Can gods mentioned in the vedas like Indra, Varuna, Agni, Vayu understand english. Can you pray to them in English or do you have to strictly stick to sanskrit to pray to them even if you are praying to them normally and not doing any yajña.
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Yes. They can understand English. They came up with your English :-)– Gopal AnantharamanCommented Jun 16 at 5:27
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Seems like deities talk in para or paschyanti vak. These languages can’t be spoken. Seems like it’s a universal language. Advanced spiritual beings can understand. You can explore about it. I will do the same.– SpiritualSeekerCommented Nov 9 at 15:36
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Here is the reference you many like– SpiritualSeekerCommented Nov 9 at 16:19
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3 Answers
As the Sanskrit Vedic hymns are directly spoken by the Rishis whose consciousness is already liberated from Maya (illusion), their words possess extraordinary spiritual potency. One can hear the audios to become familiar with the original prayers as Shravanam (hearing) is given significance in Vedic culture.
Otherwise, one can pray in any language as the higher beings are not bound by a single language.
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1Your answer could be improved with additional supporting information. Please edit to add further details, such as citations or documentation, so that others can confirm that your answer is correct. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center.– Community BotCommented Apr 12 at 4:58
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Followers of Master CVV, Kumbakonam TN offer prayers as recommended in English to masters including Master EK, Madame Blavatsky etal. Commented Jun 12 at 5:30
The Vedic deities are mostly nature based i.e., they basically constitute the universe. So, they are literally everywhere around us, like Indra is the deity of lightning, rain, war,etc., Saraswati is the deity of knowledge, wisdom, speech (and by extension, of expression itself), Vishnu as the seat of consciousness pervading the entire cosmos, Agni as the deity of transformative energy (said to manifest on Earth as fire, in the atmosphere as lightning, etc.), the Agni-suktam even mentions that Agni could possibly give Chariots the power of horses (perhaps the Rishis believed that some day humans could harness this ability of Agni to manifest in different forms to give mechanical power, an intersting intuition for these ancient guys!). So yes, whether they can understand English and any language created by humans doesn't matter because they are not bound at all by languages, yet they can communicate with us and affect us by just being there. Ex. Excessive rainfall was seen as the wrath of Indra. We are simply too insignificant to them.
Language of the deities
The Vedic Yajna parampara is ancient, and Sanskrit is also called Devavani. Through Mantras and Agni we offer something to the deity, and after successful completion of Yajna we expect to recieve boons (Abhishta) from the deity. Why? Because the Vedic mantras are supposed (by the legendary Rishis who authored the Vedas) to be creations of Brahma (the self-created primordial entity that made our universe), so are supposed to be remnants of the Creation event itself, so by chanting these Mantras in the right way, it works as a carrier of our message to nature.Reference: Rigvedadi Bhashya Bhumika, Dayanand Saraswati Can you chant in English? It is like you have binary executable files but you want to rewrite the code (after decompiling)in natural language. It simply won't work.
I have seen English devotional service conducted in a traditional Hindu temple. by Diaspora Hindus from Africa.
Some devotees of Sri Aurobindo read from his "Savitri" in English as prayer.
There is a book of prayers called divyaprabandham that is in Tamil and the Srivaishnavite community regards them as of equal value with the Vedas and other Sanskrit scripture.
The phenomenally popular Hanuman Chalisa is in Awadhi.
Even Sanskrit prayers need not be pronounced correctly except for karma Kanda mantras:
Does Hindu Scripture say that only mantras of Karma Kanda need to be pronounced exactly?
