepared to play an extra few avartanam-s (or three) between sections of a krithi. Likewise the violinist had to be careful not to rush on to another line or sangathi as MDR loved to repeat lines several times. MDR has composed more than 300 compositions. This includes varnams, krithi-s and tillana-s. He has compositions in Sanskrit, Tamil and Telugu. Many compositions began from spontaneous singing at temples. The mudra he used was Varadarasa( after his guru) MDR was unique. Vathsala Jayaraman 2) Continued from D2 Everyone agrees that it is impossible for anyone not to perform actions as one is born to do actions in life. Everyone agrees that there is nothing wrong in seeking happiness as it is the purpose of life. When doing actions becomes a must and seeking happiness becomes essential, one is confused that performing actions is to perceive happiness. When one is loved by the family, one gets emotional satisfaction, one obtains a job that meets the expectations, one gets intellectual satisfaction, one gets a social status, one gets psychological satisfaction and one begins to understand the strengths of the Self inside, one gets spiritual satisfaction. They all appear to be different according to several Western writers but in real terms, they all arises out of emotions of human beings. It is one’s own emotion that makes a person seek all these satisfaction. They still stem out of self-gratification aspect of one’s mind and one misconstrues them as the purpose of life. The real Self-satisfaction comes only when one begins enjoying giving everything one possesses. It is difficult to get rid of emotions but it can be converted into Self-satisfying from self-gratifying. When someone demonstrates unconditional love to the fellow beings, the Self-satisfaction one derives is infinite. When one attempts to give love and possessions with pure heart, automatically the attitude of possessiveness and attachment disappears slowly from the mind. The difference is when one does self-gratifying action, the happiness is perceived from outside and when one perform selfless actions for the benefit of others, the Self-satisfaction is felt inside and it stays permanently. One has to realize that happiness perceived by the senses are unreal whereas what is felt by the Self is real. Can we keep ourselves away from emotions? We have read in psychology that man is comparable to a tower. A tower should have a strong foundation.The bottom most layer of human tower is made up of 'instints.'A new born instinctively cries, laughs,folds its fingers,suckles the mother without being taught by anyone. Next layer is 'emotions'-identifying process.,followed by 'a higher grade of emotion called 'sentiment'. As the tower grows it becomes narrower.The sentiments are followed by what is known as 'intellect'-a further selective but an important and essential phase of life governed by Free Will gifted to us by Him.This is the middle portion of the tower containing lot of sculptures and paintings that are visible even at a distance. Once this part of the tower is built strong enough,then the phase'character 'appears which is actually the resultant cumulative factor of instincts,emotions, sentiment and intellect. Next factor is the apex part of the tower called 'personality'-we call great men as 'towering personalities'. Unlike in a building,the human tower never gets the construction completed.In a building once all the process of foundation is complete and the building comes to the earth's level, a plinth beam is built to reinforce the pillar foundation and is laid to rest fro some time. Then no longer the foundation is touched. But in human tower formation, even