Veda chanting essentials

Workbook
 Introduction
1. Welcome

Welcome to the Veda essentials course! This is the text from the
opening prayers in the welcome session. We start all our classes with
these prayers. If you wish to learn these in a systematic way, it is
possible through our Invocatory Prayers course (complimentary course with
any course purchase)
ॐ

"ी गु&'यो नमः - ह/रः ओम्

śrī gurubhyo namaḥ – hariḥ ōm

(Gaṇapati Sarasvatī Prārthana)

Oṃ ga̱ṇānā̎ṁ tvā ga̱ṇapa̍tigṁ havāmahe ka̱viṁ ka̍vī ̱nām

u̍ pa̱maśra̍vastamam | jye̱ṣṭha̱rāja̱ṁ brahma̍ṇāṁ brahmaṇaspata̱
ā na̍ḥ śṛ̱ṇvannū̱ tibhı ̍ssīda̱ sāda̍nam||mahāgaṇapataye̱ nama̍ḥ ||

̍
praṇo̍ de̱vī sara̍svatī ̱ | vaje̍bhirvā̱jinīvatī |dhī ̱nāma̍ vi ̱trya̍vatu |
ā no̍ di ̱vo bṛ̍ha̱taḥ parva̍tā̱da sara̍svatī yaja̱tā ga̍ntu ya̱jñam |
hava̍ṃ de̱vī ju̍ juṣā̱ṇa ghṛ̱tāchī ̍ śa̱gmāṃ no̱ vāca̍muśa̱tī śṛ̍ṇotu ||
Vagdevyai ̱ nama̍ḥ ||

(śānti mantra)

oṃ sa̱ha nā̍vavatu |
sa̱ha nau̍ bhunaktu |
sa̱ha vī ̱rya̍ṃ karavāvahai|
̍
te̱ja̱svinā̱vadhītamastu̱ ̍
mā vıdviṣā̱ ̎
vahaı||
oṃ śānti ̱ḥ śānti ̱ḥ śāntıḥ̍ ||
 2. The Vedas

The Vedas are a vast collection of spiritual texts that originated in

ancient India and contain prayers, hymns and ‘mantras’ that are in the
form of mystical poetry in Vedic Sanskrit. These mantras are considered
sacred without authorship as Ṛṣi-s or sages did not say that they
composed them, rather that they were ‘heard’ in deep states of
meditation. These meditative states being beyond the human vices of
greed, anger, delusion etc, are therefore considered a divine state and
the mantras therefore a divine revelation.

The Vedas literally meaning ‘knowledge’ are considered the source texts
for Yoga, Vedānta, The Bhagavad Gīta and several other important
practices and philosophies from India. The Vedas have been preserved
for millennia through oral tradition that continues to this day (although
fast disappearing) by teacher passing on through recitation to student.
This process of learning by repeating after a teacher is called
‘adhyayanam’.

Do you perhaps know how the Vedas are classified? (this content covered in
depth in our Veda chanting – a comprehensive initiation course)

My notes:
 3. Recitation or Singing?

Let’s start with clarifying the verb we use for this practice – is
it recitation (chanting) or singing? Unless we are trained and
practice Sāma Veda, which is also referred to as Sāma gāna (gāna
meaning song), all other mantras & hymns (from Ṛg, Yajur & Atharva
Veda) are best referred to as a chanting or recitation practice. Our
courses do not teach any Sāma gāna, therefore, everything we do here is
recitation or chanting.

Why is it not singing? Simply because we don’t use all the 7 notes in
music for this practice. We use 3 notes, with a few variations within
these 3 notes, that we will come across as we progress in our practice
and learn more hymns.

This clarification is also a helpful reminder that we don’t have to be

trained in music to practice Veda chanting. While being musically trained
is very helpful, the most important aspect of a chanting practice is
your listening skills. To be able to repeat exactly as your teacher, you
need to be able to listen calmly, clearly and without distortion. We do
not change the notes of the mantras either – we simply replicate. This is
quite unique to Veda mantras.

The 3 notes rule – svara, when combined with all the other rules of Veda
chanting, makes it quite difficult to “sing’ mantras. We will learn a bit
more about these rules in a later lesson.

My notes:
 4. The rules

Veda chanting is governed by 6 basic rules, they are

- Varṇa (pronunciation)
- Svara (chanting notes)
- Mātrā (duration)
- Balam (force)
- Sāma (continuity) and
- Santāna (punctuation & conjugation).

