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The Indian Mantra
Author(s): J. Gonda
Source: Oriens, Vol. 16, (Dec. 31, 1963), pp. 244-297
Published by: BRILL
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1580265
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THE INDIAN MANTRA
by
J.
Gonda
Utrecht
Hellmut Ritter zum
70. Geburtstage
I
In the
practice
of
religious
life the
importance
and decisive
power
of
the
spoken
word,
and
especially
of the well-formulated
word,
has
always
been understood. The
spoken
word is an
act,
an exercise of
power,
revealing
an attitude of the
speaker
and
containing something
creative.
Especially
when
they
combine into
formulas,
into
phrases
definite in the
sound,
rhythm
and order of their
terms,
words
possess
the
greatest might
and effect whether
dangerous
or beneficient. The
performance
of ritual
acts,
the exertion of influence
upon
the
Unseen,
the utilization of
power
as a rule
require
a vocal
expression
of the officiant's
will,
desire or
intentions;
the verbal reference to a desired result becomes an instrument
producing
it. Words and rites are
closely
connected,
the former
lending
the latter their
specific
character: accedit verbum ad elementum et fit
sacramentum 1.
In a
long chapter
of a recent book 2 Friedrich Heiler enumerates no
less than twelve different
aspects
or manifestations of the
holy
or sacred
word 3. He
distinguishes
various forms of
prayer
and
spell,
oath and
curse,
conjuration (whether citing
or
exorcizing),
invocation or
seLXXClJq,
confession of
sins, adoration,
praise
and the
expression
of
thankfulness,
confession of faith, sacrificial
forms, vow,
and formulation of desires. It
can not be
part
of
my
task here to criticize this twelvefold classification
and to ask for instance
why praise
and
gratitude
are so
closely
connected
1
Augustinus,
in
Joan. 80, 3, quoted by
F.
Heiler, Erscheinungsformen
und
Wesen der
Religion, Stuttgart 1961, p.
266.
2
See note
i;
chapter
VII,
esp.
p. 306ff.
3
For the
significance
of the sacred word in
general
see also G. van der
Leeuw,
Religion
in essence and
manifestation,
London
I938;
F.
Heiler,
Das
Gebet,
Miinchen
(I918), 5I923;
D. W.
Steere, Prayer
and
Worship,
New York
1934;
F. Schwenn,
Gebet und
Opfer.
Studien zum
griechischen
Kultus, Heidelberg I927;
V.
Larock,
Essai sur la valeur sacree et la valeur sociale des noms de
personnes
dans les societds
inferieures,
in Revue de l'histoire des
religions
IoI
(I930),
and the
bibliography
contained in the footnotes to
Heiler,
Erscheinungsformen,
p. 306
ff.
244
The Indian Mantra
as to form one
category.
The
only
remark which I should like to make
here is that the well-known Indian mantra
is,
in these
pages, conspicuous
by
its absence. At first
sight
this is rather
surprising
because references
to the Indian
religions
in which the mantras from the
beginning
to the
present day play
a
highly important part,
are numerous in this book.
On second
thought
it becomes however understandable that the Indian
mantra has either
escaped
the attention of the learned
author,
or
perhaps
intentionally
been left out of account because it does not fit in well
with the twelvefold classification
adopted by
him. It is true that
Professor Heiler has no reason to mention the Indian mantra under some
of his twelve
headings:
it
is,
for
instance,
no
expression
of thankfulness
towards a
deity.
But it would be incorrect to hold that it does not for
some of its
aspects
come under the
heading
of
"Zauberwort,
Segen
und
Fluch",
and for others under
"prayer",
or under
"adoration,
praise,
liturgical
formula,
expression
of a
wish,
invocation" and even under
"confession of faith". The
concept
of mantra covers much more than
"prayer"
or
"invocation",
than
"praise"
or "formula". A mantra is now
invocatory,
then
evocatory,
now
deprecatory,
then
again conservatory.
It
may
be beneficent or
hurtful,
salutary
or
pernicious.
So we
repeat:
this
special
Indian manifestation of the sacred word does not fit in well
with the above twelvefold classification.
The same
plurivalent
character of the Indian term-that
is,
the
impossibility
of
translating
it
by
one
single
word of one of our modern
languages-has
no doubt induced other authors to
adopt, consciously
or
unconsciously,
short,
but
inadequate,
and sometimes even
deceptive
translations whenever
they
are under the
necessity
of
explaining
the
Indian term. "Zauberformel"
1
or "incantation"
2
may,
indeed,
some-
times do
duty,
but are far from
being
a
general equivalent;
"short
prayers"
is
very incomplete
and "sacred sentences"
3
too
vague;
"formule
magique pour prendre
contact avec la Verite"
4
may
like
"prayer"
("priere")
5,
"liturgy"
6,
"formule
mystique"
7
lead to
misunderstanding;
neither
"formule,
gdneralement versifide,
recitee au cours du sacrifice
1
See
e.g.
H. von
Glasenapp,
Die
Religionen Indiens,
Stuttgart I943,
p.
I4I;
S.
Dasgupta,
A
history of
Indian
philosophy, I3,
Cambridge I95I,
p. 69;
W. Volz,
in G.
Buschan,
Die Volker
Asiens,
Australiens und der
Siidseeinseln, p.
544.
2
A. K.
Coomaraswamy,
Pour
comprendre 'art
hindou,
Paris
I926, p. 62.
3
A. C.
Bouquet, Hinduism, London,
p. I39.
4
J. Herbert,
La
mythologie hindoue,
Paris
1953,
p.
36.
Cf. also H.
Zimmer,
Myths
and
symbols
in Indian art and
civilization,
Washington
D.C.
1946,
p.
72.
5
L.
Renou,
in L. Renou et
J. Filliozat,
L'Inde
classique, I,
Paris
1947,
p.
270.
6
M.
Eliade,
Yoga,
Paris
I936, p. I07.
7
J.
Herbert, Spiritualite hindoue, Paris
I947,
p.
366.
