ईशोपनिषदध्ययने (1) - शान्तिमन्त्रः ॐ पूर्णमदः
ॐ
नमो नम:
ईशोपनिषदध्ययने (1) - शान्तिमन्त्रः ॐ पूर्णमदः
Study by S. L. Abhyankar
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उपनिषत्सु ईशोपनिषत् प्रायः प्रथमा गण्यते अधीयते च ।
Among Upanishad(s) ईशोपनिषत् is regarded as the first one to be read and studied.
ईशोपनिषत् नातिदीर्घा । ईशोपनिषत् is not very long.
अष्टादश मन्त्राः एव ।प्रायः अनुष्टुभ् छन्दसि । There are only 18 मन्त्राः, mostly in अनुष्टुभ् meter.
यतः इयं ईशोपनिषत् शुक्लयजुर्वेदीया Since this is of शुक्लयजुर्वेद:, its शान्तिमन्त्रः is ⇒
ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदम् ।
पूर्णात्पूर्णमुदच्यते ।
पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय ।
पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते ।
॥ ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥
Let us begin with the study of this शान्तिमन्त्रः itself.
(1) पदच्छेदैः
ॐ पूर्णम् अदः पूर्णम् इदम् । पूर्णात् पूर्णम् उदच्यते । पूर्णस्य पूर्णम् आदाय । पूर्णम् एव अवशिष्यते ।ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥
(2) वाक्यांशशः विश्लेषणम्
Notes -
People have written books on ॐ. Also the subject-matter of माण्डूक्योपनिषत् is this ॐ. So, I shall not dwell on it here. It is well known that it is the invocation seeking auspiciousness.
In (1) and (2) in पूर्णम् अदः पूर्णम् इदम् there is no explicit verb. Most commonly the implicit verb is taken to be अस्ति. But भवति, वर्तते, विद्यते also are synonymous. I thought it good to choose विद्यते. The logic is that since विद्यते is from विद्, the form विद्यते can be taken to be in भावेप्रयोग: from विदॅं ज्ञाने. By that विद्यते would mean one should acknowledge, one should become knowledgeable that अदः is पूर्णम्, also इदम् is पूर्णम्. To say अदः पूर्णम् अस्ति, and इदम् पूर्णम् अस्ति, the statements would sound to be plain matter-of-fact statements. To my mind, अदः पूर्णम् विद्यते, इदम् पूर्णम् विद्यते appeal to be statements of philosophical knowledge. That is what they are, right ?
Lexically both अदः and इदम् are pronouns referring to things which are nearby, both translatable as ‘this’. There is yet another pronoun एतद् which also is translatable as ‘this’. But there is a fine difference. See this आर्या
इदमस्तु सन्निकृष्टं समीपतरवर्ति चैतदो रूपम् ।
अदसस्तु विप्रकृष्टं तदिति परोक्षे विजानीयात् ॥
meaning इदम् is nearby; एतद् is still closer; अदः is something which is generally closely related. तद् is ‘that’ which is out of sight.
Here we have अदः which is generally closely related and इदम् which is nearby. So अदः is ब्रह्मतत्त्वम् which is general something, which is everywhere and is पूर्णम् wholesome. Then इदम् is आत्मतत्त्वम् which is right in each one of us, nearer to us and is also पूर्णम् wholesome.
पूर्णात् पूर्णम् उदच्यते Here उदच्यते is from उत्+अच्. Note अच् अचुँ गतौ याचने च (to go, to beg, to ask, to solicit) भ्वादिः, ०१.०९९९ उभयपदी, सकर्मकः, सेट्. So उदच् means ‘to go up’, to emanate, to come up, to be born, to grow. Simple evidence of पूर्णात् पूर्णम् उदच्यते is that a child is born of a mother, a wholesome is born of a wholesome.
पूर्णस्य पूर्णम् आदाय पूर्णम् एव अवशिष्यते i.e. by taking a wholesome out of a wholesome, a wholesome only remains.
Years back I had read a beautiful poem
No matter how often I level this weed
It springs again, after rain, as if there is need
To remind those who severe life’s delicate string
That destruction is never a permanent thing.
One can also think of an actor on a stage. On the stage the actor enacts the role allotted to him wholesomely. Off the stage he is wholesomely the person, what he in real life is.
Didn’t Shakespeare say “All the world's a stage !” ? See https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/56966/speech-all-the-worlds-a-stage the poem from As You Like It, spoken by Jaques.
