Some Covid-time resolutions: Part II

It is advised by masters that we should mainly be careful of five things before speaking:1) Think carefully what to say and choose the right words.2) whom are we speaking to? Is he the right person to receive our speech? 3) Is it the right time and situation to speak.? 4) will our speech cause harm or pain to someone? 5) Speech should always translate as happiness and cordiality in the listener. Speech is sound. Sound has immense power. It can shatter glass, it can heal the sick, it can lift your gloom or stir up your emotions. Sound is considered holy . The Hindus worship the ultimate Reality as ‘Naad’, the Bible calls it the ‘Holy Word’, the sikhs call it the ‘Ik Onkar’ the ‘Om’ is the representative of the all pervading super power that governs the world through iron laws! A sound symbol is used in all religions for God. Gurudwara ,churches, temples , monasteries all reverberate with the chants of holy mantras ,bhajans, guru Vaani and Sufi Kalams. They calm and purify the mind that is exposed to them, isn’t this what modern spas call sound therapy?

Speech (Vaani) can roughly be classified into two parts. 1) Vaani can hurt , if used aggressively it becomes Vaan, ( arrows).

This happens when Vaani is used angrily to insult, tell lies, falsely accuse, denigrate or criticise, use abusive words or harsh tones in anger. Vaani then becomes vaan( poisonous arrows). Words can hurt beyond measure. 2) on the other hand when soft loving words are used, Vaani can become Veena( a melodious soothing musical instrument). A Sanskrit couplet from our scriptures says that “Lakshmi, (goddess of wealth) sits on the tip of your tongue.

Prarthna Saran, President Chinmaya Mission Delhi, can be reached at prarthnasaran@gmail.com