According to the scriptures, the entire universe has manifested from the divine and all-encompassing vibration of the sound of Aum. Phonetically the Om or Aum sound has three components A+U+M which correspond to the cycle of birth life and death or ‘A’ sound for creation, ‘U’ for sustenance and ‘M’ sound for destruction and the combines sound of Aum is considered a celebration of the creative powers of the universe.
Aum is found abundantly in ancient Hindu, Buddhist and Jain scriptures. According to these ancient volumes of deep spiritual knowledge, Aum is the origin of all things and essence of the supreme absolute consciousness, aatma or the Brahmand. Also called Pranava, Omkaar precedes all Hindu prayers, chants, verses and scriptures including the Vedas, Puranas, Upanishads.
In The Autobiography of A Yogi, Paramhamsa Yogananda explains how everything in the universe is ultimately a vibration, that the physical world is made of vibrations; that at the most subtle level of atoms within the nucleus, the proton and neutron vibrate and that every object is determined by the types, speed and kinds of vibrations.
It is only with recent research that frequencies of sound are measured, controlled and manipulated to alter consciousness, to heal or promote balance, wellbeing or even work as painkillers! Sound vibrations have immense potential!
Zodiac & Swar
There are 12 zodiac signs corresponding to 12 houses in the planetary chart of an individual; just as there are 12 notes of music in the universal scale of sounds. Each note or swar is linked to a zodiac sign which can also be said vicea versa, that every zodiac sign owns a specific note or swar. So now we know that every zodiac signs’s sound vibration has its typical range of frequency that carries its own vibration.
(Here you could have a circular image of zodiac signs).
Planets & Swar
The zodiac has twelve planets (12 heavenly bodies) for twelve signs, out of which seven are proper planets, five are retrograde-able or with dual motion while two are fixed or unchangeable. The unchangeable or fixed heavenly bodies are sun and the moon, which do not change position, the five retrograde-able heavenly bodies include Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. The remaining heavenly bodies are considered to be the seven proper planets.
The Sun and the Moon represent swar Sa and Pa, which are always ‘sure’ in astrological parlance or which are fixed and do not change. Each planet owns two zodiac signs each. Check the table below:
Here you can see the ruling planet for each Swar:
Swar ‘SA’ is ruled by the Sun
Sa = Sun
Re = Mercury
Ga = Venus
Ma = Mars
Pa = Moon
Dha = Jupiter
Ni = Saturn
As mentioned earlier five swar are changeable except sa and pa which are fixed. There are are also the komak swar. Thus each planet owns a shudha and a komal swar. See how below:
Indian astrology in intrinsically linked to healing. Indian classical music has a scientific origin wherein the combination of certain notes create a raaga. Each raaga is ascribed to a certain mood, time of the day and health benefit. For instance Ahir Bhairav is associated with Aries, Bhoopali with Taurus, Darbari with Gemini, Kafi for Cancer, Kedar goers with Leo, Shree with Virgo, Poorvi for Libra, Malkauns for the Scorpio, Durga for Sagittarius, Bihag for Capricorn, Khamaj for Aquarius and Juanpuri for Pisces.
Here we can see how astrology and music connect and for a true practitioner, there will no chart made without giving a medicinal solution, even if it means writing a raga on a prescription note. So ideally, chanting the mantra or shloka of a planet, in a particular raaga (dominated in vaadi and samavaadi with particularly healing notes) can elevate the malefic effects of that planet on the sadhaka.
The list below shows swar (in shudh or their komal or teevra version) with corresponding ruling planets and zodiacs. Serious and curious readers can further explore vaadi and samavaadi, jaati, thaat, sargam in relation to planets and list charts with these as a ready reckoner.
It is important to note that unless suggested by a professional astrologer, do not practice swara unless suggested by a trusted astrologer, because if a planet is housed in an “enemy house” in your natal birth chart, continuous chanting of the notes may empower it.
