The Shrī Hari Vansh Mantra-Yantra: Sacred Sound, Symbolic Representation, and Vrindavan Environmentalism: Journal of Vaishnava Studies

Abstract

This short piece documents one aspect of my involvement with the Vrindavan environment, a relationship which spans almost two decades. I have labeled the philosophy within which I have worked the Vrindavan Ecological Concept (VEC).1 Here I explore the significance and meaning of a specific combined sound-symbol representation derived from this work and relate it to several aspects of Vrindavan environmentalism. I have previously referred to the Shrī Hit Yantra (Figure 1) as the ‘Chintan Symbol’2 and the ‘Concentric Symbol’.3 These non-Sanskritic names were used to make the yantra (symbol) more applicable to discussions about chintan (meditative contemplation) and concentricity (the state of being balanced with inner personal
and outer world functionings), respectively. Here I use the expression Shrī Hit Yantra as a more precise descriptor of the same symbol and couple it with the Shrī Hari Vansh Mantra. I call this Shrī Hari Vansh Mantra and Shrī Hit Yantra combination the Shrī Hari Vansh Mantra-Yantra