Pronounciation of Brahma, Vahni, Jahnu

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[forwarded message from N. Krishnamachari]

 

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krish (N Krishnamachari)

Pronunciation of Brhama, Vahni, Jahnu, etc.

 

Dear Bhakti Group Members:

 

I would very much appreciate your advice on how the word Brahma is to be

pronounced. Is it pronounced as Bramma (with no h sound),

Bramha (with the h coming after the

m), or is it pronounced as Brahma (with the m coming after the h)? The

way it is written in Sanskrit and in English is with the m coming after the

h. However, in many vedic chanting recordings and in recordings of Sri

Vishnu ShasraNamam, I notice that people are pronouncing the word

with the h coming after the m, or as Bramma.

 

Related words on which I have the same pronunciation doubt are the words

Vahni and Jahnu, which also occur in Sri VishNu SahasraNAmam.

 

As all of you know, the word repeatedly appears in vedic chantings.

My initial reason for the question is the occurrance of this word several

times in the Sri Vishnu SahasraNamam in the sloka:

 

BrahmaNyo Brahma-krid BrahmA Brahma Brahma-vivardhanah |

Brahma-vid BrAhmaNo Brahmi Brahmajno BrAhmaNa-priyah ||

 

Based on a translation of Sri ParAsara Bhattar's GuNa Ratna Kosa, there is a

sutra which reads as

Brhmer nocca (sutra 588 in UNadi sutras in AshtAdhyayi),

but I am unable to interpret what it means.

 

If you can give me any guidance on the pronunciation of the words above

I will be extremely indebted to you.

If you are aware of any articles or guidance from our AchAryas, or writings or

discussions relating to this issue, please let me know.

If any of you can throw additional light on

the sutra referenced above, I would sincerely appreciate it as well.

 

DAsan,

Narasimhan Krishnamachari

 

 

 

 

 

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