51–60 of 65 posts
It was based on an existing TTS, IndicT5. I wonder how different is “Sanskrit Chanting” to languages it could already do, like Hindi. Is it largely the glyph—to-phoneme that needs relearning? Or pitch control? Or more?
Forgive my ignorance; I'm not a Sanskrit speaker (Malayalam is my first language) -- but I love the sound of Sanskrit. I have lots of questions: what's the use case for this? Primarily religious / liturgical? It also seems that the fact that this tool works means that any arbitrary Sanskrit sentence can be translated into a chant by some sort of procedure (dare I say algorithm)? I'm terribly curious and fascinated by…
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Automating pundits in family functions would be my first guess. Could be more convenient and reliable than having to invite some stranger just for recitation.
You should ask yourself - would most christians prefer baptism in a bathtubs at home or drive in weddings for convenience? No? Exactly. Hindu Vedic pandits and priests who come in and run priestly events and functions at Hindu homes are usually well known within their communities are not treated as strangers and neither is there an element of inconvenience. If anything their absence adds an element of inconvenience.…
Now you can't automate him either. His presence is there because religious rituals and practice and tradition mandate his presence, but if you could just play the chants over a speaker and have people understand and follow the ritual instructions some other way, nothing would really change.
For what it's worth, people can and do use AI visuals and sermons in Christianity as well
This must be insanely difficult to get right. I was not expecting such an impressive result from a site that looks so vibe coded! The look is underselling how good this is.
I was put off by the vibed-design, but everything looks well done and well-explained. From what I can tell, it used 5.3 hours of single voice fine-tune data.
This must be insanely difficult to get right. I was not expecting such an impressive result from a site that looks so vibe coded! The look is underselling how good this is.
I'm curious what exactly makes this vibe-coded? I've noticed a lot of people seem quick to dismiss something as vibe-coded these days.
This is most likely done by claude as per the aesthetics. Every AI has its own aesthetics as well.
I just tried this
यं ब्रह्मा वरुणेन्द्ररुद्रमरुत: स्तुन्वन्ति दिव्यै: स्तवै-
र्वेदै: साङ्गपदक्रमोपनिषदैर्गायन्ति यं सामगा: ।
ध्यानावस्थिततद्गतेन मनसा पश्यन्ति यं योगिनो
यस्यान्तं न विदु: सुरासुरगणा देवाय तस्मै नम: ॥
Interestingly, the word ब्रह्मा which should say Brahmaaaa says baa. Please take a look.
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You don't need to know about the person, to understand what is done here. This is no invention or profound deed. Anyone using the open-weights TTS models can do this. Talk about the overall goal.
You do need to know about a person to understand why he did a project that he did. What were his motivations and goals? That is the point here which can be inferred from his bio/talks. His goals need not be what you want them to be; his project; his rules. Nobody is claiming this is something earth-shattering; just that it is an interesting project on a difficult subject matter. The author has linked to the paper for…
Do not post on HN if the goals/rules/project are not be questioned. This is not a bhajan forum.
> You do need to know about a person to understand why he did a project that he did. What were his motivations and goals? That is the point here which can be inferred from his bio/talks.
If your approach to assess something is only by learning about the person, and not by what they did or said then you need to know about me as well. But you came to conclusions without knowing about me, which violates your own principle.
Also, if you think it is blasphemous to question the work done by your great person, please do not post it here. I'm not into "person-worshipping" or andh-bhakt cult. And this is not a thread to discuss about the person. The post talks about the work and my comments are in that context. I'm not required to get into bio/talks/profile or the perceived greatness of a person.
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You do need to know about a person to understand why he did a project that he did. What were his motivations and goals? That is the point here which can be inferred from his bio/talks. His goals need not be what you want them to be; his project; his rules. Nobody is claiming this is something earth-shattering; just that it is an interesting project on a difficult subject matter. The author has linked to the paper for…
> His goals need not be what you want them to be; his project; his rules. Do not post on HN if the goals/rules/project are not be questioned. This is not a bhajan forum. > You do need to know about a person to understand why he did a project that he did. What were his motivations and goals? That is the point here which can be inferred from his bio/talks. If your approach to assess something is only by learning about…
Who said they cannot be questioned? But the author/submitter is not obligated to anticipate/satisfy/answer any of your questions/assumptions/etc. Something is posted on its own terms and you take it or leave it with/without criticism. Everything is volitional.
In this context this recent cnn article "‘Whataboutism’ makes the internet exhausting. Why people think this way" (Bean Soup Theory) is very relevant - https://edition.cnn.com/2026/07/16/health/bean-soup-theory-s...
> If your approach to assess something is only by learning about the person, and not by what they did or said then you need to know about me as well. But you came to conclusions without knowing about me, which violates your own principle.
Learning about a person behind some work is one factor but not the only factor. In this case it was relevant since the author is both a AI researcher and a Sanskrit scholar and so the motivations/goals are easily inferred.
If you want people to know about you (presumably w.r.t. to your scholarship in this domain) then you should have something in your profile instead of being anonymous and/or made it explicit in your comment. In its absence, people can't imagine things.
Using talking points like "bhajan forum", "person-worshipping", "andh-bhakt cult" etc. is simply you projecting your assumptions/biases and nothing more. Pointing to a person's background has to do with establishing domain expertise and technical credentials.
You can post any comment you want but so can others on your comment whether you like it or not. People can dismiss you the way you dismiss others.
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You should ask yourself - would most christians prefer baptism in a bathtubs at home or drive in weddings for convenience? No? Exactly. Hindu Vedic pandits and priests who come in and run priestly events and functions at Hindu homes are usually well known within their communities are not treated as strangers and neither is there an element of inconvenience. If anything their absence adds an element of inconvenience.…
Come on be so for real right now? I have been to many Hindu events, and the pandit is really just there to make things official and say the words. 90% of attendees don't know what he's actually saying. 80% have never met him or his associates. Now you can't automate him either. His presence is there because religious rituals and practice and tradition mandate his presence, but if you could just play the chants over a…
If you have been to many hindu events you would know Vak (speech) and Prana (breath) are both required to deliver vedic chants. Why do people go to musical concerts when they can turn on spotify? Use common sense.
Priestless hindu functions at your home will get laughed at so save yourself some embarrassment.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Come on be so for real right now? I have been to many Hindu events, and the pandit is really just there to make things official and say the words. 90% of attendees don't know what he's actually saying. 80% have never met him or his associates. Now you can't automate him either. His presence is there because religious rituals and practice and tradition mandate his presence, but if you could just play the chants over a…
You 'could' also play the bible over a speaker and do away with a church father delivering a sermon then? If you have been to many hindu events you would know Vak (speech) and Prana (breath) are both required to deliver vedic chants. Why do people go to musical concerts when they can turn on spotify? Use common sense. Priestless hindu functions at your home will get laughed at so save yourself some embarrassment.
Were their presence not required, absolutely people would turn to recorded voice as 90% of people don't know what is being said anyways