VEDA PARAYANAM

The Vedas are considered the highest revelation and authority in Hinduism.
Orthodox philosophical systems and religious authorities in India acknowledge their
absolute truth and validity for all time, and revere them as the ultimate authority in
any controversy. No human source can be attributed to them and they are
considered to be of Divine origin, revealed to the rishis of ancient times. The Vedas
were a strictly oral tradition and among pundits today it is Brahma Rishi Vyasa who
is considered to be the ‘compiler’ of the four extant texts (Rig, Yajur, Sama and
Atharva). For thousands of years the four were chanted solely without being written
down. The term sruti (meaning ‘what is heard’) is used to refer to these holy texts
which ultimately communicate the nature of Absolute Truth in the metaphysical
sphere. Sound emanates as ‘the word’ (nama) and can be said to precede rupa
(form). The beginning of the Gospel of St. John states this truth in a similar manner.

The vibration which is generated by the holy sounds is spiritual in nature and
counters the dark forces of inert matter in an effort to uplift creation. The universal
mantra AUM, now known throughout the world, is the essential spiritual vibration of
the universe. Sanskrit, the language of the Vedas, is said to have been revealed and
it is claimed that the sounds that form its 50 letters and perfect grammar are unique.
Even Western philologists study it as a great revelation in the course of human
history.

There is a school of research today which refutes the notion that Sanskrit
originated in Central Asia or the Caucasus and was transported to India during the
‘Aryan invasion’. This idea was propounded in the late nineteenth century by
Western philologists, some of whom had never visited India. It is currently argued
that Sanskrit was indigenous and that its texts go back several thousand years.
European languages quite possibly developed from Sanskrit and not the reverse.

A great many hymns, ceremonies and philosophical matters are contained in

the Vedas, the principal sections of each Veda being Samhita (hymns), Brahmanas
(ceremonies), and Aranyakas (philosophical treatises). The Upanishads are usually
contained in the last section, known as forest dialogues, since they were imparted by
rishis mostly living in forest ashrams.

The highest philosophical thought in India is revealed in the Upanishads of

which 108 are extant today. Of these 10 major Upanishads are widely studied and
known. Sri Sankara’s commentaries on these texts from the eight century A.D. are
available to scholars and are considered one of the pillars of the last school of
philosophy to emerge, i.e. Advaita Vedanta. The portion of the Vedas referring to
‘knowledge’ is called jnana kanda, while the portion that deals with rituals and
sacrifices is termed karma kanda. It is generally agreed that a spiritual seeker must
first purify himself through a selfless process of karma, according to his dharma and
that he can only then pass on to jnana kanda.

Today the Rig and Yajur Vedas are the most commonly known and chanted,
followed by the Sama Veda. The Atharva Veda is slowly disappearing. The Rig Veda
is the ‘root’ Veda and contains many hymns to various gods of the Hindu pantheon
including Indra, Rudra, Saraswati, Vishnu, etc. The other Vedas contain many
mantras from the Rig Veda.

The Yajur Veda has two well-known derivatives that are chanted today, the
Shukla and the Krishna (White and Black), dealing mostly with rituals. At all Siva
temples where Vedic ritual is performed, parts of the Veda known as chamakam,
namakam,, etc, are used in pujas. Participants often know these sections by heart.
The Krishna Yajur Veda consists of 44 prashna (chapters) which in turn are divided
into 7 kandas (major divisions) in the Samhita, 28 in the Brahmana, divided into 3
ashtakas (including 3 prashnas called katakam) and 10 in the Aranyaka. In this last
section the final 4 chapters are Upanishads.

The chanting style of the Sama Veda is very melodious and is reminiscent of
the Gregorian chant in the Christian monastic tradition.

To this day the Vedas are passed down from generation to generation, from a
Brahmin teacher to a student in a continuous lineage from its originators, the great
Brahma Rishis. In fact a young boy when initiated during the upayanam or ‘thread’
ceremony is given his gotra, or lineage, which links him to the great ancient sages
like Vashista and Viswamitra. The Gayatri mantra is imparted at this time and should
be repeated 108 times daily during the sandya (junctures of the day)— sunrise, noon
and sunset. This mantra appears in all four Vedas and was considered to be very
secret. In fact, traditionally the Vedas were not to be heard by non—Brahmins.
Formerly this was strictly observed and the purity of the tradition was maintained but
during the twentieth century, especially after independence from Britain, when Hindu
social laws and customs changed considerably, secrecy was no longer maintained to
such an extent.

The school where a young boy is sent, the Veda Patasala, is run even today
on the ancient system of gurukuIa, where the boy is given over to the guru by his
parents for all further study. It is a rigorous course of training, where 7 year old boys
(some may start younger) start their lessons at 5 a.m., with chanting lasting for at
least 8 hours a day. No doubt a prodigious memory is required. Some outstanding
students can memorize an entire page within two or three readings.

