श्री गणपती अथर्वशीर्ष has a part in which one asks Lord Ganesh to protect us from various directions. It seems ritualistic at first glance, but like most Sanskrit Upanishads, there are layers and layers that can be uncovered and the details within nuances are rich and carry a lot of encoding.
अव पश्चात्तात्। (Protect me from the back)
अव पुरस्तात्। (Protect me from the front)
अवोत्तरात्तात्। (Protect me from the north)
अव दक्षिणात्तात् | (Protect me from the south)
अव चोर्ध्वात्तात्। (Protect me from above)
अवाधरात्तात्। (Protect me from below)
सर्वतो मां पाहि पाहि समन्तात् | (Protect me from all sides)
Let us uncover the layers of the last line सर्वतो मां पाहि पाहि समन्तात् | पाहि means to save or to protect, सर्वतो means completely. समन्तात् means all around. मां means me. I am standing facing the east – east is in front and west is to my back. North is to my left and south is to my right. So सर्वतो मां पाहि पाहि समन्तात् means Protect Me from All directions Around Me.
Protect Me – As one saw earlier, who will protect and from whom/what? I will protect myself because Ganapati is internalised and I am Ganapati.
All directions – each direction is an indicator to specific parts of a checklist. Specific parts refers to both specific actions and specific groups of people. This is covered in the previous 6 articles. Having covered all six directions all around individually, why then is this last line needed? Also it is सर्वतो मां पाहि पाहि समन्तात् with पाहि emphasized twice – it brings an urgency to the action and maybe the repetition also brings into play the second meaning of saving over and above protecting.
Around Me – When I place myself at the centre and think of me at the intersection of various circles – for eg. those of responsibilities, relationships, duties, desires, ambitions, purpose, jealousy, kindness, hatred, greed, helplessness – I find that some circles are drawn by me and I am part of some circles drawn by others. Finally it is my choice and I have to take agency about the things that affect me and that I can affect. I must choose which circles to stay in and make stronger and I must choose to get out of other circles or not react to the circumstances created by them.
सर्वतो मां पाहि पाहि समन्तात् – Let me protect myself from the negative aspects of every direction. Let me save myself from letting mediocrity take over my life from any direction. Let me take positive actions so that I may start to design my life in a direction opposite to mediocrity.