[Advaita-l] Qualifications to Recite Vedas - A doubt

[Ravi Parimi]

On Tue, Jun 10, 2008 at 12:54 AM, Mahadevan Babu
<babunim at optushome.com.au> wrote:
> Dear Great Pandits,
>
> I have a doubt on the subject matter and would much appreciate if you
> can shed some light. I am asking this out of purely seeking the right
> knowledge and not for argument.
>
> Q: Who is qualified to chant Vedas?

Even before raising this question, it would be interesting to ponder
over "why should anyone chant vedas?"  What is the end goal of
chanting a certain text? Is it a boost to the ego so that one may
consider onself superior to others who cannot chant with the correct
svaras? Is it a means of bhakti or seeking God for fulfillment of
desires?  If you are considering a career in paurohityam (performing
pujas, karmas etc. and thereby earning money) learning the right way
to chant is recommended. If you are a sadhaka who wants to learn
chanting so you can do some parayna everyday at home, or if you have
plans on performing vaidika karmas chanting mantras with correct
intonation is definitely required.

Although it is off-topic, I'd like to mention that chanting vedas has
nothing to do with knowledge of the self. Take a look at the majority
of veda pundits in India who can chant a sizeable portion of veda and
many of its variants like krama, jata, ghana etc. A quick peek into
their lives/mental states shows that many of them are deeply vested in
samsara and have no interest whatsoever for self-knowledge.

> Doubt:  I believe persons who do not have Upanayanam or Brahmopadesham
> done cannot chant Vedas.

You can find many people all over the world, including women, who
chant the veda even with going through upanayanam etc. Are they
violating dharma shastra? It is certainly not our job to worry about
it.