The course takes around 7 to 8 years for a normal student, but some take
much longer and some drop out mid-way and take up other work, or practice as
priests in small temples.

On completion of his studies a student is qualified to be called a Veda-Vit, or

Yajur-Vedi. No other subjects are usually taught at this stage, since a great deal of
attention is required for accurately memorizing and correctly chanting the Vedas.
The prescribed religious observances are carried on by all students together with
their course work in the school day.

Teaching techniques differ according to the tradition of the teacher. The

following remarks will shed some light on the process. First, of course, the alphabet
must be learned and here there is a difference between South and North India. In the
South grantha script is used, while in the North, it is the devanagari, the usual
Sanskrit alphabet. The Brahmanas are usually learned first since these mantras are
simpler and easier for the student to grasp. The teacher recites one vakya (line) and
the student repeats it twice. For a normal student 10 to 30 lines may be given, but for
an outstanding student up to 500 lines. This will continue for 9 days, during which a
student is expected to repeat the lesson at least 100 times per day. Once the
Samhitas are taken up, they are taught 50 padas (words) at a time. This is called
panchashati. There are 2195 panchashatis in the 7 kandas of the Samhita of the
Krishna Yajur Veda. There is no doubt that very strong samskaras play an important
part concerning the innate ability of the student. At the level of ghanam (the most
advanced chant form), one can almost be assured that samskaras from a previous
life are at work, since this very exacting mode of chanting cannot be taken up by
most students.

At Ramanasramam the Krishna Yajur Veda was chanted twice a day when
Bhagavan was in the body. This tradition is carried on at his Samadhi to this day.
Before the Veda Patasala was founded at Ramanasramam, pundits from town would
come to chant in front of Bhagavan and all accounts of his life mention that at the 5
p.m. session of the Veda Parayanam Bhagavan would often sit rock-like and the
silence and grace that were present would be apparent to even casual visitors. He
commented that listening to the Vedas has a calming effect on the mind, which is a
pre-condition for any meditation practice, as well as atma-vichara, his most well-
known method.

Today at Ramanasramam, the Veda Patasala has around 20 students and

slowly the ‘career’ of being a pundit is regaining its former respect and status. About
a hundred years ago, due to the economic conditions of the times, Brahmins had to
abandon their dharma as pundits and priests and engage in worldly pursuits, usually
in posts as civil servants with the British administration. They could not make a living
from the traditional way of life and slowly the tradition degenerated and fewer boys
were brought into a formal study of the Vedas. The situation has currently reversed
and today pundits can earn a very reasonable income, as they are invited to all types
of ceremonies throughout the country, including household rituals and marriage
functions. Of course, many Brahmins have now totally abandoned their links with
the Vedas as a modern education in English is the standard of success in modern
Indian society. Many boys are not taught the basic texts and have no knowledge of
Sanskrit or religious duties, but one still sees a few modern young men in western
dress chanting happily in front of Bhagavan’ Samadhi, no doubt due to the influence
of their parents in fostering a more ‘religious’ and traditional way of life.

When fully qualified, a student will either continue studying rituals and become
a priest, or follow further study and eventually become a pundit. This latter tradition
involves chanting in more complicated modes and each additional level may take
two or three years longer, depending on the ability of the student. Pundits are
usually invited to special religious events at large temples or to important feasts and
festivals. In Tiruvannamalai at Arunachaleswarar Kovil, the main Siva temple, Veda
Parayanam in the kramam mode of the Krishna Yajur Veda is chanted for 9 days by
25 pundits during the 10 day Kartigai Deepam festival.(This Parayanam is ongoing in
its 127th year.) Sama and Rig Vedas are also chanted by smaller groups. In 1995
the entire Samhita in the ghanam mode was chanted in Ramanasramam (New Hall)
by an eminent Vedic scholar, lasting 32 days, eight hours per day. In recent years,
groups of 4 to 6 pundits are occasionally invited for special parayanam, usually
lasting 4 to 6 days, with some sessions lasting 2 to 3 hours, for a total of 6 hours per
day.

After the normal chanting called padam and moolam, the next level is termed
kramam, which is still not too complicated and most good students master it. The
last two modes called jattay and ghanam are particularly difficult. The last mode is
achieved by very few pundits. They are called ghanapatins. The rules for the more
complex types of chanting are given in two texts not within the Vedas, called
Pratasakra and Uyasa Siksha. A more detailed explanation of a mantra in different
modes will be given later.

A fully qualified ghanapatin may continue to study Vedanga, i.e. the limbs of
the Veda. This includes the following six disciplines: Siksa (Phonetics); Nirukta
(Lexicon and Etymology); Kalpa (Rituals); Lakshanam (Grammar); Jyothisha
(Astrology and Astronomy); and Chandas (Prosody or versification). There are
different levels and specializations in all these disciplines, and major Mutts, such as
Sringeri and Kanchipuram, carry out tests and give certification that a certain level of
knowledge and proficiency has been achieved. Eventually a highly trained and
qualified pundit becomes a well-known teacher in his own right and is recognized
throughout India for his erudition.

