Vedic Phonetics

(Sukta Patha)

--Sri Hunsur Sriprasad

Phonetics or the science of pronunciation is an important part of every language, but more so in the case of Sanskrit, the language of all Hindu religious scriptures and the vehicle of the Vedas.

 Formal education or training in most languages emphasize proper pronunciation and grammar, without bothering too much about intonation.  This ignores the fact that during normal speech a lot of meaning is conveyed through the tone used to utter different words of a sentence. Take for example the simple sentence ‘I like it’. If emphasis is placed on ‘I’ then the message conveyed is “others may like or not, but I definitely like it”. If the emphasis is on “it” then we are actually saying “others may like other things, but I like this specific thing”. Thus the same set of words takes on different meanings depending on which word is emphasized.

 Our ancient saints understood this and made sure that the phonetics was properly taught. From times immemorial the Vedas have always been taught in conjunction with six other related subjects called Vedangas. These are Shiksha (proper pronunciation), Chandas (grammatical or poetic meter), VyAkaraNa (grammar), Nirukta (etymology or study of word origins), Jyotisha (astronomy and astrology), Kalpa (rituals). The primal position accorded to Shiksha shows the importance our ancient saints attached to proper pronunciation and intonation.

 In very simple terms, Vedic intonation follows a three scale system where a syllable can be raised (udAtta), lowered (anudAtta) or pronounced evenly (savarita). Another factor to be considered is the duration (mAtra) for which a syllable needs to be pronounced. This can be short (“hrsva”) or long (“dIrgha”). Another aspect that affects pronunciation is “sandhi” or the rules of conjugation i.e., pronouncing words or syllables sequentially without a break. ShIksha explains each of the these aspects in detail.

 Vedic hymns have to recited very carefully, otherwise they can yield totally unexpected results. This is best exemplified by what happened when Tvashta (one of the 12 sons of Aditi) wanted to punish Indra for killing his son Vishvaroopa. He performed a yagya with the aim of getting a son who could kill Indra, but due to divine will his intonation was wrong with the net result that he begat a son who was killed by Indra. The words of the mantra were correct but because of the erratic intonation the end result was the exact opposite of what was desired.

Purusha Sukta

 by 

Vidhvan  Sri S.Vittaldas.Bhat

Sri S.V.Bhat joined Sri Poorna Prajna Vidyapeetha in 1970.Soon after completing the studies on  Dvaita Vedanta, Nyaya-Shastra,Sri S.V.Bhat started his career as Lecturer in Vidyapeetha. He has vast experience in teaching  complete Rigveda.We are indeed blessed that eminent scholar Sri S.V.Bhat  is  providing users of Madhva Radio some very valuable insights into this important topic