Dear Sri N R Lakshminarasimham
Appreciate what you said about using a CD and a book. Some folk nowadays think this is the fashionable and cheap thing to do. But it is entirely the wrong method. Even a video is of no use.
If you are truly serious, Rudram, Chamakam and the sookthams such as Durga Sooktham have to be learned only through guru mukham -- one-to-one personal instruction from a Veda-Brahmana, an elder who is proficient in the Vedams, or a shaasthrigal.
Self-instruction can lead to errors which will negate the results you seek, and even lead to adverse repercussions. Lord Shiva-Rudran is not a deity to be trifled with or angered.
Please wear vibhoothi -- three horizontal stripes -- on your forehead, to show respect to the deity.
But if you insist on taking the risk, nothing more needs to be said.
S Nartayanaswamy Iyer
Just saw this thread including the post in Malayalam
Google Translate did a decent job actually.
I think there is wisdom in recommending that chanting be learnt from a qualified teacher rather than from a CD,
This has nothing to do with Sri Rudhra getting angry and punishing for chanting poorly.
First, not learning properly shows lack of Shraddha and such attitudes will spill into other aspects of life leading to less peace of mind.
Second, a qualified teacher (unlike a CD) can correct the pronunciation.
Though I tried to learn the chanting many years ago with a qualified person whose pronunciation and intonation etc are known to superbly accurate, I really gave up chanting because with the practice time I could devote to I was making far too many mistakes.
It is equally effective to listen to a CD and meditate to the chanting with the right attitude. But if one wants to learn properly they should find a qualified teacher.
The meditation (upasana) while listening (or chanting) Sri Rudram is enhanced when one has proper understanding of the meaning.
It is not possible to get the proper meaning and insights from ritualistic persons and those that have studied in Veda Patashalas. One cannot get answers to the meaning by digging more into karma kanda sections of the Vedas wither
One needs a qualified teacher. There are many other pre-requisites to learning that the teacher will impart.
I am reminded this post from the archives
https://www.tamilbrahmins.com/showthread.php?t=22878&p=287245#post287245
There is but one example to make this point for need for a teacher,
नमो॒ वञ्च॑ते परि॒वञ्च॑ते स्तायू॒नांपत॑ये॒ नमो॒ in Anuvaka 3 - the meaning is Namaskaram to the one who cheats now and then, one who cheats all the time and the one who is the God of those who steal !
How can one possibly understand the above without a proper teacher?
This angry God is a cheat? And God of those that steal??
Anyway the opening post is about learning the chanting. I think Sri Gopalan and Sri Narayanaswami Iyer have shared their views well.