To give an idea of the level that may be reached, one can point to Kavyakanta
Ganapati Muni, Bhagavan’s foremost disciple in the Vedic tradition. At the age of
about eight, Ganapati Muni started uttering Sanskrit poetry spontaneously and
eventually was given the title of Kavyakanta, which means ‘one who has poetry
flowing from his throat’, i.e. an extempore poet. He was also a chaturvedi meaning
he knew all four Vedas and it was later remarked by Bhagavan that Ganapati Muni’s
memory was such that he had almost ‘total recall’ of all events that had occurred in
the Ashram. Even at this level of erudition, Ganapati Muni recognized that
Bhagavan was not only a Rishi, but a ‘great Rishi’, i.e. a Maharshi and changed his
name to ‘Ramana Maharshi’ (he was previously known as Brahmana Swami).
Bhagavan had never studied Sanskrit, yet he could utter perfect poetic compositions,
with such deep and terse meaning that they were considered by Kavyakanta to be
comparable to the Upanishads. Throughout the rest of his life Bhagavan was
consulted by great pundits from all over India, who went away convinced that
Bhagavan was indeed a Maha Rishi.

Pundits who pass their entire lives chanting the Vedas are going through a
process of purification and some of them report that even in their sleep the holy
utterances carry on. The audiences and sponsors of the yagnas and other
parayanams are also being purified and accumulate merit, but one can also say that
the chanting benefits the entire world. One interesting fact worth mentioning is that
in the purnahuti at the end of a homa, the pundit symbolically surrenders his ego into
the sacred fire.

In Sri Adi Sankara’s Vivekachudamani it is stated that it is difficult to obtain a

human birth, more difficult to be born a Brahmin, more difficult still to walk the path of
Vaidika Dharma in which the Vedas are chanted, but still more difficult to become a
perfect scholar. Yet it is pointed out that all of this is still not enough ‘to attain
wisdom born of experience of the Self’, which is what Bhagavan intimately knew and
for which it is not necessary to follow the path described above.
 One comment worth quoting with respect to the reason for the more complex
types of chanting was made by the late Shankaracharya of Kancheepuram Mutt, Sri
Chandrashekara Saraswati, who was recognized throughout India as a saint and
sage:

“Our forefathers devised a number of methods to preserve the unwritten

Vedas in their original form, to safeguard their tonal and verbal purity. They laid
down rules to make sure that not a syllable was changed in chanting… [and] they
insured that the full benefits were derived from intoning the mantras.

“When we listen to the ghanapatin chant the ghanam we notice he intones a

few words of the mantra in different ways, back and forth. It is most delightful to the
ear. Similiarly, in other methods of chanting like karma, jatta, moola, and so on, the
intonation is nothing less than stately, indeed divine.”1

As a small example of the various modes of chanting, a simple mantra is

transliterated below, giving the principal forms that are taught and chanted:

Nama somaya cha (moolam)

Nama somaya somaya cha (kramam)
Nama somaya somaya namo, nama somaya (jattai)
Nama somaya somaya namo, nama somaya cha-cha somaya
namo, nama somaya cha (ghanam)

In jattai two words are joined in the chanting and each word is repeated six
times, while in ghanam three words are joined together and each word is repeated
thirteen times. A rough guide to the sequence in which ghanam is chanted is given
below:

1-2-2- 1-1-2-3-3-2-1-1-2-3-2-3-3-2-2-3-4-4-3-2-2-3-4-3-4-4-3-3-4-5-5-4-3-3-4-5.

1
Hindu Dharma, p. 156, Published by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.
 There are, of course, different tones, lengths of syllables chanted, emphasis
of particular sounds and volumes uttered, ranging from faint whispers to great
bellowing sounds which literally “shake the walls”. When the chanting alternates
between two groups, it is termed charchai. Ghanam can only be chanted for the
Samhita portion of the Vedas. A very interesting and advanced technique of chanting
is called varna kramam known only to highly qualified ghanapatins. Even though it
sounds rather simple, it is very difficult as each word in the Vedas is slowly analysed
for its deeper significance, starting from where in the body the sound originates, how
it travels up through the throat and finally how the tongue is positioned to utter the
holy sound. The purpose is to maintain the purity of the chanting and it is possible to
ascertain very precisely whether a pundit is chanting a specific pada correctly or not.
Some eminent pundits know varna kramam for every single word in the Vedas.

This description does not of course communicate the experience of listening

intently to the Vedas chanted directly, where often a state of immense peace is felt
by the listener, highlighting the divine origin of these great ancient texts. Bhagavan
started that merely listening to the Vedas, even without understanding them, was
sufficient to purify listeners and to alter their state of consciousness to a deeper level
within themselves.