Autobiography Chapter 15, Part 5: Yogananda’s favourite festivals

Yogananda Podcast

This episode covers the next section of chapter 15 from:
“Sri Yukteswar sponsored four yearly festivals...”
to
“...the human souls wandering in maya-delusion.”

Summary:
Sri Yukteswar encourages ashram residents to partake religious festivities, particularly those tied to the equinoxes and solstices, and we discuss the cultural and spiritual significance of these events. Paramahansa Yogananda begins in this section to explain the importance of music, chanting, and the Vedas in Indian culture. We share our experiences on the power of music and its potential to evoke emotions and enhance concentration, and finish with the significance of the Goddess of Wisdom, Saraswati, and her association with the musical instrument, the vena. NB: Priyank’s chant on Saraswati did not get recorded correctly on zoom so was removed from this episode!

0:00 Prior episode;
2:11 Religious Festivals;
12:49 The festivities;
22:15 Service;
32:12 Sankirtan;
41:08 The Sama Veda;
48:32 Saraswati, goddess of wisdom;
52:48 Looking ahead (the Saraswati chant is the last link below).

Links discussed in this episode:
https://yogananda.com.au/gurus/yoganandaquotes11.html
https://yssofindia.org/newsletter/jul21/index.html
https://yogananda.org/the-divine-art-of-kirtan-engage
https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samaveda
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saraswati_veena
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/DzjT4zWjBWM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEYds6T4VAM
Homework for next episode— Read, absorb and make notes on the next part of chapter 15:
“The foundation stones of Hindu music are ragas...”
to
“... all its subtle microtonal and rhythmic variations.”

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