Wednesday, September 27, 2017

2017 09 27 Maha Saraswati Chants, Mantras, and Songs

A playlist dedicated to Maha Saraswati for these final three days of fall Navratri.

The final video in this dozen is a performance, a modern aarti in song and dance that is very remarkable and enjoyable!

12 videos play for 69  minutes

01 Sarasvati Bija Mantra by Shambhava Chopra 3:05

02 Saraswati Gayatri Mantra  Artist: Sujata Varalwar  4:45

03 Jay Jagadishwari Mata Saraswati - Pt. Bhimsen Joshi Bhajan   8:16

04 Sri Guru datta | Nrusimha saraswati Ashtakam  5:38

05 Beautiful Maha Saraswati Stotram with Lyrics!  5:58

06 Hey Shaarday Maa (Saraswati Bhajan) - Pt. Umesh Persad  4:45

07 Sri Saraswathi Ashtothram | #Dussehra #Navratri (108 names of Saraswati)  5:41

08 Saraswati Vandana  5:56

09  Awesome Sarasvati Maa Bhajan by Anup Jalota  5:18

10  Saraswati Chalisa with Lyrics | Saraswati Mantra | Bhakti Songs  7:11

11 Sarasvati Bhajan:जय सरस्वती वरदे महरानि(Jai Saraswati Varde)  5:08

12 Maa Saraswati Ni Karo Aarti - Saraswati Vandana - Saraswati Aarti - Shyamal Saumil  6:51
Modern aarti in song and dance, singer Darshana Thakkar
"Maa Saraswati Ni Karo Aarti" specially written by Tushar Shukla for Anushthaan Parva 3. The concert started with this Devotional Aarti. Artistes seek for the blessings of Maa Saraswati and urged to shower her blessings and make this universe peaceful & harmonious. Darshana Thakkar rendered her soothing voice along with chorus. Chandan Thakore and Nirali Thakore has choreographed and expressed the lyrics through their dance in Bharatnatyam form. Shyamal Saumil has created a Blissful musical arrangement of this Aarti.






 Playlist url: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLACmwZPBGZMdvBOkI55ZTL_omqlKLp1hv

Thursday, September 7, 2017

2017 09 07 Krishna Virtual Kirtan

A playlist of devotional songs to Lord Krishna featuring Indian artists.
9 songs play for 75 minutes.

EnJOY!
01 - Shri Krishna Gayatri- Suresh Wadkar ( Album: Sacred Morning Mantras Muralidhar Krishna ) 7:32

02 - Murali Manohar Gopala - Shree Krishna's Bhajan | Sachin Limiye 9:52

03 - Krishna Krishna - by little Gopikas 4:01

04 - Shri Krishna Govind Hare Murari by Anup Jalota 10:37

05 - Govinda Bolo Hari Gopala Bolo (Bliss, Bliss, Bliss) By Kumar Vishu 10:09

06 - Hare Krishn Hare Krishna || Popular Hari Naam Sankirtan || Devi Chitralekhaji 8:43

07 - HE KRISHNA GOPAL HARI With Jagjit Singh 7:37

08 - Govinda Jaya Jaya - Namaste 10:19

09 - Beautiful Aarti ( Just Watch ) 5:45




Playlist url:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLACmwZPBGZMdIypkI3ujOS0_q2FbYpxHW

Monday, January 16, 2017

2017 01 16 Shiva Chants and Mantras

To see a list of the various styles of chants and mantras with definitions, see the Glossary of Styles article

Nine videos play for 74 minutes. EnJOY!

1 Shiv Gayatri Mantra with Lyrics - Om Tatpurushaya Vidmahe - Peaceful Chant  5:19

2 Shiv Chalisa with Lyrics By Anuradha Paudwal I Full Video Song 11:55

3 Shiva Rudrastakam 9:00

3a Shri Rudrashtakam website link for lyrics in Sanskrit and English

4 SRI SHIVA KAVACHAM with English Translation 10:44

5 Shiv Raksha Stotra - Pandit Jasraj 7:41

6 LORD SHIVA BEEJ MANTRA FOR ALL TYPE OF HAPINESS AND PROSPERITY. 10:48

7 Lingashtakam | Lord Shiva Special Slokas | Sanskrit Slokas And Mantras | DevotionalTV  3:31

8 Om Namah Shivaya ( Awesome DHUN ) (Must Listen)  10:09

9 (NEW) Awesome Lord Shiva Aarti (NEW) 4:35






Playlist url:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLACmwZPBGZMe2KrakqW-A2mMXM2ycDs7m

Friday, January 6, 2017

Glossary of Styles of Hindu Chants and Mantras



Aarti also spelled arti, arati, arathi, aarthi (In Devanagari: आरती ārtī) is a Hindu religious ritual of worship, a part of puja, in which light from wicks soaked in ghee (purified butter) or camphor is offered to one or more deities. Aartis also refer to the songs sung in praise of the deity, when lamps are being offered.


