Creation and Criticism

[svastiprajābhyaḥ paripālayantāṁ nyāyēna mārgēṇa mahīṁ mahīśāḥ।/ gōbrāhmaṇēbhyaḥ śubhamastu nityaṁ lōkāḥ samastāḥ sukhinōbhavantu॥/ ōm̐ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ॥]

[Meaning: May the well-being of all people be protected by the powerful and mighty leaders be with law and justice. May good success be with all divinity and scholars, May all (samastāḥ) the worlds (lokāḥ) become (bhavantu) happy (sukhino). Oṁ peace, peace, peace.]

The above mentioned Lokakshema is a Mangala Mantra. The Mangala Mantra, a sacred utterance for the general welfare, has an elevating effect to the living as well as non-living objects of the universe. But, there is a condition— do we pray for others or pray for ourselves? If we pray for ourselves, all our prayers may be or may not be answered? However, if we pray for others, God would most surely answer our prayers. Perhaps for this reason, chanting, reciting and observing Mangala Mantras have been in vogue since ancient times for creating positive energy for positive change in the universe.

Now-a-days the world is fighting, with the tools of awareness and concrete life-saving services, against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) for saving lives and livelihoods. Therefore, it also seems affirmative to unitedly make this ancient practice of chanting, reciting and observing Mangala Mantras for creating positive energy for imbuing with joy, love, harmony, health, peace and prosperity around the world.

Creation and Criticism’s joint issue (July-Oct 2020) celebrates acclaimed contemporary Indian novelist, critic, translator, editor and teacher Nibir K Ghosh with an interview, an essay (by PCK Prem), four research papers (by K. V. Dominic, Ajay Kumar Sharma, Suresh Chandra Pande and Sudhir K. Arora), two videos (Louise Gluck), and some poems inside. As usual, a munificent selection of book reviews and some other features are also included in the issue for our fervent readers.

All the best!

Happy reading...

Abnish Singh Chauhan

Editor