Mantra

In its most basic sense, sacred sound. A
mantra is a collection of phonemes that
may or may not have syntactic meaning
as actual words, since their importance
comes not from the meaning of the
utterances, but from the very sounds
themselves. Mantras are believed to
confer power and varying spiritual
capacities on those who have been given
the qualification (adhikara) to use
them. The qualification comes from
422
Manmatha
being given the mantra by one’s teacher,
believed to transmit not only the sounds
of the mantra, but the power associated
with it. This living transmission is
considered an essential feature in “possessing” the mantra; for this reason
mantras learned in other contexts are
believed to be ineffective. The idea
of mantra as sacred sound is traced
back to the Vedas, the oldest Hindu
religious texts. One of the most common
mantras, the Gayatri mantra, is actually
a verse from the Rg Veda (3.62.10).
The use of mantras is emphasized in the
secret ritually-based religious practice
known as tantra. For further information see Arthur Avalon (Sir
John Woodroffe), Shakti and Shakta,
1978; Swami Agehananda Bharati, The
Tantric Tradition, 1977; and Douglas
Renfrew Brooks, The Secret of the Three
Cities, 1990.