Here’s 2 myths that I come across many people taking about often.
- That they don’t know the perfect pronunciation of various mantras and hence they shouldn’t attempt chanting at all.
- That they don’t understand the meanings of the various mantras, and hence they will not be effective.
Both these are myths, and I’m fully convinced of them.
Why?
For 1, every puja or homa or havan or stotra worship has praayaschittam or forgiveness prayers associated with it. Forgiveness for what? For wrong pronunciation, among many other things! So if perfect pronunciation was a pre-requisite, then this forgiveness prayer would never have been included in the first place.
For 2, even if we ourselves don’t understand what we chant, surely the Devi/Devata we are directing the chant towards, understands everything, and that’s all that matters!