While large number of Indians will hopefully follow Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s request and clap their hands, ring bells or beat plates for 5 minutes at 5 pm during the “Janata Curfew” on Sunday, many others will take to the traditional ‘Shankhnaad’ (blowing of the shankh or conch shell).
Whether the ‘Shankhnaad’ will drive away the evil and destructive coronavirus, the conch blowers’ hope and faith remain firm.
Interestingly, Prof Ramesh Kumar Pandey, vice chancellor of Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha, New Delhi, will be among many others to blow the conch accompanied by his wife ringing the bell.
Prof Pandey said that according to a paper he read a few years ago, German scientists had found that the sound from the conch killed bacteria and virus of diseases like typhoid, cholera and plague.
He said shankh is one of the attributes of Lord Vishnu, who destroys evil and brings success and good fortune as Maa Laxmi, the goddess of wealth, is supposed to reside in it, according to Sanskrit treatise of Kalpataru. It is always auspicious to blow the conch as a sign of prosperity or victory. During war, the conch is blown to alert the army about the commencement of engagement.
The conch’s sound resonates with the universal sound vibration of ‘Om’ — the underlying sound of manifested creation. This is referred to as ‘Shankhnaad’ and it is supposed to emanate peace, health and positivity by dispelling negative energy from everywhere it reaches
Renowned scientist JC Bose has proved that harmful invisible virus/insects can be banished by the sound produced by a conch shell.
Each conch shell has a specific name — Krishna’s conch shell was known as Paanchajanya, Arjuna’s Devdutta, Bhima’s Paundra, Yudhisthira’s Anantavijaya, Nakula’s Sughosa and Sahadeva’s was known as Manipushpaka.
Blowing of sankh helps in the respiratory system which is all the more necessary that those who know how to blow conch shell should blow because corona is an upper respiratory tract infection.
Interestingly when a person holds a conch shell to his ear, the sound of the ocean humming gently can be heard.
There are also some studies being undertaken to use sound to kill the virus.
The idea is fairly simple — it is to subject the virus to sound impulses which are much higher than its natural resonant frequency (or frequency at which the virus naturally freely vibrates). The virus’s body would then vibrate at such a high frequency that it would virtually shatter to pieces.
Not entirely impossible if one gets to know at what frequency of sound the virus will vibrate to death or become inactive.
Some experiments have shown that laser pulses tuned to the right frequency can kill certain viruses.
Does the conch shell use some specific frequency of sound to kill viruses and our ancient seers were onto it. Much research is needed in the area.
It may not be entirely unscientific because traditionally conch blowing is supposed to help in sanitizing nearby environment from various types of germs and harmful insects.
(The writer is a senior journalist based in New Delhi)
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