Re: meaning of invocation
hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~
Namasté renuka,
First let me say I cannot answer your question to your level of satisfaction ( or for that matter, to my level of satisfaction ) as I continue to study this great language and consider myself a student (śiṣya) at best.
The answer to your question lies in the rules offered by the grammarian Pāniṇi-muni. There are rules of adjacent sounds that influence their outcomes and pronunciations. They are lopa, vikāra and āgama (deletion, modification and addition respectively).
The process is known as sandhi and employs ~ 43 sigla-s ( from 'sic' - sprinkles or drops + 'la' cuts ). This sandhi is really written as saṃdhi which means 'containing a conjunction or transition from one to the other' and 5 areas/kinds of saṃdhi are identified - vowel (svara), consonents (vyañjana), etc. and the 5 include visarga and anusvāra.
So your question becomes one of the proper use of visarga (aspirated breath) depicted by ḥ in the mantra you offer vs. the anusvāra or the after-sound , the nasal sound which is marked by a dot , and which always belongs to a preceding vowel depicted as ṁ.
This is the mantra you have offered in your post...
oṁ bhadraṁ karnebhiḥ sṛṇuyāma devā
Both anusvāra and visarga appear in the mantra, based upon specific rules of closure, transition and adjacent sound rules as mentioned. If I try and explain, I cannot not do it simply, which tells me I do not have a full handle on the rules as yet ; simple = comprehension for me, and I am not there yet.
For those interested, this invocation (āvāhanaṃ¹ is the opening line of the śāntipāthaḥ (peace invocation) found in 3 upaniṣads: the māṇḍūkya upaniṣad, muṇḍaka upaniṣad and the praśna upaniṣad.
oṁ bhadraṁ karnebhiḥ sṛṇuyāma devā
It says the following:
(oṁ) may we with our ears hear that which is auspicious O devā (O gods, devatā)
Or said anther way,
(oṁ) the auspicious O devā (O gods, devatā) may we hear with our ears
This is not the sum total of the śloka as it contains 4 full lines + the final closure of peace, oṁ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ
praṇām
- āvahana आवहन is to bring near. We can also consider āvāha आवाह inviting , invitation
- Hence the 'invocation' is considered/called āvāhanaṃ which is sending for , inviting, calling.
And who are we calling ? - usually the devatā being addressed in a pūjā perhaps.
Last edited by yajvan; 31 October 2009 at 10:52 PM.
यतस्त्वं शिवसमोऽसि
yatastvaṁ śivasamo'si
because you are identical with śiva
_
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