It’s a Moon day today, and it really feels like a holiday. i try not to sleep in too late, i got up by 4:30. if i sleep later then it’s that much harder to wake up the next day. yesterday Sharath moved my start time up to 6am so on practice days i’m up by 4am. some people left at the end of the month, those who were here for only one month, so the shala feels a little vacant with under 60 people. the monsoon rains are starting and the mornings are getting cooler.
today being the new moon, this week is the start of a 4 week long course chanting the sutras with Jayasree. she is a local legend of sorts, a retired Sanskrit scholar, with a divine, melodious voice and a very simple, lovely way about her which makes studying the sutras all the more enjoyable. it’s like learning Sanskrit from your grandma.
the classes are held in a large family house, which feels a bit like a seniors rest home when you walk in. there are usually a few old guys watching tv in the front room. then you go through a door in the back and down a outdoor corridor to a small room on the right. it’s a library/office, computer on the desk which is always on, and the walls are lined with books, mostly Sanskrit volumes, but there are many yoga books in English as well, and various commentaries and translations of the sutras.
we sit on straw mats on the floor, there are usually around 10 students, and Jayasree sits up on a wooden couch. she always wears a sari, and she appears completely comfortable sitting with her legs folded underneath her, for the entire 90 minute session, hardly ever adjusting her seat. she eminates a stira-sukam ease in her posture and there is a clarity in her eyes, slightly magnified by her glasses. she seems to be constantly smiling, in between verses.
we always start with a chant to Ganesha, the remover of obstacles, and usually followed by a chant to Saraswati, who is the Goddess of learning, music, and speech. this week we are reciting the first 15 sutras of each chapter. the course outline is to add 15 new sutras each week, so that by the end of the month we will be chanting the whole book, all four chapters.
it’s become one of my morning rituals before i go to practice to chant the sutras that i have memorized so far. it sets a nice tone for the practice and it’s a good pranayama exercise as well. i might have to start getting up earlier as we get further through the book.
peace
