VedicAccents

Thisintroductorydocumentdescribesaccentsinthepopularvedictraditions(gvedakhsand
taittiryakh).Itassumesthatthereaderisabletochantafewmantrasfromanaccentedtext.

Foursoundsinvedictexts

Therearefourprimarysoundsheardinvedicmantras,exemplifiedinthefamousversegantv

Accent Marking Example Pitch

anudtta underbar , Low

udtta none , , , Normal

svarita overbar High

drghasvarita doubleoverbar Normal+High

Primaryudttas
Technically,notallwovelsofthemiddlepitchareudttas.Somevowelsaretrueindependentudttas.
Othershappentobeanudttaswhicharepronouncedlikeudttasaftersomeaccentchanges.

Primaryindependentudttaswhichcauseaccentchangesinothervowelsareudttas.Secondary
dependantanudttaaccents,whichhappentobepronouncedjustlikeaudttaaftersomeaccent
changesarecalledpracaya.1

Atrueudttacausesthevowelthatprecedesittobepronouncedwithalowerpitch.Italsocausesthe
vowelthatfollowsittobepronouncedwithahigherpitch.Therearesomeexceptions,butoneofthe
twoisalmostalwaystrue.

Letuslookatourexampleonceagain,focusingonalltheudttas(vowelsofnormalpitchwhichare
unmarkedinthemaintext).Letustrytodetermineiftheseareudttasorpracayas.

1
Othervariantssuchassannataraaccentsareomittedhere.

Normal
Preceded Followed Normalpitchprecededbylowpitch,OR
Pitch Accent
by by normalpitchfollowedbyhighpitch?
Vowel

udtta

pracaya

udtta

pracaya

Thetrueindependentudttaisthekeytothevedicaccentsystem.Startingfromtheudtta,wecan
accenttheremainderofthetextaccordingtothefollowingtwoprimaryrules,appliedinorder:

1. Allunmarkednonudattavowelsthatimmediatelyprecedetheudttaaretobemarkedas
anudtta(underbar)
2. Allremainingunmarkednonudattavowelsthatimmediatelyfollowtheudttaarechangedtoa
svaritaandmarkedappropriately(overbar)

Step Text(primaryudttainred)

2
(Note:longvowelsvaritaslikeoftenbecomebecomedrghasvaritas.Thisisdescribedlater)

Letustakeanotherexample:

Step Text(primaryudttainred)

2
2

Thenextexamplerequiresoneadditionalstep

3. Afterapplyingsteps1and2,anyleadingunmarkednonudattavowelsaremarkedasanudtta.
(i.e.startingfromthebeginning,markallvowelsasanudttawithanunderbaruntilyoureach
thefirstmarkedvovel,oruntilyoureachthefirstunmarkedudtta)

Step Text(primaryudttainred)

AccentSummary
Letussummarizewhatwehaveseenthusfar:

Step Accents
0 Thetextconsistsofindependentudttasinred.Everythingelsewasananudtta.
1 Unmarkedanudttaswhichprecededanudttaweremarkedwithanunderbar.
Unmarkedanudttaswhichfollowedanudttawerechangedtosvaritaandmarkedwith
2
anoverbar.
3 Allleadinganudttasinthetextweremarkedwithanunderbar
Note:Allunmarkedanudttasthatfollowedasvarita(afterstep2)wereleftasis.i.e.theyarepracaya
accents,andarepronouncedjustlikeudttas.

Exercises
Determinethefinalformforeachofthemantraselectionsbelow:

1.

2.

3
 3.

4.

5.

6.

Accentsandsvaha

Manysdhakasperformhoma(orotheragnikrya)withvedicmantras,byaddingsvhtothemantra.
Inthesecases,thesamesvararulesthatwehaveseenthusfarwillapply.Nonewrulesarerequired2!
Fromtheperspectiveofaddingsvh,wecanrestatewhatweknow:

Ifthevowelthatprecedesthewordsvhwasananudttathatchangedtoasvaritaorudtta,
itwillchangebacktoananudtta.

