Sanskrit Grammar series -2 Rules of Chanting In Samskrtam A compilation By Swamini Svatmabodhananda Saraswati Student and disciple of Swami Dayananda Saraswati, Arsha Vidya GurukulamFor a hard copy or the soft copy of this compilation please contact: Swamini Svatmabodhananda Saraswati 2B, Kubera Sampat 5/2, 18" Cross Road Malleshwaram Bangalore — 560 055 Email: [email protected] Any part of the booklet may be reproduced or copied, stored in retrieval system, or transmitted by any means — electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise with or without the permission of the compiler and used for teaching and self-learning. Guru purnima July, 201432 a aut_ge-qearet—te_-aa_-earefttt | ante adag fet tet edt aati ya varna-pada-vakyartha-gadya-padya-svariipini | vaci nartayatu ksiprarn medharn devi sarasvati \\ Dedicated to all my dcaryas who taught me Vedic chantingWhy this compilation? At the outset as a student I take this opportunity to offer my salutations to Yogacarya Sri Krishnamacharya of Krishnamacharya yoga Mandiram, Chennai, because of whose conviction and efforts Vedic chanting has been made available to the common man and to women all over the globe. Chanting or recitation of hymns in Savitskrtam is an oral prayer, vacikarit karma, a means of expressing our devotion to Bhagavan. They are in the form of a simple praise or eulogy called, stuti, sukta stava etc. It can be vaidika, the source being the vedas or from smrti, smarta. The vedokta mantras or hymns like the Gayatri mantra, purusa suktam or sri rudram have to be chanted properly with vedic notations or svaras. This is called Vedic Chantin. The vedokta hymns are called mantras and they are chanted. There are many rules and regulations while chanting or while learning or during personal abhyasa. The nuances can be grasped and comprehended only when taught by a live Guru. They have necessarily gat ta be learnt from a competent acarya who has undergone training from his Guru in the karna pararipara (intently listen and commit to memory and reproduce exactly the same manner in which the Guru chants). Books are not permitted. Learning by listening through audio Cds or Video Cds or by reading a book is not acceptable in the parampara, tradition. The Slokas like Bhagavad Gita are recited and other stotras, ashtottarams, sahsrandmas and hymns can be sung set to any melody as they are smrti ukta. The stotras are not vedokta . Most of the stotras, ashtottaras and sasranamas are found in the puranas, itihdsas or have been composed by dcaryas or mahatmas, upasakas or panditas, scholars etc.Since stotras are smrti poetry or can be prose like gadyams, there is no restriction on reciting or singing them. Unlike the veda mantras there are no svaras, notations. Anyone who can read Saritskrtam and pronounce properly can recite the stotras. There is freedom to set it to any raga, melody and can be sung according to manodharma. They are composed in a particular meter, chandas, prosody and those rules will have to be followed. The sandhi rules, euphonic grammar rules of splitting the words in the appropriate places have to be necessarily followed lest the meaning is misinterpreted. It is recommended that one learns from a teacher the proper art of pronunciation and articulation and follow the grammar rules of the Sanskrit language. Since this is karma, a prayer to bhagavan, the result is perceptible. It calms the mind, soothens, heals emotions, enhances focus and concentration, increases clarity in articulation, boosts confidence and it is a kind of pranayama as the exhalations are longer than our normal breathing. Chanting is also used as in speech therapy. Even mere listening to the chants by others helps. It is a form of meditation leading to absorption of the mind. It is a tool for the preservation of our culture. This compilation is the result of my years spent with my Vedic chanting teachers and from the notes that I had jotted down while learning the nuances. I hope this will be found useful by the students interested in chanting and recitation. Your valuable feedback is welcome for the improvisation of the booklet. Swamini Svatmabodhananda saraswatiRules of Chanting in Saritskrtam Siksa, is veda aiiga, is phonetics, uccarana sastram an ancillary study for the understanding of the Vedas. Phonetics is important because it deals with the science of pronunciation of varyas, letters. A lipi, script is different from sound. A letter that is called script, which is purely a drawing ~ ‘a’ is a drawing. It has nothing to do with what you pronounce. Sabda, sound, a word is purely what is heard, while what is written is only a symbol for that sound. Siksari vyakhyasyamah | varnah svarah | matra balam | sama santanah | ityuktah Siksadhyayah \\(Taiitiriya Siksavalli) Varna — vowels and consonants The letters should be pronounced keeping the rules of pronunciation in mind. There should be clarity in pronunciation. All the fine tuning is done to produce a given varna. How do all the letters originate and come to manifest outside, The whole human voice acoustics called phonetics is covered by siksa. The sound is varna, letter. A varna is not what is written; it is what is spoken. Language is spoken and not what is written. The script is a symbol on which you superimpose the sound. You spell the word exactly as you pronounce it. They are phonetically correct. Pronunciation is very important in the study of the Veda or Sanskrit language; if it is not proper the meaning will become different. Pronunciation of SX, svar, vowels, AAT vyaiijana, consonants, AIH HAR svarayuktta aksara and