Born on 7th April 1920 in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India into an orthodox, well-off Brahmin family, Rabindra Shankar Chowdery's father, ShyÆm Shankar, was employed as a diwan (minister) by the Maharajah of Jhalawar. By the age of 13, Ravi Shankar was going along on every tour of his brother Uday Shankar's Compagnie de Danse et Musique Hindoue (Company of Hindu Dance and Music). At the All-Bengali Music Conference in December 1934, he met the multi-instrumentalist Allauddin Khan. Precisely when Allauddin Khan was born is uncertain. People hazard dates in the 1860s around 1862, but in later years he himself gave his age haphazardly. He would transform many musicians' lives, but he had an incalculable effect on Ali Akbar (his son), Annapurna Devi (his daughter), and Shankar himself. Allauddin Khan joined Uday's troupe as its principal soloist around 1935-1936.
In 1938, Shankar gave up a potential career as a dancer and went to study with Allauddin Khan in Maihar. In 1939, he began giving public recitals and came out of training at the end of 1944. Until 1948, he based himself in Bombay and gave programs all over India. He toured and wrote for films and ballet. Around this time he began his recording career with a small session for HMV (India). Work for All India Radio followed; as music director from February 1949 to January 1956 in New Delhi. Concurrently, his international star was on the rise. In 1954, he performed in the Soviet Union. In 1956, he played his debut solo concerts in Western Europe and the U.S. Within a decade he would be the most famous Indian musician on the planet. Within two decades he would become probably the most famous Indian alive. His English-language autobiography, My Music, My Life (1969), is still one of the best general introductions to Hindustani music.
Shankar is not one-dimensional. Apart from pursuing a career as a classical performer, he has also experimented outside this field. For this reason he has attracted criticism from purists. Some of this, especially during the Beatles era, undoubtedly had an element of jealousy to it; some was certainly warranted, because Shankar did take many chances. In fact, that was one of the things that kept his music exciting. To use a cricketing image - baseball would be wholly inappropriate - Shankar's batting average has remained high throughout a long and illustrious career.
He is the father of both Grammy award winning singer Norah Jones, and Anoushka Shankar, also a noted sitarist.
On 6 December 2012, Shankar was admitted to Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, San Diego, California after complaining of breathing difficulties. He died on 11 December 2012 at around 16:30 PST, at a hospital near his home in Encinitas, California. The Ravi Shankar Foundation issued a statement that read Shankar had suffered from upper-respiratory and heart issues over the past year and underwent heart-valve replacement surgery on 6 December 2012.
Shanti Mantra
Ravi Shankar Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Tamaso ma jyothir gamaya
Mrityor ma amritam gamaya
Aum Shanti, Shanti, Shanti
Me llevan de lo irreal a lo real
Me llevan de la oscuridad a la luz
Me llevan de la muerte a la inmortalidad
The lyrics to Ravi Shankar's song Shanti Mantra are a mantra that is recited to invoke peace and spiritual enlightenment. The first line, "Aum asatoma sat gamaya," can be interpreted as a prayer to move beyond untruths to truth. The second line, "Tamaso ma jyothir gamaya," is a prayer to move from darkness to light, both physically and metaphorically. The third line, "Mrityor ma amritam gamaya," is a prayer to move from death to immortality, which can also be interpreted as moving from a state of suffering to a state of bliss. The final line, "Aum Shanti, Shanti, Shanti," is a prayer for peace, not only in the world but also within oneself.
The second verse is a bit different from the traditional Shanti Mantra, as it is written in Spanish rather than Sanskrit. The translation of this verse is "They take me from the unreal to the real, they take me from darkness to light, they take me from death to immortality, Aum peace, peace, and perfect peace." Despite the language difference, this verse carries the same meaning as the first verse.
Overall, the lyrics of Shanti Mantra are intended to encourage a journey from ignorance to enlightenment, from darkness to light, and from mortality to immortality. The ultimate goal of this journey is to achieve inner peace.
Line by Line Meaning
Aum asatoma sat gamaya
The sound of Aum leads me from the unreal to the real
Tamaso ma jyothir gamaya
Lead me from darkness to light
Mrityor ma amritam gamaya
Lead me from death to immortality
Aum Shanti, Shanti, Shanti
Aum, peace, peace, perfect peace
Writer(s): Ravi Shankar Copyright: Music Sales Corporation, St. Rose Music Publishing Co., Anourag Music, 23rd Street Publishing Inc.
Contributed by Daniel P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@s.gerardot.7342
@@yasoda2010 Que el cielo esté en paz
Que el ambiente sea tranquilo
Que la tierra sea pacífica
Que las aguas sean pacíficas
Que la medicina sea pacífica
Que las plantas sean pacíficas
Que los sabios sean pacíficos
Que los Dioses y los Vedas sean pacíficos
Que la paz misma sea pacífica y venga a mí.
@s.gerardot.7342
May the sky be peaceful
May the atmosphere be peaceful
May the Earth be peaceful
May the waters be peaceful
May medicine be peaceful
May plants be peaceful
May learned people be peaceful
May Gods and Vedas be peaceful
May peace itself be peaceful and come onto me
@midnightstars8006
Anyone after 12th fail?
@areytushar
Me
@Ayushvlogs2.0
Me
@3hroned
Lol
@AshishMishraK
This is music for Soul! The Sanskrit verses in this song are about peace and serenity in the whole universe regardless of cast, creed, country and religion.
@vivekkaluskar6487
ॐ द्यौः शान्तिरन्तरिक्षं शान्तिः पृथिवी शान्तिरापः शान्तिरोषधयः शान्तिः । वनस्पतयः शान्तिर्विश्वेदेवाः शान्तिर्ब्रह्म शान्तिः सर्वं शान्तिः शान्तिरेव शान्तिः सा मा शान्तिरेधि ॥ ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥ — यजुर्वेद ३६:१७
Om. May peace radiate there in the whole sky as well as in the vast ethereal space everywhere. May peace reign all over this earth, in water and in all herbs, trees and creepers. May peace flow over the whole universe. May peace be in the Whole Universe. And may there always exist in all peace and peace alone. Om peace, peace and peace to us and all beings! — (Translation by Swami Abhedananda, Ramakrishna Vedanta Math, India)
❤🙏🕉
@khushib9390
Thank you for providing this… I had been looking for it… Thanks a lot again 😊
@tpcass
Thank you so much for this translation.
@Joylibelle
Dank u wel 🙏🏼❤
@juntan2338
I just listened to this on Spotify. Wow. Wow. Wow. Honestly. Wow. No words can describe the beauty of god/the gods/the dhamma/supreme enlightenment. Sublime. Sublime. Sublime indeed.