Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah..

 

India, indeed, is called the land of the Rishis. They were creators, educators, guides of men, and the life of the Indian people in ancient times was largely developed and directed by their shaping influence. Rishis were men of vision who during their meditation saw images and put these in a concrete form of hymns, shlokas, or mantras for the development of human beings and society. One such mantra that comes to my mind is ‘ Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah’ which means ‘all should be happy, all should enjoy good health and all should prosper’. By reading and reciting these, human beings can lead their lives to development and progress. Therefore, the culture of India, the backbone of Indians, is often called as the culture of the Rishis.

 In ancient times Rishis and Munis have written different Shlokas and Mantras with the only aim that people will remain together and pray for each other’s welfare. One of such Mantras given to us by our ancestors is :

Let’s first understand what does it mean?

 ॐ सर्वे भवन्तु सुखिनः

सर्वे सन्तु निरामयाः।
सर्वे भद्राणि पश्यन्तु मा कश्चिद्दुःखभाग्भवेत।
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॐ ॥
oṃ sarve bhavantu sukhinaḥ
sarve santu nirāmayāḥ
sarve bhadrāṇi paśyantu mā kaścidduḥ khabhāgbhaveta।
oṃ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ om॥
सभी सुखी होवें,
सभी रोगमुक्त रहें,
सभी मंगलमय घटनाओं के साक्षी बनें और किसी को भी दुःख का भागी न बनना पड़े।
ॐ शांति शांति शांति ॐ ॥
May all sentient beings be at peace,
may no one suffer from illness,
May all see what is auspicious, may no one suffer.
Om peace, peace, peace.

Just to understand the importance of this Mantra let me analyse the same :

Om = Holy word, word of creation; Sarve = all; bhavantu = be; sukhinah= happy/prosperous;

Sarve=all; Santu=be; nir= without; amayah= illness; nirāmayāḥ = without illness;

Sarve=all; bhadrāṇi = good; paśyantu= may see; mā=not;

kashchit= anyone/someone; dukhah= sorrow/suffering; bhag=part/share; bhavet=have; bhagbhavet= take part

Om= holy word; shantih= peace; shantih=peace; shantih=peace; Om=word of creation.

This is a very simple prayer applicable to one and all. The prayer is so simple that one can easily remember the simple meaning as “may all be happy and healthy”. It brings out enormous love for the entire creation so that one does whatever best he can do for others. Thus this prayer is not just a prayer but becomes a mantra to meditate upon and move on the path of spirituality to achieve universality.

The literal meaning of this mantra is ‘all should be happy, all should enjoy good health and all should prosper’. It is with this intention that this mantra is recited and it gives one, peace of mind. One should wish that everybody–whether human beings, birds, animals, and all other living things, should be healthy and happy, and if anyone is unhappy or ill it is the duty of the other person to help him come out of the same.

 It is said that in Hinduism several shlokas and mantras which are chanted for the wellbeing of all, have a healing value. Hinduism believes in the principle of universal brotherhood and that the entire world is one family. They believe that prayers do wonders and help in healing a person, mentally and physically. We are given a beautiful mantra “Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah” by our ancestors that can be chanted for keeping diseases and illness at bay. One must chant this mantra to remain fit and healthy, for life.                          

“You get what you give”.‘Whatever goes from you will come back to you’ or in other words ‘you will get whatever you give to others’. If you wish good for others and make their lives less miserable, then you will get the same for your life. You will get good things if you wish the same for others and bad if you wish them so. So, let us be positive in our thinking for others, try our best not to harm any living thing, make everyone happy and try our best to make this world a better and a wonderful place to live, so we too can be happy. The world will look beautiful only if everyone is happy.

So, here is a prayer that cares for me, for you, and for everyone. Even for birds, animals, plants, food, water, and for that matter everything, living or non-living. The prayer here is for everyone to be happy, for everyone to be free of illness, for everyone to experience auspiciousness. The welfare of all is the focus of this prayer which is not for an individual, but for all of mankind. ‘Om sarve bhavantu sukhinah sarve santu Niramayah | sarve Bhadrani Pashyantu’. The prayer here is for everyone to be happy, for everyone to be free of illness, for everyone to experience auspiciousness. The welfare of all is the focus of prayers. The prayer is not for an individual, but for all of mankind. 

This ancient mantra is not only to wish prosperity and happiness all around us, but it is also a way of life that has been passed on to us through generations. They have taught us that the entire world is one and we should always pray for the everlasting peace and prosperity in the world. We can be happy only if all are happy.

 ‘May everyone be happy’

 Everyone here refers to the entire creation, to all sensuous beings including plants, animals, and human beings. Although this prayer is in Sanskrit and although it is included in a number of Hindu scriptures, but once someone says‘ Sarve..’ he includes all living beings on earth including non-Hindus. When this prayer says ‘happiness for all’ it does not mean that I pray to God to give happiness to Hindus only and you do not deserve my prayers if you are not a Hindu.

 It is believed that sometimes there are some religious institutions that can be so narrow that they teach their followers that they cannot pray for the wellbeing of people of other sects. Religious fundamentalists in every religion have been responsible for creating such illogical unhealthy beliefs, which is rampant even today. Thus we see that our prayers should not be restricted only to our sect but shall reach everyone, every human being, everyone belonging to all religions, all castes, all creeds, all races, all animals and plants not only on this planet but to all living beings on any planet.

Q. ‘Why should we pray for the wellbeing of bad people? Is it not fair if we pray only for the protection of the good?”

A. When we say this mantra, we are supposed to pray for the wellbeing of everyone, including good and the bad, the lazy and the hard worker, even a burglar because the sage who says this mantra believes that “ No one is bad by birth” it is the circumstances that make him bad.

Let us relate this mantra to the current situation, and the pandemic Coronavirus or COVID-19, that the entire world is passing through. Coronavirus or COVID-19 is the newest threat that the world faces now. Every day, a lot of new cases are arising globally with a huge number of fatalities. The threat is alarming and most of us have been directed to protect ourselves from the virus. In order to avoid the spread of the coronavirus threat that the entire world is facing, we are bound to stay indoors, work from home, no social gatherings, not venturing out to market, etc. as a result all of us are feeling let down. Despite all of us taking all the prescribed precautions, numbers are still rising unprecedently and pose a major challenge to face. Some of us might have lost jobs, some getting half salaries but we cannot get disillusioned and need to keep a little patience, stay positive and calm face and bring this pandemic to its logical end “We need to stay positive and help others keep positivity too”. By keeping a little patience and staying calm we can easily get through this hard time. I feel the only way to do so is that let’s all follow this mantra to tackle the panic of COVID-19 and stay in the right frame of mind.

 So friends, let us also not let our guard down. We all have responsibilities towards our parents and children and of course the world and we need to ensure that we defeat this worst global pandemic and come out of it healthy and alive. I would like to conclude with this wish for all – ‘sarve bhavantu sukhinah, sarve santu niramayah’ - may all be happy, may all be without disease!

Inputs from Google, N Raghuram. Pics from Google 

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