Guest guest Posted June 28, 1999 Report Share Posted June 28, 1999 The "Nada" and Music of the Spheres. I was fascinated by the article quoted in the last archive of the Advaita list: E.GAAYATHRI writes: "Veena is an ancient musical instrument, it dates back to the vedic times. In Hindu astronoomy, Thula Rasi (Libra in Western Zodiac system) contains the star Swathi. This constellation is also described as ``Alpha Cygnus'' indicating ``Hamsa'' (swan) which is the seat of Goddess Saraswathi. Also this constellation Swathi, presents the picture of a ``LYRE'' or ``VEENA.'' Many decades ago the scientists discovered a cosmic hiss emanating from this constellation. This is the ``Nada'' the musical resonance that pervades the Universe. It pervades the human body also only to be discovered by oneself within himself. This ``Nada'' is the mother of all ragas which are expressions of emotions. ``Nada'' in all ragas, therefore, is like gold in all ornaments. "The timbre of the veena strings have for their prototype the sound of the Vedas interfused in the undefined unmanifest anaahata or Omkara vibration. The seven swaras of the Veena are rooted in the cardinal psychic centres of the Sushumna nadi, viz Muladhara, Swadhishtana, Manipura, Anaahata, Visuddha, Ajnya and Sahasrara." The ancient Greeks also gave a cosmic significance to their musical instruments. The following is taken from the Grolier encyclopaedia: "According to legend, Pythagoras, by divine guidance, discovered the mathematical rationale of musical consonance from the weights of hammers used by smiths. He is thus given credit for discovering that the interval of an octave is rooted in the ratio 2:1, that of the fifth in 3:2, that of the fourth in 4:3, and that of the whole tone in 9:8. Followers of Pythagoras applied these ratios to lengths of a string on an instrument called a canon, or monochord, and thereby were able to determine mathematically the intonation of an entire musical system. The Pythagoreans saw these ratios as governing forces in the cosmos as well as in sounds, and <A HREF="plato.htm">Plato</A>'s Timaeus describes the soul of the world as structured according to these same musical ratios. (See section on <A HREF="parthenon.htm">Harmonic Accordance (this file uses analysis of the workings together of the Greek Gods which is much liked by Greek natives who have been brought up with the myths as their reality." The Music of the Spheres, like the sound or "Nada", the musical resonance that pervades the universe, is another parallel that comes to mind with the soul of the world "structured according to these same musical ratios." The sound of the Omkara likewise associated with the creation, preservation and dissolution of the universe. - Art Gregory lgregory Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 28, 1999 Report Share Posted June 28, 1999 For what it is worth, this is my 'understanding' of the word 'Nada'. I am told that Nada is a sort of 'unmanifest sound', present in human (and perhaps in other forms of life and inanimate) sounds. For example, spoken words are manifest or structured sounds. The idea is that if one asks questions as to the fundamental energy and its movement, that caused this particular sound-word, the answer would be the entity referred to as Nada. It is said to originate in the so called 'Muladhara kshetra', a phrase one finds in many compositions of the musical trinity of Carnatic music, namely Thyagaraja, Dikshitar and Shyama Sastry. Prabhakar ---------- --- Prabhakar Chitrapu, Ph.D. Principal Research Scientist Lockheed Martin Global Telecommunications Tel: 610-354-2332 Fax: 610-354-2742 Email: Prabhakar.Chitrapu > ---------- > lgregory[sMTP:lgregory] > Reply advaitin > Monday, June 28, 1999 1:08 PM > advaitin > Nada and Music of the Spheres > > lgregory (The Clan) > > The "Nada" and Music of the Spheres. > > I was fascinated by the article quoted in the last archive of the Advaita > list: > > E.GAAYATHRI writes: > "Veena is an ancient musical instrument, it dates back to the vedic times. > In Hindu astronoomy, Thula Rasi (Libra in Western Zodiac system) contains > the star Swathi. This constellation is also described as ``Alpha Cygnus'' > indicating ``Hamsa'' (swan) which is the seat of Goddess Saraswathi. Also > this constellation Swathi, presents the picture of a ``LYRE'' or > ``VEENA.'' > Many decades ago the scientists discovered a cosmic hiss emanating from > this constellation. This is the ``Nada'' the musical resonance that > pervades the Universe. It pervades the human body also only to be > discovered by oneself within himself. This ``Nada'' is the mother of all > ragas which are expressions of emotions. ``Nada'' in all ragas, therefore, > is like gold in all ornaments. > > "The timbre of the veena strings have for their prototype the sound of the > Vedas interfused in the undefined unmanifest anaahata or Omkara vibration. > The seven swaras of the Veena are rooted in the cardinal psychic centres > of > the Sushumna nadi, viz Muladhara, Swadhishtana, Manipura, Anaahata, > Visuddha, Ajnya and Sahasrara." > > The ancient Greeks also gave a cosmic significance to their musical > instruments. The following is taken from the Grolier encyclopaedia: > > "According to legend, Pythagoras, by divine > guidance, discovered the mathematical rationale of musical > consonance from the weights of hammers used by smiths. He > is thus given credit for discovering that the interval of > an octave is rooted in the ratio 2:1, that of the fifth in > 3:2, that of the fourth in 4:3, and that of the whole tone > in 9:8. Followers of Pythagoras applied these ratios to > lengths of a string on an instrument called a canon, or > monochord, and thereby were able to determine > mathematically the intonation of an entire musical > system. The Pythagoreans saw these ratios as governing > forces in the cosmos as well as in sounds, and <A > HREF="plato.htm">Plato</A>'s > Timaeus describes the soul of the world as structured > according to these same musical ratios. (See section on <A > HREF="parthenon.htm">Harmonic Accordance (this file uses analysis of the > workings together of the Greek Gods which is much liked by Greek natives > who have been brought up with the myths as their reality." > > The Music of the Spheres, like the sound or "Nada", the musical resonance > that pervades the universe, is another parallel that comes to mind with > the > soul of the world "structured according to these same musical ratios." > The > sound of the Omkara likewise associated with the creation, preservation > and > dissolution of the universe. - Art Gregory > > > lgregory > > > > > > > > > > > > > > --------------------------- ONElist Sponsor ---------------------------- > > Campaign 2000 is here! > > Discuss your thoughts; get informed at ONElist. See our homepage. > > ------ > Discussion of the True Meaning of Sankara's Advaita Vedanta Philosophy > focusing on non-duality between mind and matter. List Archives available > at: /viewarchive.cgi?listname=advaitin > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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