Mantra

“ However, superstition is the same in all ages, and there will always be fools ready to believe in ‘Mahatmas’ or anything else,—and the old ‘incantation of the Mantra’ will, if well done, influence the minds of the dupes of the nineteenth century quite as effectively as it did those of the bygone ages before Christ.”
“What is the incantation of the Mantra?” asked Féraz.
“A ridiculous trick”—replied El-Râmi—“known to every Eastern conjurer and old woman who professes to see the future. ”

“ We rather assert, on the ground of the general subject-matter, that the mantra describes the same divine power referred to in the other passages, in which names and forms lie unevolved, and which we assume as the antecedent condition of that state of the world in which names and forms are evolved. ”

“ But according to others, the word means that if you practise the repetition of a certain Mantra received from a Guru not competent, you will have to perform certain ceremonials by which that Mantra will become Chetana or living, and then its repetition will be successful. Different Mantras, when they are thus "living", show different signs, but the general sign is that one will be able to repeat it for a long time without feeling any strain and that his mind will very soon be concentrated. ”

“ He then drew from his travelling wallet a skein of thread. This he divided into three parts, one for each, and told his companions that in case of grievous bodily injury, the bit of thread wound round the wounded part would instantly make it whole. After which he taught them the Mantra, [158] or mystical word by which the lives of men are restored to their bodies, even when they have taken their allotted places amongst the stars, and which for evident reasons I do not want to repeat. ”

“ You will be successful O happy prince in getting the mantra or charm for driving the Visúchiká pain; because there is nothing impossible of attainment by the wise and strong.
30. Receive of me immediately, O raja! the mantra which has been uttered by Brahmá for removal of the cholic pain, from the cells of arteries vitiated by Visúchiká. ”

“ The Buddhas, past, present, and future, rely on the Perfection of Wisdom, and live in full enlightenment. The Perfection of Wisdom is the greatest mantra. It is the wisest mantra, the highest mantra, the mantra of the rest. ”

“ The child being incapable of acquiring the knowledge of the sacred text at this early stage of its existence, the mantra is merely recited in its ear by the guru. The child has then to be presented to the god Siva in the person of a Jangam, or Lingāyat priest, who is summoned for the purpose ”

“ These mantras regulate all the rites of a Brahmana's life beginning with those appertaining to birth and the period after it, and ending with those appertaining to death and the crematorium. These Vedic rites are his heaven, path, and foremost of sacrifices. If it were otherwise, how could I find the acts (of persons in quest of heaven) become successful through mantras? He who, in this world, adores his soul, firmly regarding it to be a deity of a particular kind, obtains success consistent with the nature of that particular deity. ”

“ Each Veda consists of a Mantra portion, a number of treatises known as the Brahmanas, and another set of treatises or discourses known as the Upanishads. There are also a few treatises of a voluminous character known as the Aranyakas.
The Mantra portion of each of the Veda is known as its Samhita. The Rig-Veda Samhita is by far the most interesting of all. European scholars regard it as the most ancient of all, an opinion from which most native scholars will probably dissent. ”

“ Then mantra with it, and place it in the fire to burn. Continue this for seven days and seven nights, in the six periods of the day and night, uninterrupted. Every disaster and epidemic will be annihilated.
“Moreover, there is a method for the sand near a river bank. By means of a stamp, imprint an image of a stūpa in the sand. Recite the mantra one time with the completion of each stūpa, for a total of 600,000 times. Then you may see Avalokitasvara Bodhisattva, Tārā Bodhisattva, or Vajrapāṇi Bodhisattva. You will freely attain everything you are searching for. ”

“ He who knows the bliss of Brahman as not to be defined by any definite amount, does not fear anything.—That, moreover, the all-wise being referred to in the mantra is other than the individual soul in the state of release, is rendered perfectly clear by what—in passages such as 'it desired,' &c.— is said about its effecting, through its mere volition, the origination and subsistence of the world, its being the inner Self of the world, and so on. ”

“ She is then purified by the recitation of many mantras and texts, and by the performance of the mudra or gesticulations. Finally she is sprinkled over with wine, and if not previously initiated, the Bij mantra is thrice repeated in her ear. To this succeeds the worship of the guardian divinity; and after this, that of the female, to whom are now offered broiled fish, flesh, fried peas, rice, spirituous liquors, sweetmeats, flowers, and other offerings, which are all purified by the repeating of incantations and the sprinkling of wine. ”

“ Prayer and praise are the first means of growth. Repeating the names of God has wonderful power.
Mantra is a special word, or sacred text, or name of God choosen by the Guru for repetition and reflection by the disciple. The disciple must concentrate on a personality for prayer and praise, and that is his Ishta. ”

“ The fanciful history we get of the Vedic Mantras, the manner in which the Mantras have been explained and grammatical and accentual peculiarities of the Vedic language have been discussed, warrant us in holding that the earliest Brāhmaṇa must be much removed in time from the latest Vedic Mantra. The propositions in the Brāhmaṇic literature, that the Vedic forms should never be deviated from, and the proper accent of the Vedic words, should be carefully studied and learnt, very distinctly show, that for religious purposes a hiyeratic speech was artificially maintained, on the Vedic lines. ”

“ Adjective of mantra, chanted seed-sounds discharged by the mental gun of concentration. The Puranas (ancient shastras or treatises) describe these mantric wars between devas and asuras (gods and demons) . An asura once tried to slay a deva with a potent chant. But due to mispronunciation the mental bomb acted as a boomerang and killed the demon.
43-4: Examples of such powers are not wanting even on earth, as in the case of Helen Keller and other rare beings.
43-5: Lord Buddha was once asked why a man should love all persons equally. ”