Note:Itfollowsthatindependentsvaras(likeudtta)willremainunchanged.

Examples:

Intheexampleabove,ma3musthavebeenananudtta.Ifitwasoriginallyanudtta,thevowelthat
precedesit(i.e.ta)wouldhavebecomeananudtta.Sinceitwasoriginallyananudtta,itwillonce
againbecomeananudttabeforesvaah.

Intheexampleabove,lamusthaveoriginallybeenanudtta.Thus,thevowelthatprecedesit(gu)
hasbecomeananudtta.Anindepedentudttawillnotchange,andlaremainsasitbeforesvh.

2
Again,thelongvowelsvaritahherehasbecomeadrghasvarita.Thisisdescribedlater.
3
Accentsonlyapplytovowels.Thus,inma,weareonlyreferringtoa.Forclarity,theconsonantthatprecedes
itisalsoshownwithinthequotes.

4

Intheexampleabove,naisanudttaandmawasananudttawhichchangedtoasvarita.Thus,
mawillchangebacktoananudttabeforesvh.

Splittingamantra
Letuslookatoneofthemantrasfromtherudraprana:

Thetaittiryakhconsistsofmanylonganuvkassuchastheoneabove.Ifweareunabletochant
theminasinglebreath,andpauseinbetween,wemustalsomakesuretochangethesvarasaccordingly.
Forexample,theportionaboveiscommonlythoughttocontainfourseparatemantras,asshownbelow:

Eachmantraendswithanamo,andweknowthathenaisanindependentanudtta(sinceitis
precededbyananudttaye).Actually,thefinalwordisnamawhichhaschangedtonamodue
tostandardSanskritsandhirules.Thus,ifwewanttosplitthisinto4separatemantras,orwewishto
takeabreathwhilechantingthislongmantra,wechant:

Thus,theaccenthaschangedfromananudttatoanudtta.Manyvedicscholarsalwayssplitthese
longanuvakasinthiswayinordertoavoidsvararelatedmistakes.

6

Part2:viktisandadvancedaccents
Viktis
Afterlearningtheprimarysahittext,vedicscholarslearndifferentpatternsofthetext.4Themost
popularpatternsareshownbelow:

Name TextualPattern Visualization Note

sahit 1234
pada 1|2|3|4|
krama 12|23|34| 12 Thefirstpartofkramaispada
ja 122112|233223|344334| 12 Thefirstpartofjathaiskrama
21
12
ghana 1221123321123|2332234432234| 12 Thefirstpartofghanaisjatha
21
123
321
123

Thesahit,padaandkramapatternsarenaturalpatterns,becausethetextisalwaysreadina
forwardsdirection(i.e.fromlefttoright).Thejahaandghanapatternsareartificialpatterns,because
thetextisreadbothforwardsandbackwards.

Note:itiscommonlyknownthatwordorderdoesnotmatterinSanskrit.Thisisonlypartiallytrue,and
therearemanycasesinwhichwordorderdoesmatter.Onesimpleexampleisgivenbelow:

OnlyIsaluteGaapati
IsaluteonlyGaapati
IdoindeedsaluteGaapati

Backtothetopicathand,letuslookathowthevariationsworkswiththetextualportionhavmahe
kavikavnfromourexamplemantra.Fromthepatternsdescribedearlier,wevesimplyreplaced1
withhavmahe,2withkaviand3withkavn.Withthisparticularselection,thereareno
mandatorysandhirules,whichmakesthisexerciserelativelysimple.

4
Frompadaphaonwards,therearealsosomeadditionalfeatures(e.g.thecomponentsofcompoundwordsare
shown).Thesearedescribedlater.

7
sahit

pada

krama

ja

ghana

Accentsandviktis
Theaccentrulesthatwehavestudiedapplytoallthevariations(likekrama,jahaetc).Startingwiththe
modifiedtexts,youcanyourselfapplytheruleslistedearliertogettothefinaltextbelow.

sahit

pada

krama

jaha

ghana

8
Jtyasvarita
Untilnow,everysvaritathatwehaveseenwasananudttathatchangedtoasvaritabecauseit
immediatelyfollowedanudtta.However,somesvaritasareformeddifferently.

