Dear Harsha,

As far as early Vedic is concerned, I think that an important source for mantra recitation is Vedic observations of animal vocalization, such as in the RV frog hymn, RV 7.103, the basic theme of which is that Brahmins sit around a vat of soma chanting their mantras, just as frogs sit around a lake chanting theirs. Such analogies are also found in the calling of cows to their calves, the neighing of horses, the bleating of goats, etc.

Frits Staal has written about the correlation between mantras and bird-song, of course.

As far as I know, no one else has published more about this, but I am presently writing about it for a forthcoming RV anthology.

Best wishes,

George Thompson

On Fri, May 11, 2012 at 11:02 AM, Harsha Dehejia <harshadehejia@hotmail.com> wrote:

Friends~

I w ant to include the Aesthetics of the Hindu Sound in my course and I find that I do not have enough material.

Can you please recommend a book or any essays that you have written or read?

Kind regards.

Harsha
Prof. Harsha V. Dehejia