WAP et sarityuktta aksara, conjunct consonants.Svarah Simple Vowels are classified into short and long vowels according to the unit length of time taken for pronunciation, SIRO, uccarayam. This unit length of time is called matra. Matra is only for a vowel. The length of a syllable is measured by a mitra. Fach sera is well defined. Mijtras are defined - hrasva, dirgha, plutah for the vowels. © GF TAT: hrsva svarah Short vowels: one matra — one unit of time for pronunciation. AasistukRreil © Set GT: dirgha scarah Long vowels: two matras — two units of time for pronunciation. Masiaak ™ StH ut+u=i eh eh eaee ti « Tei pluta is three or more units of time for pronunciation when it is lengthened, prolated. These are not commonly to be met with in classical Sanskrit. This is used in the Vedas.Diphthong, © fRSt FAT: misra svarah Diphthongs — are long vowels because they are a combination of two different vowels. Two matras two units of time for pronunciation. Te (a+s)(ati) Cai (an+4)(a47) at o (a43)(a+u) At au(sn+%)(a+il) Pronunciation of the vowels involves knowledge of the accents — anudatta, the lower note, udatta, the middle note, svarita, the upper note and dhirgha soarita, the extended upper note. The accent or intonation or tone of voice. This applies only to vowels. These are classified into. three. The vowels may be pronounced in a high tone (udatta), a low tone (anudatta) or a combination of the two, the circumflex (svarita). This applies to only veda chanting. dhirgha svarita - usually seen marked in the vedic texts at the end of a sentence, or in the middle of the word on a dirgha svara followed by a conjunct consonant. © SAM, udatta ATA, anudaita FARA svarita - practically only three tones are are recognised by Sanskrit. udatta,(high tone) that which proceeds form the upper part of the vocal organs, anudatta,(low tone) that which proceeds from the lower part while svarita (circumfelx) arises out of the mixture or the combination of these two). These accents or tone of pronunciation of vowels are marked only in the Vedic hymns and used in the Veda chanting.Udatta is left unmarked; the anudatta is marked with ahorizontal line underneath (_) ; svarita is a perpendicular stroke above (') and dhirgha-svarita has two perpendicular lines above ("). Accentuations are confined to the Vedas. In common pronunciation the tone or intonation of vowels in all Sanskrit words is equal. SHIRA, STATA — anunasika (with nasal sound) and ananunasika (without nasal sound) - vowels may be pronounced by making use of the vocal chords in the ordinary way or may be uttered with a nasal twang (anundsika). This is also in use in the chanting of the Vedic hymns. This is marked by this symbol above the letter. Sif. When the anuswara ending word is followed by words beginning with the semivowels ya, ra, la, va Matra = the time required or duration of pronunciation of vowels and the actual position in the mouth where it originates. This is has to be understood for chanting the Vedas; knowledge of length of pronunciation of the vowels ~ hrsoa, a short vowel, dhirga, long vowel, and pluta, an elongated vowel which is used in the Vedas.balam — prayatnam, external and internal effort in the uccarayam — mahaprana and alpaprana The difference in the effort of ucciranam while pronouncing the Mahdprana and Alpaprana letters have to borne in mind. Mahaprina letters - ‘Ksha’ is treated as a Visarga before a word beginning with ‘ksha’ - pause for a moment and then proceed. There should be a litte more stress on RY followed by the usmanah $a 7 sa F sa & ha €&- sibilants sama - is very important in Veda chanting, Every letter while chanting has only that kind of length of pronunciation. Ihe words are not clumsily uttered by pushing them. Letters cannot be pushed. Neither can it be lengthened extraordinarily nor can be compressed while chanting, Samal - samali is evenness. Following the metrical rules, maintaining continuity, following the pauses and stops, appropriate breath control. Santanah —sandhift (euphonic combination) - two words have to naturally blend while articulating. Knowledge of sandhi rules.Posture Gambhirata - in sitting posture. Head neck and back held staring position. No shaking of the body or the hands or neck. No cesti. Volume - Loudly when chanting in a group - Medium while practising - murmur while chanting for oneself. Visraga rules - Visarga change to , $s kara respectively when followed by a word beginning with ss kara - Visarga is dropped before words beginning with vowels - Visarga at the end of a sentence has to be pronounced. It is an aspirate. - Visraga before a word beginning with ka, kha - the visarga gets pronuounced like a ‘ih’ sound, jiloamiiliya - Visraga before a word beginning with pa, pha - the visarga gets pronounced like a “f’ sound - upadhmaniyaAnusvara rules - The anusvara remains in the middle of a pada or at the end of a pada when followed by ismanah $a 37 sa ¥ sa Wha & - The anusoara changes to the nasal of its class in the middle of a pada and optionally at the end of the pada because of the - Oa ~ agra af weaaT: - 8 114 1158 - Example- t€: - 31gX: 1 THT - ART I - sifta FET | aT - SAT I Difference in pronunciation have to be noted - The vowel Tf 7- and the consonant ‘ra’ t - The vowel &% | and the consonant ‘la’ CT - asmanah $a 7 sa ¥ sa @ - sibilantsPause/no pause Visarga before a word beginning with ‘ksha’ - & pause for a moment and then proceed. Pause before any word beginning with a vowel. A word beginning with a conjunct consonant should be chanted along with the previous word with no pause in between the words.(sama)