It may sound overwhelming, especially when you are a beginner, but

through concentration, effort and clear understanding of the rules and
how to apply them, all hymns and mantras from the Vedas become
possible to learn!

Learning about this background, the rules and understanding them,

helps us appreciate the depth of this practice. Certainly, it is not a
‘relaxing’ practice that leads you to bliss. It can be quite challenging and
demanding! Through consistent practice, you will increase your ability to
concentrate and use this skill in all other life areas. Your 100% attention
is required to learn Veda recitation.

In this course, we will consider only the very obvious and basic rules
required – Svara (chanting notes), Balam (force) and one small part
of Santāna (punctuation and conjugation). A more in-depth course on
these rules and the background on Vedas can be accessed from the Veda
chanting – a comprehensive introduction course. It is best to study that
course after you have learnt a couple of small Veda mantras.

Mantra from Taittirīya Upaniṣat on Śīkṣkā, the science of phonetics:

Śīkṣāṃ vyā̎khyāsyā̱maḥ | varṇa̱ḥ svaraḥ | mātrā̱ balam | sāma̍

̎
santā̱naḥ | ityuktakśśīkṣādhyā̱ yaḥ ||
These rules come from the Vedas! In a well-known Upaniṣat called
the Taittirīya Upaniṣat, the very first lesson starts with a mantra that
tells the student how to study the Vedas. These very rules are listed in
this mantra! You do not need to learn this mantra at this point. We
introduce this here to share the sacred origins of the rules of Vedic
chanting.

The teacher begins with a brief introduction to śīkṣā (the discipline of

pronunciation). Since revelation of Truth is through words, one should
have correct understanding of every letter, and its pronunciation.
Hence, the teacher says that one should know all the factors necessary
for right pronunciation. Correct pronunciation and knowledge
of sandhis(conjugation) are emphasised, so that the meaning does not
become distorted even slightly by incorrect pronunciation. Knowledge
can take place only when the meaning is accurate and clear.

Translation of mantra:

We shall expound the science of phonetics. (It deals with) the alphabet,
accent (notes), duration, effort, uniformity (of pace & pitch), and
conjunction (of the letters). Thus, has been taught the chapter on the
discipline of phonetics.

My notes:
 5. The oral tradition

This is the most beautiful part of the Veda recitation process – the oral
tradition, known as śruti parampara in Sanskrit. An ancient, humble yet
super effective method of learning chanting. The teacher recites,
students repeat twice (part of the error correction process!). That’s
really it. We follow this through learning the complete hymn. We do this
in sections first if the mantra is too long and then complete with full
sentences of the mantra. This learning process is called adhyayanam.

Mantra being recited in the video:

Oṃ pūrṇa̱mada̱ḥff pūrṇa̱mida̱ṃ
pūrṇā̱t pūrṇa̱muda̱cyate |
pūrṇa̱sya pūrṇa̱mādā̱ya
pūrṇa̱mevāvaśi ̱ṣyate ||
Oṃ śā̱ntiḥś śā̱ntiḥś śā̱ntiḥś
Some of the Vedic phonetics are being pointed out to you already, you
will go through these specific rules later in the course. For now, try to
follow along with the oral tradition.

This is a well-known mantra for peace, expressing the fullness, completeness of the
ultimate knowledge of the Self.

My notes:
 Svara – notes of chanting

1. Notes of Veda chanting

Watch the 2 explanatory videos on your course and make any notes you
might need:

My notes:
 2. Exercise – 1 (praṇo devī)

In this exercise, simply try to follow the change in the notes from low to
middle to high note and their combinations. Remember:
- The middle notes are not marked in any special way on the text.
- The low notes are underlined a̱
- The high notes are the syllables with the vertical line over them a̍
- Any syllable with a horizontal line over it, like ā, is a long syllable, not
a high note!!

̍
praṇo̍ de̱vī sara̍svatī ̱ | vaje̍bhirvā̱jinīvatī |dhī ̱nāma̍
vi ̱trya̍vatu |
vagdevyai ̱ nama̍ḥ
3. Exercise – 2 (tajasvī)

In this exercise, note 2 things:

- The exercise starts with two syllables next to each other with a
low note – the second low note is sort of ‘pressed down’ – this is a
subtle nuance in Vedic chanting we follow carefully.