Thejtyasvaritaswhichareeasiesttorecognizearethoseatthebeginningofasentence,andthosethat
immediatelyfollowananudtta(seethefirsttwoexamplesbelow).Wecannotgeneratesuchsvaritas
withtherulesthatwehaveseenthusfar,becausetheyarenotimmediatelyprecededbyudtta.

Rule#1:udtta+anudttawhichresultsinyasandhi(y,r,l,v)resultsinjtyasvaritaknownaskaipra

Rule#2:udtta+anudtta(replacedbysinglevowel)resultsinjtyasvaritaknownaspraliha

Rule#3:udtta+anudttaresultinginavagraharesultsinjtyasvaritaknownasabhinihita5

Sometimesthejtyasvaritaisapartofasingleword(havingoccurredintheformationoftheword
itself).Thus,itneednotbetheresultofwordcombinations.

5
Note:thesvaritaintheexamplesbelowalonghappenstobeelongatedasdescribedinalatersection

9
Note:inthetaittiryatradition,allsvaritas(jtyaornonjtya)arerenderedinthesameway.Intheg
vedatradition,thepronounciationofthekaipraandpralihasvaritaaccentsdiffer.Thus,theyarealso
markeddifferentlyinthetexts,asshownbelow:

Elongatedsvarita
Inthegvedastyle,anysvaritaonalongvowelispronouncedasadrghasvarita(doublebar).

Thetaittiryastyleismorerestrictive.Thedrghasvaritaoccursunderanyofthefollowingconditions:

1. alongvoweldependentsvaritaisfollowedbyaconjuctletter

2. alongvoweldepedentsvaritaisfollowedbyavisarga

3. alongvoweldependentsvaritaoccursattheendofthephrase

10


4. ashortvoweldependentsvaritaoccursattheendofthephrase,followedbyananusvra

Thewordsvhiselongatedbecauseitisusuallyfoundattheendofaphrase.Andwhenthisisnot
true,itlosesitselongationinthetaittiryatraditionasshownbelow:

Featuresofthepadapha
Inthepada,kramaandghanareadings,thereareadditionallines,whichdonotfollowthepattern
describedearlier.Thesecanbeidentifiedbythepresenceoftheworditi.Forexample,thetaittirya
gantvmantrahastheseextralines:

- gaapatimisacompoundwordconsistingofgaaand
patim

- describestheinternalformationofthesingleword
upamaravastamam

- jyeharjamisacompoundwordconsistingofjyehaand
rjam

- describestheinternalformationofthesinglewordtibhi

sdanamisthelastwordinthemantra

Theprimarypurposeoftheseextralinesinthepadaphaistodescribesomecompoundwordslike
gaapatimandtheendofmantramarkerslikesdanam.Insomecases,theinternalformationof

11
wordsliketibhiisalsodescribed.Thisissolelyduetothepeculiaritiesofthesanskritderivational
grammer6,andreallydoesntbelonginthepadapha.

Inalloftheselines,thewordisdescribedtwiceonbothsidesoftheworditi.Ontheleftside,itis
foundasis.Ontherightside,itisdividedintothetwoconstituentparts.Theworditiitselfisaccented
asshownbelow:

Therearetwostylesofdividingwordsintotwoconstituentparts.Onestyleresetsthesvaraafterthe
firstconstituentpart(i.e.treatsthesecondconstituentpartasaseparatephrase).Anotherstyledoes
notresetthesvara,thoughitpausesbetweenthewords.Thisisshownbelow:

Sandhirulesalsoapplyintheworddivision.Forexample:

Thepadaphaalsoresetssomeofthelibertiestakeninthesahittext.Thetextseenbyaiis
alwaysorrect.Whenitdoesnotfollowthepopularpninyangrammar,itisunderstoodasis
privelege.Someexamplesofthisarebelow:

6
Intheformationoftibih,tiisalsoconsideredtobeawordaccordingtopinisgrammar.

12


Part3:Critique&Discussion
Anusvrachanges(gum)
Inthetaittiriyastyle,theanusvrachangestoadifferentnasalbefore,,s,handr7andisheardlike
somethingresemblinggum.Forexample:

Andwhentheanusvraisalsofollowedbyaconjunctletter,adifferentsymbolisused.Thisis
pronouncedlikesomethingresemblinggus.

