There is an ancient prayer that is chanted before any kind of study begins; it’s a beautiful prayer. It’s also relevant today more than at any other time, especially to the young. The prayer is:
Sahana vavatu sahana bhunattu |
Saha viryam karawavahai |
Tejasvi navaditamastu ma vidvishavahai |
It means, hear the words, ‘Sahana vavatu’— ‘saha’ means together—that is the teacher and the taught are talked of as one unit. Learning together is the most important thing.
So, it is ‘Sahana vavatu’: May we all be nourished, the teacher and the taught. Nourished physically, nourished intellectually.
‘Sahana bhunattu saha viryam karawavahai’: May we be protected.
‘Saha viryam karawavahai’: May our energies be together.
‘Tejasvinavaditamastu’: May the ‘Tejas’, the shining energy within us, the energy of understanding, the fire of understanding, shine forth in both of us.
It’s not that you are trying to defeat me and I am trying to defeat you in an argument; that would turn into a quarrel. That would not be a dialogue or a discussion.
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