245
J. Gonda
vddique
et
empruntee
notamment au
Rgveda"
1 nor
"hymn
addressed
to some
god
or
goddess"
2
give
a correct
idea;
"son
mystique", "mysti-
scher Laut"
3
and "name of God"
4
are as a
general explanation
no less
inadequate
than "sacred
hymn"
5
or the
unspecified
and
ambiguous
"formula" 6. Even an enumeration like
"Verse, Gebete,
Spriiche
und
Zauberformeln" 7 fails to
satisfy
a critical reader.
Lexicographers
were
confronted with the same
difficulty: "Spruch,
Gedicht,
Lied als
Erzeug-
niss des
Geistes;
die vedischen Lieder und
Spriiche;
magische
Besprech-
ung; Verabredung,
Rat ..."
says
the
Petrograd Dictionary
8;
"divine
saying
or decision
..., hence
magic
charm, spell;
in
particular
a
secret
religious
code or doctrine" the Pali Text
Society's Pali-English
dictionary)>
9;
"formula etc."
Edgerton's
<(Buddhist
Hybrid
Sanskrit
dictionary,>
10. In a modern
glossary
of
'special
terms' it reads:
"mystic
formula or
spell, deriving
its
power
from traditional association with a
particular divinity
or a desired
result;
it is rendered effective
by
means
of
repetitive
recitation
(japa)
combined with meditation
(dhydna)"
11.
It would be unwise to
deny
that for
practical purposes many
of these
translations
may,
in
particular
contexts,
serve to
give
the modern non-
Indian reader a
fairly good
idea of what is
meant,
but
they may
not be
used as definitions of the
concept
or as exact indications of what is meant
by
the Indians who use the term. And
although
it must be conceded that
in
particular contexts,
which have come into existence in different
centuries and in different communities the various
aspect
of the
concepts
were
differently emphasized,
there is on the other hand no
denying
that
the term has in the course of time and
notwithstanding
its varied
application kept
a definite semantic kernel. In this
case,
like in
many
others,
our modern
languages
do not
possess
a
single
term which
might
cover what the Indians
understood,
and often still understand
by
a
mantra. The
very diversity
of translations in dictionaries and books
1
L.
Renou,
Sanskrit et
culture,
Paris
I950, p.
i8i.
2
Ch.
Sharma,
A critical
Survey of
Indian
philosophy,
London
I960, p. 14.
3
M.
Eliade,
Le
Yoga,
Paris
1954,
p.
216;
Jos.
Abs,
Indiens
Religion
der Sandtana-
dharma,
Bonn
I923,
p.
17.
4
Swami
Akhilananda,
Hindu
Psychology,
London
1947,
p.
68.
5
B. A.
Gupte,
Hindu
holidays
and
ceremonials,
Calcutta 1919, p. 269.
6
S.
Konow,
Die
Inder,
in A. Bertholet und E.
Lehmann,
Lehrbuch der Reli-
gionsgeschichte,
II,
Tiibingen 1925,
p.
I28;
C. G.
Diehl,
Instrument and
purpose,
Lund
1956, p. Ioo.
7
M.
Winternitz,
Geschichte der indischen
Litteratur, I2, Leipzig (1907),
p. 38.
8
A.
B6htlingk
und R.
Roth, Sanskrit-Worterbuch, V, 537.
9
Edited
by
T. W.
Rhys
Davids and W.
Stede, V,
Calcutta
1923,
p.
I46
s.v.
manta.
10
F.
Edgerton,
Buddhist
Hybrid
Sanskrit
dictionary,
New Haven
1953,
p.
419.
1 D. L.
Snellgrove,
The
Hevajra Tantra, I,
London
1959,
p. I36.
246
The Indian Mantra
touching upon
"the sacred word" in India shows us that the term
is,
in
point
of
fact,
untranslatable.
Defining, provisionally
and for
practical purposes,
the term under
consideration as a
general
name for the
formulas,
verses or
sequences
of
words in
prose
which contain
praise
and
prayer,
references to
myths,
conjurations,
ritual
injunctions, religious
statements etc.
etc.,
are
believed to have
magical, religious
or
spiritual efficiency,
are
recited,
muttered or
sung
in the Vedic ritual and which are collected in the
methodically arranged corpora
of Vedic texts called Samhitas or con-
tained in other
special
collections 1 we
must, however,
add that the same
name is
applied
to
comparable
'formulas' of different
origin
used in the
post-Vedic
cults 2. In both
periods
and in all communities mantras are
very
sacred and their recitation is
traditionally subjected
to fixed and
strict rules. Thus a mantra
is,
as far as the Vedic
religions
and literature
are
concerned,
explained by
Indian commentators and
lexicographers
as
"part
of the
Veda",
"special
Vedatext";
"words
(to be)
taken from the
Rgvedasamhita
and the other
corpora"
and "means of
propitiating gods
etc.".
They
are moreover
considered,
not
products
of discursive
thought,
human wisdom or
poetic phantasy,
but
flash-lights
of the eternal
truth,
seen
by
those eminent men who have come into a
supersensuous
contact
with the Unseen.
Not
only
do the translations and definitions of the term strike the
reader as
considerably
varied,
also the literal
explanations
and inter-
pretations proposed
differ
widely.
Whereas some
authors,
for
instance,
explain
mantra- as
"thought" ("pensee" 3),
others
prefer expressions
such as
"pensee
formulee et structuree" 4. Beside the
explanation
"mantra means
originally religious thought, prayer,
sacred
utterance,
but from an
early
date it also
implied
that the text was a
weapon
of
supernatural power"
5
we find
"originally
the word mantra- meant
simply
'a verbal instrument for
producing something
in our minds'
"6
or "to
pronounce
a mantra is a
way
of
wooing
a
deity,
and,
etymologi-
cally,
the word mantra is connected with Greek words like meimao
(read
1
The reader
may
be referred to L.
Renou,
in Renou et
Filliozat,
L'Inde
classique,
I, p.
270; J.
Gonda,
Die
Religionen Indiens,
I. Veda und alterer
Hinduismus,
Stuttgart I960, p.
9 ff. For some
particulars
see also
Winternitz, o.c., I, p. 148 f.;
236 f.;
P. V.
Kane, History of Dharmasastra, II, 2,
Poona
1941,
p.
983;
A.
Minard,
Trois
enigmes
sur les Cent
Chemins, II, Paris
1956,
p.
293.
