The anglicized education system of Bharat has distanced us from our culture and heritage so much that we stand the threat of completely losing the knowledge of our intrinsic cultural forms with time. In the quest for “westernization” of education, we in Bharat have completely “sanitized” education of any “native” influences as it were. In our quest to be seen as secular, we have developed a superficial education system that seems to have no space for core Hindu cultural and value systems.
Bharat’s education system has been secular since independence. Although with the Modi government’s New Education Policy emphasizing education from a Bharatiya perspective, there is some hope for change. But in a country where mainstream school education is hijacked by schools belonging to Christian missionaries, such changes seem tough to implement.
Traditionally, in Bharatiya society, it’s been the family that imparts knowledge of core cultural beliefs and systems to the future generation. Thus, oral history gets transferred from generation to generation. But with Bharatiya Hindu families fast losing interest in Hindu traditions, it seems a lot of this intangible cultural heritage will be wiped out if initiatives are not taken to propagate it through educational initiatives.
Vedic chanting is one such intangible cultural heritage of Hindu civilization that can immensely benefit the global education system. It’s an immensely scientific Hindu cultural practice that has a lot to offer, along with an erudite insight into ancient Hindu epics and various other sacred texts of Hindu Dharma. Practicing Vedic chant regularly can sharpen your memory, improve concentration manifold, lead to enhanced intuition, make you more sensitive, kinder, and more in control of your physical and mental energies, and overall significantly improve your physical and mental health. Even as westerners are realizing what a treasure trove of knowledge, wisdom, and good health the art and science of Vedic chanting is, most Hindus in 21st-century Bharat probably have no idea what exactly it is.
UNESCO recognizes Vedic Chanting as a part of its Intangible Cultural Heritage. Vedic Chanting was included in UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2003. “Expressed in the Vedic language which is derived from Classical Sanskrit, the verses of the Vedas were traditionally chanted during sacred rituals and recited daily in Vedic communities. The value of this tradition lies not only in the rich content of its oral literature but also in the ingenious techniques employed by the Brahmin priests in preserving the texts intact over thousands of years. To ensure that the sound of each word remains unaltered, practitioners are taught from childhood complex recitation techniques that are based on tonal accents, a unique manner of pronouncing each letter and specific speech combinations”, says the UNESCO Note on Vedic Chanting.
Most middle-class Bharatiya Hindu families send their children to typical English-medium schools for study. It’s highly improbable that these schools would have a separate class in Vedic chanting. 90 percent of English-medium schools in Bharat follow the typical Hindi, English, Maths, Science, and Social Sciences curriculum till class 10th. Then, in classes 11th and 12th, one would study subjects under Science, Commerce, and Humanities. Although the New Education Policy lays out guidelines for school students pursuing interdisciplinary education, that will take time to be implemented. But the point I am trying to make it in the present western-oriented education system of Bharat, there is hardly any space for teaching a traditional skill and intangible cultural heritage like Vedic chanting.
Fancy modern schools will offer all kinds of courses in world music, different world languages, and perhaps even international dance forms, but they wouldn’t have a course on Vedic Chanting as that would bring down their “secular’ quotient. That’s precisely the problem with Bharatiya English-medium schools. Leave aside the missionary schools, even non-missionary schools follow a typical western format of education and co-curricular activities. Thus, students would be taught poetry recitation techniques, public speaking skills, and all that, but they wouldn’t get the chance to learn a valuable cultural form like Vedic chanting.
Those of us who perform Havan ceremonies at home are aware of Vedic chanting. In my own house, my father performs Havan himself mostly except for rare occasions when we call a Panditji. Sometimes, even me and my brother participate with him in the chanting of mantras as we offer aahutee (offering) to the agni (fire). The kind of positive vibrations one feels, it’s hard to describe the feeling in words. You feel all negative energies getting dissipated as you chant the mantras, feel the warmth of agni, and begin to experience a special kind of peace and bliss.
If you’ve been in a household where Havan ceremonies are conducted regularly, you can pick up Vedic chanting by simply listening to Panditjee reciting the mantras. You can take the help of books and try reciting the mantras yourself. Of course, although again, most of us educated Hindus in Bharat do not know Sanskrit, courtesy of our education system, so it might be difficult to comprehend the mantras and hymns in their complexity. But I think the best way forward is to start memorizing these in Sanskrit even if you don’t understand everything, and then work on the meaning part. If you wait for the day when you learn Sanskrit formally for a couple of years and then you will try out Vedic chanting, it might never happen. It’s best to start from where you are now, in whatever humble capacity you can.
Although, there are specialized schools for Vedic chanting in Bharat. Many Yoga institutes offer courses in Vedic chanting. For example, there is an institution called the “Veda Studies” who say on their website that they teach Vedic chanting “from a living South Indian lineage”. Then, the Chinmaya Vishwa Vidyapeeth University in Kerala offers online Vedic chanting courses. The Chinmaya Mission also conducts Vedic chanting courses. Besides, there are many Vedic chanting courses being offered by teachers and institutes online. You could do a Google search for your local area and find out.
