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Written by Sri Swami Chandrashekarendra
Saraswati |
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Siksa comes first among the six limbs of the Vedas, the nose of the
Vedapurusa. The function of the nose here is not to be taken only as
that
of perceiving smells. It has also the function of breathing; in fact it
is one
of the organs of breathing. Siksa serves as the life-breath of the Vedic
mantras.
Where is the life of a Vedic mantra centred? Each syllable of a hymn is
to
be enunciated strictly according to its measure. Clarity of
pronunciation is
what is intended. Apart from this, each syllable is raised, lowered or
pronounced evenly -- udatta, anudatta, savarita. If attention is paid to
these points, there will be tonal purity. A mantra yields the desired
fruit if
each syllable is vocalised with clarity and tonal accuracy. The phonetic
and tonal exactitude of a mantra is even more important that its
meaning. In other words, even though the meaning is not understood, if
the tonal form takes shape correctly, the mantra will bring the intended
benefit. So the life-breath of the Vedas, which are a collection of
mantras,
is their sound [the "sound form”].
There is a mantra to cure scorpion sting. Its meaning is not revealed.
Its
potency is in its sound. Certain sounds have certain powers associated
with them. It is sometimes asked: Why should the sraddha mantras be in
Sanskrit? May they not be in English or Tamil? Those who raise these
questions do not realise that it is the sound that matters here, not the
language as such. If the teeth of a sorcerer were knocked off, his
witchcraft [magic] would have no effect. Why? Because the man would
not be able to recite this spell properly.
Enunciation of the mantras is most important to the Vedas. What do we
do about it? Siksa is the science that deals with the character of Vedic
syllables it determines their true nature. The science of the sounds of
human speech is called phonetics and it is more important to the Vedic
language that to any other tongue. The reason is that even if there is a
slight change in how you vocalise a syllable the efficacy of the mantra
will
be affected. [The result sometimes will be contrary to what is
intended].
It is because of the importance of Vedic phonetics that Siksa has been
placed first among the six Angas. It is dealt with in the Taittiriya
Upanishad. Its "Siksavalli" begins like this: "Let us now explain the
Siksa
sastra ". The name of the sastra occurs here as well as in many other
Vedic texts with a long "i" ("Siksa"). Sankara observes in his
commentary:
"Dairghyam Chandasam": it means that the usually short "i" occurs as
long [in the Vedas]. (Such examples are to be found in Tamil poetry
also. )
I told you that the Vedic language is not called Sanskrit but Chandas.
"Chandasam", from "chandas", denotes here a Vedic usage. |
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