Blowing a Conch and Ringing Bells,  Chanting Shanti and Reciting of OM

Why do we blow a conch?

In the Bhagavad-gita it is described that at the beginning of the great battle Krishna Bhagavan blew his divine conch and then was followed by Yuddhisthira, Bheema, Arjuna, and so on, who also blew their conches. The sound of the conch is the sound of victory and success. Often a conch is  blown at the beginning of temple aartis and other programs as an auspicious sound to invite victory and success. At the end of a wedding a conch is sometimes blown as the the newly married couple walk down the aisle. In some parts of Southern India, however, a conch is blown at funerals and so would not be appropriate to be blown as auspicious events.

It is common to ring bells in temples during puja and aarti. A priest, for example, will ring a bell as puja is performed. This is to signal that a puja is taking place and people should pay attention. Bells are rung during aarti for similar reasons and to create a pleasing musical effect on the mind. Sometimes a bell is positioned at the entrance to a temple so that devotees can ring the bell as they enter the temple. The temple is the house of God and  so it is only polite to make a sound before one enters. Don’t we always knock before entering someone’s home? Besides, ringing bells is fun.

Why do we say shanti at the end of a havan? The word shanti means peace and it is recited not just at the end of havans, but also at other times during most pujas. There is a well known Vedic prayer called Shanti Patha that asks for peace throughout creation that is commonly recited at the end of havans. Here is a translation: “May we find peace in the sky above us and in the highest reaches of heaven. May we find peace on land and in the waters. May all herbs and the food that sustains us bring us physical and spiritual peace. May we find peace in every region of this divine creation. Let us seek ultimate peace in that Supreme God. Let peace reign throughout the world!”

Why do we chant Om?

At its most basic level the word “om” is a solemn affirmation and respectful assent somewhat on par with Amen in the Jewish and Christian traditions. Om is uttered at the beginning and end of sacred prayers. The word first appears in the Upanishads as a mystical sound and the object of deep meditation. There are, of course, many works written on the significance and meaning of this sound. Most commonly it is divided into three parts a, u, m, and meaning is been given to each part. In the Mandukya Upanishad the letter “a” represents waking consciousness, the letter “u” represents dream consciousness, and the letter “m” represents the consciousness of deep sleep, and finally the whole word is said to represent a 4th state of consciousness which is unknowable, unspeakable and “into which the whole world passes.” Another interpretation equates “a” with Vishnu, “u” with Shiva and “m” with Brahma. Yet another interpretation equates Om with the Greek, “logos,” “the word”, found at the beginning of St John’s gospel. Others suggest that the syllable Om should not be analyzed or interpreted at all, that it just is. The simplest understanding is that the sound of Om is the sound of God.

The words bhajana and kirtana both mean “to praise” or “to glorify,” therefore, a bhajan or a kirtan is the praising of a deity through song, music and dance. Hindus from different parts of India will use one term over the other, in much the same way that havan and homa are interchanged by devotees from different regions of India. Apart from praising a deity through song and music, bhajan can also have the added meaning of “spiritual practice.” A devotee, for example, may have a personal bhajan that he or she practices on a daily basis that may include puja, japa, study, meditation, prayer, and so on.

Used in the sense of praise and glorification, bhajana and kirtana involve a group of devotees coming together in a temple, hall or home, with musical instruments to sing the glories of a Deity or, more usually, many Deities. Bhajana and Kirtana are often preceded by a short puja for sanctification and to evoke the Deities who are the object of veneration. At the conclusion of bhajan and kirtan, prasada, food offered to the deity, is always distributed. Without this prasada the program is not complete.

Kirtana also has a variation called sankirtana which is the public praise and glorification of a Deity. Sankirtana parties, groups of devotees, go into the public areas of a city and walk down the streets or sit in the parks singing and chanting the names and a Deity. The Hare Krishna movement is famous for the performance of sankirtana in many Western cities. In India sankirtana is commonly performed by many other groups of devotees as well.

Simply stated, a mantra is a religious utterance composed in Sanskrit verse and taken from the some part of the Vedas. In other words, a mantra is a piece of Vedic poetry. The verses of the Vedas, including both the Shruti Vedas as well as the Smriti Vedas, are mostly written in verse and therefore are considered mantras. The reason the Vedas are primarily composed in verse as opposed to prose is because they were originally meant to be memorized, not written down, and verse is much easier to memorize than prose.

A mantra is also an utterance composed in a special way to effect a certain result. For example, there can be a specific mantra addressed to a certain Deity, which when chanted properly, is thought to evoke the presence and powers of that Deity. The Gayatri mantra is one such example. The Hare Krishna mantra is another example. In these cases the mantras are often chanted over and over again in a process called japa. The repetition of mantras is called mantra-japa and a devotee many take a vow to repeat a certain mantra many times a day. Often during initiation (diksha) a teacher (guru) will give a special mantra to a disciple and ask him to chant it a certain number of times a day on a set of beads called a japa-mala, similar to a rosary.

A mantra can also be used as part of a spell or charm. There are portions of the Vedas that contain such mantras meant to achieve various purposes. Mantras also have a use in meditation to help achieve a certain state of consciousness. One derivation for the word mantra is man+tra. Man means the mind (from manas) and tra means “to cross,” so a mantra is an utterance that ‘crosses the mind.” In meditation the mind is “crossed over” or silenced. Hence the meaning of the term mantra.