- You are now introduced to a variation of the high note :

the Dīrgha Svarita shown by two vertical lines over the syllable.
Observe how it is recited:haī ̎ is recited with Hai once on the
middle note and only i on a high note. Hai – ı ̍

̍
te̱ja̱svinā̱vadhītamastu̱ ̍
mā vıdviṣā̱ ̎
vahaı||
 4. Exercise – 3 (prātaragniṃ)

With this exercise you will practice a slightly longer sentence from a
hymn, rhythmic low and high notes and also the variation – dīrgha
svarita.

prā̱tara̱gniṃ prā̱tarindragṃ̍ havāmahe prā̱tarmi ̱trā

varu̍ ṇā prā̱tara̱śvinā̎ |
 Balam – Mahāprāṇa sounds, the power of chanting

1. Aspirated sounds

Watch the video on aspirated sounds and make any notes you might
need:

2. Exercise – 1 (Bhūr Bhūvas Suvaḥ)

Oṃ bhūr bhuva̱s suva̍ḥ

3. Exercise – 2 (Bhadraṃ)

Oṃ bha̱draṃ karṇe̍bhiḥś śṛṇu̱ yāma̍ devāḥ

4. Exercise – 3 (mayi medhāṃ)

mayı ̍ me̱dhāṃ mayı ̍ pra̱jāṃ mayya̱gnistejo̍ dadhātu̱

 Anusvāra ṃ/Visarga ḥ - The rules of conjugation

1. The rules of conjugation

This is the more tricky part of Veda chanting, following Sanskrit

grammar and certain specific Vedic phonetic rules that influence the
pronunciation of mantras.

There are two special syllables in the Sanskrit alphabet –

the Anusvāra (nasal stop) represented by ṃ and the breath like
sound ḥ which is called the Visarga. These two syllables are special
because they change their sound depending on what precedes and/or
follows these syllables.

Sounds too complicated? The good news is that you don’t really need to
memorise any rule (not as a beginner) – as they will always be marked
and pointed out for you and the oral traditional takes care of the rest.
But just for a little insight, we explain these rules briefly in the following
sections with examples.
 2. Anusvāra exercise 1 – āyurmantraḥ expert

Observe how the anusvāra ṃ of the word Prāṇaṃ changes to Prāṇan in

this exercise. The specific rule applied here is based on the Sanskrit
alphabet the relationship between the anusāra and the starting syllable
of the following word.

You will learn these rules eventually after you have learn the Sanskrit
alphabet! For now, try to listen to the pronunciation, it is a subtle
change only, but a very important one to observe in the tradition.
Try to repeat along and now that you also know the balam rule, don’t
forget the aspirated sounds!

Om āyu̍ rdhehi prā̱ṇaṃn dhe̍hi |

 3. Anusvāra exercise 2 – saha nāvavatu excerpt

In this exercise, we use an excerpt from the famous mantra for peace
Saha nāvavatu. Here the anusvāra changes to a guttural nasal stop stop,
which is represented as ṅ.

Again this rule is based on the relationship between anusvāra and the
starting syllable of the next word Karavāvahai. You can listen separately
to how the guttural nasal stop sounds if you scroll below the exercise on
your course.

Note all the Vedic phonetics involved here and try to repeat along.

sa̱ha vī ̱rya̍ṃṅ karavāvahai

 4. Visarga exercise 1 – śā̱ntiḥ śā̱ntiḥ śā̱ntiḥ

The Visarga represented by ḥ in Sanskrit transliteration is an aspirated

breath like sound. It has two elements to its pronunciation –

1) What is the syllable it is attached to

2) What is the syllable following it.
Therefore, in the case of the Visara – we have to both ways to
determine its sound.
In the following exercise, we will learn how the most famous repetition
of 3 Śānti-s are pronounced.
- The Visarga ḥ takes an “i” sound as it is attached to an “i”
- The 1st and 2nd Śānti end with a Ś sound (same sound as in Śiva)
- The last Śānti ends with the ḥ pronounced as there is nothing after
it (so nothing to conjugate with)

Listen and repeat along, remember to make the connecting Ś

sound powerful and strong!

Oṃ śānti ̱ḥś śānti ̱ḥś śā̱ntıḥ̍

In the exercise below, the same rule is applied to the famous mantra Oṃ
namaḥ śivāya. The combination of syllables ḥ and ś next to each other
makes the śś sound!

