This explains why the Vedas are considered the forerunners of our Classical Music. It is an all or nothing rule with no grey areas or space to err. The teacher makes it a point that the students get the tones absolutely right. The tone of each letter is guided by the tone of the previous one. There are solid principles of acoustics and the working of the human vocal chords that guide this tonal assignment. And the tones in the Vedas are not designated at random. Tonal purity is mandatory.Įach letter has a tone and this tone cannot be changed, lest the meaning and the vibrations of the verse is affected. Vedic chanting is UNIQUE in the sense that not only is the proper pronunciation of the Sanskrit a must, but also the proper tones. The Sandhyavadhanam is a daily spiritual cleansing process because the chanting of the Vedas needs a very pure state of body, mind, and spirit. The performance of daily Sandhyavathanam is another absolute must for the chanting of the Vedas. Every evening after school, I would come home, then go outside and play cricket with my friends and then go back home and get ready for the Veda-class after performing the Sandhya. The great teacher immediately responded that I could join that very moment.Īnd from that point began my journey into this mind-boggling and awe-inspiring world of words and tones of the Vedas, a process of learning that stretched over the next 8 years of my life. My grandma gingerly escorted me to him and told him how her grandson (me) was very much keen to learn the Vedas and whether he could join the class. There was another Veda-class going on in the temple itself and this was conducted by an outstanding Vedic scholar by the name of Tiruvaiyyar Shri Viswanaatha Ghanapaadigal. I clearly remember how, after we got back from my Yagnopaveetam, my paternal grandma took me to the main sanctum of the Matunga Shri Shankara Matham.
It is just like how one has to get a license to practise medicine by going to a bonafide medical school and getting a degree.Ĭoming back to my grandma, she was shaken to the core by my fervour to learn the Vedas and immediately persuaded my father to set the ball rolling regarding my Yagnopaveetam, which was then conducted the following year at Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu). The Yagnopaveetam is a MUST for learning this highest of all learning: Brahmnavidhya.
I immediately went crying to my paternal grandma, who was listening to a discourse at the temple and begged her to conduct my Yagnopaveetam immediately so that I could start learning. But I was still not a Yagnopaveeti (my sacred thread rituals were yet to be conducted) and this meant that I had to wait. I was so captivated by this that I wanted to join the class then and there. Whatever the teacher chanted, the students repeated twice, in the time-honoured tradition. When I stood at the door of the Paathashaala aka Veda-class, I could see some of my schoolmates there, eagerly chanting the mantras being taught to them. As to what the Ghanam format is, I will come to it later.) (Ghanapaadigal is a title for any person that can recite the entire Samhiti part of the Krishna Yajurveda in Ghanam format.
These free classes were conducted by a Vedic scholar by the name of Shri Ganesh Ghanapaadigal. It was the Veda Paathashaala conducted for school children like me and even college students and office-goers by the Shri Shankara Matham. I remember walking down to the temple at the end of the road in Matunga, Mumbai to fetch my paternal grandmother, when I was stopped in my tracks by the sounds of wonderful chanting. I was around 11 years of age when I first became really aware of the beauty of Vedic chanting.