Sangachhadhwam

Empathy, like patriotism - love for a place that needn't be 'confined' to a nation but can well be for a neighbourhood or region - is not duty-bound. Not really. There are some triggers that make empathy, and wanting to be part of something bigger like humanity - or all sentient life, or all creation itself - a natural outcome, not 'mere' kartavya. One such trigger is'Sangachhadhwam'.

This hymn from the Rig Veda, with its powerful opening line, 'Sangachadwam, samvadadwam samvomanamsi janatam/ deva bhagam yatha purve sanjanana upasate' (Come together, speak together, let our minds be all of one accord/ as the gods of old sat together in harmony to worship), was given a tune by Rabindranath Tagore who surgically grafted the Mysore state anthem, 'Kayo Shri Gowri', composed by court poet Basavappa Shastry in the early 19th c., after he heard it during his visit to Bengaluru in the 1890s.

There are many versions of this song, but especially poignant is the one from the soundtrack of the 2023 film Shastry Viruddh Shastry. This rendition by a children's choir led by Ekorshi Sengupta and arranged by Prabuddha Banerjee and Upali Chattopadhyay gives the hymn a special pureness, and natural force that is truly moving.