WRITTEN BY LONDON SWAMINATHAN

Post No. 13,077

Date uploaded in London – –   9 March 2024                 

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Shankha/ Conch in Hinduism – Part 1 (Post No.13,077)

There are very interesting beliefs and uses of Conch in Hinduism.

Hindus use Conches for making warning sounds or auspicious sounds. They use it in FIVE occasions:

1.To start a war (as we see in the Bhagavad Gita; all commanders blew the conches at the start of the great Mahabharata war. It is in Tamil literature as well)

2.Temple functions. Even today the blowing of Shanka and Ringing of bells take place during the Arti Time.

3.During Hindu Weddings. Andal’s Tamil poems confirm it. But today only Bengali Hindus follow this custom.

4.Funeral Ceremonies: When the dead boy is taken to crematorium blowing of the conch takes place.

5.Protest Meetings: To protest any particular action they blow conches to attract attention.

Anti BBC Protest

Last year I had been to Anti BBC Demonstration in Central London. It was organised by Patriotic Hindus against BBC’s mischievous propaganda about Hindus and India. Two protestors came with conches and blew them now and then.

Tamil saint Warning

Great Tamil saint Pattinathar lived abut 1000 years ago. He warned Tamils to remember three occasions when the conch is sounded. And he asked all devotees to think of God Shiva before the third Conch sound is done.

The first of the chanks feeds with milk
The second shackles us with women of dense locks;
The third is sounded to announce our death.
How much, Oh, how much is the weal of worldly life?

The first Chank or Sankha is used by mothers to feed the child with milk.

The second sound is heard in weddings.

The third sound is heard when the dead body is taken to crematorium.

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In the Bhagavad Gita

Hindu Gods Vishnu and Varuna hold Sankha (in Tamil Sangu) in their hands.

The great conch that Vishnu holds is called Paanchajanya.

Not only Vishnu’s conch has a name, but also all Pandava conches have names. It is in the Bhagavad Gita.

पाञ्चजन्यं हृषीकेशो देवदत्तं धनञ्जयः ।
पौण्ड्रं दध्मौ महाशङ्खं भीमकर्मा वृकोदरः ॥ 15 ॥

अनन्तविजयं राजा कुन्तीपुत्रो युधिष्ठिरः ।
नकुलः सहदेवश्च सुघोषमणिपुष्पकौ ॥ 16 ॥

Bhagavad Gita Chapter 1 Verse 15

Paanchjanyam’, hrishikeshH, devduttam’, dhananjayH,
Paundrm’, dadhmau, mahashankham’, Bheemkarma, vrkodarH ||15||

Translation: Shri Krishna Maharaj blew a conchshell named Panchjanya; Arjun blew a conchshell named Devdutt, and the doer of horrifying deeds, Bheemsen blew a great conchshell named Paundr.

Bhagavad Gita Chapter 1 Verse 16

Anantvijayam’, raja, KuntiputrH, YudhishthirH,
NakulH, SahdevH, ch, sughoshmanipushpakau ||16||

Translation: Kunti’s son, King Yudhishthir blew a conchshell named Anantvijay, and Nakul and Sahdev blew conchshells named Sughosh and Manipushpak.

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CONCH WONDER IN TAMIL TEMPLE

Tirukazukundram near Chengalpattu in Tamil Nadu is famous for two things. The temple in the village is attributed to Lord Shiva called Veda Girishwar. The town name in English is Holy Eagle Hill.

The temple at the top of the hill was visited by two eagles everyday at a particular time to eat the Rice Prasad (holy offering to god). It went on for hundreds of years, but recently the eagles stopped visiting for unknown reasons. The sighting of the eagles every day was recorded in 150 year old books and records.

The second wonder is sighting of conches in the temple tank at the foothills in regular intervals of almost 12 years. The temple records show the conches were washed away to the banks of the tank on 18 July, 1908, 26^th June 1919, 1939, 1952, 1976, 1988, 1999, August 2011 and now in September 2024.

Lord Shiva is called Abhisheka Priya (one who is fond of bathing or anointing) and Lord Vishnu is called Alankara Priya (one who is fond of Decorations and Dressing). Following this dictum all big Shiva  temples store 1008 conches for doing ritual bathing of  Shiva or Shiva Linga with Ganges water (Abisheka) in the month of Kartika. Every year on all Mondays  (Kartik Somavar) of that month,  abisheka is done. People throng the temples to have the darshan at that time.

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The very word Conch is English is derived from Sanskrit word Sankka; The letter C is pronounced in English as S/C and K ( as in Charles and Character). Tamils also use the same Sanskrit word in Tamilized form Sangu. Tamil grammar bans Sa as initial letter of any Tamil word. So all SA letered words in Tamil are from Sanskrit.

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Conches (Shanka in Sanskrit) have been used by the Hindus for thousands of years as money, musical instrument, decorative art pieces and objects of worship. We get them from the sea. Most of the conches are anti clockwise. But very rarely we get clockwise conches and they are called Dakshinavarta Shanka ( In Tamil ‘Valampuri’). This means right whorl or clockwise whorl. They are more valuable and holier than the normal ones. The type of conches used by the Indians is ( Turbinella Pyram) coming from Indian Ocean. But cheaper varieties are available from South Africa.

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These sacred conches were on the flags of the Hindu Kings once. Travancore Maharaja had this on his flag. It is considered one of the Eight Auspicious symbols of Buddhists. Tibetans and Chinese keep them in the Buddhist Viharas. Many of them are covered with gems, gold and silver plates. Of late these have been auctioned by big Western auction houses for thousands of dollars. Museums around the world have acquired such conches.

To be continued…………………………..

Tags- Conch, Shanka, Sangu, Andal, Pattinathar, Valampuri, Panchajanya, Pandavas, Wars, Funeral, Weddings