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Season 3 - Episode 9

Alphabet Pronunciation

25 min - Tutorial
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Description

Anuradha guides us in sounding out the entire Sanskrit alphabet including the Gutturals, Palatals, Cerebrals, Dentals, Labials, Semi Vowels, Sibilants, and Conjunct Consonants. She then corresponds the vibrations to points within the body to allow the order to be felt and integrated wholeheartedly.
What You'll Need: No props needed

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Apr 10, 2015
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Namaste dear friends. Thus far we have been looking at all the letters of the Sanskrit alphabet also known as the Varanamala. Now let's weave all these sounds together and see what we get. We'll start with the vowels. Repeat after me. a a i i u j j l l l i i u o ao um ah there are 16 vowels and we can look at them once more using our hands a a i i u u l l l i i u o ao um ah now let's have a look at the consonants. We had five guttural sounds k k g g l lovely the palate is ch ch j ch nya now the cerebrus t t t d t no very good the dentals the the the the the labia's per per so these were the five sets of five sounds in the consonants we have 25 of them followed by the four semi vowels which are the year corresponding to the palate the cerebral the dental and the labial then we have the four sibilants which are the sounds the sh the palatal sure sure great and to conclude the series we have the three conjunct consonants which are the sure yeah super now will we try saying it all together I'll say it without pausing so you just repeat the sounds after me the way I do it and I invite you to try and relax your body as much as you can try and use this opportunity to become sensitive about the effect of these sounds on the body yeah see what it does to you here we go ah ah ee ee oo oo rr rr rr ee I ee oo oo um ah ka ka ga ga br cha cha cha"] dH... dH... dH... nears b, p, b, b, m, y, r, l, v, sh, r, r, r, r, r, r, r, r, r, r, r, r, r, r, r, r, r, r, r, r, r, r, r, r, r, r, r, r, r, The letters starting from the vowel till the letter ksh are the 50 matrikas, matrikas representing the 50 letters of the Sanskrit alphabet. It comes from the root ma which means to measure. So they are regarded, all these letters are regarded as mothers that are measuring out this universe of vibrations and each of these letters can serve as a gateway into understanding the underlying unity behind it. So each of these letters acts independently as a mantra sound. The vowels and the letters correspond to the different chakras within the human body.

The vowels as well as the consonants also correspond to different organs and different parts of the human body. So we'll just explore these, I'll show them to you and you can do it after me. To start with, we will just repeat the whole of the Sanskrit alphabet and this time we will add the sound mmm at the end of each of these. So as you do the sound mmm, the quality of the sound mmm is that it helps to establish that sound. In our day to day lives, we use a lot of sounds through our language but we never really pause to experience the impact of those individual sounds that make up the words to see what it does to our body.

So this is your opportunity. So we'll pause with each of these sounds, relax your being as much as you can, stay with each of these sounds and see what it is doing to you. Open yourself to the experience and I assure you, you will open yourself up to the universe. So let's do it, repeat after me, close your eyes, sit in a comfortable position, take a deep breath and repeat after me, am, am, im, im, umm, umm, rim, rim, rim, rim, rim, mill, rim, rim, rim, rim, rim, rib, rim, rim, rim, rim, rim, rim, rim, rim, rim, rim, rim, rim, rim, rim, rim, rim, rim, rim, rim, rim, rim, rim, rim, rim, rim, rim, gum gum gum gum lumb chum chum jump jump yum dumb thumb dumb dumb numb dumb thumb dumb dumb dumb numb bum bum bum bum bum yum yum rum lumb vum shum shum some hum crumb These fifty sounds correspond to the different petals of the chakras in our bodies. The vowels correspond to the throat chakra.

