Tattva

 Shaanthi, meaning “peace”, is a natural state of being. Disturbances  are created either by others or us. For example, peace already exists in a place until someone makes noise. Therefore, peace underlies all our agitations. When agitations end, peace is naturally experienced  since it was already there. Where there is peace, there is happiness. Therefore, everyone without exception desires peace in their lives. However, peace within or without seems very hard to attain because it is covered by our own agitations. A rare few manage to remain peaceful within even in the midst of external agitation and troubles. To invoke peace, we chant prayers. By chanting prayers, troubles end and peace  is experienced internally, irrespective of the external disturbances.  All such prayers end by chanting Shaanti thrice.

 It is believed that Trivaram Satyam - that which is said thrice comes  true. For emphasizing a point we repeat a thing thrice. For instance, in the court  of law, one who takes the witness stands says, “I shall speak the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth”, denoting the intense desire for truth to prevail. Similarly, we chant shaanti thrice to emphasize  our intense desire for peace. All obstacles, problems, and sorrows originate from three sources: 1) Aadhidaivika : The unseen divine forces over which we have little or  no control like earthquakes, floods, volcanic eruptions etc. 2) Aadhibhautika: The known factors around us like accidents, human contacts, pollution, crime etc. 3) Aadhyatmika: Sickness, anger, depression and any such mental elements.

We sincerely pray to the Lord that at least while we undertake special tasks or even in our daily lives, there are no problems or that problems are minimized from the three sources mentioned above.  May peace alone prevail. Hence Shaanthi is chanted thrice.  It is chanted aloud the first time, addressing the unseen forces. It is chanted softer the second time, directed to our immediate surroundings and those around, and softest the last time as it is addressed to oneself.

Reference: http://sanskritdocuments.org/articles/Hindu_Rituals.pdf  

Ravi Kiran is a Ph.D. student in the Computer Science and Engineering Department at the University of Washington, Seattle. You can reach him at kiran@cs.washington.edu 

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