Fundamentals of reciting the Vedas

Skype, 3.1. 2018

ु
ॐ श्री गरुभ्यो नमः। हर ः ॐ॥
om śrī gurubhyo namaḥ
hariḥ om
śīkṣāṁ vyākhyāsyāmaḥ| varṇaḥ svaraḥ| mātrā balam| sāma santānaḥ|
ityuktaḥ śīkṣādhyāyaḥ||

from Taittirīya Upaniṣad - Śīkṣā valli

meaning:

‘We will expound the science of pronunciation

letters or sounds (varṇaḥ),

notes or pitch (svaraḥ),
duration (mātrā),
force (balam),
linking of notes (sāma) and
continuity (santāna).

Thus has been declared the lesson on pronunciation’

 1) letters or sounds (varṇaḥ)

• represent the correct pronunciation of Sanskrit letters.

The letters are pronounced from different locations starting at the

throat and ending with the nose:

Sanskrit alphabet (saṁskṛta-varṇa-mālā) consists of

• 15 vowels
• 36 consonants
 SIMPLE VOWELS

short long
COMPOUND VOWELS

constant sounds
SEMI VOWELS

palatal cerebral dental

(voiced) labio dental

FRICATIVES

(unvoiced)

(aspirated)

soft palatal
https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/voiced-unvoiced-consonants-0
 CONSONANTS
classified according to place of articulation

GUTTURAL
(soft palate)

PALATAL
(hard palate)

CEREBRAL
(behind the upper teeth and a
hard bump on the roof of the mouth)

DENTAL
(base of the teeth)

LABIAL
(lips)
Special rules of pronunciation of:

• Anusvāra (अं aṁ);

o depending on the consonant coming after the anusvāra, anusvāra

changes into ङ ṅa, ञ ña, र् ṇa, न na and म ma
(see the slide 15, less common changes are described in the slides 11-14 )

• Visarga (अः aḥ);

o takes the sound of a vowel preceding it,

o when a visarga is followed by श śa, ष ṣa, स sa it is converted into

श śa, ष ṣa, स sa; namaḥ śivaya namaś śivaya

o when a visarga is followed by क ka, ख kha, visarga is substituted

for a phonetic element called jihvāmūlīya which is pronounced at
the root of the tongue; namaḥ (aspirated) kulālebhyaḥ

o when a visarga is followed by ऩ pa, प pha, visarga is substituted

for a phonetic element called upadhmānīya and its pronunciation
is coloured by labial utterance; namaḥ (like ‘f’ sound) puñjiṣṭebhyo
 2) Notes or pitch (svaraḥ)

Represents the notes or different intonations:

o udātta (higher note, indicated by a vertical stroke); bhagavate̍

o anudātta (lower note, indicated by a horizontal line below the

syllable); rudrā̱ya

o svarita (neutral note); namo

o delayed udātta, (indicated by two vertical strokes); namo̎

 3) Duration (mātrā)

Represents duration of recitation of different syllables:

• hrasvam; 1 unit (अ a, इ i, उ u,...)

• dīr ham; 2 units (आ ā, ई ī, ऊ ū, ओ o, ए e)
• plutam; 3 or more (duration will be mentioned after the syllable)
• ardha; half unit (क् k, ग ् g, त ् t)

4) Force (balam)

Represents the strength or force or recitation of the syllables:

• alpa prāṇa (should be recited softly); अ a, इ i, ओ o, क ka, ग ga,

च ca, द da, त ta,...
• mahā prāṇa (should be aspirated); ख kha, घ gha, च cha, ध dha,
थ tha, ढ ḍha,...
 5) Linking of notes (sāma)

Refers to continuity of different syllables recited in different notes.

• The linkage of different notes must be done in such a way that

recitation sounds continuous. The same pitch must be
maintained from the start till the end of recitation

6) Continuity (santāna)

Represents the punctuation (where we need to pause):

• The pause to take a breath must occur at the right place, between the
words and not at the middle of the word
• A slight pause must be given after ॐ om
• A pause must also be given between recitation of one mantra and the
next (usually indicated by a vertical line | in devanāgarī and
transliteration, sometimes also a full stop)
• A pause must be given before a word whenever the word starts with
any of the vowels. Another variation of this rule is, that a pause must
be given whenever the preceding words ends with a long vowel (dīr
ham) and the succeeding word starts with any of the vowels
(in our chanting we don’t follow this rule)
 Anusvāra अं aṁ of the Taittiriya Krsna Yajur Veda
by Shriramana Sharma

• described in the Śikṣā Śāstra

• One place of articulation - nāsikā (nasal cavity))
‘pure nasal’ – without stricture in the oral cavity

1) ŚUDDHĀNUSVĀRA – ‘pure anusvāra’

occurs only before the consonant clusters jñ and ghn

o saṁjñānam
o imaṁ ghnanti
2) ĀGAMĀNUSVĀRA – ‘inserted sound’ (g)

it occurs before:

a) fricatives ś, ṣ, s

teṣāṁ sahasra-yojane

teṣāgṁ sahasra-yojane

b) aspirated h

ganapatiṁ havamahe

ganapatigṁ havamahe

c) semi vowel ra

pratyuṣṭaṁ rakṣaḥ

pratyuṣṭagṁ rakṣaḥ
3) LUPTA-ĀGAMĀNUSVĀRA - ‘non pronounced anusvāra’

anusvāra that is not pronounced (lupta means lost)

it occurs before combination of:

• fricatives ś, ṣ, s + consonant cluster

• aspirated h + consonant cluster

o kalpatāṁ śrotraṁ

kalpātag śrotraṁ

o jyotīṁṣyavarundhe

jyotīgṣyavarundhe
4) DVIRBHŪTA-LUPTA- ĀGAMĀNUSVĀRA

- if before lupta-āgamānusvāra (‘ṁ’ ‘g’) there is a short vowel a, u or i

sound ‘g’ gets doubled (dvirbhūta = doubled)

tvaṁ hyagne tvag hyagne

tvag hyagne tvagg hyagne
 5) other phonetic changes of anusvāra:

If anusvāra is followed by consonants, it changes into a nasal sound

specific to the particular consonant group according to the place of
articulation

CONSONANTS nasal sounds

a) guttural; ka, kha, ga, gha, ṅa
o iṣuṁ giriśanta iṣuṅ giriśanta

b) palatal; ca, cha, ja, jha, ña

o puruṣaṁ jagat puruṣañ jagat
o śaṁ ca śañ ca

c) cerebral; ṭa, ṭha, ḍa, ḍha, ṇa

d) dental; ta, tha, da, dha, na

o yaṁ dviṣmas yan dviṣmas

e) labial; pa, pha, ba, bha, ma

o eṣāṁ puruṣāṇām eṣām puruṣāṇām