2
This distinction between Vedic and
later,
so-called
agamic
mantras is also
made
by
the Hindu authorities themselves
(see, e.g.,
Brahma-purdna
41,
63).
3
Thus
Renou,
Litterature
sanskrite,
Paris
1946,
p.
74.
4
L.
Silburn,
Instant et
cause,
Paris
I955,
p.
25.
5
J.
N.
Farquhar,
An outline
of
the
religious
literature
of
India,
Oxford
I920, p. 25.
6
Zimmer, o.c., p.
I4I,
n.
247
J.
Gonda
[iLacL&co
"to be
very eager")
which
express "eager
desire,
yearning
and
intensity
of
purpose" (this
word
is, however,
by
the best authorities
rightly regarded
as
non-related),
and with the Old
High
German word
minnia, (read
minn(e)a "remembrance,
love"),
which means
"making
love to" 1. "So ist mantra
'Werkzeug
zum
Denken',
ein
'Ding,
das ein
Denkbild
zuwege bringt'
2. Mit seinem
Klange
ruft es seinen Gehalt zu
unmittelbarer Wirklichkeit auf. 'Mantra' ist
Gewalt,
kein meinendes
Sagen,
dem der Geist
widersprechen
oder sich entziehen kann. Was in
mantra
verlautet,
ist
so,
ist
da,
begibt
sich.
Hier,
wenn
irgendwo,
sind
Worte
Taten,
wirken unmittelbar Wirkliches" 3.
"Mantra,
das
Symbol-
wort,
ist der
heilige
Laut,
der dem
Eingeweihten
vom Guru
iibermittelt
sein Inneres zum
Schwingen bringt
und es dem hoheren Erleben
iffnet"
4.
In matters of
religion
and
'Weltanschauung' explanations
based on
the
principle
of folk
etymology frequently
elucidate the
opinions
enter-
tained
by
the
adepts
and adherents of a
doctrine,
belief or tradition.
Thus the term mantra- is often-of course from the scientific
point
of
view
incorrectly-explained
as that which saves
(trd-
"to
save,
rescue")
the one
"who,
in
thought,
formulates
it,
meditates
upon
it"
(man-).
In
tantric literature
5
which
generally
associates the term with trd- as well
as man- it is
suggested
that it liberates when
properly
meditated
upon.
"A mantra derives its name from the fact that it is a means of 'mental
identification' with the nature of
things
and of
obtaining
the salvation,
i.e.,
deliverance of
transmigration"
6. Sir
John
Woodroffe 7 is no doubt
right
in
warning against regarding
mantras as mere "formulas of
worship"
or as
styling
them
"prayers"
or
"mystic syllables".
The essence
of a
mantra,
he
rightly
holds,
is the
presence
of the
deity: only
that
mantra in which the devatd has revealed his or her
particular aspects
can reveal that
aspect.
The
deity
is believed to
appear
from the mantra
when it is
correctly pronounced.
It is indeed true that the term
mantra,
because of the
power
considered to be inherent in formulated
inspired
1
E.
Conze, Buddhism,
Oxford
I95I (1953),
p.
183.
2
A
wrong etymological explanation
is also
given by
S. B.
Dasgupta, Aspects
of
Indian
Religious Thought,
Calcutta
I957,
p. 22.
3
H.
Zimmer, Ewiges
Indien,
Potsdam
I930,
p.
82.
4
Lama
Anagarika
Govinda, Grundlagen
tibetischer
Mystik, Zirich-Stuttgart
I957, P. 93.
5
See further on.
6
A similar and likewise incorrect
'etymology'
occurs
already
in the
Chdndogya-
upanisad 3, 12, I,
where in connection with the
gayatri
metre which is stated to be
"everything
here that has come to
be,
whatsoever there is
here",
the author
observes that
speech
both recites
(sings: gayati)
of and
protects (trdyati) everything
here that has come to be. For the
gdyatri
see further on.
7
Sir
John Woodroffe,
Shakti and
Shdkta,
Madras
I929,
p.
454.
248
The Indian Mantra
thoughts
and uttered
words,
also
implied
that the 'formula' was a means
of
wielding supranormal power.
A mantra is
always
a source of
activity,
it is
always
a
potential
means of
achieving
a
special
effect. Let us con-
clude these
quotations
with an
enlightening passage
from a famous
modem Indian
mystic
and
philosopher,
Shri Aurobindo
(I872-I950)
1:
"La th6orie du mantra est
que
c'est un mot n6 des
profondeurs
secretes
de notre etre oi il a et6 couve
par
une conscience
plus profonde que
la
conscience mentale eveillee et enfin
projete
au dehors silencieusement
ou
par
la voix-le mot silencieux considere comme
plus puissant peut-
6tre
que
le mot
parle-pr6cis6ment pour
un but de creation. Le mantra
peut
non seulement creer en nous-memes de nouveaux etats
subjectifs,
modifier notre etre
psychique,
reveler une connaissance et des facultes
que
nous ne connaissions
pas auparavant,
il
peut
non seulement
produire
des r6sultats semblables dans d'autres
esprits que
celui
qui
le
prononce,
mais encore il
peut produire
dans
l'atmosphere
mentale et vitale des
vibrations
qui
ont
pour
effet des actions et meme
l'apparition
de formes
materielles sur le
plan physique. L'emploi vedique
du mantra n'est
qu'une
utilisation consciente de cette
puissance
secrete du verbe" 2. The
survey
of the Vedic uses of the term will show that the essence of the
above statement is indeed
already
characteristic of the mantras of the
Vedic
period,-one
of the numerous indicia of the
agelong continuity
of
Indian
religious thought.
II
The Sanskrit words in -tra- <
Indo-European
-tro-,
when
neuter, are,
generally speaking,
names of instruments or sometimes names of the
place
where the
process
is
performed3.
The former
category may
occasionally express
also a
faculty:
Sanskrit srotram
"organ,
act or
faculty
of
hearing";
jiidtram
"the intellectual
faculty";
or a "function":
hotram "the function or office of a hotar
priest".
The sense of the root
man-< I.E. men- was at the time defined
by
Meillet4 as "mente
agitare";
others assumed such basic senses as
"denken,
geistig erregt
sein"
5,
or
preferred
to hold that *men-
"indiquait
les mouvements de
1
See,
e.g.,
H. Chaudhuri and F.
Spiegelberg,
The
integral philosophy of
Shri
Aurobindo,
London 1960.