̍
Oṃ na̱maḥś śıvāya
 5. Visarga exercise 2 – pūṇamadaḥ śānti mantra

We revisit this mantra for peace (seen earlier in the lesson on the oral
tradition). Notice here the ḥ of pūrṇamadaḥ when followed by the
syllable “p” results in a breath like sound “ff” called the upadhmānīya
(no need to remember this vocabulary!)
Try to follow along and observe this from the video lesson on your
course!

Do you also notice how the 3 Śāntiḥ-s are using different notes in this
mantra?

Oṃ pūrṇa̱mada̱ḥff pūrṇa̱mida̱ṃ
pūrṇā̱t pūrṇa̱muda̱cyate |
pūrṇa̱sya pūrṇa̱mādā̱ya
pūrṇa̱mevāvaśi ̱ṣyate ||
Oṃ śā̱ntiḥś śā̱ntiḥś śā̱ntiḥś
 The Veda Studies System

So, here are some exercises now that help you with using the Veda
Studies system to understand the Vedic phonetics to keep in mind while
reciting. Many of our students have come to love this method and find it
useful. It may take some time to get used to it though!

You will see in this exercise some additional Vedic phonetics not covered
in this course – there are many more! You will learn along with learning
new mantras as you progress.

In this exercise, observe if you can hear certain syllables

being “gripped” – it is because those are all the conjunct consonants.
Each conjunct consonant is pronounced like a “double-syllable”.

The good news is that you don’t need to know and identify at this point,
which the conjunct consonants are – it is all marked for your
convenience and mantra learning pleasure!

You can follow along on your course with this popular mantra for peace
recited in learning situations. May our learning together be brilliant!
 Gāyatrī mantra

1. Introduction

The most holy verse in the Ṛg Veda, known as the Gāyatrī from the form
of the meter in which it is cast, has been used for millennia in daily
worship and for initiation ceremonies. “Seen” by Ṛṣi Viśvāmitra, “the
friend of all”, the great king who, through austerities, became a Ṛṣi. It is
the great mantra of the Sun, sustainer and impeller of all things in the
solar creation, symbol of the Divine Truth – Introduction by my
friend Jean Le Mée, author of “Hymns from the Ṛg Veda”

Listen to the excerpt from my own practice with my teacher Sri

M.S.Sreenivasan of The Challakere Brothers on your course. Please
forgive the quality, it is an old recording and I publish it here in the spirit
of sharing directly from a well respected Vedic Pundit.

If you are familiar with the Gāyatrī, try to observe and note down what
exactly sounds different about the way I am being taught.

my notes:
 2. Half sentence practice with Shantala

If this is your very first time learning this mantra, spend as much time as
you need to become familiar with the words & sounds in this mantra.
Repeat this audio lesson as many times as you need.

If you are already familiar, try to pay attention to the svara and observe
if perhaps it is any different from how you may have learnt it in the past.
In the next lesson, pay careful attention to the Vedic phonetics.

In this half sentence practice, note that we recite tat savituḥ and not tat
savitur because we are breaking up the sentence for practice and before
the words are combined, savitur is originally savituḥ (the visarga ḥ turns
to r when followed by word beginning with v vareṇyam). See the pada
pāṭha below for each word in the mantra originally when not combined.

oṃ bhurbhuva̱ssuva̍ḥ

tat sa̍vi ̱tur vare̎ṇya̱ṃ

bhargo̍ de̱vasya̍ dhīmahi
dhiyo̱ yo na̍ḥff praco̱ dayā̎t ||

(word by word)

Oṃ bhūḥ |bhuvaḥ | suvaḥ |

Tat | savituḥ | vareṇyaṃ |
bhargaḥ | devasya | dhīmahī |
dhiyaḥ | yaḥ | naḥ | pracodayāt ||
 3. Vedic phonetics – gāyatri mantra

Watch the video on your course for a full break down of the Vedic
phonetics for the recitation of Gāyatrī mantra.

My notes:

4. Full sentences practice with Shantala

Now that you know all the Vedic phonetics, listen once and repeat twice
along with the recording on your course.

oṃ bhurbhuva̱ssuva̍ḥ

tat sa̍vi ̱tur vare̎ṇya̱ṃ

bhargo̍ de̱vasya̍ dhīmahi
dhiyo̱ yo na̍ḥff praco̱ dayā̎t ||
 5. Gāyatrī mantra meaning

The meaning of Gāyatrī mantra is explained with word by word meaning

on the video in your course.