But the point is these initiatives are akin to a drop in the ocean. How many common people of Bharat can afford these courses? Most of these courses are relatively expensive and the awareness regarding these is fairly low. Most English-speaking Bharatiya youth would happily enroll themselves in a Salsa dance class, guitar lessons, Spanish and French language classes, or a shero shayari poetry club. It’s because learning these kinds of things is considered cool in Bharatiya society, whereas taking classes in Vedic chanting isn’t. Who is to blame for this? Again, it’s a complicated question and there are no simple answers. Partly, popular culture is responsible. Popular culture glamorizes all other cultures and puts them on a pedestal but when it comes to Hindu culture, it subtly demonizes Hindu culture or portrays it as backward and useless.
How many Bollywood movies can you recall watching that showcase Hindu rituals without making them a subject of a joke or portraying them as some sort of regression? Very few probably. Visiting a temple is caricaturized to such an extent in Bollywood cinema that the hero is often shown going to the temple and launching into a dramatic dialogue with “Bhagwaan” blaming God for all his problems. People subtly internalize the codes of popular culture and subconsciously form their opinions and preferences based on their biases. But popular culture alone cannot be blamed.
People of any civilization need to have a core defense mechanism that gets automatically activated when their culture is under threat. That is, they must have at least this much pride in their cultural identity that beyond a point, they refuse to tolerate nonsense. But unfortunately, Hindus have an infinite ability to tolerate nonsense and no defense mechanism. That is precisely why so many of our cultural forms including the art and science of Vedic chanting are on the verge of extinction.
It’s an irony that Vedic chanting is getting far more popular in western countries than it is in Bharat. When you Google the keyword “Vedic chanting courses”, most of the courses that come up are from countries like the US and the UK. In western countries, Vedic chanting is getting a forum as the Hindu diaspora yearns to connect back to its roots. That’s why Hindus living in these countries make a lot of efforts to teach their kids all about Hindu Dharma and enroll them in courses teaching Vedic Texts, Sanskrit language, etc. Some westerners are also reviving the tradition of Vedic chanting by making it popular on a commercial platform.
British singer Gabriella Burnel who uses the pen name Gaiea Sanskrit specializes in singing and performing Vedic hymns and mantras. She has a distinct style and has garnered accolades all over the world for her performances. “My intention is purely to follow the dharma that is guiding me. That is all. Right now my duty is to give pure sounds to the universe – pure and simple – with pure heart. The rest is not in my power or control or domain. The rest is in God’s Divine’s Mother’s hands”, she says on her website.
Gaiea Sanskrit has an inspiring journey. She started learning Sanskrit when she was barely 4 years of age. She has a degree in Sanskrit from Oxford University. A trained musician and singer, she visits Bharat regularly to study music and Sanskrit. She has released numerous albums of Vedic chants and also runs many courses in Sanskrit and Vedic chants.
Citti Media conducted an interview with Gaiea Sanskrit which can be accessed on their YouTube channel. In the interview, she gives a fascinating insight into her love for Sanskrit. She tells how she inherited the love for Sanskrit from her mother and how when she was probably in the womb, the sanskars began to develop from that stage onwards and her future life trajectory started getting clear. When you see Gaiea performing Vedic chants, you can see that it’s not merely a cosmetic thing for her.
She is deeply connected to the essence of the mantras and recites these from the deepest recesses of her being, not at a superficial level. In the Citti media interview, she also talks about how the Sanskrit language is structured in such a way that when you recite certain words using the right technique and emphasis, the chanting itself recreates the emotional depth and the range of meanings those words represent. Listening to Gaiea, one can feel how deeply she is connected to the Vedic culture and that’s what makes her chanting so beautiful and sublime.
One also feels a sense of discomfiture that Hindus still depend on westerners to revive and nurture their age-old traditions. It’s an irony that if a Bharatiya is on a similar mission of preserving the art and science of Vedic chanting, we wouldn’t give the kind of focus or limelight to them, as we would to a westerner performing Vedic chants.
Finally, the authentic tradition is also getting lost because these days, Pandits are getting fewer and fewer in number. “Panditaee” has traditionally been a family occupation with generations taking pride in their unique heritage and the pious work of conducting Vedic rituals and helping people organize Pujas and Havans. But now things are changing fast. The kind of demonization that Brahmins undergo in Bharatiya society has made the younger generation of families who are into traditional “Panditaee” look down upon this pious vocation. The younger generation no longer wants to carry this on which means the already limited figure of Pandits well-versed in the shastras is shrinking further. This will further endanger a Hindu cultural form like Vedic chanting.
Thus, the onus is now on the government to come up with various incentives to make the vocation of “Panditaee” appealing to Brahmins again. Also, Vedic chanting needs to be included universally in the school curriculum. There should be a compulsory subject of “Vedic Education” in all schools across the country, irrespective of whatever boards they come under. Schools should frequently conduct “Vedic Chanting Competitions “along the lines of elocutions and debating competitions held in colleges. I remember when I was in school, we had a lot of Gita Shloka competitions. One had to memorize one entire Adhyay of Gita to participate in these. We need to make Vedic chanting cool and trendy amongst kids and youth. This, along with the compulsory study of Sanskrit in schools will hopefully pave the way for Bharatiyas re-embracing their ancient civilizational legacy and heritage.