2
Aurobindo,
La Kena
Upanishad (1944),
p.
33.
3
For lists of
examples
see K.
Brugmann (und
B.
Delbriick),
Grundriss der
vergl.
Grammatik der
indogerm. Sprachen 2, II, I,
Strassburg 1906, p.
341.
4
A. Meillet, De indo-eur. radice men- "mente
agitare",
Thesis Paris
1897.
5
J.
B.
Hofmann,
Lateinisches
etymol. Worterbuch, II,
Heidelberg 1940-1954,
p. 66;
A.
Walde-J. Pokorny, Vergl.
Worterbuch der
indogerm. Sprachen, II,
Berlin-
Leipzig 1927,
p.
264.
249
J.
Gonda
l'esprit"
1. Now the sense of Gr.
L,voS
"bezeichnet solche
Erlebnisse,
die
ein
energisches
Drangen
enthalten, Mut,
Kampfgier"
2;
an active
eager
energy,
which
may approximately
be indicated
by
words such as
"spirit,
passion, might, strength,
fierceness;
life
etc.";
the
corresponding
Skt.
manas- means
"mind,
in the widest sense as
applied
to a
large variety
of mental and
psychical powers; including
also
spirit, thought, imagi-
nation, invention, intention, affection, desire,
mood
etc.",
the related
Gr. 4L?ovoc "to be
very eager,
to
purpose,
intend,
to be
minded",
the
likewise related
LatLvo,iaX
"to
rage,
to be filled
by
divine
power";
a
0Etv,Lq
is a
"diviner, seer,
prophet,
foreboder,
presager"
3;
[LvoLvo)
"to
desire
eagerly"; [vrecaivo
"to desire
earnestly,
to
rage";
in ancient India
a muni- was
"any
one who is moved
by
inward
impulse,
an
inspired
or
ecstatic man". Without
entering
into
linguistic
details the root men-
may
therefore be assumed to have
expressed
also such
meanings
as
"emotional, moved, wilful, intentional,
directed
'thought', experiencing
impulses
in heart and mind etc.".
As shown
by
Renou
4
the verb man- has in Vedic
usage
also the sense
of
"evoking, calling up",
and is then often associated with the noun
ndma "name".
Compare, e.g., RIgveda
I, 24,
I
kasya
nunam . . . mandmahe
cadr
devasya
ndma "of which
god
do we now invoke the beloved name ?";
4, 39, 4;
8, II, 5; io,
64,
I; 68,
7;
Atharvaveda
7,
I,
I. A sumantu ndma
is a "name which it is
right
or
appropriate
to invoke",
the
phrase
durmantu ndma
expresses
the
opposite
sense: cf. RV.
6, I8, 8; Io, 12,
6.
There
seems, however,
to be occasion for the remark that this
meaning
of
man-
appears
also in cases such as
8,
47, 3-the
whole
passage
is a
prayer
for
help against
evil and the
consequences
of sinful deeds-visvdni ...
varfthyd
mandmahe;
here Geldner's translation: "alle Schutzmittel
haben wir im Sinne" should
probably
be
replaced by
"we
(the eulogist,
priestly poet, officiant)
evoke or summon
(by concentrating
our
thoughts,
in
addressing you,
0
gods)
all means of
protection"; 5, 22, 3
cikitvin-
manasam tvd devam martdsa
utaye
/ varenyasya
te 'vasa
iydndso
amanmahi
"indem wir Sterbliche
dich,
den Gott mit achtsamem
Sinne,
um Gunst
angehen,
haben wir an deine
vorziigliche
Gnade
gedacht" (Geldner),
rather ". . . we have concentrated our minds on
thy
assistance
(in
order
1
A. Ernout-A.
Meillet,
Dictionnaire
etymol.
de la
langue
latine,
Paris
1951,
p.
704.
2
E.
Struck, Bedeutungslehre
2, Stuttgart 1954,
p.
98.
3
See also
Hj.
Frisk,
Griechisches
etym. Worterbuch, II, Heidelberg (I96I), p.
I60
f.; 172
f.
4
See L.
Renou,
Etudes sur le vocabulaire du
Rgveda, Pondich6ry 1958, p.
ii
n.;
the same, Etudes
vediques
et
panineennes, IV,
Paris
1958, p. 79; II8;
ibid.
VII,
Paris
I960, p.
71.
K. F. Geldner's
(Der Rig-veda
ibersetzt, Harvard
I95I)
trans-
lation
"gedenken"
is
inadequate.
250
The Indian Mantra
to evoke it and make it
active)"; 5, 52, 3
marutdm adhd maho divi ksamd
ca manmahe "then we evoke the
majesty
of the Maruts
(a
class of
gods)
in heaven and on the earth"
(in
the next stanza the
poet
states that he
dedicates
eulogy
and sacrifice to the
gods
who
protect
men
against
injury; similarly
io, 26, 4; 97,
I; AthV.
4, 23, I;
24, I; 26, I;
Io, 4,
II
1;
Vajasaneyi
Samh.
4,
II daivm
dhiyam
mandmahe ...
abhistaye,
not
"for aid we meditate divine
Intelligence"
2 but rather "we concentrate
our minds on
(the product
of
our)
divine intuition
(i.e.,
the
mantras) (in
order to
invoke)
for assistance
(the power
which is inherent in
them)".
Passing
mention
may
also be made of the noun mantu- 3
which,
mainly
occurring
in the
R.gveda,
has been translated in different
ways
4.
Anyhow,
Geldner's "eure
Sorgen
sind ununterbrochene
(Regen)str6me"
seems less
acceptable
as a translation of
I, 152,
I acchidrd mantavo ha
sargdh
than
"your
flawless intentional and efficient
thoughts
are emanations" 5. The
other occurrences have been taken to
express
a
personal meaning
"Berater, Lenker,
Walter"
6,
whereas in the two Avestan
places
exhib-
iting
mantu-
(Y. 33, 4; 46, I7)
this
meaning
is at least dubious 7.
Let us now turn to the use of the noun mantrah in the
Rgveda.