Oṃ Bhurbhuva̱ssuva̍ḥ
We invoke the lord (Oṃ) as the source of all blessings bhuḥ (earth)
bhuvaḥ (everything above the earth) suvaḥ (beyond the scope of our
perception)

tat sa̍vi ̱tur vare̎ṇya̱ṃ

That (tat) Savitṛ (Sun), the one to be worshipped (vareṇyaṃ), whose
blessing is to be sought.

bhargo̍ de̱vasya̍ dhīmahi

We invoke, meditate (dhīmahi) on the brilliant splendor (bhargo) of the
Divine (devasya)

dhiyo̱ yo na̍ḥ praco̱ dayā̎t ||

Who (yaḥ) activates, inspires, impels our (naḥ) thoughts (dhiyaḥ)
towards proper thinking (pracodayāt)

Oṃ, the divine is earth, the space in between and the heavens. That
Īśvara is the one who is the most worshipful. We meditate on that
effulgent, all-knowledge Lord. May he set our intellects in the right
direction. (Swami Dayananda Saraswati)
 6. Gāyatrī japa – 108 times repetition with Shantala

On your course, you will find this practice resource for beginners. The
continuous repetition of mantra (Japa) is not an easy practice. It helps if
you have some support in the beginning as you are learning the mantra.
I repeat the mantra 108 times in this recording. Find a good place and
time (best at Sunrise, Midday or Sunset) to practice – you need about 40
minutes. No need to use a māla, the recording is exactly 108 times and
ends with a timer. Read our blog on this topic to understand why 108
makes such a special number and how the practice of Japa helps the
spiritual aspirant.

This is ideally practiced after you have memorised the mantra. Also, the
practice helps you memorise the mantra, so don’t hesitate to use a
paper to look at initially. You will memorise the mantra quite quickly
with a consistent practice!
 Why recite the Vedas?
Just a few months ago, I was asked this question – “Tell me, why would
one want to take the time to learn, understand and practice Veda
recitation. I know it is important, but I’d like to understand exactly why.”
Great question. Honestly, I had never asked myself this question, having
been raised in the tradition, my mother being a chanting teacher and all.
It was just something I grew up with and loved. It never occurred to me
to question our śruti, the divine revelation of all knowledge to the Ṛṣi-s
(seers/sages) of India. In any case, I’m glad I was asked this question and
here are some top reasons:
- It is the easiest way to bring the mind to a calm space. There is
immediate feedback from the experience of chanting the Vedas.
You will feel calm. It isn’t easy for the average person to sit down
for ‘silent’ meditation. The special sounds of Sanskrit give us
something to focus on.

- Great way to improve your breathing. The process of chanting is a

process of exhalation. Chanting will eventually extend the length
of exhalation, improving your breath. There are
numerous studies on the breath-mind-well-being connection!

- Self-development – consistent practice leads to development of

clarity, will-power, self-reliance, confidence, attention, listening,
concentration, cognition, memory. I just want to mention clarity
again.”

- This list would be incomplete without including the study on “The

Sanskrit effect” – in which MRI scans showed that memorising
ancient mantras increased the size of brain regions associated
with cognitive function.

But seriously, how will my ability to concentrate improve? My memory??

The process of learning Veda chanting is very humble. The teacher
recites, the student repeats twice. Now, to repeat exactly, you will need
to fill your mind entirely with the sound of the teacher reciting. Followed
by a silence that you will come to love. A silence that will be experienced
deeply as you progress. Just a moment of silence. But deep and
beautiful. In Sanskrit, we call this adhyayanam, or the study of chanting.
To repeat exactly, your listening has to be perfected. You need to
replicate this perfect listening each time you practice, eventually
graduating to the point you can correct yourself.

On your course you will find a little excerpt of our study group learning a
mantra for health – Āyurmantraḥ – a short mantra from the Vedas that
asks the Universe to support all our vital forces, organs and functions of
the body as well as the mind.

Also, on your course, you can watch a video of me learning this mantra
from my teacher.
Katherine Le Mée* in her book Chant says “Listening to the sound of
someone’s voice, like listening itself, is a subtle effort. It is not the actual
listening that is difficult, since listening is basically a passive activity. It is
rather the effort needed to focus our attention on the sound and not to
be distracted by our own thoughts or things that are happening nearby.”

Listening is the crucial starting point.

When we start to explore the meaning of the mantras, our self-

development accelerates! There are hymns dedicated to
developing clarity (medha-sūktam), self-confidence (śraddha-
sūktam), will power (ṛg veda mantras on agni/fire) and so on.

