Veda mantras are classified as śruti and can be imagined as cosmic vibrational patterns that were revealed to rishis (seers) in their deeply meditative states, in the form of sound. These mantras need to be learnt and chanted following specific rules of chanting, exactly the way they were originally received and passed on. Until about a century ago, the science, technique and art of Yoga and Vedic chanting largely remained accessible only to select male members of the Hindu society. Considered to be among the primary revivers of Yoga in the modern times, made the knowledge widely accessible by breaking the barriers of race, religion, caste and gender. Sri Desikachar, his student, and son carried the tradition forward through the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram.
According to this tradition, the core purpose of Yoga is to enable tapasya, the stoking and tending of the inner fire, so that we may burn the seeds of duḥkha and progressively experience the Divine Self within. This tradition which considers āsanā a form of dhāraṇā (focused attention) on the body, and prāṇāyāma a form of dhāraṇā on the breath, sees Vedic chanting as a form of dhāraṇā that connects to the very source of creation, nāda braḥmam, through sound.
Since the Sanskrit language engages all part of the vocal system, chanting Sanskrit mantras are known to help develop clarity of speech, respiratory capacity, the ability to access our meditative mind, and so on. According to Atharva Veda, ‘yantram parimitam, mantram aparimitam’ (the form of yantra has limited benefits, and the sound of mantra has unlimited benefits).
