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

[srirudra at vsnl.com]

Dear Members
Vedas contain sublime thoughts and they reveal the existence of the Brahman and they are believed to be 
apaurusheya meaning revelations by Brahman Itself.The search for the Almighty is meaningless if one does not 
believe in It.Vedas declare that there is Almighty and one can realise It and the manushya janma should not be 
wasted as it is rare to obtain.So by chanting these hymns one is constantly reminded of one`s sacred duty to realise 
the Almighty.There is no condition that one should chant vedas otherwise go to hell.By chanting the Vedas you are 
definitely on the right path to gain the goal of being born as a human being.By experience our forefathers would 
have found that certain qualifications are necessary to do veda adhyayanam.May be due to evolution of time they 
may-the qualifications -seem to be illogical etc.But if one has faith one can always make an exception instead of 
indulging in engaging in controversies.So if one is interested one can always find out methods to recite the vedas for 
one`s own satisfaction as to know  whether there is good in it or not.Nobody chants vedas for ego purposes.Once 
something is made routine one`s contemplation about the Truth will be more and itself is a reward.Like an artist finds 
pleasure in the art itself.R.Krishnamoorthy.
----- Original Message -----
From: Ravi Parimi <rparimi at gmail.com>
Date: Tuesday, June 10, 2008 11:03 pm
Subject: Re: [Advaita-l] Qualifications to Recite Vedas - A doubt
To: A discussion group for Advaita Vedanta <advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org>

> 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.
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