However,thisentiresystemofanusvrareplacementsisflawed,becauseithasintroducedanewvowel.
Thisiscrystalclearinmoderntypesettinglikethefollowing:

7
Thisisnotexhaustive.Forexample,tathlok{n}akalpayan.

13


Inthefirstexampleabove,thesvaritahasmovedfromytothenewlyintroducedvowel.Inthe
secondexampleabove,weseethatthefirstranolongerhasasvaritaithasalsomovedontothe
newlyintroducedvowel.Eventhefinaldrghasvaritahassubtlymovedontotheanusvra!

Wecancontrastthiswithataittiryatraditioninmahrra,wherethesamereplacmentoccurs.
However,typesettingputsthesvaraonthevowels,i.e.theanusvraisstilltreatedlikeananusvra,and
nonewvowelisintroduced.

Extravowels
Sinceaccentscanonlyberenderedonvowels,wecanfindsomecommonpronounciationproblemsby
lookingforplaceswhereanextraaccentisadded,orplaceswheretheaccentshiftswithout
justification.

Asshownabove,therepha(halfr)issometimespronouncedasastandaloneconsonantwithitsown
vowel.Itevengetsitsveryownaccentinthesecondexample!

Similarly,thesvaritaaccentonthelastvowelofaphraseisoftentransferredtothefollowingconsonant
(whichisalsoduplicated).Unfortunately,thiscanonlybepronouncedalongwithanewlyintroduced
vowel(usuallyana).

14
Thesameproblemcanalsobeseenwiththedrghasvaritaonavisargaattheendofaphrase.Thereisa
significantdifferencebetweenthepronounciationofthevisargaintheexamplesabove.Ontheright
handside,anentireaorvowelisusuallyaddedafterthevisarga.

Inallofthesecases,anadditionalvowelhasbeenintroduced,andthecommonpracticeistoaccent
thesenewvowels!Thissimplycannotbecorrect,asitwouldreflectamajorinconsistencyinthevedic
accentsystem.

Cominglingofrecitationstyles
Itisquitecommonforadherentsofaparticularvedakhtousesomemantrasfromanotherkh.
Thishasgivenrisetoasituationwherethepronounciationfollowsneithertheoriginalkhnorthe
chanterskh!

Themantraaboveisfromthegveda,andiscommonlychantedalongwiththerudraprana.The
sourceisclearsvaritaswhicharenotfollowedbyconjunctlettershavebeenelongated.However,
anusvrareplacementhasoccurredaswell!Anotherexampleisshownbelow:

Thiskindofpartialadherenceisunfortunate.Itwouldbebettertosticktoeithertheoriginalsource
chantingstyle,orcompletelyadoptthetargetchantingstyle.

Note:theproblemdoesnotdisappearbyleavingtheanusvraasis.Thereareotherdifferencesinthe
chantingstyles.Forexample,thereisusuallyanelongationofthenormalsvaritaofgvedinswhen
comparedtothetaittiryarenderingofthesamepassage.

Modernvedictexts
Therearesomevedicselectionswhichdontfollowtheaccentmethoddescribedinthisdocument,in
spiteofbeingattachedtokhsthatfollowthissystem.Thesimplestwaytoidentifytheseselectionsis
tolookforaseriesofmarkedanudttasinthemiddleofthetext(i.e.theydonotoccuratthebeginning
ofaphrase).Forexample:

nryaaskta

rskta

15
Note:thereisalesspopularSouthIndianaccentedrecension(drviapha)ofthersktawhichdoes
nothavethisproblem.

Textswhichhavethisfeaturehaveprobablylosttheiraccents.Morethanlikely,anunaccentedtextwas
found,andthetraditionwasrevivedinthepast.Intime,normallokaintonationshaveprobablybeen
mistakenforrealvedicsvaras.

