SANTI PATHA:-(PEACE--INVOCATION)-

Om  purna-madah  purna-midam  purnat  purnam-udacyate,

Purnasya  purna-madaya  purna-meva-vasisyate

Om  Santih!  Santih!!  Santih!!!

That is Whole,  This is  Whole;  from  the Whole,  the  Whole  becomes  manifest.

From  the Whole,  when  the Whole  is  negated,  what  remains  is  again  the  Whole. 

This peace-invocation  reads as though a pleasant contradiction in terms.  On a very superficial reading one is apt to consider  only its word-meaning and each sentence should certainly confuse and confound anybody who reads its literal translation in English or any other language.

This is a philosophical truth-declaration, and as such unless we know something of the Vedantic conclusions over the theme of the transcendental Infinite and its relationship with the Finite, this slokam should necessarily confuse any reader.

This Self alone is the Truth :-Eternal, It is about this Infinite Truth. The finite plurality constituting the world of phenomena is a super-imposition upon the Truth. This is further explained through the following examples:-

(1) In the darkness one misunderstands a Rope to be a Snake. But when he recognises the Rope, the Snake--vision rolls away and the Rope alone remains.

The Rope was always ' Whole'. When the Snake appeared, he was suffering under his delusion, the Snake was the 'Whole'; that is where there was Snake, there was no trace of Rope. On closer inspection later on, the same person discovered the Rope, the entire Snake retired from his vision and the Rope as a 'Whole'remained in his experience. The Snake was not there, where the Rope was. In short, the Snake rose from the Rope, remained in the Rope, borrowing its Reality from the Rope, and merged back in the Rope. 

Similarly, the slokam[stanza] declares that the Supreme is the Reality[Like the Rope]. The perceiver , because of his ignorance about  the Reality  sees not, but in its place sees world of plurality [Just the Snake]

"THAT" =The great Reality, Absolute, and Finite is expressed, [Rope]

"THIS"  =World of plurality [Snake], Truth [Rope] is superimposed by plurality [Snake].

(2) (a)Mud changes its name and shape when pots are made.

(b) Lump of gold undergo transformation when out of it, necklace is made.

(c) A tree is grown into its full stature, the seed has exhausted itself.

Similarly, when multiple world of the Finite [Pot,Necklace,Tree] arisen from the One Great Infinite   , [mud,lump of gold, seed] may be the Cause has died, itself off, in reaching this modification as an Effect.

"When the Whole is taken out of That Whole, what remains is again the Whole".

This is against the ordinary observation in Life:-"When something is born out of a thing, the Cause necessarily  under goes a change in becoming the Effect."

'Creation is not an actual production' and the relation between the world and the Truth is not a relation between a cause and its effect.

This triple invocation peace [santih ] , :- the seeker demanding peace from three possible Sources of Obstacles, such as - 1.Sources of Unseen, 2.Sources of Known, 3.Sources rise up from within our self.

Thus the Guru and the disciple  at the opening of each day lessons, reminded themselves of their real nature and tuned themselves  to the Truth [DIVINE].

[to be cont----d]