We all are actors who entered the stage of the world and are destined to exit. Even after death the wholesome आत्मतत्त्वम् remains. That is the theory of Indian philosophy. Note, etymologically ‘philosophy’ means ‘love for wisdom’.
In गीता
जातस्य हि ध्रुवो मृत्युर्ध्रुवं जन्म मृतस्य च ।
तस्मादपरिहार्येऽर्थे न त्वं शोचितुमर्हसि ॥ २-२७॥
अव्यक्तादीनि भूतानि व्यक्तमध्यानि भारत ।
अव्यक्तनिधनान्येव तत्र का परिदेवना ॥ २-२८॥
जातस्य हि ध्रुवो मृत्युर्ध्रुवं जन्म मृतस्य च Whatever is born is bound to die.
But अव्यक्तादीनि भूतानि all creation emanates from the unmanifest व्यक्तमध्यानि creation is but the middle stage of being manifest. अव्यक्तनिधनान्येव death is only merging into the unmanifest.
पूर्णस्य पूर्णम् आदाय पूर्णम् एव अवशिष्यते summarises that philosophical wisdom. Reciting the mantra again and again is reminding ourselves of that philosophical wisdom.
By the way, the two verbs उदच्यते and अवशिष्यते have passive voice. So my taking the implicit verb to be विद्यते in भावेप्रयोग: aligns very well with these two verbs उदच्यते and अवशिष्यते in passive voice. Basically the common grammatical logic is that it should not be the active voice. There are any number of instances in गीता, that the statements are not in active voice. There is strong logic, not just grammatical, rather philosophical, in not opting for the active voice. In the active voice, a ‘doer’ the subject word has a prominent role. But if the statement has not to give prominence to the doer, गीता takes recourse to कर्मणिप्रयोगः or भावेप्रयोगः.
Here also, the statements पूर्णात् पूर्णम् उदच्यते and पूर्णस्य पूर्णम् आदाय पूर्णम् एव अवशिष्यते cannot be must not be credited to any specific doer. The statements पूर्णम् अदः पूर्णम् इदम् are also not to be credited to any specific doer. These are statements to be studied and to be added into one’s knowledge that अदः पूर्णम् विद्यते, इदम् पूर्णम् विद्यते.
Isn’t it so very amazing that grammar and philosophy are so very knowledgeably intertwined in the मन्त्रः, rather, in मन्त्राः ?
ॐ शान्तिः (अस्तु) शान्तिः (अस्तु) शान्तिः (अस्तु) May that philosophical wisdom help us to be at peace. Generally we all strive for happiness. Shouldn’t we be really striving for peace ? Certainly peace can be better lasting if so strived for, more confidingly than happiness.
I have put the verb (अस्तु) to be the implicit verb. So, शान्तिः (अस्तु) becomes the prayer for peace, ‘May peace be there’. Actually this prayer शान्तिः (अस्तु) is an inclusive prayer, inside out. I cannot be at peace if there is turmoil around me. So to pray शान्तिः (अस्तु) is praying for peace all around, maybe all over, all over the world. That is something very enchanting about these मन्त्राः, not only मन्त्राः, but every other word and phrase put forth by the Rishis, that there is an eternal, universal thought.
I am often left wondering why people indulge in religious conversions. What do the people indulging in religious conversions promise ? Do they promise peace or happiness ? If they promise happiness, can it ever be a promise of everlasting happiness ? And for peace, must one convert to another religion ? The मन्त्राः are in Sanskrit does not mean that they preach Hinduism. The मन्त्राः preach what for should human endeavour be, anytime, anywhere.
One would also wonder, why say शान्ति: thrice. शान्ति: is peace to be attained by pacification, pacification of turmoils तापा:. तापा: are rightly said to be of three types आधिभौतिका: caused by creatures and creations, आधिदैविका: occurring providentially, आध्यात्मिका: occurring during spiritual pursuit. Uttering शान्ति: thrice is praying (१) आधिभौतिकतापाच्छान्तिरस्तु (२) आधिदैविकतापाच्छान्तिरस्तु (३) आध्यात्मिकतापाच्छान्तिरस्तु |
Actually even in music there is a tradition of singing the concluding note thrice. The singing concludes to a state of peacefulness, when the concluding note is sung thrice.
Reciting the शान्तिमन्त्र: certainly has experiential significance. It should better be recited, absorbing the meaning and significance of every word. Saying शान्ति: शान्ति: शान्ति: is concluding part of that experience, to be experienced at the end of every recitation !
Let myself also absorb this delineation.
शुभमस्तु !
-o-O-o-
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