Why chant Gīta?
The Gīta Chanting program began as a Bala Vihar activity that has now expanded to include the participation of all age groups. Gurudev envisioned the chanting competitions as a doorway to life-long friendship with the Gita, kindling a progressive journey from chanting to studying to learning to living the Gita.
Swami Pujya Guruji Tejomananda gives a beautiful answer in the video below.
With this underlying goal of spiritual evolution, children, parents, and grandparents have been encouraging each other to participate in the annual Gīta Chanting competitions offered in Chinmaya Mission Centers worldwide.
Gīta Chanting Competitions
Dates for Gīta Chanting Competitions
End of Year (Adults: April 21st and Children: April 28th)
These evaluations are conducted during the Sunday Bala Vihar sessions. Participants chant in person, individually in front of a moderating panel.
Mid-Year (December 10th)
The mid-year evaluation serves as a preview for the final competition at the end of the year. Participants chant individually in front of a moderating panel.
See the Syllabus section below for the verses assigned by age-group for evaluation in 2023-24.
Evaluation Criteria
The Rules and Judges’ Scoring Rubric may been downloaded here.
Notes
- Participants are required to chant from memory.
- Verbal prompting may be given by JUDGES ONLY
- As per the Chinmaya Mission west rules, there will strictly be NO SECOND PROMPTING. In order to encourage participants to chant all verses that they have learned, judges will give a second prompt when asked. However, the verses chanted after second prompt will NOT be considered towards the final score.
- Marks will be deducted for mistakes – Refer to “Pronunciations” section of Evaluation criteria manual.
- It has been observed that most participants are chanting all the assigned verses for their grade, In those scenarios, the pronunciation/confidence/diction play the major role in the final scores and determining the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place recipients.
- To avoid conflict of interest:
- Judges/GITA teacher(s) are excluded from competition.
- They can participate in the chanting session, but won’t be scored.
- Judges do NOT evaluate members of their own family.
Syllabus 2023-24
This year, we will be collectively learning jñānakarmasannyāsa-yogaḥ, Chapter 4 of Srimad Bhagavad Gita. These verses will be taught during Sunday Assembly, with supplementary classes from 4:45-5:15pm every Sunday after the Bala Vihar session.
Supplementary Classes
2:15-2:45pm: Gita chanting for adults
4:45-5:15pm: Gita chanting for children (2 groups)
Verses for Evaluation 2023-24
| Class | Mid Year | End of Year |
|---|---|---|
| Shishu Vihar (Pre-school) | 4.1 - 4.3 | 4.4 - 4.7 |
| Bharadwaj (KG) | 4.1 - 4.6 | 4.7 - 4.14 |
| Prahalada (Grade1) | 4.1 - 4.8 | 4.9 - 4.21 |
| Dhruva (Grade 2) | 4.1 - 4.10 | 4.11 - 4.28 |
| Sandeepany (Grade 3&4) | 4.1 - 4.14 | 4.15 - 4.35 |
| Vyasa (Grade 5&6) | 4.1 - 4.16 | 4.17- 4.42 |
| Shankara (Grade 7&8) | 4.1 - 4.16 | 4.17 - 4.42 |
| Chinmayam (Highschool) | 4.1 - 4.16 | 4.17 - 4.42 |
Resources
Chapter 4: Mobile Friendly Chanting Resource (Chanted by Swami Brahmananda-Ji)
Chapter 4: YouTube Tutorial (Chanted by Swami Shantananda-Ji)
Chapter 4: Reference Audio (Chanted by Swami Avyayananda-Ji)
Lyrics:
| English and Sanskrit side-by-side | View/download |
| English | View/download |
| Sanskrit | View/download |
See “Gīta Chanting Competitions” section above for the evaluation criteria.
Instructional Videos:
Sanskrit Chanting Primer Video (Provided by Chinmaya Vrindavan Cranbury)
Additional resources from Chinmaya Mission West
Please see CMW Gita Chanting Webpage, for a further list of resources.
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