Mantras, in Eastern Vedic tradition, are the cryptic verses that millions of people chant every day as a ritualistic practice. They are often mysterious and enigmatic. People generally chant these hymns without understanding their meaning. But that is really insignificant. Because, the truth is, the power of mantras lies not in their meaning, but in their sound! It is the very act of chanting that bestows power on these sacred hymns!
Mantra literally means an utterance. It is a sound or a syllable. According to Sadhguru, one of the most renowned modern-day practitioners of Mantra Yoga, mantras are impulses or rhythms of the consciousness. They create vibrations in the spirit. Their effects, influence, method, and mode of working are all a mystery.
Modern science too sees the whole of existence as reverberations of energy, at different levels of vibrations. If there are vibrations, there are sounds. That would mean that the whole existence could be understood in terms of sound too. Vedic science looks at the universe and human existence as a big amalgamation of various levels of sounds or mantras. Among these multiple sounds, some are identified as the key sounds. If you can identify them and master them and absorb them into your daily life, they will become your keys to opening up a higher level of consciousness within you. This is the rationale behind the secret science of mantra yoga.
[Origin of Mantras]
Mantras originated with the great ancient teachings of India called Vedas. The Rig Veda, the oldest and the most central Vedic text, contains most of the mantras. According to David Frawley, the great scholar in Vedic literature, the Rig Veda is the fountainhead of Vedic science, the ancient spiritual science of the Himalayas from which such systems as Yoga, Vedic astrology (Jyotish), and Ayurveda (traditional Indian Medicine) arose. It is the basis of the Sanskrit language and culture. It is also the oldest book in any Indo-European language. There is a general recognition that the mantric or sound power of the Vedic chants in the Sanskrit language is the most sacred and mysterious power that human language has ever achieved.
According to the Vedic tradition, the mantras have their origin in Lord Shiva himself. Om Swami recounts a story about it in his book:
Out of compassion for all living beings across the universes, Bholenath, that is, Lord Shiva, merrily raised his damaru or drum and began playing it. As he danced to its heady rhythm, millions of sounds spread in the sky like stars in space. Every time the string of the damaru swooshed through the air, it created a sound. Many other sounds of different frequencies were produced when the beads at the end of the string would strike the damaru heads. Shiva’s moving hands and feet too created sounds. His swaying matted locks, the sound of rudraksha beads around his wrists, the slithering cobra around his neck ... every movement gave birth to a sound. And each sound was a mantra representing the feminine, masculine or neutral aspect of creation. From his kundala or ear-loops, originated the seed syllables of kundalini.
#mantra #chanting #spirituality #vedanta #sadhguru
Editor: Medo
Voiceover: Surjit Singh
Editor: Pratik C Ramteke
Script: Shaiju Koottucheradil Chacko
Sources:
Alper, Harvey P. Understanding Mantras. SU of New York P, 1989.
Blofeld, John. Mantras: Sacred Words of Power. E. P. Dutton and Co., 1977.
Frawley, David. Wisdom of the Ancient Seers: Mantras of the Rig Veda. Morson Publishing, 1992.
Swami, Om. The Ancient Science of Mantras: Wisdom of the Sages. Black Lotus, 2017.
Web Sources:
Narasimhan, Bhanumati. ‘The Secret of Meditation Mantras’. www.theartofliving.org.
Sadhguru. ‘Mantras Explained: Benefits of Chanting Mantras and the Science Behind It’. www.ishasadhguru.org. 21 July, 2020.
Vijay, Hema. ‘The Magic of Mantras’. www.thehindu.com. 14 April, 2010.
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