till death some instincts are added and all the sensuous pleasures are still alive.We go to the lower surface in gratification of senses,become emotional at times of crisis or at the loss of the nearest and dearest( may be objects) also .By ignoring one by one when we try to build our character, some contra forces act on us.We yield to certain forces. Human tower is never complete with gratification totally transformed into 'satisfaction'. I think that 90% of the people continue to live amidst instincts. Actually speaking human beings are essentially made of instincts and emotions alone.Total transformation, though not impossible, is a rare possibility. Even paropakara.the selfless acts of kindness and affection and service attitude is a beautiful blend of instints, emotions and sentiments carefully selected by intellect. I am reminded of an imaginary conversation that took place between two stones. One stone said,"I want to be a stone made into a beautiful sculpture, beautifully painted and kept at a presentable spot in the building so that all people visiting the building can stand, have a look and appreciate me. However another stone said"No, I don't want to be looked at by others. I want to become a part of basement stone, bear the pressure and weight of the entire building .I want to get buried underneath. I want to be kept in dark, I want neither sun shine or cool breeze. I want to be one of those stones making the building strong so that you can look tall before others' eyes. Sentiments and emotions cannot be set aside as unwanted things. In fact they are the fundamentals on which human growth is based and is the basis of towering personality. . The science believes that the knowledge is gained from outside whereas spirituality believes that what resides in us is full of knowledge. Spiritual leaders believe that emotions are the foundation of the castle of humanity. But at the same time, the stones that are laid as foundation should not aspire to be on top of the castle nor the intellect and character should aspire to become a foundation. The very purpose of building the castle of humanity will be defeated if foundation aspire to be on top. The foundation stones are created to be inside the earth and provide stability whereas the purpose of the subtle intellect and character is to be the beacon to realize the purpose of life. In fact, the subtlety of intellect and character is determined by how a human emotions are converted into Self-satisfying from self-gratifying. That is why learned people say that decisions in life should not be taken with emotions but with intellect whereas compassion to the fellow beings should be taken with emotions and not with intellect. Vathsala Jayaraman 3) Continued from A4 ' संस्कृताध्ययनम् । Recently a question was posted to me, asking about the famous शान्ति-मन्त्रः “ॐ सहनाववतु” When replying that question, it came to mind that we often tend to chant famous Mantra-s, not being inquisitive of their meaning. This Mantra of course makes an interesting study – ॐ सह नाववतु । सह नौ भुनक्तु । सह वीर्यं करवावहै । तेजस्वि नावधीतमस्तु । मा विद्विषावहै । ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ! Exercise 1 Rewrite this सुभाषितम् by breaking conjugations and showing component-words contained in compound words. स्वाध्यायः १ सन्धि-विच्छेदान् कृत्वा समासानां पदानि च दर्शयित्वा पुनर्लिखतु सुभाषितम् । ॐ सह नौ अवतु । सह नौ भुनक्तु । सह वीर्यं करवावहै । तेजस्वि नौ अधीतं अस्तु । मा विद्विषावहै । ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ! Exercise 2 (a) Identify verbs and participles (verbal derivatives) and paraphrase the related clauses 2 (b) Analyse the clauses, identifying the main parts of speech i.e. subject, object / compliment, conjunctions. स्वाध्यायः २ (अ) कानि अत्र क्रियापदानि धातुसाधितानि च, के तेषां वाक्यांशानाम् अन्वयाः ? २ (आ) कानि अत्र कर्तृपदानि, कर्मपदानि, पूरकानि ? २-१ ॐ OM इति माङ्गलिकं ध्यानम् । OM is an auspicious invocation. २-२ सह नौ अवतु । क्रियापदम् “अवतु” । अध्याहृतं कर्तृपदम् “सः” । कर्मपदम् “नौ” । May He protect us both. २-३ सह नौ भुनक्तु । क्रियापदम् “भुनक्तु” । अध्याहृतं कर्तृपदम् “सः” । कर्मपदम् “नौ” । May (He) feed us both. २-४ सह वीर्यं करवावहै । क्रियापदम् “करवावहै” । अध्याहृतं कर्तृपदम् “आवाम्” । कर्मपदं “वीर्यम्” । May we both display valour together. २-५ अधीतं नौ तेजस्वि अस्तु । क्रियापदम् “अस्तु” अकर्मकम् । कर्तृपदम् “अधीतम्” । पूरकम् “तेजस्वि” । May learning be brilliant for us. २-६ मा विद्विषावहै । क्रियापदम् “विद्विषावहै” अकर्मकम् । अध्याहृतं कर्तृपदम् “आवाम्” । May we (never) hate each other. २-७ शान्तिः (अस्तु) । अध्याहृतं क्रियापदम् “अस्तु” अकर्मकम् । कर्तृपदम् “शान्तिः” । May peace be (with us). Exercise 3 Decipher the compounds and detail etymology and declensions of all words स्वाध्यायः ३ समासानां विग्रहान् शब्दानां व्युत्पत्तीः विश्लेषणानि च ददतु । ३-१ ॐ (= the sacred syllable OM) ३-२ सह (= with, together) इति अव्ययम् । ३-३ नौ “अस्मद्” (= pronoun of first person for “I, we”) इति उत्तमपुरुषि सर्वनाम । तस्य द्वितीया वा चतुर्थी वा षष्ठी विभक्तिः द्विवचनम् च । ३-४ अवतु “अव्” १ प (= to protect) इति धातुः । तस्य आज्ञार्थे प्रथमपुरुषे एकवचनम् । ३-५ भुनक्तु “भुज्” ७ उ (= to eat, to feed, to sustain) इति धातुः । अत्र परस्मैपदी । तस्य आज्ञार्थे प्रथमपुरुषे एकवचनम् । ३-६ वीर्यम् “वृ” १, ५, ९ उ (= to choose, to prefer) इति धातुः । तस्मात् विध्यर्थि विशेषणम् (= preferable) तथा भाववाचकं नाम अपि “वीर्य” (= preferability, valour) । अत्र नपुंसकलिङ्गि । तस्य प्रथमा / द्वितीया (अत्र द्वितीया) विभक्तिः एकवचनम् च । ३-७ करवावहै “कृ” ८ उ (= to do, to perform) इति धातुः । अत्र आत्मनेपदी । तस्य आज्ञार्थे उत्तमपुरुषे द्विवचनम् । ३-८ तेजस्वि “तेजस्विन्” (= what has brilliance, brilliant) इति विशेषणम् । अत्र नपुंसकलिङ्गि । तस्य प्रथमा विभक्तिः एकवचनम् च । ३-८-१ तेजस् (= brilliance, shine, splendour) इति नपुंसकलिङ्गि नाम । तस्मात् “विन्”-प्रत्ययेन तेजस्विन् । ३-९ अधीतम् “अधि + इ” १, २ प (= to firmly go to, to acquire, to study) इति धातुः । तस्मात् भूतकालवाचकं विशेषणम् “अधीत” (= what is studied, learning) । अत्र नपुंसकलिङ्गि । तस्य प्रथमा विभक्तिः एकवचनम् च । ३-१० अस्तु “अस्” २ प (= to be, to exist) इति धातुः । तस्य आज्ञार्थे प्रथमपुरुषे एकवचनम् । ३-११ मा (= not) इति अव्ययात्मकं नकारार्थि क्रिया-सहायकम् । ३-१२ विद्विषावहै “वि + द्विष्” (= to hate) इति धातुः । तस्य आज्ञार्थे उत्तमपुरुषे द्विवचनम् । ३-१३ शान्तिः “शम्” ४ प (= to pacify) इति धातुः । तस्मात् भाववाचकं स्त्रीलिङ्गि नाम “शान्ति” (= peace) । तस्य प्रथमा विभक्तिः एकवचनम् च । Exercise 4 Arrange the सुभाषितम् in prose syntax and give its translation into English स्वाध्यायः ४ अन्वयान् कृत्वा आङ्ग्ल-भाषायां अनुवादान् ददतु । ४-१ Literal translation is already detailed at Exercise 2. OM! May that Brahman protect us both (Teacher & Disciple); May that Brahman nourish us both; May we work in harmony with great vigor; May our study be illuminating and fruitful; May we not hate each other. Om Peace… Peace… Peace… ४-३ The अन्वय of can be अधीतं नौ तेजस्वि अस्तु । = May learning be brilliant (prove enlightening) for us (चतुर्थी विभक्तिः) नौ अधीतं तेजस्वि अस्तु । = May our learning be brilliant (षष्ठी विभक्तिः) Exercise 5 In what meter is this verse composed ? स्वाध्यायः ५ अस्य काव्यस्य रचना कस्मिन् वृत्ते अस्ति ? A Mantra has a छन्दः a rhythm of its own ! It is advisable to chant any Mantra with its own rhythm, so that one can get the full benefit from chanting the Mantra. That applies also to chanting ॐ the single-syllable