27 April 2014

Shrinwantu Vishwe Amritasya Putra — Hear Ye Children Of Immortal Bliss

शृण्वन्तु बिश्वे अमृतस्य पुत्रा
आ ये धामानि दिब्यानि तस्थुः 

Shrinwantu Vishwe Amritasya Putra
Aa Ye Dhamani Dibyani Tasthu

✍ Word meaning
शृण्वन्तु/Shrinwantu= Listen/hear, बिश्वे/Vishwe= in the world, अमृतस्य/Amritasya= of immortality, पुत्रा/Putra= Children
(see comment section below)Shvetashvatara Upanishad, Chapter II, Verse 5

We find the verse "Shrinwantu Vishwe Amritasya Putra" in Shvetashvatara Upanishad, Chapter II, Verse 5. It may be translated as "Listen, O the children of immortality the world over. . ." or "Hark yea on the earth, the children of immortality" or "Hear ye children of immortality or immortal bliss". 

In the Vedic (actually Vedantic) tradition, it was believed, it is not man but it is his body that dies, man never dies. He is immortal, he is the "son of immortality".  We find the same idea in Bhagavad Gita too.
On one hand the entire world claims that a man has no place in this universe. He is a helpless, powerless creature. He has miseries, diseases, he has anxieties and finally he has death. He is nothing — he is simply nothing.
On the other hand the Upanishads of ancient India glorifies human being as "children of immortality".

Our this website is dedicated to Swami Vivekananda and his thoughts. Here in this article you'll find Swami Vivekananda's quotes and views on the verse "Shrinwantu Vishwe Amritasya Putra".

Swami Vivekananda told


Basic image source: Wikimedia Commons
  • "Children of immortal bliss" — what a sweet, what a hopeful name! Allow me to call you, brethren, by that sweet name — heirs of immortal bliss — yea, the Hindu refuses to call you sinners. Ye are the Children of God, the sharers of immortal bliss, holy and perfect beings. Ye divinities on earth — sinners! It is a sin to call a man so; it is a standing libel on human nature. Come up, O lions, and shake off the delusion that you are sheep; you are souls immortal, spirits free, blest and eternal; ye are not matter, ye are not bodies; matter is your servant, not you the servant of matter.[Source]
  • "Hear, ye children of immortality, all those that reside in this plane and all those that reside in the heavens above, I have found the secret", says the great sage. "I have found Him who is beyond all darkness. Through His mercy alone we cross this ocean of life."[Source]
  • I see before me, as it were, that in some of those forest retreats this question is being, discussed by those ancient sages of India; and in one of them, where even the oldest and the holiest fail to reach the solutions a young man stands up in the midst of them, and declares, "Hear, ye children of immortality, hear, who live in the highest places, I have found the way. By knowing Him who is beyond darkness we can go beyond death."[Source]
  • Is there no hope? Is there no escape? — was the cry that went up from the bottom of the heart of despair. It reached the throne of mercy, and words of hope and consolation came down and inspired a Vedic sage, and he stood up before the world and in trumpet voice proclaimed the glad tidings: "Hear, ye children of immortal bliss! even ye that reside in higher spheres! I have found the Ancient One who is beyond all darkness, all delusion: knowing Him alone you shall be saved from death over again."[Source]
  • Man wants truth, wants to experience truth for himself; when he has grasped it, realised it, felt it within his heart of hearts, then alone, declare the Vedas, would all doubts vanish, all darkness be scattered, and all crookedness be made straight. "Ye children of immortality, even those who live in the highest sphere, the way is found; there is a way out of all this darkness, and that is by perceiving Him who is beyond all darkness; there is no other way."[Source]
  • Tell each and all that infinite power resides within them, that they are sharers of immortal Bliss. Thus rouse up the Rajas within them -- make them fit for the struggle for existence, and then speak to them about salvation. First make the people of the country stand on their legs by rousing their inner power, first let them learn to have good food and clothes and plenty of enjoyment -- then tell them how to be free from this bondage of enjoyment.[Source]
  • The powers of creation, preservation, and destruction of the Universe, and the attributes, such as omnipresence, omniscience, and omnipotence, make God of gods. "Hear ye children of Immortality! Hear ye Devas who live in higher spheres!" (Shvetashvatara, II.5). "I have found out a ray beyond all darkness, beyond all doubt. I have found the Ancient One" (ibid. III.8). The way to this is contained in the Upanishads.[Source]
  • This national ship of ours, ye children of the Immortals, my countrymen, has been plying for ages, carrying civilisation and enriching the whole world with its inestimable treasures. For scores of shining centuries this national ship of ours has been ferrying across the ocean of life, and has taken millions of souls to the other shore, beyond all misery. But today it may have sprung a leak and got damaged, through your own fault or whatever cause it matters not. What would you, who have placed yourselves in it, do now? Would you go about cursing it and quarrelling among yourselves! Would you not all unite together and put your best efforts to stop the holes? Let us all gladly give our hearts' blood to do this; and if we fail in the attempt, let us all sink and die together, with blessings and not curses on our lips.[Source]



This page was last updated on: 10 May2014, 6:53 pm IST (UTC+5:30 hours)
Number of revisions in this page: 2

3 comments:

  1. This is wrong information. Please remove.

    Chapter 2, Verse 5 of Shvetashvatara Upanishad is in page 44 here in the translation written by Swami Tyagisananda of RamaKrishna Math, Chennai.

    http://estudantedavedanta.net/Svetasvatara_Upanishad%20-%20Swami%20Tyagisananda%20(1949)%20[Sanskrit-English].pdf

    Please dont give wrong information.

    In this video, Swami Sarvapriyananda ( Watch between 6:00 and 8:00 minutes) admits that know one knows the source of this shloka.
    https://youtu.be/Z6zVq_V_UD0?t=6m58s

    Please donot spread lies and wrong information. That verse is NOT from Shvetashvatara Upanishad. Take it down. NOW.

    Thank You.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The article's aim is not to find source of the verse, but to make a collection of Vivekananda's quote. However we have added a note in the article itself for now.

      Delete
    2. However, allow me to state that on page 43 (not 44) of Swami Tyagisananda’s book (śvetāśvataropaniṣad), one reads:

      शृण्वन्तु बिश्वे अमृतस्य पुत्रा (śṛṇvantu viśve amṛtasya putrā)

      as verse 2.5 of the text.

      Therefore, the verse is correctly said to belong to the Shvetashvatara Upanishad.

      (Besides, a spiritual Authority like Swami Vivekananda could hardly ever be wrong…)

      Thank you,
      Nancy Hitzanidou

      Delete

Comment policy