[Advaita-l] Effects of incorrect Mantra Pronunciation

[Krunal Makwana]

namo nArAyan

Dear Santoshbhai,

It is correct that by chanting a mantra incorrectly can lead to adverse 
effects. This is why vedic suktams and etc were not available to anyone and 
everyone. The verses were passed down from generation to generation from 
GUrU to adhIkAri SISya. The knowldge of the Veda is and should be imparted 
on the masses of people but at the same time to keep the authenticity of the 
Vedas, the vedas have to be kept safe from people who try and abuse it. For 
this reason Veda vyAsji mAhArAj gave the world the pUrAnas and ItIhAs for 
everyone to read.

If i am not mistaken while a pupil is learning sanskrit, he comes across 
vedANga, the six limbs of the Vedas, namely:

sikSa
vyAkarana
nirUkta
chhanda
kalpa
jyotiSa

According to mundaka upaniSad these have to be studied by a student of 
vedas. Even mistakes may take place not just on the pronunciation but also 
on the beat of the mantras (chhanda) and etc which would still lead to an 
adverse effect.

All of the above have to be given high regard when chanting Vedic mantras 
especially. I may be wrong here and the members may correct me, but once 
when i was at an ashram and discussing vedic mantras' i was told that if the 
pronunciation or other aspects of chanting were incorrect than you commit 
the sin of killing a cow due to the mistake commited in chanting. I 
personally have not found a citation of that but if the members could 
enlightment me if that is correct or not.

My opinion and i stress this is my opinions, is that if mistakes are made in 
reading stotras, pUrAnas, ItIhAs or other smR^iti texts that is fine BUT 
mistakes should not be made while chanting Vedic suktams or what have you.

I hope this clarifies things for you, if i have said anything that goes 
against the grain i hope the learned members will enlighten me as to where i 
went wrong and shower the true meaning. After all, life is a big learning 
process.

Warm regards,

Krunal

>From: "Neelakanta, Nataraja" <nataraja.neelakanta at sap.com>
>Reply-To: A discussion group for Advaita Vedanta 
><advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org>
>To: "Santhosh Nair" <santhosh_twin at rediffmail.com>,"A discussion group for 
>Advaita Vedanta" <advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org>
>Subject: RE: [Advaita-l] Effects of incorrect Mantra Pronunciation
>Date: Tue, 24 Jan 2006 17:43:58 +0530
>
>Dear Mr Santhosh,
>
>Its true that wrong chanting of mantras will bring in adverse effects.
>Its definitely true with upadesha mantras that are to be done on a daily
>basis. Mantras from Samhita are also very powerful. One has to be very
>very cautious about chanting of mantras. Direction and timing do not
>matter. To cite an example, during the wish for birth of a person who
>can kill Indra (Vritrasura), mantra was incorrectly chanted. The meaning
>got changed to wish for birth of a person who can be killed by Indra.
>
>Be careful while chanting mantras, concentrate on swara, take your own
>time to do so. After a practice, one can chant without any issues.
>
>BR,
>nattu
>-----Original Message-----
>From: advaita-l-bounces at lists.advaita-vedanta.org
>[mailto:advaita-l-bounces at lists.advaita-vedanta.org] On Behalf Of
>Santhosh Nair
>Sent: Tuesday, 24 January 2006 4:38 PM
>To: advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org
>Subject: [Advaita-l] Effects of incorrect Mantra Pronunciation
>
>Hi,
>I have a doubt about mantra recitiations. Some people say that if
>someone pronounces the words in a mantra incorrectly, it could bring
>adverse effects. Is this true? I used to chant mantras (Gayatri,
>Mahamrityunjaya, etc.) And I think I did this in an incorrect manner
>(including the position, diretion i faced, and the timing. If it has any
>ill-effects, is there somethiig I can do to correct it? Currently I
>chang only Vishnusahasranama and Narayaneeyam (3dasakas/day), at 7 am.
>Please do let me know because now I am suffering from various physical
>problems.
>
>Thank you.
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