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by Jayaram V
The meaning of Prarthana (Prayer)
Prarthana is the word that is used in Sanskrit and most of the native
Indian languages to denote the meaning of the word "prayer". In social usage, the word is also used to mean to request, or to ask or seek something politely.
The word "prarthana" can be interpreted in several ways. One interpretation seems to be that it is a combination of at least two words, namely "Prar"+ "dhana". Prar means to ask or to seek and "dhana" means wealth. The word dhana itself seems to have been derived from the word "dhanya" meaning grains. And from the practice of giving food grains as charity to the needy people, came the usage of the word "daan", meaning charity. Interestingly, its corresponding word in English is "donation", in French "donat" and in Latin "donatio"
The word "prarthana" must have come into vogue as the Vedic people used to pray before each harvest season to various gods for a good harvest. The aim of such prayers used to be to have good crops, thereby abundance of food grains.
The Vedic Aryans were pastoral people, who usually prayed to various gods for some material gain, such as the wealth of cattle, good harvest, victory in war, health, progeny, success in some venture and so on. Artha was the second most important aim in the life of a Vedic Aryan, the first being Dharma, and the third and fourth being kama ( fulfilment of desires) and moksha (salvation).
In the Vedic parlance, prayer was thus more or less synonymous with seeking some kind of wealth. The basic purpose of performing the various rituals was to please the gods and thereby seek the fulfillment of individual desires through their grace.
It is however not to be misunderstood that the Vedic Aryans were only materialistic in their approach towards various gods. They were in fact materialistic in many ways, but were also deeply spiritual and tried to integrate and harmonize the various aspects of life in a very religious and agreeable way.
The wealth they were seeking through their prayers was not just material wealth. This becomes abundantly clear as we go through the Vedic hymns. What they sought was the wealth of all kinds, spiritual wealth, physical wealth, personal wealth, universal wealth, wealth of character, wealth of power and prestige, wealth of name and fame, wealth of happiness and joy and so on.
They sought those that would enrich life and make life more pleasant to live and experience. They prayed not only for the welfare of themselves, but for the welfare of the entire community to which they belonged.
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