Śāntyullāsaḥ ‘Radiance of Peace’
Sanskrit Poem by Jan E.M. Houben on ‘Radiance of Peace’
from various perspectives :
Yoga and Sāṁkhya philosophy, Maitrī-bhāvanā of the Buddhists, Bhagavad-Gītā, and Beethoven.
Presented at the Sanskrit Poets' Assembly convened by Prof. P C Muraleemadhavan, inaugurated by Prof. Abhiraj Rajendra Mishra, presided over by Prof. Radhavallabha Tripathi, coordinated by Prof. McComas Taylor, 18th World Sanskrit Conference, Canberra, Australia, 9-13 January 2023.
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शान्त्युल्लासः । ‘Radiance of Peace’
by Jan E.M. Houben
शान्तेरुल्लास आनन्दाद् धीगम्यादात्मजात् तथा ।
उत्पद्यते ऽधुनावश्यं लोके ऽस्मिन् स प्रतीक्ष्यते ॥१॥
यस्याहिंसाप्रतिष्ठास्ति त्यज्यते तस्य संनिधौ ।
वैरस् , तथा च लोकानां ‘हेयं दुःखम् अनागतम्’ ॥२॥
इत्येवम् उच्यते योगे सांख्याख्ये चैव शासने ।
सूक्ष्मतः स्थूलपर्यन्तं सृष्टिः प्रक्रियया भवेत् ॥३॥
अथ स्रग्धरा ॥
‘सर्वेभ्यो जीवितेभ्यः’ कपिलमुनिवरश् चाब्रवीद् ‘अस्ति मत्तः
शान्तिस्’, तत्राप्यभूवञ् झटिति निकटगा जन्तवो वैरहीनाः ।
सिद्धार्थो गौतमश्च प्रकटितसुगुणो मित्रताभावनां ताम्
भिक्षुभ्यः प्रादिशद् या सकलभयगणं दूरचारीकरोति ॥४॥
इति स्रग्धरा ॥
अनिष्टसमरक्षेत्रे ज़ेलेन्स्किय्-अर्जुनादयः ।
करुणातो ऽपि युध्यन्ति धर्मार्थं शान्तिसिद्धये ॥५॥
अथैवं मन्यते कश्चिद् (बेत्-होवन्) हृष्टितो हर्षतस् तथा ।
दिव्यहृष्ट्यादराच् चैव विश्वशान्तिप्रभा भवेत् ॥६॥
अथातो हृष्टिष्टुतिः ॥
हृष्टे ! शोभने ! देवाँशो ! स्वर्गलोककन्यके ! ।
प्रविशामो ऽर्चिषोन्मत्ता दिव्ये ! तव मन्दिरे ॥७॥
मायास्ते बध्नन्ति यद्विभिन्नं रूढिभिः ।
सर्वे भ्रातारो भवन्ति यत्र सुपक्षस् तव ॥
सर्वे भ्रातारो भवन्ति यत्र तव भावना ॥८॥
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Śāntyullāsaḥ – A Sanskrit poem by Jan E.M. Houben on ‘Radiance of Peace’ from various perspectives : Yoga and Sāṁkhya philosophy, Maitrī-bhāvanā of Buddhism, Bhagavad-Gītā, and Beethoven – Translation
(1) ‘Radiance of peace’ originates from ānanda ‘bliss, joy’, and this ānanda is accessible through dhī ‘sacred poetry, meditation’ or it arises by itself (or from the Self) ; at present it is eagerly looked forward to in this world.
(2) If someone has profound grounding in non-violence, enmity is given up in his environment (Yoga-sūtra 2.35) ; and in that way the suffering of people can and should be avoided (=Yoga-sūtra 2.16).
(3) This is how it is said in Yoga, and also in the teaching called Sāṁkhya : the creation (of peace) should go from subtle to gross, through certain procedures (from thought to words and acts).
(4) And the excellent sage Kapila said (according to the rules of renunciation attributed to him) ‘to all living beings, there is (asti, unconditionally) peace (safety) from my side’ ; at that very moment, all living beings (including wild animals) in his environment became immediately free of enmity (in response to Kapila’s communication of profound peacefulness from his side).
And Siddhārtha Gautama (the Buddha), whose excellent qualities had become manifest,
showed his monks thát maitrī-bhāvanā ‘contemplative generation of universal friendship (to be expressed in words and deeds)’, which makes all dangers (including those coming from wild animals) go far away.
(All nice and well, but what if an aggressive enemy is already at your door, ready to kill you and your near and dear ones?)
(5) On the field of a battle which théy had not wished for, people like Zelenskyy and Arjuna fight, even on the basis of compassion, for the sake of justice, in order to establish peace.
(6) And then someone (namely, Ludwig von Beethoven) thinks as follows : from joy, from happiness, and especially from respect to divine joy, there can be the dawning of world peace.
Hence, now the Hymn to Joy (after Beethoven’s Ode an die Freude)
(7) Joy! Beautiful sparkling of the Divine! Daughter of Paradise! Drunk with energetic enthusiasm we walk, o Heavenly One, into your temple.
(8) Your magical tricks (o Joy) bind together what has been separated through strict established customs. All people become brothers (and sisters) where your gentle wing takes rest; (in other words:) all people become brothers (and sisters) where people are contemplating and realizing you (o Joy).
References:
Baudhāyana-Gṛhya-Śeṣa-Sūtra 4.16.4: saṁnyāsa-vidhi attributed to a certain Kapila, i.a., abhayaṁ sarvabhūtebhyo mattas, svāhā (cp.: the first part of Yoga-sūtra 2.35; the second part is apparently implied)
Yoga-sūtra 2.35 ahiṁsāpratiṣṭhāyām, tatsaṁnidhau vairatyāgaḥ.
Yoga-sūtra 2.16 heyaṁ duḥkham anāgatam.
Gonda, Jan. 1963. The Vision of the Vedic Poets. The Hague.
Habermas, Jürgen. 1981. Theorie des kommunikativen Handelns. Bd. 1: Handlungsrationalität und gesellschaftliche Rationalisierung; Bd. 2: Zur Kritik der funktionalistischen Vernunft. Frankfurt am Main.
Schmithausen, Lambert. 1997. Maitrī and Magic : Aspects of the Buddhist Attitude Toward the Dangerous in Nature. Vienna.
