[Advaita-l] Question/Clarification on Chanting Vaidika mantras

[V Subrahmanian]

On Thu, Nov 2, 2017 at 9:16 AM, S Jayanarayanan via Advaita-l <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

>
> An example will help illustrate this. Vedic tradition holds that every
> twice-born (dvija) must learn the Purusha Suktam by-heart. My personal
> opinion is that all those who learn the Purusha Suktam should (ideally)
> know the meaning of these FOUR sentences contained therein:
>
> 1) VedaahametaM puruShaM mahaantam .
> "I know the Glory of this Purusha!"
>
> 2) Aaditya varNaM tamasastu pare .
> "Shining like the Sun, beyond all darkness!"
>
> 3) tamevaM vidvaan amRRita iha bhavati .
> "Knowing Him alone one attains Immortality here!"
>
> 4) naanyaH panthaa ayanaaya vidyate .
> "I know no other path (to Immortality) besides this!"
>

To this one can add the other crucial mantra bhāga in that very sūkta:
puruṣa evedam sarvam, yadbhūtam yaccha bhavyam.  [All this, the experienced
world, both in its manifest and unmanifest form, is verily Brahman,
Purusha. This is a very important aspect for the Vedāntin, which alone is
stated variously as 'sarvam khalvidam brahma' of the Chandogya, 'sarvam
hyetad brahma, ayamātmā brahma' of the Mandukya Upanishat, etc. This
portion of the sukta says that all the created universe, the bhoga, bhogya,
bhoktā, is nothing but a vivarta of Nirguṇa Brahman. 'Vāsudevaḥ sarvam',
etc. are other smrti restatements of this very idea, that Shankara has
alluded to.
Two verses with bhāṣya from the 18th chapter of the BG:

अध्येष्यते च य इमं धर्म्यं संवादमावयोः ।  ज्ञानयज्ञेन तेनाहमिष्टः स्यामिति
मे मतिः ॥ ७० ॥

अध्येष्यते च पठिष्यति यः इमं धर्म्यं धर्मादनपेतं संवादरूपं ग्रन्थं आवयोः,
तेन इदं कृतं स्यात् । ज्ञानयज्ञेन — विधिजपोपांशुमानसानां यज्ञानां ज्ञानयज्ञः
 मानसत्वात् विशिष्टतमः इत्यतः तेन ज्ञानयज्ञेनगीताशास्त्रस्य अध्ययनं स्तूयते
 ; फलविधिरेव वा, देवतादिविषयज्ञानयज्ञफलतुल्यम् अस्य फलं भवतीति — तेन
अध्ययनेन अहम् इष्टः पूजितः स्यां भवेयम् इति मे मम मतिः निश्चयः ॥ ७० ॥
अथ श्रोतुः इदं फलम् —

श्रद्धावाननसूयश्च शृणुयादपि यो नरः ।
सोऽपि मुक्तः शुभांल्लोकान्प्राप्नुयात्पुण्यकर्मणाम् ॥ ७१ ॥

<http://advaitasharada.sringeri.net/display/bhashya/Gita?page=18&id=BG_C18_V67&hlBhashya=%E0%A4%A8%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%A4%E0%A4%AA%E0%A4%B8%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%95%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%AF#bhashya-BG_C18_V71>
श्रद्धावान् श्रद्दधानः अनसूयश्च असूयावर्जितः सन् इमं ग्रन्थं शृणुयादपि यो
नरः, अपिशब्दात् किमुत अर्थज्ञानवान् , सोऽपि पापात् मुक्तः शुभान् प्रशस्तान्
लोकान् प्राप्नुयात् पुण्यकर्मणाम् अग्निहोत्रादिकर्मवताम् ॥ ७१ ॥

As Praveen ji also opined, chanting the mantras with svara and ucchāraṇa
not compromised, produces adrṣṭa. The BG too says at the end that even the
reading/hearing of the Gita corpus is beneficial, even though the meaning
is not known.


regards
subbu

>
> The four statements above are the very heart of the Vedic religion!
> Although the Mahavakyas technically belong to the Upanishads, the above
> four Mantras of the Purusha Suktam come very close to being called
> "Mahavakyas of the Karma Kanda". If a person recites the Purusha Suktam
> without knowing the meaning of the above Mantras, fine. No
> problem! However, it is "very good" to know their meaning. Again, not
> necessary to know the entire gamut of Veda Mantras to respect and
> appreciate profundity of the meaning of these four Mantras from the Purusha
> Suktam.
>
> Regards,
> Kartik
>
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