“ Haug, who believes that "a strict distinction between a Chhandas and Mantra period is hardly admissible," and that certain sacrificial formulas, considered by Max Müller to be more recent, are in fact some centuries older than the finished hymns ascribed by that scholar to the Chhandas age, carries back the composition of both Sanhitâ and Brâhmana to a much earlier date. ”

“ Every word retains something of its radical meaning, every epithet tells, every thought, in spite of the most intricate and abrupt expressions, is, if we once disentangle it, true, correct, and complete."45
The Vedic literature is divided by Müller into four periods, namely, those of the Chhandas, Mantra, Brâhmana, and Sûtras. The Chhandas period contains the oldest hymns of the oldest, or Rig-Veda. To that of the Mantras belong the later hymns of the same Veda. But the most modern of these are older than the Brâhmanas. The Brâhmanas contain theology; the older Mantras are liturgic. ”

“ The soul receives a direct illumination from the presence of its “god;” but as it is not allowed to remember certain things, well known only in heaven, the initiated person is generally seized with a kind of sacred frenzy, and upon recovering from it, only remembers that which is allowed to him. As to the other kind of seers and diviners—those who make a [Pg xxxvi] profession of and a living by it—they are usually held to be possessed by a gandharva, a deity which is nowhere so little honored as in India.
Mantra.—A Sanskrit word conveying the same idea as the “Ineffable Name.” ”

“ But after my ascension I will send one of my disciples that shall cure thee of thy distemper and give life to all them that are with thee. [37:1]
John Gaule, in the "Magastromancer," [37:2] declares that sacred words derive their force from occult divine powers, which are conveyed by means of such words, "as it were through conduit-pipes, to those who have faith in them."
Among the Hindus, the mantra is properly a divinely inspired Vedic text; but quite generally at the present day it has degenerated into a mere spell for warding off evil ”

“ If it should be said that the assumption is made on account of the governing influence of the Brahman proclaimed in the mantra (which forms the beginning of the chapter, Taitt. Up. II) , we reply that therefrom it would follow that also the Selfs consisting of food, breath, &c., denote Brahman (because the governing influence of the mantra extends to them also) .—The advocate of the former interpretation will here, perhaps, restate an argument already made use of above, viz. ”

“ No marvel, no prodigy in nature is believed to be beyond the limits of his power to accomplish. If the priest were to threaten to bring down the sun from the sky or arrest it in its daily course in the heavens, no villager would for a moment doubt his ability to do so.”​ [1403] As to the mantras, or sacred texts by means of which the Brahmans exercise {p404} their miraculous powers, there is a saying everywhere current in India: “The whole universe is subject to the gods; the gods are subject to the Mantras ”

“ It has so far proved ineradicable, for two centuries of varied and almost continuous missionary effort has had no appreciable effect on it.”273 The Mantras, an aboriginal race of the Malay Peninsula, “find or put a spirit everywhere, in the air they breathe, in the land they cultivate, in the forests they inhabit, in the trees they cut down, in the caves of the rocks. According to them, the demon is the cause of everything that turns out ill. ”

“ If there are virtuous house-holding men or women who recite and maintain it, their households will not encounter harm caused by disasters or suffering caused by unexpected illness. Everything spoken to others will be truthful and accepted by them.
“If the dhāraṇī mantra has been recited a total of 100,000 times, you will see buddhas, bodhisattvas, śrāvakas, and pratyekabuddhas in a dream, and see a dark substance vomited from your mouth. If you have committed serious offenses, you should recite it a total of 200,000 times. ”

“ He therefore who admits the authoritativeness of the scriptural word has no right to deny that the shape of Indra, and the other gods, is such as we understand it to be from the mantras and arthavâdas.—Moreover, itihâsas and purânas also—because based on mantra and arthavâda which possess authoritative power in the manner described—are capable of setting forth the personality, &c. of the devas. Itihâsa and purâna can, besides, be considered as based on perception also. For what is not accessible to our perception may have been within the sphere of perception of people in ancient times. ”

“ Make proper offerings of incense before an image, kneeling with palms joined, and recite this mantra 37 times. Persist in this way every day, and it will annihilate the four grave acts, the five heinous crimes, and the ten evils. Every sort of offense can be eliminated. Being without the many evil ghosts and spirits of anger and confusion, at the end of one’s life, rebirth will be assigned in the land of Amitābha. Moreover, for those who continuously accept, maintain, recite, and study, the merits and virtues are truly inconceivable. ”

“ They act as gurus or spiritual guides to the laymen of all castes who can become Bairāgis. They give the Rām and Gopāl Mantras, or the texts of Rāma and Krishna, to their disciples of the three twice-born castes, and the Sheo Mantra or Siva’s text to other castes. The last is considered to be of smaller religious efficacy than the others, and is given to the lower castes and members of the higher ones who do not lead a particularly virtuous life. They invest boys with the sacred thread, and make the sect-mark on their foreheads. ”

“ Even such are these Mantras unto them who practise the duty of recitation and pour libations on the sacrificial fire. This that I have said unto thee is the excellent opinion of Parasara. It was recited in former days unto Sakra himself. Representing as it does Truth or Eternal Brahman, I have declared it in full to thee. It constitutes that heart of all creatures, and is the highest Sruti. All the princes of the race of Soma and of Surya, viz., the Raghavas and the Kauravas, recite these Mantras every day after having purified themselves, These constitute the highest end of human creatures. ”

“ One day, when she was doing her Puja, he said, "Parts of the mantras are very powerful. They feel as if a great energy is flowing. But at some places the flow is interrupted. I will correct them if you recite them aloud." When she corrected them and recited them again the next day, he said, "Now they sound right."
U.G. once commented on Kameswari's Puja: "When she recited those mantras, those sounds caused strange movements and experiences in me. It must be such experiences some people aspire for when they do japa [uttering holy names] and tapas [austerities] . ”