As stated earlier,
the original forms of the Vaidika phonemes and the associated accents (swaras)
for the chanting of any syllable, were classified into eighteen different
types. The ancient experts - the risis were able to pronounce each of these
swaras distinctly for the purpose of collective chanting of Veda-Mantras during
different Yojanas. Owing to the adoption of artificial life style and lack of
skpiritually high value system, the natural sublime capabilities in the vocal
cord got suppressed and our ancestors, few thousands years ago, began to use
only seven out the these eighteen swaras. The seven types were identified as
Udatta, Udattara, Anudatta, Anudattara, Swarita, Swaritodatta and Sruti.
Over the years this
number was further reduced to three. Namely, the uditta (high), anudatta (mediu,)
and the swarita (low) accents seemed to have been in existence since the time
of Mahabharata. These three swaras are practiced by the experts and only one
chanting pattern (in single swara) is now recommended for the collective
recitation of mantras by the masses. The correct identification and
pronunciation of even the three swaras - depicted by different symbols in the
vaidika script - is so difficult that hardly 5 to 10 authentic experts of
Rig-Veda are believed today to possess the true potential of vocally
distinguishing them during the recitation of the vaidika mantras today.
The controversies in
the current system of coding the vedic swaras further complicate the problem.
For example, in some of the Rig-Veda Samhitas, published in the modern times,
vertical lines above a syllable are used to indicate the swarita swara; whereas
in a Maitraiyani Samhita, such a symbol is supposed to code for a udatta
swara……. Many Samhitas use horizontal lines below a letter to code for the
anudatta swaras but the available versions of Satpath Brahmana use these lines
as symbols for the udatta swaras.
The book entitled
-"Vadic Swara Mimamsa" discusses the above difficulties and
controversies in detail. As cited earlier the erudite author of this book
opines that 'the symbolic patterns used in the currently available sama
samhitas appear to be the most confusing and inconsistent to a beginner'. A
consistent symbolic representation for the vedic swaras should be based on the
in-depth study and sagacious analysis of the descriptions and implications
cited in the available mantras of the Sama Veda.
Lord Krishna in the
holy Gita honors the importance of the Sama Veda Where he reveals that -
'Vedanam Sama Vedosmi' (among the four Vedas, I am the Sama Veda). It may be
recalled here that Vedas are not just some scriptures, volumes or treatises,
rather, they represent the divine voice and thy knowledge that was
intrinsically realized by the risis of the spiritual era. In this context, a
logical interpretation of the above quote would be that - "Sama Veda is
that stream of the absolute science, the realization of which can be equivalent
to experiencing thy presence in music and in consciousness………'' This also
implies the importance of sentiments and intrinsic feelings rather than linguistic
details in grasping any aspect of the Vedas.
No comments:
Post a Comment