Same & Different
by Lori Kenney, based on an interview with Gurudevi Nirmalananda
The Ashram’s version of Shree Guru Gita is both the same and different than when Gurudevi Nirmalananda first learned to chant it with Baba Muktananda. He arranged it with the men and women taking turns chanting the first and second lines of each verse. This allowed gathering one’s breath and focus while the other line was being chanted. Gurudevi loved it so much that she would chant both lines, doing so quietly so she didn’t disturb those around her. The more she chanted it, the easier it became and the more she loved it.
During the eleven years she lived in the Ashram, Gurudevi has chanted thousands of Guru Gitas! She also played harmonium and served as the head of the music department in several ashrams and meditation centers. Playing the harmonium meant she had to sort out which notes went on which syllables, which increased her familiarity and intimacy with the Gita.
After Baba’s Mahasamadhi in 1982, Gurudevi came back to America to be a soccer mom, driving kids around in her station wagon. At this point, she was chanting the Guru Gita two or three times a week, and would listen to a recording of it when she wasn’t able to chant it herself. Gurudevi found she could chant it faster without a recording in the background.
Opening the Ashram in 2010, Gurudevi realized that many would be doing the chant for the first time. To support people in learning the text and pronunciation, Gurudevi chants both lines and invites everyone to decide for themselves whether to chant the whole verse with her or just half of it.
Sanskrit is a beautifully rhythmic language, not an accented language like English. Gurudevi Nirmalananda is now giving pronunciation lessons online to help us with our learning process. For each verse, there is the word-by-word repetition, then a slow chant to practice the melody and pronunciation, followed by five or six repetitions of the same verse at the usual pace. Click here to access our online pronunciation lessons.
The word-by-word pronunciation and slow chanting is best learned with a chanting book in hand. The book and the online pronunciation lesson allow you to link up the words on the page, the placement of your tongue, the use of your breath and your voice.
After a recent chant, a guest told Gurudevi that she could listen to her voice forever. Gurudevi responded that she didn’t have a very good voice when she first began chanting but, “when you chant to God, She gives you a good voice!”
Many wonderful CD versions of Shree Guru Gita are available; our Ashram version will be at a faster pace than other arrangements, as Baba described so that you practice pranayama by chanting each verse in one breath. Or you can take a quick breath between the first and second lines if you need it. Because of the pace, the full text is completed in 30 minutes.
updated 8/9/2021