PAVAMĀNA: Enduring Indic Wisdom

Questions on Traditional Chanting

by Bala Bharadvaj, 17 July 2024

Aprox 11 minutes Reading Time

Summary:

Chanting is a simple yet excellent way to start developing a spiritual connection with the Universal Spirit.  In earlier times, people accepted these practices as a matter of faith.  However, the modern educated mind comes up with doubts and questions.  We discuss these common doubts and show that the traditions do have a logical and philosophical basis and are not to be dismissed as some superstition.  The ṛṣi-s of ancient India were very similar to our present-day scientists, and developed systems based on a strong logical basis and also had a healthy tradition of debates with their peers.

Common Questions related to Hindu Prayers and Traditions

In an earlier post titled “Connecting with the Universal Spirit”, we had seen that chanting śloka-s is a simple and effective way to nourish the spiritual side of our personality.  We also pointed out several benefits of practising chanting regularly.  It is best to start this when one is very young.  However, it can be started at any stage of one’ s life.

The young child may accept the tradition of chanting easily if the adults in the house also practise a similar routine.  However, as the child grows and gets exposed to modern ideas the teenager or young adult often develops doubts about the whole process of praying and chanting and performing other traditional rituals.  If the elders in the family provide good explanations, these doubts can be addressed.  For this to happen, the adults must be sufficiently knowledgeable about the nuances of sanātana dharma.

The doubts that come up can be attributed to the following three main reasons.

1. Not understanding the meanings of the chants: Many people don’t understand the meanings of the chants since the śloka-s are in a language unfamiliar to them.  For some people, even reading the text accurately becomes a challenge.
2. Confusion about the number of “Gods” in Hinduism:  It appears as though the prayers are directed towards many different “Gods”, and this is different from the narrative we hear about most other religious faiths.  Instead of trying to understand the system in sanātana dharma, we subscribe to someone else’s narrative and even make fun of the “many Gods” of Hinduism.
3. Jumping to the conclusion that sanātana dharma is not “scientific”:  The idea of having faith and trusting the wisdom of our ancestors and ṛṣi-s (sages) doesn’t come naturally to many of us.  We think there is something wrong with the concepts of sanātana dharma since we believe that they are not “scientific”.

Let us briefly examine each of these reasons below.

The chants and their meanings

Many scriptures in sanātana dharma date back to vedic times and are composed in Sanskrit.  Even though many languages of India can be traced back to Sanskrit, today the percentage of people who have a working knowledge of Sanskrit is extremely small. 

The unique feature of these chants is that they often have multiple layers of meanings.  There is the popular meaning based on the direct interpretation of the words that are also sometimes connected with stories from the purāṇa-s.  Having familiarity with these stories would be helpful to fully appreciate the śloka-s. When we dig deeper, we also find that some of the specific words employed point to alternate meanings to convey philosophical messages or instructions that are encoded into the śloka.

As a beginner, it is more important to learn the correct spelling and pronunciation of the śloka-s.  As one gets more mature, one can try to learn the meanings to fully appreciate the brilliance of our ancient masters, and benefit fully from the chanting of the śloka-s.  However, we must make sure that the meanings are coming from a reliable source!

How many “Gods” in sanātana dharma?

This is a source of confusion for many people.  In this context, let us become aware of two important statements from our scriptures that address this question.

In ṛg veda 1.164-46 we find the statement, “ekam sat viprā bahudhā vadanti” which translates to, “Truth is One, the wise people call it by various names”.  Many scholars have analysed this statement and have also written commentaries.  The simple meaning is that there is only one self-existent Universal Spirit we refer to as Truth or God (represented by the word “sat” in this statement).  This Universal Spirit is given various names by wise people to communicate at different levels with various people.  This fundamental idea is repeated in other parts of the scriptures also.

There is another important verse which says,

ākāśāt patitam toyam yathā gacchati sāgaram |

sarva deva namaskāraḥ keśavam prati gacchati ।।

which can be translated as, “just as the water falling as rain makes its way towards the ocean (and eventually merges with it), all prayers and reverential salutations made to various deities make their way to the Universal Spirit”.  When one offers worship to different deities (which are different forms of that One Universal Spirit), all the worship flows to the One Universal Spirit.  One can say that the specific deity is the channel through which we are actually connecting with the Universal Spirit.

Both these statements clearly indicate that in sanātana dharma there is only One Supreme Universal Spirit.  However, the system allows people to worship this Universal Spirit in many different forms.  Once we understand this principle, there is no conflict between worshipping śrī śiva or śrī viṣṇu, and praying to the devī-s durgā, lakṣṃī or sarasvatī.

Is sanātana dharma scientific?

This question regarding the existence of “God” and if the traditions are based on a scientific method can be approached in one of two ways: (1) as an enquiry of a sincere seeker yearning to get an explanation; or (2) as a sceptic questioner looking for tangible evidence as in the case of a repeatable science experiment.

For the first type of questioner, one must meet the right guru or teacher to get the answer. When Swami Vivekananda was a young man going by the name of Narendranath, he had this burning desire to find out about the existence of God.  Whenever he met a religious leader he would ask, “Sir, have you seen God?”  He did not get a satisfactory answer until he went to dakṣiṇeśvar temple and met śrī rāmakṛṣṇa who replied without any hesitation,

“Yes, I have seen God. I see Him as I see you here, only more clearly. God can be seen. One can talk to him. But who cares for God? People shed torrents of tears for their wives, children, wealth, and property, but who weeps for the vision of God? If one cries sincerely for God, one can surely see Him.” 