In
I,
3I, 13
II-a line of difficult
syntax
which I would
prefer
to
interpret
as
follows "thou lovest him who with all his heart offers
liberally
in order
to
procure
himself
safety,
who
< recites > the mantra of the
praising
poet"
8-the recitation of the
product
of the
inspired
mind of the
poet
is,
as to its
effect,
put
on a
par
with a sacrifice
(cf.
also
Io, Io6,
II).
"Dichterspruch,
Dichterwort" is Geldner's translation in this
place.
Similarly,
I,
40, 5; I,
74,
I where the reciter
expresses
his intention to
address a mantra to the
god Agni;
I, I52, 2;
Io, 50, 6; 2, 35,
2 where
it is said to come from the
poet's
heart,
the well-known
'place'
where the
1
Here W. D.
Whitney-Ch.
R.
Lanman,
Atharvaveda
Samhita,
Harvard
1905,
translate
"reverence",
in connection with "name"
(AthV. 7, I,
I), however,
"per-
ceive".
2 R. T. H.
Griffith,
The Texts
of
the White
Yajurveda,
Benares
1927,
p.
32.
3
For words in -u- used "in der sakral-rechtlichen
Sphare"
etc.: W.
Havers,
in
Anthropos 49 (I954),
p.
I99
ff. This word is dealt with under "Kiinste und
Fertigkeiten",
S. 202.
(Cf.
also
Havers,
in
Anzeiger,
Osterr. Akad. d.
Wiss.,
ph.-h.
KI., 84 (I947), P. I39 ff.).
4
See L.
Renou,
Monographies
sanskrites
II,
Paris
1937,
p.
io; 17.
5
Cf. L.
Silburn,
Instant et
cause,
Paris
I955,
p.
25.
6
See
e.g.
K.
Grassmann,
Worterbuch zum
Rig-veda, 1872 (Leipzig I936), 999;
J.
Wackernagel-A. Debrunner,
Altindische
Grammatik, II, 2,
Gottingen 1954,
p.
665.
7
Nor does Humbach's "Rathschluss"
appear
to hit the mark
(H.
Humbach,
Die Gathas des
Zarathustra,
Heidelberg 1959,
p. IOI; 134);
rather
something
like
"intentional
thought".
8
For other
interpretations
see K. F.
Geldner,
Der
Rig-veda ibersetzt, I,
Harvard
I95I,
p.
35.
25I
J.
Gonda
intuition is
conceived,
the
supranormal
visions are
seen,
the
inspiration
is received
;
it
is, moreover,
sutasta- "well
fashioned";
this
adjective
derives from the verb taks- "to fashion" which is often used in connection
with intuitions and
inspirations
which are transformed into
poetical
compositions (see 7, 7,
6; I,
67, 4
"the mantras fashioned with
(in)
the
heart";
and cf. also
7, 32, 13)
2. In
6, 50, 14
"all the
gods, increasing
through
rta3,
the invoked ones
(and)
the mantras
proclaimed by
in-
spired poets
must,
praised,
lend assistance". The
power
of the mantras
is also
emphasized
in
I, 67, 5
"he
(the god
of
fire,
light
and
inspiration,
Agni)
has fixed heaven
firmly
with mantras which are in
harmony
with
reality
(satya-)"; o1, 14, 4
a tvd mantrdh kavisastd vahantu "the mantras
proclaimed by
the
inspired poets
must
bring
thee
(the god Yama)
hither"; IO, 88, I4.
In
IO, 50, 4
bhuvo
...
jyesthas
ca mantrah the
god
Indra is called the best
mantra;
Grassmann
4
took the term in a
personal
meaning
"Berather",
and Geldner translated: "du wardst der beste Rat".
I would venture to
suggest:
"thou art
(i.e., thy
name
is)
the best mantra
(potent formula)".
As will be shown further on the name of a
mighty
god
is a
potent
mantra,
just
like the name of Christ enables man to
exorcize demons and to work wonders
(Mark
I6,
17 f.).
The term "name"
is in connection with this
god
mentioned in this
corpus: 3, 37, 3
ndmdni
te satakrato visvdbhir
girbhir
imahe
/
indrdbhimdtisdhye
"we
'approach',
i.e.,
we make an
appeal
to,
thy
names, O
thou who art of hundredfold
resourcefulness 5,
with all words of
praise,
O Indra,
if it comes to con-
quering
the
insidious"; 7, 22, 5
"I do not
forget
the words of
praise
to
be addressed to thee ... I
always proclaim thy
name . . .". See also
7,
32, 17
where the name of the
god
is invoked
by
those who are in need of
protection; Io, 54, 4
"thou
possessest
four divine names which are
impervious
to deceit": the text no doubt refers to the
mighty
names of
epithets
such as vrtrahan- "killer of the demon
(power)
of obstruction"
etc. which
express
some of the most
important qualities
and abilities of
the
god
or which
mythologically speaking
refer to some of his most
impressive exploits.
In
8,
46, 14
the
god
and his name are
coupled toge-
ther: "celebrate
thy
hero with
mighty
words of
praise
...
Indra,
the
famous name . .
.",
in
6, i8,
7
the
god
and his
majesty.
"Der Name ist
1
See The vision
of
the Vedic
poets,
's-Gravenhage 1963, especially chapter
XII.
2
The same
meaning,
not "Rat"
(Geldner)
or "counsel"
(Whitney-Lanman
in
the
corresponding
stanza
6,
64, 2) may
be admitted in
io, 191, 3
where samitih no
doubt refers to the
gathering
of those concerned in
sacrificing,
mantram abhi
mantraye
vah means "I
pronounce,
for
your
sake, mantras".
3
See H.
Liiders, Varuna, II, Gottingen I959,
p.
555
ff.
4
Grassmann, Worterbuch,
Iooo.
5
See
Epithets
in the
Rgveda, 's-Gravenhage 1959,
p.
36
ff.
252
The Indian Mantra
fur den
primitiven
Menschen kein blosser 'Schall und
Rauch',
sondern
ein
Doppel-Ich
...,
identisch mit dem
Trager.
Der Name ist kraft-
geladen
... Der Name macht einen Menschen oder Gott
prasent
...
Der Name ist der Stellvertreter
Gottes,
Gott selbst" 1. The Samaritans
even read "the name" instead of "the Lord" 2. In
I, 57, 3
Indra's name
is called a
light,
the context
suggesting
that it was created to be a
light
3.