The Veda is said to embody the regulations, the laws of the universe as
“seen” by the gifted poets, prophets, or seers, the rishis. Set by them in a
special language to be joyfully proclaimed for future ages, it has come
down to us through an elaborate oral tradition consciously designed to
prevent any distortion. (Jean Le Mée, Hymns from the Rig Veda)

Especially for the aspiring yogī, these skills are priceless. They
accompany us on a safe and consistent journey of Yoga, allowing us to
first recognise and then helping us navigate the obscure inner and
outer obstacles on our spiritual path.

I find that chanting is a beautiful, meditative and intensely impactful way

to begin the study of Vedas for beginners. Not as a scholarly text to be
studied with a dictionary and commentary, but as an active practice of
using our voice, breath and vital energy. Chanting touches the spirit in a
special way and allows one to become familiar with the vocabulary and
then with the right translation, commentary and teaching, a wonderfully
meaningful daily practice emerges.

Chanting brings the mind to a quiet place, a single point, an important

consideration in our modern busy lives. This quietude can be a made a
habit with regular practice. This quietude allows us the space for the
meaning of these beautiful Veda mantras to reveal themselves to us.

* Katherine Le Mée is a wonderful friend and author of Chant – The

Origins, Form, Practice, and Healing Power of Gregorian Chant
 How to practice?
Developing a chanting practice is part of your Svādhyāya, the study of
Vedas. To maintain a sustainable long-term chanting practice, it is best
to approach it in the same way as a meditation practice:

- Set aside a specific time per day for practice.

- Create a sāttvik (good thoughts, good intention, clutter-free
space) setting for practice – for example, first thing in the morning
after a shower.
- Always start with the invocation mantras (can be learned completely
from our “Invocatory prayers” complementary course with purchase
of any course)
- Spend 15-20 minutes as a beginner learning the mantra or hymn,
repeating the chanting
- When you feel fluent with the chanting, explore the meaning of the
mantra.
- Eventual goal is to commit the mantras to memory (give this time
and a long term committed practice before it can happen)

You can listen to another recitation of the invocatory prayers on your

course. It never gets old!

Reciting the invocatory mantras always inspires a good practice

afterwards. When we invoke, we fine tune our mind for
a brilliant practice!
 What next?

- Practice the Gāyatrī mantra regularly as you have learnt it here.

- Study your next short course – Oṃ namaḥ śivāya (also FREE access!).
- Learn the Gaṇapati Gāyatrī mantra – 108 times repetition
- Learn the Mantras for Health & Well-being course
- Then study the Veda chanting – A comprehensive initiation – this is
best studied after you know a few short mantras.
- Any of the courses marked as a ‘beginner level’ course is appropriate
- I would recommend the Gaṇapati Upaniṣat as the first intermediate
level course to study.
- You may learn any of the Sūktams (longer hymns) after this! All
Sūktams are intermediate level courses, challenging and beautiful to
learn.
 Using a Tanpura

With Vedic chanting, we do not use any accompanying musical

instrument other than a Tanpura, or a drone that plays 4 notes
continuously. This instrument helps with several aspects of our practice:

- We may not be used to using our voice for practice, the Tanpura
helps not feel self-conscious
- It provides the reference for the base note, or the middle note of the
practice. We can therefore learn to stay on the same pitch through
the practice by adjusting to the pitch of the Tanpura.
- It creates a meditative environment for the practice.
- If practising with a group, it gives the group a reference base note or
middle note to adjust to.
- It helps keep the focus.

This specific one I use is from Radel and can only be purchased
(reasonably priced) in India. You can use any digital Tanpura, it does not
matter. There are also apps available, for example, on the iPhone –
iTanpura comes highly recommended.
You can also practice without a Tanpura, if you prefer. It is not a
requirement. For some people, it helps makes the practice more easy by
using one. If it helps you, use it, otherwise not!

Most of our practice is on Pitch B & C. Usually an early morning practice

is on B so as to not strain the voice. Later in the day and with a group C
(and above if you prefer) is ok.
 Thank you!

Thank you for taking this course! If you have questions or comments,
you can post them in the discussion area in your course! I try to answer
questions as soon as possible – this can be anywhere from a few hours
to days, depending on how busy my kids are keeping me.

With much love – Shantala

(The videos and audio recordings are of our brilliant Veda chanting group
in Brussels. My deepest gratitude to our student community who bring
life to our online platform.)

Oṃ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