#Ancient Culture ( Samskaram ) of Bharatham-3.8 : Swami Krishnananda
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# OPINION : 24/03/2020 : 2105.
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#Chapter 3: The Vedas – the Foundation of Indian Culture - 8.
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1.
#Then specialisation started.
##While during the time of the Vedas, I should say, there was no specialisation in a particular branch only, and it was necessary to acquire all-round knowledge in all aspects of the Vedas, time showed that this was not possible; therefore, people would take up only one side, one aspect. So some sections of people emphasised only the chanting of the mantras. Today we have got pundits who know the Vedas, but they know only the chanting of it. Somebody will say, “Here is a pundit who knows the Vedas.”
##What does he know?
##He can recite the Vedas by rote. Like a parrot he will go on chanting it. But ask him, “What is it that you are chanting?”
##He will not know the meaning of it. The meaning of what he chants, the pundit does not know. It is a parrot-like chanting that he does, but still they consider it as a great achievement. For instance, if the whole of the Rigveda is learnt by heart by some pundit and he can recite it from beginning to end, ten thousand verses at one stroke, he is considered as a very sacred person, a very holy man. He is worshipped in the village and town like a Godman almost. But he knows only the chanting, and nothing else does he know. He cannot do any havan, homa, yajna or anything; that is a different thing for him. He knows neither the ritualistic side of it, nor the meaning.
###You may wonder why a man should be respected so much merely because he chants the mantras. That also is very important to know.
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2.
#The mantras are an electric force.
##The recitation of a Veda mantra – even a mere recitation, not the going into the meaning of it, etc. – charges your personality with a power because of the fact that the arrangement of the words of the mantra in the Veda is such that it creates a vibration. Every word is a sound potential. By ‘sound potential’ I mean a packet of energy or a hidden power in each word which releases itself into action when it is chanted, uttered, pronounced correctly.
##A correct intonation and a pronunciation of a particular word creates a sudden stimulus inside you and energises your personality as if you are charged with a little electric current; and the sanctity of the Veda mantra because of its inclusiveness, because of the divinity hidden in it, creates a special effect in the person, in the personality of the individual who recites the mantra itself. So even the mere recitation of the mantra is a great thing, and the person who has such capacity to recite it by heart is worshipped as a holy man, not unnecessarily but very, very necessarily.
###Even if you recite the mantra without the knowledge of its meaning, it has an effect. That is why these pundits are worshipped and adored.
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3.
#Specialisation, therefore, took the turn of mere recitation of the mantra on the one hand and, on the other hand, there was specialisation on the ritualistic side. They know all the little details of yajnas, sacrifices, havans, and so on – how to raise an altar for the sacrifice, how a kunda is dug, and what are the other details, etc. These are purohits, as they are called.
##They are specialised in yajnas, performances, rituals, etc. They may not know the whole of the Veda Samhita by heart, but they know by heart those mantras which are connected with a particular sacrifice. That is the second specialisation.
###The first specialisation is only chanting. The second is ritualistic specialisation.
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To be continued ...
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JAI HIND
JAI BHARATHAM
VANDHE MATHARAM
BHARAT MATHA KI JAI.
========================================================================
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# OPINION : 24/03/2020 : 2105.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#Chapter 3: The Vedas – the Foundation of Indian Culture - 8.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.
#Then specialisation started.
##While during the time of the Vedas, I should say, there was no specialisation in a particular branch only, and it was necessary to acquire all-round knowledge in all aspects of the Vedas, time showed that this was not possible; therefore, people would take up only one side, one aspect. So some sections of people emphasised only the chanting of the mantras. Today we have got pundits who know the Vedas, but they know only the chanting of it. Somebody will say, “Here is a pundit who knows the Vedas.”
##What does he know?
##He can recite the Vedas by rote. Like a parrot he will go on chanting it. But ask him, “What is it that you are chanting?”
##He will not know the meaning of it. The meaning of what he chants, the pundit does not know. It is a parrot-like chanting that he does, but still they consider it as a great achievement. For instance, if the whole of the Rigveda is learnt by heart by some pundit and he can recite it from beginning to end, ten thousand verses at one stroke, he is considered as a very sacred person, a very holy man. He is worshipped in the village and town like a Godman almost. But he knows only the chanting, and nothing else does he know. He cannot do any havan, homa, yajna or anything; that is a different thing for him. He knows neither the ritualistic side of it, nor the meaning.
###You may wonder why a man should be respected so much merely because he chants the mantras. That also is very important to know.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.
#The mantras are an electric force.
##The recitation of a Veda mantra – even a mere recitation, not the going into the meaning of it, etc. – charges your personality with a power because of the fact that the arrangement of the words of the mantra in the Veda is such that it creates a vibration. Every word is a sound potential. By ‘sound potential’ I mean a packet of energy or a hidden power in each word which releases itself into action when it is chanted, uttered, pronounced correctly.
##A correct intonation and a pronunciation of a particular word creates a sudden stimulus inside you and energises your personality as if you are charged with a little electric current; and the sanctity of the Veda mantra because of its inclusiveness, because of the divinity hidden in it, creates a special effect in the person, in the personality of the individual who recites the mantra itself. So even the mere recitation of the mantra is a great thing, and the person who has such capacity to recite it by heart is worshipped as a holy man, not unnecessarily but very, very necessarily.
###Even if you recite the mantra without the knowledge of its meaning, it has an effect. That is why these pundits are worshipped and adored.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.
#Specialisation, therefore, took the turn of mere recitation of the mantra on the one hand and, on the other hand, there was specialisation on the ritualistic side. They know all the little details of yajnas, sacrifices, havans, and so on – how to raise an altar for the sacrifice, how a kunda is dug, and what are the other details, etc. These are purohits, as they are called.
##They are specialised in yajnas, performances, rituals, etc. They may not know the whole of the Veda Samhita by heart, but they know by heart those mantras which are connected with a particular sacrifice. That is the second specialisation.
###The first specialisation is only chanting. The second is ritualistic specialisation.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To be continued ...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
JAI HIND
JAI BHARATHAM
VANDHE MATHARAM
BHARAT MATHA KI JAI.
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