Similar observations
might
be made in connection of the names of other
gods: 5, 44,
2
(Agni).
The
poet
of
9,
99, 4
makes mention of "intuitions
4
(to be)
transformed into
eulogies
which bear the names of the
gods"
(dhitayo
devdndm ndma
bibhratih). Finally,
the
phrases
with the verb
man- and the noun ndma
"name",
reference to which has
already
been
made,
may
be recalled to mind.
A
perusal
of the Atharvaveda
brings
to
light
similar data:
6, 76, 4
"the
ksatriya
who
knowing
takes the name of
Agni
in order to
enjoy
a
full life-time
(is
secure from
pernicious influences)"
5; in
19, 35,
I
"taking
the name of Indra into the mouth the seers
(rsayah) gave
the
janigida
(a
sort of
amulet),
which the
gods
in the
beginning
made a
remedy,
spoiler
of the viskandha
(a power provoking
a
disease6)":
here the
"name of the
god"
can
hardly
function as
anything
else than as a mantra 7.
In Hinduism the name of a
god
alone is a
great protection
even when
pronounced unconsciously, unintentionally
or when fallen
asleep8.
Examples
from other
religions, e.g.,
the holiness and
power
inherent in
the name of
Jesus
Christ,
and the name of Allah used
by
Indian
Muslims,
as a mantra are too well known to need
quoting.
The masculine
gender
of the term mantra-
(the
neuter is rare and
1
Heiler,
Erscheinungsformen,
p.
275.
The words left out in the above
quotations:
"ob schon das Wort
6voLo
.. . dem melanesischen
topui
"tabu machen"
entspricht,
ist
etymologisch fraglich"
should be
replaced by:
"...
ist
etymologisch
vollkommen
unm6glich".
2
J.
E. H.
Thompson,
The
Samaritans,
Edinburgh
1919,
p. 178.
3
Cf. also
i, 55, 4; 5, 30, 5; 8, 52, 7;
AthV.
3, I4, I; 5, 28, I2.
See
J.
Herbert,
Shankara, Hymnes
c Shiva,
Lyon I944,
p.
I7
if.
4
For dhiti- see The intuition
of
the Vedic
poets,
chapter
III.
5
Cf. also
7, 20, 4; I9, 38,
2.
6
See
Filliozat,
L'Inde
classique, p.
io6.
7
Cf. also
Chdndogya-upanisad 7, 4,
2 "the mantras find their
unity
in name
and ritual acts
(karmani)
in the mantras".
8
See, e.g.,
E.
Abegg,
Der
Pretakalpa
des
Garuda-Purana2,
Berlin
I956, p. IIo;
for divine and
holy
names on amulets in
general
see
Heiler,
Erscheinungsformen,
p. 276; 341
f.
(with
a
bibliography).
Tulsi Das
(I532-I574)
for instance went to
,exaggerated lengths
in
glorifying
the name of his
God, Rama,
asserting
that the
name is
greater
than God himself who is unknowable until revealed
by
the
Name,
which has saved millions of votaries and
will,
when
duly muttered,
continue to
save them to the end of time
(see
also W. D. P.
Hill,
The
holy
lake
of
the acts
of
-Rama,
Oxford
1952,
p.
XXIX).
253
J.
Gonda
secondary)
is
exceptional
1.
Brugmann
2
attempted
to account for it
by
observing "gleichsam
'der
lebendige
Gedanke'
",
Niedermann3 more
aptly
remarked that instruments
'originally' (whatever
that term
may
mean in this
connection!)
were conceived as
'selbstandige
handelnde
Wesen';
without
entering
into
speculations
about a historical
(i.e.,
prehistorical!)
earlier or later a double
conception
of the instrument
names is
quite
understandable
(in
Dutch and in other
languages
words
like
veg-er
mean
"sweeper"
and
"brush").
It
may
in this connection be remembered that the Avestan
mqYra
is
likewise in a
large majority
of cases masculine.
According
to Bartho-
lomae4 it means "Wort,
Ausspruch, Spruch";
sometimes "Zauber-
spruch"
5,
especially,
in the
singular,
the
mqbra par excellence,
often
accompanied by spanta ["intrinsically powerful" 6]
"
'das
heilige
Wort' "
7,
"der
Inbegriff
der
gottlichen Offenbarung;
auch vielfach als
Gottheit";
the neuter mqtra- means
"Gedanke,
im
Gegensatz
zu Wort und Werk"
(once)
and
"Bedenken,
Nachdenken fiber"
(once).
From the Gathas it
is clear that a
mqYra-
is a
powerful
word,
phrase,
verse or formula which
being
formed and communicated
by
the Lord and
being pronounced by
men
is,
for
instance,
capable
of
destroying
or
chasing away
evil
powers
(28, 5
"we should like to avert the evil
beings through
the
tongue")
8.
Also from
passages
such as Yast
I,
28 it
appears
that the
spanta
mqWra
is the
"powerful
word" which
emanating
from Ahura Mazdah returns
to him in the form of the
liturgical
verses and formulas
spoken by
the
poets
and reciters.
Subjoining
some
places
of interest I draw attention
to Yt.
13, 8i,
where the
spanta
mqflra
is said to be the
white,
bright,
radiant 'soul' of Ahura
Mazdah,
to Yt.
I, 3
where the name of the
Lord,
the name of the "immortal Saints"
(Amgsa Spantas)
is,
by
the mouth of
Ahura Mazdah
himself,
called the most
powerful,
victorious and brilliant
element in the
spgnta
mqfra;
God's name is moreover that which in the
1
J. Wackernagel-A. Debrunner,
Altindische
Grammatik, II, 2, G6ttingen I954,
p.
706.
2
Brugmann, Grundriss,
p. 346.
3
M.
Niedermann,
in
Indogerm.
Forsch.
37, p. 154;
see also
Wackernagel-De-
brunner,
Altind.
Gramm., p.
706.
4
Chr.
Bartholomae,
Altiranisches
Worterbuch, Strassburg 1904, II77
f.
5
This term should be used with
caution,
because the contents of the
concept
'Zauber' are in different times and on different levels of
civilization,
liable to
vary.