Mantra. Exercise 6 What type of literary style is used here ? स्वाध्यायः ६ अस्ति कश्चित् शब्दालङ्कारः वा अर्थालङ्कारः अपि अत्र उपयोजितः ? १. The word नौ is a declension of the pronoun अस्मद् in द्वितीया वा चतुर्थी वा षष्ठी विभक्तिः it is used in द्वितीया विभक्तिः in first and second sentences it can be interpreted as being in चतुर्थी वा षष्ठी विभक्तिः as detailed at (४-३) २ A Mantra is eternally valid statement, to be chanted and also to be meditated upon Exercise 7 What moral is learnt from this सुभाषितम् ? स्वाध्यायः ७ अस्मिन् सुभाषिते का नीतिः उपदिष्टास्ति ? This Mantra is a prayer ! Exercise 8 Comments, Notes, Observations, if any. स्वाध्यायः ८ टिप्पणयः । ८-१ Original text: श्वेताश्वतरोपनिषत् as mentioned at http://knol.google.com/ by (१) Prof. Dr. phil. habil. Jörn Gruber, Wissenschaftler & poyglotter Schriftsteller and (२) Yogānandin योगानन्दिन् Prof. Dr. – Institut für Yogawissenschaft – योगविद्यापीठ ८-२ The Mantra closes with repetition of शान्तिः three times. That also is significant. To understand the significance I said it to myself, only once ॐ शान्तिः I found the whole charm missed out completely. So, I said again ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ! And of course the utterance was so soothing. The second and third utterances should be slower and slower. Triple repetition really helps the Mantra to settle into the psyche. Even in Indian musical recitals, rendering of a song is recommended to be closed with such triple repetition of the closing note. By that you can know when the rendering closing and when to clap ! When doing योगासन also, say when doing पश्चिमोत्तानासन extend the bend and the stretch in three steps. By the third step you would have reached the best bend and stretch. Thus, there is deep thinking, logic, experience and a science in triple repetition ! ८-३ This Mantra is one of many शान्ति-मन्त्राः Most Upanishad-s have a शान्ति-मन्त्र both at the beginning and at the end. For example श्रीगणपत्यर्वशीर्षम् also known श्रीगणेशोपनिषत् starts with the शान्ति-मन्त्र – “ॐ भद्रं कर्णेभिः श्रुणुयाम देवाः ….” and closes with this शान्ति-मन्त्र – “ॐ सह नाववतु । सह नौ भुनक्तु ।…” ८-३-१Acharya Vinobaji Bhave mentions in his commentary on ईशावास्य that this उपनिषत् is unique for having opening and closing शान्ति-मन्त्र-s identical That शान्ति-मन्त्र is – ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं … ८-४ The Mantra is eternally valid for any two persons or for any two entities for a positive relationship between them. It is a prayer for husband and wife, especially as a part of the wedding ritual, that the new phase in life that they are embarking upon, be blissful in all respects parent and child teacher and disciple as mentioned at (४-२) any two friends lion and the mouse a family or any person entering a new house (There is a custom of conducting a worship पूजा to the वास्तुपुरुष the deity residing at the place. This Mantra is relevant for that worship.) Rather, it can be recited as a part of any worship पूजा ritual even for signing a treaty at the end of battle between two enemies ! As such there should be no battles. If at all a battle takes place, it should end with this prayer. Closing a battle with signing a treaty invoking this prayer would ensure that strife will not continue endlessly, as has happened in Afghanistan and in Iraq. Americans and their allies seem to be finding it difficult to withdraw the forces after so many years. Even if American troops have been officially withdrawn from Iraq, bomb-blasts keep happening there ! It seems, for the sake of world-peace, people all over the world should start chanting this prayer whole-heartedly ! शुभमस्तु । -o-O-o-