8. Santi Mantras

The Santi Mantras are prayers for peace, in the Hindu Mythology. Santi Mantras are also known as "Peace Mantras". Santi Mantras form the part of Upanishads. These mantras are believed to cool the mind of reciter and the surroundings. Reciting these mantras at the beginning of any task is considered to remove its obstacles.

Santi Mantras always end with three words of "Santi" which suggests "Peace". The reason behind speaking three times "Santi" is to cool the surroundings and remove obstacles in three realms namely; "Physical" or Adhi-Bhautika, "Devine" or Adhi-Daivika and "Internal" or Adhyaatmika. These are called "Tapa-Traya" or three classes of troubles. When Santi Mantras are recited, obstacles from these realms are believed to be pacified. Various Santi Mantras from different Upanishads are as follows:

From Brihadaranyaka Upanishad and Ishavasya Upanishad:

Harihi Om!
poornamadah poornamidam,
poornaat poornamudacyatE,
poornasya poornamaadaaya,
poornamEvaavaSishyatE,
Om Santihi, Santihi, Santihi.
Meaning: That (pure consciousness) is full (perfect); this (the manifest universe of matter; of names and forms being maya) is full. This fullness has been projected from that fullness. When this fullness merges in that fullness, all that remains is fullness - Peace invocation -Isa Upanishad.
The literal meaning of this mantra is: "That is Absolute, This is Absolute, Absolute arises out of Absolute, If Absolute is taken away from Absolute, Absolute remains OM Peace, Peace, Peace".

Harihi Om!
asatOmaa sadgamaya,
tamasOmaa jyOtirgamaya,
mrityOrmaa amritamgamaya,
Om Santihi, Santihi, Santihi"

Meaning: The accurate sense of this mantra is: "OM lead me from unreal to real, lead me from darkness to light, lead me from death to immortality OM Peace, Peace, Peace".

From Taittiriya Upanishad:

Harihi Om!
sanno mitraha sam varuNaha; sanno bhavatvaryamaa,
sanna indrObrihaspatihi, sannO vishNu-rurukramaha,
namO brahmanya, namastE vaayO;
tvamEva pratyaksham brahmaasi,
tvamEva pratyaksham brahma vadishyaami,
ritam vadishyaami; satyam vadishyaami,
tanmaamavatu; tadvaktaaramavatu, avatu maam; avatu vaktaaram,
Om Santihi, Santihi, Santihi.
Meaning: May Mitra, Varuna and Aryama be good to us! May Indra and Brihaspati and Vishnu of great strides be good to us! Prostrations unto Brahman! (Supreme Reality). Prostrations to Thee, O Vayu! Thou art the visible Brahman. I shall proclaim Thee as the visible Brahman. I shall call Thee the just and the True. May He protect the teacher and me! May he protect the teacher! Om peace, peace, peace!
This Mantra also implies: "OM. May Mitra do good to us, may Varuna do good to us, may Aryama do good to us, may Indra do good to us, may Brihaspati do good to us, and may Vishnu who has vast coverage do good to us. We Salute Lord Brahma and Lord Vayu, the only visible Brahman. We say right, we say truth, may it protect us and may it protect teacher. OM Peace, Peace and Peace"

From Kena Upanishad and Chandogya Upanishad:

Harihi Om!
Aapyaayantu Mamaangaani Vaak
praanaScakshuh SrotramathO,
balamindriyaani Ca Sarvaani sarvam brahmOpanishadam,
maaham brahma niraakuryaam maa maa brahma niraakarOd,
niraakaraNamastva niraakaraNam mE astu,
tadaatmani niratE ya upanishatsu dharmaaste,
mayi santu Te mayi santu
Om Santihi, Santihi, Santihi.

Meaning: The Mantra implies: "OM. May our organs, speech, Prana, eyes and ears be nourished. May all our senses become strong. Upanishad says all that the World is Brahman. We don't reject Brahman, may Brahma not reject me. Let there be no rejection, let there be no rejection at all in us, let us concentrate on ourselves, all those ways of righteous living told in Upanishads be in us! Be in us, OM Peace, Peace and Peace".