The term ashtakam (Sanskrit: अष्टकम् aṣṭakam), also often written astakam, is derived from the Sanskrit word aṣṭā, meaning "eight". In context of poetic compositions, 'ashtakam' refers to a particular form of poetry, written in eight stanzas.


Bija Mantra
Bija: In Hinduism and Buddhism, the Sanskrit term Bīja(बीज) (Jp. 種子 shuji) (Chinese 种子 zhǒng zǐ), literally seed, is used as a metaphor for the origin or cause of things and cognate with bindu.
Mantra: A "Mantra" (/ˈmæntrə, ˈmɑːn-, ˈmʌn-/ (Sanskrit: मंत्र);[2]) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words in Sanskrit believed by practitioners to have psychological and spiritual powers.


Chalisa: literally “Forty Chaupai” and indicates forty verses of poetry together in a devotional song. Most popular are the Hanuman, Ganesh, Durga, and Shiv Chalisas.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaupai_(poetry)
A chaupai (चौपाई) is a quatrain verse of Indian poetry, especially medieval Hindi poetry, that uses a metre of four syllables.


Gayatri (Sanskrit: gāyatrī) is the feminine form of gāyatra, a Sanskrit word for a song or a hymn, having a Vedic meter of three padas, or lines, of eight syllables. In particular, it refers to the Gayatri Mantra and the Goddess Gāyatrī as that mantra personified.


Kavacam, Kavacham, Kavach is a mantra of protection, not a particular style of chant. It is often comprised of Stotram verses.


Shloka (meaning "song", from the root śru, "hear"[1]) is a category of verse line developed from the Vedic Anustubh poetic meter. It is the basis for Indian epic verse, and may be considered the Indian verse form par excellence, occurring, as it does, far more frequently than any other meter in classical Sanskrit poetry.[1] The Mahabharata and Ramayana, for example, are written almost exclusively in shlokas.[2]


Stotra or Stotram (stotra) is a Sanskrit word, that means "ode, eulogy or a hymn of praise".[1][2] It is a literary genre of Indian texts designed to be melodically sung, in contrast to shastras which are composed to be recited.[1]



Sunday, January 1, 2017

Ashtavakra Gita - a classical Advaita Vedanta scripture

If you happen to celebrate January 1st as the new year, Happy New Year to you!

Today's post is a bit different, not a playlist, but an audio book at the end.

Today you will find links to a writing I just learned about this morning, the Ashtavakra Gita. Gita means song (which I sometimes take to mean poem or other writing that may/may not be set to actual music), and Ashtavakra is a Sage who taught King Janaka about Oneness.

Here is a bit of background from Wikipedia:
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashtavakra_Gita
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Identification of Ashtavakra

"Ashtavakra is probably identical to the holy sage with the same name who appears in Mahabharata, though the connection is not clearly stated in any of the texts. Mukherjee identifies Janaka as the father of Sita and disciple of the sage Yajnavalkya in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. Janaka is also depicted as a king who has attained perfection in the Bhagavad Gita (III,20,25).
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Overview


Janaka debating with Ashtavakra. Art from the epic Ashtavakra (2010).
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"Ashtavakra Gita is a dialogue between Ashtavakra and Janaka on the nature of soul, reality and bondage. It offers a radical version of non-dualistic philosophy. The Gita insists on complete unreality of external world and absolute oneness of existence. It does not mention any morality or duties, and therefore is seen by commentators as 'godless'. It also dismisses names and forms as unreal and a sign of ignorance.
In a conversation between Janaka and Ashtavakra, pertaining to the deformity of his crooked body, Ashtavakra explains that the size of a Temple is not affected by how it is shaped, and the shape of his own body does not affect himself (or Atman). The ignorant man's vision is shrouded by names and forms but a wise man sees only himself: "


There are a  number of resources listed at the end of the article. I liked these two in particular: 

Ashtavakra Gita in Devanagari with English translation side by side

 John Richards translation in pdf format