I for one cannot
agree
with Humbach's translation
"Zauberspruch"
for the
'holy
word or formulas'
inspired by
Ahura Mazda
(Yasna 29, 7; 3I, 6; 43, I4; 44, 14;
45, 3):
H.
Humbach,
Die Gathas des
Zarathustra, I,
Heidelberg I959.
6
See
my
relative
paper
in Oriens 2
(1949),
p.
195
ff.
7 I.
Gershevitch,
The Avestan
hymn
to
Mithra, Cambridge 1959, p. 84
translates
"the incremental divine word".
8
Cf. also
Humbach, Gathas, II,
p. 9
f.
254
The Indian Mantra
spfnta mq4ra helps
most to
conquer
the enmities of men and
anti-gods,
which furthers most
supreme
salvation,
which "im
ganzen k6rperlichen
Dasein am meisten das Denken
durchdringt
und den Willen
reinigt"
1.
It
appears
moreover from Videvdat
4, 45
that this
'holy
word' was the
best instruction to be
given
to those who
sought
instruction
(cf.
also
14,
46
where the
adjective spanta
does not turn
up),
from Y.
71, 5
etc. that
it is
worthy
of
worship
and veneration.
Leaving
some details out of consideration it
may,
on the
strength
of
a number of
particulars concerning
the Indian term mantrah to be
discussed in this
article,
safely
be contended that from the
prehistoric
period
of Indo-Iranian
community
onward the mantra
concept-created
no doubt
by
the
mystery
of
speech
as that which
expresses thought-
played
an
important
role in the
religious
life and
conceptions
of the
Aryan peoples
2. A mantra
may
therefore,
etymologically speaking
and
judging
from the
usage prevailing
in the oldest
texts,
approximately
be
defined as follows:
"word(s)
believed to be of
'superhuman origin',
received,
fashioned and
spoken by
the
'inspired' seers,
poets
and reciters
in order to evoke divine
power(s)
and
especially
conceived as means of
creating, conveying, concentrating
and
realizing
intentional and efficient
thought,
and of
coming
into touch or
identifying
oneself with the essence
of the
divinity
which is
present
in the mantra".
The 'semantic link' between the above
meaning
of the term mantra- and
the other which will be touched
upon
hereafter seems to be constituted
by phrases
such as
IO, 134, 7
"we do
not,
0
gods, transgress
... we
observe obedience
(0 Indra)
to
thy
mantras
(mantrasrutyam cardmasi)".
In this context the term for
"powerful expression given
to
inspired
men
by
the
god
who in his turn is
expected
to be
invoked,
evoked and in-
fluenced
by
it" assumes a connotation which
may
lead a modern
translator to choose such a term as "Rat"
(Geldner).
Another contextual
variant
showing
the transition to the
'meaning' "counsel,
advice etc."
occurs Paficavimsa-brahmana
I8, 9,
21
vdcy evdsya
mantram
dadhdty
dmantra.ntyo
bhavati "he
brings
the
'holy
word' into his
voice;
he
becomes a
person
who should be consulted" 3.
The word mantra-
has,
in other
contexts,
not
rarely
another
'meaning'
-that is to
say,
it is to be translated
otherwise,
viz.
by "consultation,
resolution, advice, counsel,
design, plan,
secret". Hence also mantrin- in
the
meaning
of "counsellor
(of
a
king),
'minister' ". It would be
expedient
1 H.
Lommel,
Die
YdSt's
des Awesta,
G6ttingen-Leipzig 1927,
p.
14.
2
See also
J.
Filliozat,
La doctrine
classique
de la medecine
indienne,
Paris
I949,
P. 34.
3
Cf. also W.
Caland, Pancavimnsa-brahmana, Calcutta
I93I,
p.
496.
255
J.
Gonda
to devote
by way
of
digression
some attention to this
use,
because it
will
prove
to shed some
light
on the
very
essence of the
concept
under
consideration. A
mantra, the
epics
teach us
(Mbh.
2,
5, 27
and
Ramayana
2, I00,
i6),
"is the root of
victory". According
to
Kautilya's
famous
Handbook of
politics (Arthasastra
I, 15, 20)
a mantra
accomplishes
the
apprehension
of what is not or cannot be
seen;
imparts
the
strength
of a
definite conclusion to what is
apprehended,
removes doubt when two
courses are
possible,
leads to inference of an entire matter when
only
a
part
is seen 1. Mutatis mutandis the same
description applies
to mantra-
in the
religious meaning.
All
undertakings,
the same
authority
holds
(I, 15, 2), depend
on consultation
(mantra-),
which should take
place
in
secret. Power
being
threefold,
he informs us elsewhere
(6,
2,
33),
the first
'Macht- oder
Verwirklichungsmittel'
2 is
jndnabala-,
i.e.,
"the
power
of
knowledge".
It is understandable that the term
may
also admit of the
meaning
"Rat des Herzens"
3,
or
"plan,
scheme,
intention": one should
not
betray
one's mantras
by
facial
expression
etc.
(ibid. 5, 5, 6).
The
conclusion seems to be warranted that both
'meanings'
of the term
mantra-
"speech
which
expresses, conveys,
or leads to the concentration
of,
thought"
owe their
origin
to different contextual use 4.
Thus
quotations
from the
great
Vedic collections of metrical texts are
in the
younger prose
texts of the brahmanas referred to
by
the term
mantra:
Satap.
Br.
I, 31,
28
(with
reference to
VajS.
I,
31),
where the
translation
'prayer'
5
is not
applicable;
2, 6, 2,
14.
The term
applies
also
to
larger portions
of the ancient texts: in
Aitareya-brahmana 5, 14,
8,
RV.
Io,
6I and 62
(the
so-called
Nabhanedistha)
is
given
that name.
Also formulas such as svdha
(an
exclamation used in
making
oblations
to the
gods)
are in these texts considered mantras
(Satap.
Br.
, ,
44, 6)
6.
Occasionally
a text which does not occur in the
great
Vedic collections is
already
at a
comparatively early
date
styled
a mantra:
Maitri-upanisad
6, 9.
A mantra is addressed or offered to a
god (Satap.
Br.