From Aitareya Upanishad:

Harihi Om!
vaang mE manasi pratishtitaa,
manoe mE vaaci pratishtitam,
aaviraaviirma Edhi; vEdasya ma aaniistaha,
srutam mE maa prahaaseehi, anEnaadhiitEna,
aho raatraan sandadhaami,
ritam vadishyaami; satyam vadishyaami;
tanmaamavatu, tadvaktaaramavatu,
avatu maam, avatu vaktaaramavatu vaktaaram,
Om Santihi, Santihi, Santihi.

Meaning: The accurate meaning of this mantra is: "OM. Let our speech be established in our mind, and our mind be established in our speech. Let Brahman reveal itself to us and may we understand the truths of the Vedas. Let not what we have studied leave us. Let all of us spend both day and night in study. We say right, we say truth and may it protect us. May truth protect teacher. OM Peace, Peace, Peace".

From Mundaka Upanishad, Mandukya Upanishad and Prashna Upanishad:

Harihi Om!
bhadram karnEbhihi srunuyaama devaaha,
bhadram paSyEmaakshabhir-yajatraaha,
sthirair-angais-tushTuvaagam sas-tanuubhihi,
vyaSEma dEvahitam yadaayuhu,
swasti na indrE vriddhaSravaaha,
swasti naha poosha viSwavEdaaha,
swasti nastaarkshyo arishtanEmihi,
swasti noe brihaspatir-dadhaatu,
Om Santihi, Santihi, Santihi.

Meaning: Om! May my speech be rooted in my mind; may my mind be rooted in my speech; Brahman, reveal Thy self to me. Oh! My mind and speech enable me to grasp the Truth that the Vedas teach. Let not what I have heard forsake me. Let me continuously live my days and nights in my studies. I think Truth. May that (Truth) protect me! May that protect the teacher! Protect me; protect the teacher; protect the teacher. Om! Peace be; peace be; peace be.

The literal meaning of this mantra is: "OM. O Gods! Let us hear promising things from our ears. O respectful Gods! Let us see propitious things from our eyes, let our organs and body be stable, healthy and strong. Let us do what is pleasing to gods in the life span allotted to us. May Indra, inscribed in the scriptures do well to us, May Pushan who is knower of world do good to us and May Trakshya who devastates enemies do good to us! May Brihaspati do well to us! OM Peace, Peace, Peace".

From Chandogya Upanishad

Harihi Om!
aapyaayantu mamaangaani vaak-praanas-cakshuhu,
srOtram athO balaamindriyaani ca sarvaani,
sarvam brahmoupanishadam, maaham brahma niraa-kuryaam,
maamaa brahma niraakatOt, aniraakarana-mastva-niraakaranam mE astu, taddatmaani niratE ya upanishatsu dharmaastE mavi santu tE mavi santu.
Om! Santihi, Santihi, Santihi.

Meaning: May my limbs, speech, vital air, eyes, ears as well as strength and all sense organs become well developed! Everything is Brahman revealed in the Upanishads. May I not deny Brahman, may not Brahman deny me. Let there be no discarding of Brahman by me. May there be non-rejection of the Lord for me. In me who is committed to the pursuit of knowledge of Brahman, let there be all those qualities which are mentioned as qualifications in the Upanishads. Let those qualities be in me. Om! Peace be; peace be; peace be.

From: Katha, Naaraayana, Mahaanaaraayana, Kena, Kalisantarana Upanishads

Harihi Om!
Saha naavavatu, sahanau bhunaktu,
Saha veeryam karavaavahai,
tEjasvi naavadiitamastu maa vidvishaava hai,
Om Santihi, Santihi, Santihi.
Meaning: May He protect us both (teacher and the taught)! May He cause us both to enjoy the bliss of Mukti (liberation)! May we both exert to discover the true meaning of the sacred scriptures! May our studies be fruitful! May we never quarrel with each other! Let there be threefold peace.
In other words: May he protect us both together (by revealing knowledge). May He protect us both. May we attain vigor together. Let what we study be invigorating. May we not hate each other!
The literal meaning of this mantra is: "OM. Let all of us protect each other together, may all of us enjoy together, may all of us work together and let our study become radiant. Let there be no hatred between us. OM! Peace, Peace, Peace"

This prayer seems to be especially imperative in the study of scriptures, where the chances for wasteful and useless arguments are so many that they can lead us into the meshes of ruinous misunderstanding, understanding and non-understanding of the scripture at every step.

