सह नौ भुनक्तु (saha nau bhunaktu) - May we both enjoy the fruits (of our efforts)

In the first part of this verse, there is a prayer for protection. Once this basic need for survival is assured, we move on to asking for things which we want - maybe material objects, maybe name and fame - for a better life; we have moved on from mere existing to living life.

A common opinion seems to be that worldy objects or material gains are to be shunned, if one wants to progress spriritually. I believe there is a fine nuance here, between desire for worldly objects or objectives (अर्थ - artha) as a means to an end, as against a desire for material objects as an end in themselves. That to me makes all the  difference in how we approach this philosphy.

In the Bhagavad Gita (BG 7.16), the Lord talks about four types of devotees who pray to him(“caturvidhA bhajantE mAm janAh” - the first type being people in distress (“ArtA”) and the second being those desirous of material objectives (“arthArthI”). The first part of the verse (“saha nAvavatu”) addresses the first type of devotee (“ArtA”).

He is explicit about the fact at all four types are good people. - “sukritinAh”. So praying for material gains is NOT something that is bad in and of itself, but yes it needs to be a stepping stone for higher aims. The verse we are exploring progresses along the same lines - protection and material objectives are sought, so that the teacher and student can then move on to higher objectives.

Kalidasa describes this thought beautifully in his raghuvamSam, when describing the superior moral / ethical values of the dynasty of Raghu (this is the dynasty into which Rama was born subsequently). The first half of verse 1.8 says

शैशवेऽभ्यस्तविद्यानां यौवने विषयैषिणाम् (SaiSavE’bhyastavidyAnAm yauvanE viSayaiSiNAm)

“They (the members of the Raghu dynasty) spent their childhood in acquisition of knowledge and practising what they learnt to perfection

They then spent their youth and adulthood (after finishing their education) in the pursuit of pleasures of the senses”.

If pursuit of the senses sounds dissolute in isolation, Kalidasa is quick to move on to how they spent the rest of their lives in the second line of the same verse

वार्द्धके मुनिवृत्तीनां योगेनान्ते तनुत्यजाम् (vArdhakE munivrittInAm yOgEnAntE tanutyajAm)

“They spent their old age in the manner of sages (in a life of meditation and contemplation)

And finally shed their mortal bodies through the power accumulated through yOga (they knew when it was time to move on, and could do so at will)”. 

Enjoying the pleasures of the senses does not preclude one from a higher order spirituality. It also has a time, place and quantum in life.

Incidentally, in the verse just preceding this (1.7), Kalidasa has already established their purpose in gathering wealth. The first part of the verse says

त्यागाय संभृतार्थानां (tyAgAya sambhrtArthAnAm)

“They amassed wealth only to give it away (as charity)”

This aspect of earning wealth is probably the most critical one - the aspect of charity. A common notion of charity is that it should be to the extent that it hurts. Be as it may, one cannot give away in charity what one has not already acquired. An old proverb in Tamizh goes

கடை தேங்காயை எடுத்து வழிப்பிள்ளையாருக்கு உடைத்தானாம் (kaDai tEngAyai eDutthu vazhi piLLaiyArukku uDaittAnAm)

“He took a coconut from a shop (without paying for it) and offered Ganesha at a street shrine” - the import being any offering (or charity) has to be from your earnings, and willingly given. 

Let me close this with some thoughts from one of the most famous works of Adi Sankara called the mOha mudgara (popularly referred to by the refrain verse bhaja gOvindam)

In the second line of the second verse (the very first verse after the initial refrain has been established), he says

यल्लभसे निजकर्मोपात्तं वित्तं तेन विनोदय चित्तम् (yallabhasE nija karmOpAttam vittam tEna vinOdaya Cittam)

“Be pleased in your heart with the wealth you earn through your own actions”. He is clear that wealth is not evil in and of itself; an unquenchable thirst for wealth is what is to be avoided. 

Th last part of verse 27 says something that I believe completes the thought established in the last part of verse 2

देयं दीनजनाय च वित्तम् (dEyam dIna janAyaCa vittam)

“Donate your wealth to needy / destitute people”. To give, you must first have.

Swami Chinmayananda explains this beautifully is his exposition on bhaja gOvindam. He says

“Charity must flow from one’s own abundance. Thus, the first requirement would be efforts to earn sufficiently in order that you may share it with those who have a need for that commodity which they have not got now with themselves.” 

saha nau bhunaktu - May we both enjoy the fruits of our efforts.

P.S.: I had drawn a parallel of the first part of the verse “saha nAvavatu” with modern Organizational Behaviour theories of Maslow (Hierarchy of Needs) and Alderfer (ERG). The parallel actually continues quite well even with the second part “saha nau bhunaktu”.

