Vedas reflect the original ultimate sound — eternal, all-pervading and indestructible. Vedic mantras are not only rich in meaning, but also in sound, something that is acquired from oral tradition. The sound of mantras reaches our ears in two ways: as vibration of ether and as vibration of air.
Vibration of ether can only be realised by one whose body’s internal vibration bears the unstruck sound (anahata-nada). The second kind of sound is produced from vibrations in the air.
It is audible and is realised by the chanter of Vedic mantras at the vaikhari stage resulting in a struck sound (ahata-nada), and by those who listen to the same due to the eternal vibrative power of throbbing in chanting. Such chanting has the power to heal.
The four main groups of Vedic texts are the Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharva Vedas. Each of them has different sakhas, recensions, of which many are extinct. In Patanjali’s time, there were a total of 1,131recensions.
Today, only 13 remain, and among them, some oral traditions have been lost. Seven musical notes of the Samaveda — sadja, gandhara, madhyama, paricama, dhaivata and nisada — remain latent in other Vedas among the three accents.
The science of music evolved from the Samaveda whose chanting tradition has to be preserved intact as it is the source of Indian music. In the performing arts, the Vedas are connected vividly as pathya, recitation, from the Rigveda; gita, music, from the Samaveda; abhinaya, acting, from the Yajurveda; and rasa, aesthetic sentiment, from the Atharvaveda.
