सह नाववतु (saha nAvavatu) - May we both be protected

This is the first phrase of a prayer many of us would have recited in our schools. The entire verse is in the dual case, denoting the teacher and the student, and asks for benediction on both of them as they progress on the path of knowledge.


I find the order in which the benediction progresses to be very interesting. It moves from the quotidian to the sublime.


The very first phrase - saha nAvavatu - is a very basic ask. It asks for protection for the two. What is this protection against? It could be physical danger or it could be disease or disability, or as I believe, it could be anything that prevents the teacher and student from progressing in their endeavours. 


Traditional thought defines three types or levels of pain that people suffer, which they need to be protected from - AdhyAtmika (caused by factors internal to the person), AdhibhautIka (caused by external but still worldly factors) and finally AdhidaIvIka (caused by supra-worldly factors - “act of god”). Any of these could cause a derailment of the learning process, so protection against all these is the most basic requirement. A mind in fear cannot progress in learning.


Mutthusvami Dikshitar, one of the trinity of Carnatic composers from the late 18th-early 19th centuries, describes this beautifully in several compositions. My favourite is from his 14 rAga magnum opus SrI viSvanAtham bhajEham. In one of the lines, he says 

आध्यात्मिकादि ताप त्रय मनो-भीत्यापहम् (AdhyAtmikAdi tApa traya manO-bhItyApaham) - (I pray to him who) removes the fear of the three types of suffering from the mind.


Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore’s vision for his country and his people (from the 35th poem of Gitanjali) begins with a plea to remove fear. A fearful mind is fully occupied by survival instinct; it does not have any space for loftier thought

চিত্ত যেথা ভয়শূন্য (Chitto jetha bhoyshunno) - Where the mind is without fear.


Coming to more modern takes on the subject, from the field of Psychology and Organizational Behaviour. Abraham Maslow’s famous hierarchy of needs also establishes the need for basic physiological and security requirements to be met before higher order motivations can be achieved. Personally, I think Clayton Alderfer’s ERG, a refinement / development on Maslow, captures this better. The “E” in ERG is “Existence needs”; it is table stakes for the person in their quest for personal growth.


Today, fear is probably THE dominant emotion. May we be both be protected - saha nAvavatu.


—————————————————————-

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 ||


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

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