Parjanya, Croaking frogs and Vedic chanting
We will explore three related ideas in this post, namely, Parjanya the rain god, Manduka, the croaking frog and Vedic chanting in a group. Since the past few decades, some people trivialize the sound of Vedic chants by comparing it to the croaking of frogs. Further they quote the croaking frog poem in the Rig Veda as a reference. Did the original poet really hold a low opinion of group chants? Indologists took a special note of the 103rd poem in the 7th mandala of the Rig Veda. They call this poem with its ten verses the croaking frog poem. Rishis Vasishta cognized this poem. Rishis associated each poem with a Devata or a divine being. Strangely, Vasishta associated Manduka or the croaking frog to be the Devata of his poem. Certainly, the poem is to Parjanya, the rain God, who inspires frogs to croak at the first rains of the season. Vasishta’s croaking frog poem What is the special