Chant lesson

गुरुर्ब्रह्मा

Guru Vandana

Metre: Anuṣṭubh

Four quarters of 8 syllables. The 5th syllable is usually light and the 6th heavy; the 7th is heavy in the 1st and 3rd quarters and light in the 2nd and 4th. The śloka metre of the epics.

8 syllables per quarter (pāda)

Light and heavy syllables

A syllable is heavy (guru, —) if it has a long vowel (ā ī ū e ai o au), ends in ṃ or ḥ, or is followed by two consonants. Otherwise it is light (laghu, ◡) — hold heavy syllables about twice as long.

— heavy◡ light

Walk through each line

गुरुर्ब्रह्मा गुरुर्विष्णुर्गुरुर्देवो महेश्वरः

gu◡rur—brah—mā—gu◡rur—viṣ—ṇur—gu◡rur—de—vo—ma◡heś—va◡raḥ—

16 syllables · about 2 quarter(s) of 8

गुरुः साक्षात् परं ब्रह्म तस्मै श्रीगुरवे नमः

gu◡ruḥ—sāk—ṣāt—pa◡raṃb—rah—ma◡tas—maiś—rī—gu◡ra◡ve—na◡maḥ—

16 syllables · about 2 quarter(s) of 8

Syllables are marked automatically from the transliteration; the last syllable of a quarter may be counted either way.

Practise with a generated chant

Pace

The practice voice is AI-generated and may not follow traditional svara or metre exactly.