To spread the original, universal and eternal truth, path or law of yoga, which remains forever the same in essence, yet always adapts to the time and place.

Indian Music & Mantras
Indian music and mantras change consciousness in a very profound way.


Indian music and mantras bring us back into the physical world every day. This used to be a tradition in the ancient times with kings and saints. Most of the early indian music was written by saints for devotion and meditation. The kings, like the people, wanted to live in peace amidst all the problems of administration, so they employed the musicians to create indian music for the different times of day to give them better feelings.

The tradition is not entirely forgotten even in contemporary, commercialized India. Early every morning the all-India radio stations begin their programming with a "morning tone," a small indian music composition played by V.M. Yog, one of the country's most noted violinists. And the disc jockeys know enough not to slap an evening raga on the record wheel at breakfast time.

This is most important because indian music influences us directly through the sound tones. We are made of sound. The first thing that came out in Creation was sound, then from sound came the element Akasha. There is a sound essence, or tanmatra, behind each of the five elements. But inappropriate indian music (and other music) can cause all kinds of problems, can even make people go crazy. What we're doing with electronic sounds - radios, blenders, vacuum cleaners, TV signals, rock music - is making the whole planet go crazy.

The five basic tattvas or elements, correspond to the first five chakras - earth, water, fire, air and ether - in that order. While the chakral merry-go-round may be entertaining or dismaying, the goal of meditative practice is to transcend the tattvas and thereby achieve the nondual consciousness that liberates us from the illusory world.

Special indian music can be created to fit the vibrations of special occasions, such as indian music for morning or evening meditation. A very special kind of indian music is the chanting of mantras, as a part of Mantra Yoga. To better attune oneself to the vibrational pattern of the planets of vedic astrology, special mantras can be used for example in chanting to the Sun and the Moon. Another angle completely is the chanting of chakra sounds and thus helping in the awakening of Kundalini Energy.

You can find more information as well as free online mantras and indian music extracts on the following pages :

Mantras for worship of Ganesha, Durga and many other deities

Indian Music for Morning or Evening Meditation

Chants to the Sun and the Moon

Sounds of the Chakras


About this page

This introduction to indian music and mantras was extracted from "Ayurveda's Renaissance Man - for Harish Johari - artist, chanter of mantras, composer of indian music for meditation, chef, teacher, tantric devotee - desire is the brush, and the five senses are the palette." - Interview by Richard Leviton for Yoga Journal, issue July/August 1991.


Related pages

Sanatan Society is an international networking association of students of the late Harish Johari, joining efforts to promote his teachings of yoga philosophy, tantra, worship, art and love. Sanatan Society stands for the original, universal and eternal truth, path or law of yoga. Though it is Hindu in origin, Sanatan Society is not limited to any religion, race, time or country, nor in fact to any particular organisation. More about Sanatan Society...


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