The fruits of study are not just material objects; it includes other human desiderata like name and fame, respect in society etc. These map quite well with Maslow’s third (Belongingness) and fourth (Esteem) needs. As with the first one, Alderfer’s ERG is more succinct - these are what he terms his Relatedness needs (the R of ERG).

A popular subhASita (adage) in Sanskrit (sometimes attributed to Chanakya, but not certain) goes:

अलसस्य कुतो विद्या, अविद्यस्य कुतो धनम् ।
अधनस्य कुतो मित्रं, अमित्रस्य कुतः सुखम् ॥ 

alasasya kutO vidyA, avidyasya kutO dhanam |

adhanasya kutO mitram, amitrasya kutah sukham ||

“How will a lazy person gain knowledge, where does an uneducated person gain wealth

Can a man with no means have friends, and where does a friendless man have any peace?”

The link - from effort to learning, from learning to wealth, from wealth to societal acceptance & respect, and from societal respect to satisfaction - passes the basic smell test of logic. 

For our moden sensibilities, some of the statements above seem harsh. “No education means no wealth”, or “no wealth means no friends” - these seem to be defining statements coming from a position of privilege. But if we read “vidyA” as “skill” rather than limiting it to bookish knowledge, isn’t having some form of skill, either academic or trade, almost always a prerequisite to earn wealth? Also, if we look at the “no wealth, no friends” part dispassionately, it does ring true. It is not a statement that is universal without exceptions, but wealth does seem to attract other people to a person. Whoever said this statement first (Chanakya or otherwise) was surely a wordly wise one, not afraid of calling a spade a bloody shovel!

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I’m giving below the full verses with references I have quoted in part above. I have not attempted to explain these in entirety. Far better and greater minds than mine have done extensive commentary on these, and in today’s connected world it is just a matter of searching these on Google to get a plethora of these expositions.

Benedictory verse from the 2nd part (brahmAnandavalli) of the taittiriya upaniSad 

ॐ सह नाववतु ।

सह नौ भुनक्तु ।

सह वीर्यं करवावहै ।

तेजस्वि नावधीतमस्तु  मा विद्विषावहै ।

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥

OM saha nAvavatu |

saha nau bhunaktu |

saha vIryaM karavAvahai |

tejasvi nAvadhItamastu mA vidviShAvahai |

OM shAntiH shAntiH shAntiH ||

Bhagavad Gita 7.16

चतुर्विधा भजन्ते मां जना: सुकृतिनोऽर्जुन ।

आर्तो जिज्ञासुरर्थार्थी ज्ञानी च भरतर्षभ ॥७-१६॥

caturvidhA bhajantE mAm janAh su-kṛtino’rjuna |

Arto jijnAsu arthArthI jnAnIca bharatarSabha || 7.16 ||

Kalidasa’s raguvamSam 

त्यागाय संभृतार्थानां सत्याय मितभाषिणाम् ।

यशसे विजिगीषूणां प्रजायै गृहमेधिनाम् ॥ १-७॥

tyAgAya sambhrtArthAnAm satyAya mitabhASiNAM | 

yaSasE vijigISUNAm prajAyai grhamEdhinAm || 1.7 ||

शैशवेऽभ्यस्तविद्यानां यौवने विषयैषिणाम् ।

वार्द्धके मुनिवृत्तीनां योगेनान्ते तनुत्यजाम् ॥ १-८॥

SaiSavE’bhyastavidyAnAm yauvanE viSayaiSiNAm | 

vArdhakE munivrittInAm yOgEnAntE tanutyajAm || 1.8 ||

Adi Sankara’s mOha mudgara (bhaja gOvindam)

मूढ जहीहि धनागमतृष्णां कुरु सद्बुद्धिं मनसि वितृष्णाम् ।

यल्लभसे निजकर्मोपात्तं वित्तं तेन विनोदय चित्तम् ॥ २॥

mUDha jahIhi dhanAgama trSNAm kuru sadbuddhim manasi vitrSNAM |

yallabhasE nija karmOpAttam vittam tEna vinOdaya Cittam || 2 ||

गेयं गीतानामसहस्रं ध्येयं श्रीपतिरूपमजस्रम् ।

नेयं सज्जनसङ्गे चित्तं देयं दीनजनाय च वित्तम् ॥ २७॥ 

gEyam gItA nAmasahasram dhEyam SrIpati rUpamajaSram |

nEyam sajjana sangE Cittam dEyam dIna janAyaCa vittam || 27 ||