The great masters of the Upanishads knew no desire for the sense-world which they had enquired into and discovered to be hollow and riddled with carping sorrows. They prayed only for the cultural evolution of the entire kingdom of beings. This national character of Vedic period is stamped so faithfully in the words of the Shanti stanza in each of the Upanishads. Both the master and disciple sincerely wished and prayed that they should, during their spiritual life, see and hear nothing but auspiciousness. The sense organs—the eyes, and ears are the great-trunk-roads through which Satan enters the realm of Godly, within man. The other sense objects do not so directly pave a way to the mental suicide in an. Both the outer scenes of viciousness and the inner murmurs of foul intentions directly sweep us in front of them and then defile the edifice of spiritualism in our bosom; Hence the great prayer of the Vedic seers that they should hear and see nothing but goodness and purity. In the peace invocation, the thing desired or invoked is not something to satisfy the physical comforts or the mental desires of the student. The student is not begging anything at the feet of the Lord as we often do while offering prayers. All that he demands of Cosmic Powers, whom he is invoking, is that no obstacles shall come during the study of the Saastras from his master.

Their invocation to Indra, Vaayu, Surya etc makes us remember that Rama, Krishna-Gods are the products of a much later stage. They were deities that were sanctioned in the puranic times. In the Vedic period, the Masters knew only the five great Elements and such other manifestations to be the Divine personalities (Devatas). They are invoked here both by the Guru and the disciple.

If each one, in a society or a community, is to ardently and sincerely pray so as to meet with only auspiciousness and act for the same, in such a country at such an era of culture, jails will be redundant, slum areas will be unknown, poverty unimaginable, disease a mere exception. From the state of affairs available today, we may despair and fail even to visualize that such perfect spiritual communism would be ever possible in the world, but this seems to be the pattern aimed at by the rishis of old and their prayers clearly indicate to what perfection they brought their vision, in their own times as facts realized.

No peace invocation concludes without thrice repeating or invoking Santi. The three repetitions are - it is explained by Aachaaryas like Sankara, Raamaanuja, and Madhwa - addressed to the three groups in which all the probable obstacles in the study of the scripture can be classified. They are: Aadhidaivika (cosmic disturbances); Aadhibhoutika (environmental disturbances; Aadhyaatmika (inner disturbances). The first type of disturbance is from the phenomenal powers like lightning, thunder, rain, earthquake etc. Hence the first Santi is chanted loudly. The second type is the environmental disturbance like noise around, animals prowling, insects crawling etc. The second chant is softer than the first to indicate that it is directed to the environmental disturbances. The third type is disturbance springing from one’s own body like sickness, worry etc. The last chant is therefore in whispers directed to the inner disturbances.

The invocation is thus rounded up with a thrice repeated “call for peace”. This is to avert all possible obstacles. Obstacles are many and to exhaust all possibilities by name is impossible. But all obstacles can be classified under the three heads with reference to the source from which they arise.
Thus, the sources can be: a) unseen b) seen and unknown c) subjective, within us in our own mind. In order to avert all obstacles arising from the above three types of causes, we have the thrice repeated peace call. It is believed that which is said thrice comes true. In the court of Law, one who takes witness stand says, “I shall speak the truth, the whole truth and nothing but truth”, repeating the word truth three times.

There is a difference in the tense of verbs used in the closing peace invocation. While in the opening passage the invocation expressed a humble submission to the Supreme, here at the end it is the joy cry of the devotee who feels the recipient of the grace. There if it was a cry to be blessed, here it is the cry of satisfaction at having been blessed.

In short, the student feels that the study all through the chapter has been fruitful and in this invocation he is expressing his gratitude for the blessings received from the Cosmic Powers, whom he had invoked in the beginning of the lessons.