[Reference: “Swami Vivekananda – A Biography” by Swami Nikhilananda].

That meeting set the young Narendranath on a very special journey and resulted in his transformation into Swami Vivekananda who made unique and lasting contributions to the advancement of Hindu ideas around the world.

Approach of Scientists

For those questioners of the second type, we must understand that in the normal scientific approach we have a preference to believe what we see.  So, the method is to measure relevant parameters, perform analyses of the available data, and arrive at a conclusion.  Often scientists are satisfied that their conclusion is valid when they have some data to validate.  However, what we have seen repeatedly is that another scientist gets some new data and revises the conclusions of the first scientist.  Interestingly, in modern scientific parlance, we refer to this revision of conclusions as “making progress”.

As the measurand (physical quantity or property being measured) becomes more and more subtle, i.e., difficult to detect and quantify, even the modern scientists start by making hypotheses and build specific experiments to detect the measurand directly or indirectly.  This has been the story of research in Quantum Physics, especially when trying to understand the tiniest particles of nature.  Huge facilities (such as CERN’s Accelerator Complex) are needed to perform the specialized experiments to detect the minute particles.

In fact, when trying to understand any phenomenon that is not obvious or well understood, scientific research follows a sequence of steps as follows: researcher starts with background information and knowledge, analyzes this information and extrapolates to develop a hypothesis, builds an experiment to validate the hypothesis, conducts the experiment to gather data, analyzes the data for specific clues, and arrives at conclusions.  Sometimes, these results will validate the hypothesis; at other times, the results will yield new insights that enable the researcher to refine the hypothesis and modify the experiment appropriately.  This cycle is used not only in the physical sciences, but also in the social sciences.

When new hypotheses are validated, the more successful scientists publish peer-reviewed articles, write books, and a rare few even get recognition via awards such as the Nobel Prize.

Approach of the ṛṣi-s

The methods of the ṛṣi-s of ancient India are very similar to those of present-day scientists and researchers in many ways.  The ṛṣi-s were also dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge (just like today’s scientists) and devoted a great deal of their time and energy towards their quest.  They also made observations, converted them into knowledge and made associated inferences.  They studied and built upon previously available knowledge, performed logical analyses and compared with experiential data (śruti, yukti and anubhava) to arrive at their conclusions. 

The ṛṣi-s participated in a healthy tradition of debates and discussions among scholars.  These interactions ensured exchange of views and critical reviews before individual ideas were accepted by their peers.  The most celebrated ṛṣi-s documented their theories in the form of compositions.  The celebrated masters were honoured with special titles and gifts of gold, land and cattle by the kings.  The bṛhadāraṇyaka upaniṣad is a great compendium of the discussions at one such meeting of ancient scholars organized by King Janaka.

The ṛṣi-s were also Scientists

We find strong similarities between the methods of the ṛṣi-s and those of modern researchers.  The primary difference is in the nature of the subject matter and the measurand.  While modern scientists work in the physical realm the ṛṣi-s were trying to detect something very subtle in the spiritual realm where the measurand is not objective (external), but subjective (internal).  The modern scientists need appropriate equipment for their work in the physical realm, e.g., the modern scientists could not see and study bacteria until powerful microscopes were available, or study stars in faraway galaxies until we had highly sensitive telescopes. 

Because of the subjective nature of their work, the ṛṣi-s had to use their own purified and refined mind-intellect complex to delve deep into the intricacies of the spiritual realm.  This ability to dive into the depths of subjective knowledge was not limited to one or two masters but experienced and validated over and over again by many masters, at various times, and at different locations across the Indian subcontinent.

Should we believe the ṛṣi-s?

Most of us living in modern times have neither seen a particle accelerator nor met a Nobel Laureate.  However, we are comfortable accepting the principles of Quantum Physics as explained by these “Masters of Physics” or other teachers of Physics.  Many of us quote famous statements such as, ”E=mc²” even if we don’t understand the implications.  However, the serious student of Physics will initially trust the teachers but dedicate time and effort to study and learn the necessary background, then delve deep into Quantum Physics and may even get to know the “God Particle”.

The ancient ṛṣi-s of sanātana dharma were the “Masters of Spirit”; we may not understand them right away but are not in a position to reject their assertions simply because we don’t understand them.  Those of us who are serious about enquiring into their findings must put in the time and effort to learn about the scriptures, develop the necessary background, delve deep into the concepts of vedānta, and get to know “God” or that Universal Spirit!

Conclusion

Some of us trained in the modern system of education may have doubts about the tradition of chanting in sanātana dharma.  We have examined three doubts that arise frequently.  The ancient traditions of sanātana dharma have a scientific basis –they are based on a foundation of asking questions, doing logical analyses, arriving at conclusions and even debating with peers to explore alternate views.  The ancient masters have declared that there is only One Universal Spirit which is called by various names for the benefit of the worshippers.

The tradition has also evolved various methods to help different types of seekers.  Also, it is perfectly acceptable to have doubts and ask questions; our scriptures are full of Q&A sessions between students and their teachers.  The bhagavad gīta and upaniṣad-s are prime examples of this tradition.

Seeking the blessings of the Universal Spirit on all of us.

Hari Om!