Hindus in the United States (and elsewhere) have a wonderful opportunity for buying complete recordings of the traditional recitations of the 4 Vedas in 5 Shakhas (Shakalya RV, Madhyandina YV, Taittiriya YV, Kauthuma Samaveda and Shaunakiya AV)in 80 casettes of 90 minutes duration each. These recordings are done by the Delhi Vedic Trust. The URL of the trust is

http://www.ahista.com/dvt/vedchant.html

Dr. Krishnan, the founder of the Trust, is currently in the United States (in California) and he may be contacted at the telephone number 1-650 968 9585. Best time to call will be between 10 AM and 1 PM.

The English Translations of Devichand (which closely follow the Bhashyas of Swami Dayanand) are provided free for YV, AV, SV. The translations of RV (by Pt. Satyakam Vidyalankar) have to be ourchased separately.

The recitations of AV are done by 4 disciples of the late great Atharvanika Pt. Vasudevlal Ramniklak Pancholi.

Those outside the USA can also contact Dr. Krishnan via email link provided at the website of the Delhi Vedic Trust.

Best wishes

Vishal

this information is much appreciated vishal, but i was wondering if recitations by the north indian school are available.. i've found that though less strict in observance of maatra etc than the south indian chanting, they are often more melodious and calming, as well as slower so the words are individually audible..

The Vedic tradition is much richer in the Deccan than in North India. In fact, it is largely dead in North India except in Varanasi, and other small communities in Ambala, Bahraich, Jaipur etc. In any case, the Atharvaveda recitations in this collection are Gujarati, and the Madhyandina recitations are North Indian. Rigveda is best preserved in Maharashtra and Karnataka (as well as in Tamil Nadu) and this is where you will here these recitations. The Samaveda Jaiminiya chants are of two types: The Nambudiri and the Tamil. The former were available in entirety till a few years ago, when the last exponent who knew them completely died. His disciples do not know the complete recitation. The Samkhayana Rigveda chants in Gujarat died out last century. Saunakiya AV were believed to be dead when fortunately a single scholar was found in Gujarat. There are Atharvavedins at Gokarana (Karnataka), Sitanagaram (AP) and Madurai (TN) but to my knowledge, their chants are influenced by the Taittiriya chants.Kauthuma Samavedins are found in Bihar, Gujarat (almost extinct) and Tamil Nadu. This Shakha was revived in W. Bengal recently by the establishment of a Samaveda Pathashala. Kanva Shakha is recited in Mharashtra, Orissa, Tamil Nadu. Maitrayaniya (I have heard these with my own years 5 years ago at Nashik) is on the verge of extinction. Kathaka probably has not oral tradition left. Paippalada AV is recited in Ekasruti in its entirety by Orissan Brahmins (tradition will be extinct soon, but complete tape recordings were done by Pundit Dukhisyam Pattanayak 2 decades ago). The situation is really bad, thanks to withdrawal of patronage by our Secular Government.

One of my Uncles has however video taped in 27 casettes, the recitations of several Vedic scholars who had gathered at Allahabad in 1992. This collection has been submitted to the VHP office at Delhi, where it will be preserved. I am told by them that there are 12 complete and incomplete oral traditions alive in India today.

Vishal: Namaste.
Some years ago our Gurujee called all the great scholars and Pundits from India from all respective areas on the Vedas at Mount Abu in Rajasthan. They were asked to record all the Mantras under the supervision of our Gurujee. And, luckily, I have one set of those recordings. I have preserved them like a gold-mine. And on certain Satsang occasions, we play them for all our devotees. The reason for recordings by Gurujee was that the Vedas are the very foundation for Sanatan Dharm and the upcoming generation should not be deprived of genuine and correct recordings. Harihi Om.

vishal, is there any way of knowing whether the shakha is the north or south indian kauthama shakha of SV just by listening to it?
are the north indian chants slower and more melodious because of the persian and muslim influence that the south didn't have?
and please define 'shakha' properly for me...

Dear Ashegan,

The concept of Shakha is very difficult to elaborate and there are no hard and fast rules of determing the lines of division between different Shakhas. Basically, two Shakhas differ either by the use of a different Samhita, a different Brahman, a different Kalpa (or a portion of the Kalpa) or more than 1 of the above.
Examples:
1. The Baudhayana and Apastama Shakha of YV differ only in their Kalpa. They use the same Samhita-Brahmana-Aranyaka
2. The Sakala and the Asvalayana of Rigveda Sakhas differ in the Samhitas and the Kalpa. The Brahmana is the same.

As of now, there are texts OR Oral traditions (complete or fragmentary) of the following Shakhas:
1. Rigveda: Shakala, Asvalayana, Shamkhayana, Bashkala, Kausitaki (Brahmana and Grhya)
2. Sukla Yajurveda: Madhyandina, Kanva (two types), Katyayana (fragment of its Brahmana available in Punjab)
3. Taittiriya Krishna YV: Apastamba, Baudhayana (or Bodhayana), Vadhula, Vaikhanasa, Satyashadha-Hiranyakeshin, Bharadvaja, Atreyi, Agnivesya
4. Maitrayani Krishna YV: Manava and Varaha
5. Kathaka: Laugakshi, Charayaniya (only the Siksha and the Arshanukramani)
6. Kapishthala Katha (only a fragmentary Samhita and the Grhya sutra)
7. Atharvaveda: Paippalada (only Samhita and Grhya sutra), Shaunaka
8. Samaveda: Jaiminiya, Ranayaniya, Kauthuma

So 26 in all.
There are 1 or two texts for other Shakhas available. For instance
1. Khadira Grhya of SV Shardula Sakha
2. Anukramani of Naigeya SV shakha
________________

Kauthuma SV was originally recited in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, Bengal, UP. The SV school of Darbhanga (Bihar) was revived with the help of Kauthumis of Tamil Nadu. According to traditions, the SV had become extint in large parts of TN, and so some Tamil scholars went to Poona to learn this Shakha from the Maharashtrian Pundits. Ironically, at present, no Samavedins are present in Poona now, to my knowledge.

Gujarat, once the stronghold of Kauthumas, is very weak in SV now and I have heard recordings of very fragmentary Kauthuma recitations. Baroda still might have some Samaveda recitors. If we hear the Samaveda nowadays, we can assume that it is from South India. For a good book on different Samavedic chants, read

"Samavedic Chants" by Howard Wayne

The north Indian chants sound more melodious because of different chanting styles, not due to Islamic influences. In many cases, the N Indian styles are simply wrong and do not take into conseration the accents of the text. The region that has preserved the recitations most conservatively is Kerala.

In many cases, the recitation of a dying Shakha has been adopted by Brahmins of other Shakhas to prevent the former from extinction. An example is the recitation of AV by RV Brahmins of Maharashtra with the encouragement of the Peshwas (and also in modern times). Naturally, the RV recitation cast their influence on the AV recitations.

So much for now

Vishal

Namaste Sri Prem Rishiji,

I am thankful to you for posting this valuable information. Could you post here (or email to me) more details like
1. Length of the recitations
2. Shakhas recited
3. Places from where there Srotriyas came?

Regards

Vishal