‘At least, part of the thrill of music seems to come from the release of endorphins, the powerful opiate-like chemicals produced in the brain that induces euphoria.’ – – David Sobel
Not only the religions of the Indian subcontinent, but also those which appeared to bring in a sense of discipline in the otherwise meaningless human existence have given considerable importance for sound intonations as a part of the religious rituals. Great scriptures of the world have been read and re-read with awe and devotion to derive the hidden meanings especially in their sutras or aphorism.
Vedic chants have been popular for many millennia in the sub continent, which helped the people to overcome the adverse situations and happenings- both man-made and natural. Invasions, migrations, rivalries, wars, land-disputes etc. which are man-made and flood, drought, earthquake, cyclones, diseases etc. which are due to natural causes – all could be overcome with the help of regular practice of chants and mantras.
Thus, the practice of chants had not only helped the suffering population from diverting their attention from the sufferings and pain in the mundane existence but also in developing an overall insulation against any calamities and trauma that could be encountered in one’s life. This practice, in addition, had injected tremendous optimism by strengthening one’s will-power and making it like a diamond that could cut any gargantuan problem faced by people in life.
Apart from chants, many religions used melodies and musical strains, as in kirtans and bhajans, which could bind the mind so that a devotee could go deeper into his own consciousness. Such inward focusing could help him or her to stumble upon the pure joy or ecstasy that all of us have been endowed with in this existence and which – due to our non-focusing-remains unavailable to us.
Sacred Sound in the Hindu Scriptures
The ancient religious texts of the Hindus trace sound intonations to divinity.
Vedas and Upanishads, the eternal and authorless treasures of knowledge and wisdom for the universal mankind (which were never constricted to a group or sect or region) glorify the primeval sound that generates the universe, as represented by the syllable ‘Om’.
Brahman, the Supreme, Absolute underlying all existence is also exemplified by Om, and hence is referred to as the Absolute Elemental Sound (sabda-brahman). This became manifest through oral chanting of ‘Om’.
As new concepts such as Vaishnava, Shaiva and Shakta evolved, the concept of sacred sound as sabda-brahman gave way to yet another concept of nada-brahman, which generously included all musical sounds in addition to those non-linguistic and non-struck sounds (anahata) heard in deep meditation.
As Brahman is believed to pervade the whole universe (which includes the human soul or Atman), the notion of sacred sound being manifested as chant and music provided a connecting thread which bound the human realm to that of the Creator. Thus, most musicological treatises discuss Nada-Brahman as the very foundation of musical sound and nada as the connecting link or elevator between the human and the divine.
Hindu gods and goddesses are closely identified with certain sounds which are considered sacred. Sounds and harmonics emanating from Veena, the ancient Indian string instrument are thus associated with Saraswati, the Goddess of Learning. In other words, the sound emanations from the string were thought to have a direct link to human intelligence, indicating thereby the decision makers have to be fed with such sounds-day in and day out to enable them to resolve the pros and cons in an issue. It is the personal experience of this author that whenever one is clouded with contradicting thoughts in mind, and when one is unable to take a course in life, listening to the pure sounds of stringed instruments like veena, sarod, sarangi, guitar, violin, sitar etc enable one’s mind to harmonize the conflicting thoughts in resolving the issue.
Lord Brahma, the four-faced Creator of the universe, with his wife – Goddess Sarasvati is believed to fashion Hindu music out of the tonal and rhythmic ingredients of Sama-Veda. He is depicted as a player of the hand cymbals. It is well known for the musicians that cymbals (used both in the Eastern and Western music) have an impact of waking one up. The wake-up quality in them could be due to the metallic clang clang, which attacks the head (brain) primarily. When arti music is played in temples with such metallic clangs, one gets the sound waves attacking their mind (and the process of thinking) and thus prevent the thought-emanations, leading one almost towards a trance state.
Vishnu, the Preserver of the Universe is associated with the conch-shell, gracefully held in his hand. The conch shell, when played boom-boom, gives a jerk to the thinking process and sets up a new way for thoughts. By disturbing the thought patterns in the mind, it resets the mind thus clearing off the cobwebs of thoughts which congest and depress us. Almost the same is the effect of damaru, held by Lord Shiva. Known for his cosmic tandava dance of dissolution, damaru emanates the sound of destruction with its x-shaped construction and the way the oscillating thread attacks both the sides of this hand-held drum in a frequency much higher than the one we could create with our fingers.
The schools of shakta tantras, which worship the mother-goddess (Devi) have several esoteric ideas about the sound. Their texts, especially Sarada Tilaka tantra, deal with Om, mantra and nada in worship.
Nada-Shakti (female sound energy) is identified with the letters of the Sanskrit alphabet said to reside in the psychic Chakra centers in the human body.
According to Vaishnava traditions, (e.g., Pancharatra texts such as Jayakhya-Samhita and Sattvata-Samhita) Nada-Brahman is considered as the Shakti of Vishnu.
Further, Sattvata-Samhita describes the letters of the Sanskrit alphabet as originated from Nada. Sesa-Samhita lists down nine components of Om corresponding with names of Vishnu like Narayana, Vasudeva, and Bhagavan Hari.
Following the Pancaratras and/or the Bhagavata-Purana, the major lineages of Vaishnavism (called Sampradayas) as established by saints like Ramanuja, Madhva, Nimbarka, Vallabha, Chaitanya etc acknowledged Nada as the energy of Vishnu and propagated devotion (bhakti) seeped in rhythms and resonance.
This article was published in AYURVEDA AND ALL – July 2007 – Pages 38 to 40
Edited by Geeta Shreedar, July 12, 2021