Then you have the cum cum gum chum chum yum The twelve sounds correspond to your heart chakra. And then in the same series you have dumb dumb thumb and then it goes down dumb dumb bum bum yum rum shum shum some hum crumb crumb But what is interesting is that as you do these sounds because they don't just freeze so it's not that all the guttrels are in your heart and all the guttrels are in your next chakra it's almost as if there is a spiraling down of these sounds within your system. So in terms of energy when you are just reciting the Sanskrit alphabet it is literally screwing in that energy all the way down to your the mooladhara or the last chakra and then when you do the hum and the crumb it throws the energy all the way up to your mind and therefore harmonises between the uh and the her and the ksher you have the entire circuit of energy which is stimulated and charged when you do the Sanskrit alphabet So what we'll do is I'll also show you the corresponding parts of these letters with each of your body parts. So as we do the um, the um corresponds to your head. So um, I suggest you follow me, you copy me so um is in your head um is in the middle of your forehead at the Adnya chakra im is the corner of your right eye im im is the corner of your left eye um is the corner of your right ear um is the corner of your left ear room is the corner of your right nostril room is the corner of your left nostril Ù?Ù? is the center of your cheek, Ù?Ù? is the center of your cheek, Ù?Ù? is the center of your left cheek, اÙ? is the center of your top lip, upper lip, اÙ?, lower lip, اÙ? is the back of your front teeth, the upper teeth, اÙ? is of the lower teeth and then the back of your palate, اÙ? and ا, back of your throat, back of your palate and your throat. So we do that once, repeat after me, اÙ?, اÙ?, اÙ?, اÙ?, اÙ?, اÙ?, اÙ?, اÙ?, اÙ?, اÙ?, اÙ?, اÙ?, اÙ?, اÙ?, اÙ?, اÙ?, اÙ?, اÙ?. As you pronounce these sounds and touch that particular part of your body, try and bring your awareness to that point and consciously try and release that point, free it up of any potential blockage. Then these sounds start acting as mantras and start freeing your being, start bringing in an alignment in all the different parts of your being, bringing in a harmony that helped to keep your body, that help to keep your body in good health. The consonants correspond to the different limbs and the rest of your body, the vowels were in your head and then we descend into the rest of the body. So we have the five angles in your hand and your legs, so the five joints, the shoulder, the elbow, the wrist, the top, the bottom of your palm of the fingers and the fingertips. The consonants that correspond to the body parts are cum, cum, gum, gum, chum, chum, jum, jum, yum. I repeat, chum, chum, jum, jum, yum. The same for the legs, so we have the side joint, the knee, the ankle, the bottom of your toes and the tip of your toes. So that's tum, tum, dum, dum, num. Again, tum, tum, dum, dum, num. Repeat it on the other side, dum, dum, dum, dum, num. Again, dum, dum, dum, dum, num. Have that so we've covered the joints of the body. Then we move on to the stomach. We have pum which is the right side of your stomach, pum which is the left side, bum which is the back, your lower back, bum is the navel and mum is just a little lower than the navel, a hand below the navel, your lower abdomen. Pum, pum, bum, bum, mum. We'll do that again. Pum, pum, bum, bum, mum. And then we have the semi-vowels which correspond to the ear, corresponds to the centre of the heart, r is to the right side, l below your heart, v is to the left side. So yum, rum, lum, vum. Once more, yum, rum, lum, vum.

And then the sound, shum, is going from the heart down your whole right arm up to the tips of your finger. Shum the other side, the left side. Sum is from your heart going all the way down your right leg, right to the toes. Hum is the left side going all the way to your toes and then kshum is from your heart up to your mind. Okay, that gesture. You can try doing that. So, shum, shum, some, hum and kshum. Okay, we'll do that once more. So just as you're doing this action, imagine that you're doing a kind of a cleansing of your system. So just imagine the sound cleaning up your entire right side and your left side, the upper part of the body, the lower part of the body and finally the mind. Okay, we'll do that again. Shum, shum, some, hum, kshum. We'll try doing it once together, the entire series. Yes, let's start from the head and complete the whole body with it. Um, um, in, in, um, um, rim, rim, rim, rim, in, I'm, um, owm, um, ah, gum, gum, gum, gum, chum, chum, chum, chum, yum, dum, tum, dum, dum, num, dum, dum, dum, num, bum, pum, bum, bum, mum, yum, rim, dum, rum, lum, vum, shum, shum, some, hum, kshum. Do this every day and you will feel like a clean and pure and fresh being. Enjoy these sounds. Enjoy the power of these sounds in your body and you will see how quickly even Sanskrit follows on the way. Beautiful sharing this with you. Thank you.

Mother Tongue: Sounding and Seeing the Consonants

Comments

Kelly Sunrose
Thank you for this practice.
It brings me *such* joy to be learning Sanskrit with you!
This might sound silly, but I do a lot of laughing at myself during these practices, and I feel your compassion as a teacher even through this video as I bumble along. Thank you for that!
Anuradha Choudry
Dear Kelly, thank you so much for your happy feedback. The very nature of Sanskrit is that it can be intoxicating when one opens oneself to its spirit. Am so glad that you have tasted its joy .. Hope to keep you enraptured throughout this journey with the wonder that is Sanskrit :)
Zara W
This was so interesting and beautiful, thank you Anuradha! I'm wondering if you know of any place I can find a picture of the body with the sounds indicated where you have shown us. It would help me remember this better.
Anuradha Choudry
Dear Zara, Thank you for sharing your experience with this lesson. There is a book by David Frawley called 'Mantra Yoga and Primal Sound' that gives a chart of which sounds relate to which part of the body that you could refer to. Enjoy the practice :)
Gayathri S
Namaste Anuradhaji- Many thanks for such a beautiful practice and for enabling us to invoke the sacredness of the vibration within the human body that is the microcosm of That! I am grateful for your teaching. Blessings! gayathri
Anuradha Choudry
Dear Gayathriji, Thank you for accepting to be part of this journey and sharing you encouraging feedback. Am glad this practice resonates with you. shubhamastu! :)
Sva Djhaya
Very Super!
Anuradha Choudry
Sva Djhaya Glad you enjoyed this :)
Lakshmi S
1 person likes this.
Marvelous thank you very much Anuradha. I am trying to brush up my samskrit. This is the foundation I was looking for lot many years. Thank you very very much
Anuradha Choudry
Dear Lakshmi Suresh , Thank you very much for sharing your encouraging feedback. Am glad that these sharings are serving you well. Shubhamastu :)
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