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Brief Explanation of NADA YOGA:
Click here to listen to K.
Sridhar speak
about Nada Yoga (real audio, approx. 3 minutes)
In the Hindu tradition, music is an essentially divine art. This
tradition teaches that NADA, or sound, is the god BRAHMA, who is
charged with divine energy which calms the suffering heart of all
beings. So sound has an operative role. It is the 'sonorous value'
of Vedic hymns more than their meaning or beauty which makes chanted
prayer beneficial.
A great number of texts have been united under the name of GANDHARVA
VEDA (the Veda of celestial musicians). These texts refer to the
metaphysics and science of sound; to semantics; to the symbolism
and history of music; and to the artistic, magical, and therapeutic
applications of sound phenomena. There are only a few summaries
left of this vast musical theory due to the loss of many texts.
These ancient texts show us two types of sound:
1. ANAHATA NADA, un-manifested sound, is the sound of the universe,
the sound eternally present, the vibration of ether. For the yogi
it is the sound heard from him. The goddess, SARASWATI, personifies
this causal sound which is eternal energy and dynamic spirit.
2. AHATA NADA, is sound manifested by air vibration.
The deeper we go into the research of causal sound, the more profound
becomes the sound of music and of language. As we study both types
of sound, we are forced to withdraw from the diverse and complex
and return towards Unity. It is yoga by sound or NADA YOGA.
The type of vibrations to which a person is in accord colors the
note of his soul. Ayurvedic philosophy divides these vibratory states
into three grades. The three GUNAS are: TAMAS which is inertia,
RAJAS which is dynamism and activity, and SATTVA which is purity
and balance.
The traditional Indian musician never forgets that sound acts on
all of the three bodies, the physical, the subtle, and the causal
body. These three bodies or 'levels of consciousness' are never
thought of independently. In this mystic trilogy, the physical body
constitutes the bearer of all experience.
The Vedic Sutras and the classical music tradition of India pay
close attention to the positioning of the body for the emission
of sounds. The correct posture and breath is said to have an effect
on the seven CHAKRAS, or psychic centers of the subtle body. The
seven natural and equally spaced notes of the western diatonic scale
are in rapport with the seven chakras. These notes are called: SA,
RI, GA, MA, PA, DA, NI.
A RAGA, or melodic scale, is organized like the hierarchy within
a family: VADI, the predominate or mother note; SAMVADI, the dominant
or father note; and the resulting children notes. The SHADJAM, or
keynote SA, is related to BRAHMA and is the beginning or departure
note of all musical manifestation. The relationships of the following
notes in the Raga give that particular scale its mood, time of day,
coloration, and impact on the chakras.
PRANA, commonly translated by the word 'breath' corresponds more
exactly to the Latin word 'plenum' as used in the English word 'plenitude.'
Traditionally we learn that prana is a vital energy compared to
a great fire, revived by each inspiration. Prana is believed to
act on psychic life. Therefore, it is a basic support in the practice
of musicotherapy. Prana penetrates the human entity through the
psychic centers and circulates by means of canals called NADIS which
form the threads of the subtle body comparable to the arteries and
veins of the concrete body.
Indian thought schematizes the individual as being formed by several
sheaths, KOSHA, one of which is the Pranamaya Kosha, a layer corresponding
to the vital energy of Prana. Because it is the pranic sheath which
provides the link between the physical sheaths and the subtle sheaths,
the individual who takes control of these currents can enjoy a perfect
balance. Respiration is the manifestation of one of our bodies rhythms.
We have to follow that rhythm and not our mental one which tends
to be over rapid. Indian music has achieved perfection in these
techniques of control and so is very powerful.
For western ears it is helpful to set aside music theory and listen
with an open heart. Indian music is melodic, modal, improvised,
imaginative, individual and interiorised. It is essentially vocal,
the instruments simply copy different vocal techniques. The musician
aligns his internal state to the modal scale, coloration, and rhythm
of the music. The listener, in a state of total receptivity, participates
by a willingness to become at one with the music. In this way, the
divine energy which calms the suffering heart is felt.
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