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| Manju Jois at Rethymno/Crete on 2011 |
Manju
Jois in his workshops and teacher trainings, introduces Pranayama
and Vedic chanting.
On August 2005, Manju gave an
interview on a yoga magazine called “ yoga fit “ and here is one part that I
find very interesting concerning the pranayama and chanting.
DK: What is the importance in
your view of the asanas relative to the chanting and pranayama?
Manju:
You have to do all parts, also
called jñana (knowledge) yoga.
To get that knowledge, you have
to practice all the steps, just like a ritual you do everyday. Your asana
practice maintains physical health, then you have to do pranayama, and the
chanting. When you do all these things, that completes the Ashtanga yoga, the
eight steps. That’s really important; that’s how they used to teach, and that’s
how my father taught us. We had to go through the whole thing everyday, and
study the Upanishads, and the Sandhya-vandanam; a very important thing to do.
If you just do asana, it’s not good. It would be a great help, but you’re not
getting the complete Ashtanga yoga message you are supposed to get. That’s why,
in my workshops, I start teaching these things. I want to bring the old
traditions back, not just Asanas.
This post meant to
focus on Vedic Chanting practice . I collected info and tried to put in short
the vast heritage that lies in the recitation of the Vedas.
Hope you enjoy.
THE
VEDAS & THE VEDIC CHANTING
The
Vedas are a vast collection of hymns that were heard by ancient Indian sages
when they were in a deep meditative state. Collectively they are the most
authoritative source of Indian wisdom as they contain information on every
conceivable subject.
Sanskrit,
the classical Indian language, was the language of the Vedas and Vedic chanting
is a perfect oral tradition. Over the years the vast information contained in
the Vedas was preserved and transmitted from one generation of teachers and
students to the next in an oral way. It is through this challenging
relationship between teacher and student that until today, the Vedas are
chanted exactly as they were several thousand years ago.
In the process of learning the
tradition of Vedic chanting, a student expected to listen to his/her teacher and
then to chant exactly as the teacher did. This process called “adhyayanam.“
The
complete benefit of Veda mantras could be achieved only when the following
conditions are met:
- Correct pronunciation of letters/words
- Correct duration for utterance of letters/words
- Correct intonation of letters
When
the above conditions are mastered the Vedic chanting has multiple benefits such
as:
-
Productions of certain vibrations, and hence can enhance physical and mental
health
-
The method of “adhyayanam” involves listening closely to the teacher and
reproducing the chant exactly. Hence, this requires attention. The practice of
Vedic chanting is very useful in improving concentration and memory.
-
Listening and practicing chanting can also calm the mind. In fact, chanting is
considered to be one of the important forms of meditation.
-
Vedic chants can be applied in different ways with different effects. Hence,
Vedic chanting can be effectively used in healing and yoga therapy.
Rishis prescribed six
ways of recitation that consider incorrect and there are :
- one who chants in a sing-song fashion
- one who chants fast
- one
who nods his head up and down without actually raising or
lowering the pitch
- one who reads from a book
- one who chants without knowing the meaning
- one who chants in a feeble voice
The
rules of correct pronunciation and articulation of sounds are given in the Vedanga,
known as Seeksha.
Seeksha
deals with varNa (letters), svara:
(pitch); [there are essentially three svaras, namely, anudatta (gravely
accented or low pitched), udatta (high pitched or acutely accented), svarita
(circumflexly accented)] maatraa (duration – a prosodial unit of
time); balam (strength or force of articulation); saama (uniformity);
and santaana: (continuity) during recitation.
In
traditional times, Vedic chanting was practiced only by certain specific
sections of people. During modern times, more people who were traditionally
authorized to learn and propagate Vedic chanting began taking up other
professions, there came a phase when it seemed dangerously that the ancient Indian
tradition of Vedic chanting would be lost. It was T Krishnamacharya who opened
the doors of Vedic chanting to everyone irrespective of race, gender,
occupation or religious/political affiliations. It was his firm belief that
anyone who wished to learn and teach Vedic chanting with a view to preserving
this ancient tradition had the right and authority to do so.
First time in a Vedic chanting
class .
I know that
when someone for first time join a vedic chanting class, is totally strange
experience. Is almost look like a continuation of asana practice with the
tongue. Maybe some reactions of non understanding the meaning or the purpose of
that practice . The way to go through this is just to listen to these chants.
Don’t try to like or dislike them in terms of their musical quality or
whatever, just listen to them. These sounds should become like your breath.
After some time, without even listening you will be reverberating with the
chant and that is the first step to experience within you the effect of the
chant. To become the mantra is the key of understanding but of course likewise every
other practice need patience and determination to make the lotus flower bloom.
