Guest guest Posted September 17, 1999 Report Share Posted September 17, 1999 Dear Friends I'm sorry for joining this late but I would like to share with you a couple of stories (one vedic and one modern) which have moulded my attitude towards the mantras and their intonation. I feel that unless one's form of sadhana is chanting and performance of rituals, the critical thing is the feeling of devotion when saying the mantras, not the intonation or understanding their meaning. The Vedic Story: A Pundit used to chant the vedas everyday on the outskirts of a village. A shepherd used to listen to his chanting everyday as he tended his sheep. He was particularly drawn towards the Mrityunjaya Mahamantra in the Rudram (which begins as Triyambakam Yajamahe..) but he used to chant in a totally botched up way. In the same village the headman's child fell ill and none of the doctors could cure him. He approached the pundit to cure the child by chanting mantras. The Pundit replied that he merely chants mantras as part of his rituals and that the mantras have no power to cure people. As the distraught headman went away, he met the shepherd who enquired about the cause for his worry. As you can guess, the shepherd volunteered to come to his house, saying that he was the disciple of that great Pundit, that he could chant very well, that he did not want to disturb his guru for such small matters. The shepherd actually cured the child with his totally botched up pronunciation but pure faith. 2. The modern story Sri Ramana Maharishi was repeatedly asked whether one needs toknow the meaning of the vedas that used to be chanted before him every morning and evening. Bhagvan clearly said that it is enough if it can be used as an aid to still the mind. Perhaps this should be explained further. Once a classical musician was allowed to perform before Bhagvan. He gave a virtuoso performance which was unfortunately lacking in bhakthi. When Bhagvan was asked to comment, he said " Oh! but I listened only to the Sruthi " (The sruthi is the drone note that accompanies an Indian classical singer always maintaining the octave at which he is singing). Bhagvan meant this literally too. He used to say that just like the sruthi's drone underlies and blends with all he various note patterns in the music but is itself unchanged and unaffected, similarly the self underlies all experiences in life without itself being affected.We have to concentrate on the unchanging self rather than on the changing experiences. Basically, Bhagwan stressed the potency of mantras to still the mind. Faith and devotion are more important in securing the guru's grace than knowledge, correct intonations etc. Swami Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 17, 1999 Report Share Posted September 17, 1999 Swami true r ur words. Many Thanks for bringing it up again. I was thinking something has been left to be looked in to. Let me also share a story on this. I read it long back can be bit distorted. Once a group of saints was passing through a jungle. They happened to come across some tribals who were worshipping Lord. They noticed that they were doing that in a wrong way. They taught them wat's the right way n leaved to cross the river. When they were midway across the river. Suddenly they saw that a tribal is approaching them. They were surprised to see that the tribal was walking on water. He approached them n said that they have forgotten the right way of worshipping which they had taught to them. When they saw this they said wat's more to be taught to these tribals. They already know it. Also we have the story of Valmiki. He sat down to recite Maraa. N got up to getting lord. N frm my own experience. I don't get the result when i just recite it even though correctly but with less devotion. N when i do with devotion experiences r there with or without recitation. Wat one needs is a true open n devoted heart. It's not to say that pronunciation is not imp. But it's the devotion n total surrender that is more important. When there is devotion is there u r on the right track a little bit of distraction will still lead one to the ultimate goal. But when devotion is not there the track itself is not there. Who knows where will one end then. On Fri, 17 Sep 1999, Swaminathan Venkataraman wrote: > " Swaminathan Venkataraman " <nachiketas > > Dear Friends > > I'm sorry for joining this late but I would like to share with you a couple > of stories (one vedic and one modern) which have moulded my attitude towards > the mantras and their intonation. I feel that unless one's form of sadhana > is chanting and performance of rituals, the critical thing is the feeling of > devotion when saying the mantras, not the intonation or understanding their > meaning. > > The Vedic Story: > > A Pundit used to chant the vedas everyday on the outskirts of a village. A > shepherd used to listen to his chanting everyday as he tended his sheep. He > was particularly drawn towards the Mrityunjaya Mahamantra in the Rudram > (which begins as Triyambakam Yajamahe..) but he used to chant in a totally > botched up way. > > In the same village the headman's child fell ill and none of the doctors > could cure him. He approached the pundit to cure the child by chanting > mantras. The Pundit replied that he merely chants mantras as part of his > rituals and that the mantras have no power to cure people. As the distraught > headman went away, he met the shepherd who enquired about the cause for his > worry. > > As you can guess, the shepherd volunteered to come to his house, saying that > he was the disciple of that great Pundit, that he could chant very well, > that he did not want to disturb his guru for such small matters. The > shepherd actually cured the child with his totally botched up pronunciation > but pure faith. > > 2. The modern story > > Sri Ramana Maharishi was repeatedly asked whether one needs toknow the > meaning of the vedas that used to be chanted before him every morning and > evening. Bhagvan clearly said that it is enough if it can be used as an aid > to still the mind. > > Perhaps this should be explained further. Once a classical musician was > allowed to perform before Bhagvan. He gave a virtuoso performance which was > unfortunately lacking in bhakthi. When Bhagvan was asked to comment, he said > " Oh! but I listened only to the Sruthi " (The sruthi is the drone note that > accompanies an Indian classical singer always maintaining the octave at > which he is singing). > > Bhagvan meant this literally too. He used to say that just like the sruthi's > drone underlies and blends with all he various note patterns in the music > but is itself unchanged and unaffected, similarly the self underlies all > experiences in life without itself being affected.We have to concentrate on > the unchanging self rather than on the changing experiences. > > Basically, Bhagwan stressed the potency of mantras to still the mind. Faith > and devotion are more important in securing the guru's grace than knowledge, > correct intonations etc. > > Swami > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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