The Vedic shlökas composed in various chhands are also called shrutīs. These shrutīs are said to have descended as direct knowledge into the heightened senses of the rishīs while they meditated upon the mysteries of the Universe. These mantrās have a cadence and they are accented. When a syllable is stressed it is called udātta , literally meaning acute or high. Then there is anudātta, which is neither high nor low, it is grave or middle. The latter is indicated in old Vedic texts by a line below the syllable. The last is svarita , which is low. This is marked by a vertical line over the syllable in the Vedās and Brāhmaṇās. These accents lead us to the musical notes of Dhwani.

The seven ‘lights’ in the sky are the Sun, Moon and the five planets visible to the naked eye. This symmetry is reflected into the Dhwani or music. The primary seven notes are sā, re, gā, mā pā, dhā, ni [40] which are also called svars or ‘the shining gold’, just like the vowels of the Mātrikā Chakra letters. If we take the first four notes we get the word Sargama or the name for the musical scale in the Indian classical system. It is these seven svars that bring about the accent in the chhands – ga and ni are udātta; re and dhā are anudātta and sā, mā, pā are svarita. Thus, when the mantrās are chanted, it is these musical notes that are followed.