Bhagavad Gita Chanting

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 Challenge

There are two Gīta Chanting Challenges
These evaluations are conducted during the Sunday Bala Vihar sessions. The mid-year evaluation serves as a preview for the final challenge at the end of the year. Participants chant individually in front of a moderating panel.

Mid-Year  – January 12th
End of Year  – April 27th

See the Syllabus section below for the verses assigned by age-group for evaluation in 2024-25.

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 2024-25

This year, we will be collectively learning karma-sannyāsa-yogaḥ, the fifth chapter of Srimad Bhagavad Gita. These verses will be taught during Sunday Assembly.

Supplementary Classes

2:15-2:45pm: Gita chanting for adults
4:45-5:15pm: Gita chanting for children (2 groups)

Verses for Evaluation 2024-25

Class	Mid Year	End of Year
Shishu Vihar (Pre-school)	5.1 – 5.3	5.4 – 5.6
Bharadwaj (KG)	5.1 – 5.6	5.7 – 5.11
Prahalada (Grade1)	5.1 – 5.8	5.9 – 5.16
Dhruva (Grade 2)	5.1 – 5.8	5.9 – 5.16
Sandeepany (Grade 3)	5.1 – 5.13	5.14 – 5.25
Vashista (Grade 4)	5.1 – 5.13	5.14 – 5.25
Vyasa (Grade 5&6)	5.1 – 5.15	5.16 – 5.29
Shankara (Grade 7&8)	5.1 – 5.15	5.16 – 5.29
Chinmayam (Highschool)	5.1 – 5.15	5.16 – 5.29
Adults	5.1 – 5.15	5.16 – 5.29

Resources

---