Svarasandthe7tones
tone note taittirya(theory) taittirya(practice)
1 aja sa
2 abha anudtta anudtta
3 gndhra g udtta udtta/pracaya
4 madhyama ma pracaya svarita
5 pacama pa svarita
6 dhaivata dha
7 nidha ni

Thevedicsystemiscomposedof7equallyspacedtones(fromajatonidha),asheardinsmaveda
khs.Thetaittiryaaccentsystemistheoreticallycomposedoffourtones.Notably,theudttaand
pracayaaccentsaresaidtobeonetoneapart,thoughtheyareindistinguishableincurrenttraditions.
Thecurrenttaittiryatraditioniscomposedofonlythreetones.

16
 Part4:Thevariousviktis
Inadditiontopadaandkrama,eightpopularviktisofthesahittextaregivenintheshlokabelow:

jamlikhrekhdhvajodaorathoghana.
aauviktayaproktkramaprvomaharibhi..

Name Sahit Patterm Visualization Note

pada 123 1|2|3| 1
krama 123 12|23| 12
ja 123 122112| 12 Thefirstpartof
233223| 21 jathaiskrama
344334| 12
ml 123 12|21|12| 12 jahawithbreaks
(krama) 23|32|23| 21 aftereachpair
23|43|34| 12
sihkh 123 1221123| 12 jahafollowedby
2332234| 21 thenextword
3443345| 123
ghana 123 1221123321123| 12 Thefirstpartof
2332234432234| 21 ghanaisjatha/
3443345543345| 123 sihkh
321
123
ml 123789 12|98| 12|98 Forwardsand
(pupa) 23|87| 23|87 backwards
34|76| 34|76

78|32| 78|32
89|21 89|21
dhvaja 123789 12|89| 12|89 Pairs,forwardsand
23|78| 23|78 backwards
34|67| 34|67

78|23| 78|23
89|12 89|12
daa 12345 12|21| 12
12|23|321| 23
12|23|34|4321| 34
12|23|34|45|54321|... 45
54321
rekh 123456 12 | 21 |12|
234 | 432 |23|
3456 | 6543 |34|
45678|87654|45|
567890|098765|56|

17
ratha 12345678 12|56| simultaeousdaa
21|65| oftwohalves
12|56|
23|67|
321|765|
12|56|
23|67|
34|78|
4321|8765

Takingthe4thwordofamantra,wefindthefollowinguniquesequences:
SequenceLength Sequence Examplevikti
1 4 pada
34 krama
45 krama
2 44 ja
43 ja
54 ja
234 ghana
345 ghana
456 ghana
3
432 ghana
543 ghana
654 ghana
3456 rekh
4
4321 daa
45678 rekh
5 54321 daa
654321 daa

sahit

18
padam

mala

19
References

svaramajarbytryambakabalavantaabhayakar(withpartialtranslation):
http://sanskritdocuments.org/all_pdf/svaramanj.pdf

vedicaccentsbycharleswikner:
http://www.evertype.com/standards/iso10646/pdf/vedic/Vedic_accents_doc.pdf

svaritaaccentsbyvidyankarsundarean:
http://www.advaitavedanta.org/archives/advaital/2009February/021338.html

amonographonthesvarasofthetaittiryakayajurvedabyshriramanasharma:
http://www.sanskritweb.net/sansdocs/svaras.pdf

apracticalguidetosvarasinvedicrecitationbyaravind
http://manasataramgini.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/svaras_new.pdf

http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/music/dcohen/coremusic/fall2009/veda.html

vaidikasvarammsbyyudhihirammsaka

vaidikasvarabodhabyvrajabihrcaube

20