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Re: Pancha Sooktham recitation

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Mani Varadarajan • September 11, 1998 


On Thu, Sep 10, 1998 at 10:23:41PM -0400, Sadagopan wrote:
> Dear Sri Mani Varadarajan :
> 
> In Ahobila Mutt SampradhAyam ( Sri Sannidhi ) ,
> Talikai is presented and is followed by 
> KarpUra Haaratthi . Then follows Vedam , PurANams, 
> Divya Prabhandham as SaaRRumurai Kramam . 
> NaarAyaNOpanishad has a place here in the section 
> on Atharva vedam .It is recited without svarams .
> After that Apasthampa Gruhya Suthram ...

Dear Sri Sadagopan,

Please correct me if any of the following is wrong.
I am aware that the nArAyaNa upanishad section 
starting with "om ity agre vyAharet" is recited 
after taLikai samarpaNam, during the "mantra pushpam"
section. I believe this is because it glorifies the
ashTAkshara mantra that is dear to Vedantins.  However,
I have always heard it chanted with svara -- or so
it sounded to me.  I was under the impression that
no section of the Veda should be formally chanted without
paying attention to mAtra, svara, varna, etc. Is this
not the verdict of the taittirIya upanishad, first
chapter?

In any case, my point (and please correct any mistakes
in this statement) was that that entire text of the 
nArAyaNa upanishad, beginning with "adha purusho ha vai"
has no official place in temple worship, and that there 
consequently is no need to chant it.  _If_ it is to be 
chanted, it should be chanted properly with svara, which 
means that one should have done adhyayana in it under 
someone who is qualified.

Once again I must refer to my experience with Sri Rangapriya
svAmi.  Several people were reciting sections from the Vedas
in his presence -- purusha sUktam, vishvakarma sUktam, etc.
Finally, nArAyaNa upanishad was started. There is a phrase
in the upanishad:

	yad bhUtam yac ca bhavyam

Immediately after the goshTi recited this line, Rangapriya 
svAmi told them to stop and asked someone to repeat what
was just said. He said again:

	yad bhUtam yac ca bhavyam 
               ^^^^^^

with the appropriate svara, pronounced exactly as written above.  

Rangapriya svAmi pointed out that this was incorrect.
According to Vedic rules for sandhi here, the correct
pronounciation is:

	yad bhutain yac ca bhavyam
                ^^^^^

with the "tain" being particularly nasal. This same
pronounciation occurs in the line "tain yajnam barhi 
Siprokshan" in the purusha sUkta.

What I gathered from his correction was that utmost
attention must be paid to sandhi, svara, and pronounciation
of the Vedic words.  We cannot be casual about it.
Consequently, we should recite said Vedic passages
only after learning them properly. 

Mani