The Vedas

[Chandran, Nanda (NBC)]

Over the weekend, I stumbled on this book called, "The Vedas" published by
Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan. The book is basically a translation of lectures in
Tamil given by Sri Chandrashekara Saraswati, the former pointiff of Kanchi
Kamakoti Peedam (the Shankara Ashram at Kancheepuram). I've been fortunate
enough to have been in his presence on two occasions and though an atheist
at that time, even then I had no doubt that I was in the presence of a truly
holy man.

Explaining the background of the shruti, he stresses the importance of
chanting the mantras in a specific way. This, he cites, as the reason as to
why the shruti was taught by the ear to the sadhaka by the guru, down the
ages. This, he explains, is also why the importance of a guru is stressed in
the sacred texts, for if the mantras are not chanted in the proper way, it
would be useless. He further explains that chanting such mantras, in the
correct way, creates vibrations within our body to produce the desired
effect etc.

This moves into a sphere of  metaphysics which is quite far from standard
Advaitam logic. Can the knowledgeable elaborate?

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