2, 3, 4, Io)
and
accompanies
oblations and libations
(4,
I, 2, I9;
7, 3,
I,
Io)
and
ritual acts
(2,
6, 2,
I5).
It is considered
extremely powerful:
Ait Br.
5,
1 See The
Kautilzya Arthasastra,
edited
by
R. P.
Kangle, I, Bombay
I960,
p.
I9.
Cf. also the Kashmirian
(Xth
cent.
A.D.) Nitivakyamrta, p. I14.
2
J. J. Meyer,
Das altindische Buch vom Welt- und
Staatsleben, Leipzig
1926,
p.
404.
Cf. V. A.
Ramaswamy
Sastri,
in: P. K. Code Comm.
Vol.,
Poona I960, II,
P. 373.
3
Meyer, o.c., p. 388.
4
In RV.
3, 53,
8 Grassmann translates
"Entschluss,
(geheimer Plan)",
Geldner
"Ratschluss"; here also there is
question
of realisation of intentional
thought.
RV.
Io, 95,
I admits of the translation
"words", although
there is a similar undertone.
6 Thus
J. Eggeling,
The
Satapatha-brdhmana
translated,
Oxford 1882, p.
78.
6
Cf. also
Satap.
Br.
2, 3, 3, I7; 4,
I, I,
26.
256
The Indian Mantra
14,
8. The mantra is in
?atap.
Br.
7, I, I, 5 explicitly
identified with
brahman,
the ultimate and most fundamental
principle.
The term is
also
regarded
as
synonymous
with
veda-; see,
e.g., Sayana's commentary
on Pafic. Br.
II, 8,
8. A mantra has first been 'seen'
by
eminent
persons
or
beings (cf.
Ait Br.
5, 23, 2;
Jaiminiya-br. 3, I93).
III
Words
acquire
a condensed
power
when
they
assume a fixed
form,
a
phrase
definite in the sound and
rhythm
of its
terms,
a formula. Almost
universally
in law and
religion
the formula holds
together,
as it
were,
the
power
immanent in the words 1. With the ancient Romans a carmen
was
required
for all services of
prayer
and
dedication,
and none of its
elements
might
be altered or omitted. In ancient
Egypt
the
destiny
of
the
departed depended
on the correctness of the
recital,
and in other
religions
also the
liturgy
is,
in
fact,
a carmen
enjoying
at least to some
extent,
compelling power
2. Thus mantras were an
absolutely
essential
element in the Vedic ritual.
They
were to invoke and to
praise (i.e.,
strengthen)
the
gods,
to exert influence on the
powers,
to avert
evil,
to
dedicate the
oblations,
to
express
the
meaning
and functions of the ritual
acts and
thereby
to
give
them their
specific
character. The
priest
is
believed to know how to
invite,
by
means of these texts which
proved
effective for his
ancestors,
the
gods
and to attract their invisible
presences
into the sacrificial area.
For
instance,
all 'Sacraments'
(Samskaras)
3
from the
conception
to
the cremation
are,
according
to the ancient Indian
authorities,
to be
performed,
for male members
4
of the three
Aryan
classes of
society,
with Vedic mantras.
Compare, e.g.,
Manu,
DharmaSastra (?
200
A.D.)
2,
i6;
26. The funeral ceremonies are for instance
accompanied by
mantras
which are
mostly
taken from Vedic funeral
hymns,
such as RV.
Io,
14;
i6; I8;
AV.
I8, I-45.
At the end of a funeral
ceremony
authorities
prescribe
the so-called Santikarma or
pacificatory
rites for the well-
being
of the
living
6. The formulas uttered
during
it have
regard
to life
1
G. van der
Leeuw,
Wegen
en Grenzen
2,
Amsterdam
I948, p. 155
ff.
2
See, e.g.,
van der
Leeuw,
Religion
in essence and
manifestation,
London
I938,
p. 422
ff.
3
R. B.
Pandey,
Hindu Samskaras. A
socio-religious study of
the Hindu sacra-
ments,
Benares
I949.
4
Women are not allowed to hear the Veda.
5
For a
complete description
of the Vedic funeral rites and the mantras used
in
performing
them see W.
Caland,
Die altindischen Toten- und
Bestattungs-
gebrduche,
Amsterdam
Academy 1896;
the
same,
A Itindischer A
hnenkult,
Leiden
1893.
6
I refer to Die
Religionen
Indiens, I,
Veda und alterer
Hinduismus, Stuttgart
I960, I33.
257
Oriens i6
I7
J.
Gonda
and
averting
of
death,
effective measures
being
taken to ward off evil
and to return to the
ordinary way
of life. The relatives
by
blood
assemble,
a fire is kindled and those
present
are
requested
to sit down on the hide
of a bullock of a red
colour,
while
pronouncing
the
following
mantras:
"ascend on this
life-giving
skin,
as
you
wish to live to a
decrepit
old
age
...
Go, O Death,
the other
way
etc." In modern times the women
are no
longer required
in the rite and the hide is no
longer utilized,
but
the mantras are still
pronounced;
meanwhile those
present
touch a red
bull. On the
departure
of the last man the
priest
should
place
a circle
of stones behind him to
prevent
death from
following
those who are
returning
home. He does so while
pronouncing
mantras which are an
exact
description
of the ritual act and a formulation of his intentions:
"I
place
these stones for the
living
. .,
may
we live a hundred
years,
driving
death
away
from this
heap".
According
to the dharma texts it is
part
of the
daily
observances of
an ascetic to
mutter,
on a
variety
of
occasions,
mantras. For
instance,
before
partaking
of
begged
food he should
place
it on the
ground
and
announce it with RV. I, 50, I and
I, 115,
I
(cf.
Baudh. DhS. 2,
Io,
I8,
4-15),
two stanzas which
are,
in the
ritual,
frequently prescribed
to
accompany gifts
and
oblations;
after
bathing
he should announce it to
Brahman with TA.
Io, I, Io,
etc. 1. The first
stanza,
which is of
very
frequent
occurrence and manifold
application
2,
forms
part
of the
Sfirya
(Sun) hymn,
RV.
I, 50, I-Io;
it runs as follows: "There his
rays
lift
up
the
god Jatavedas (Fire
and
Light),
that the whole universe will see the
sun". RV.
I, 115,
I is likewise dedicated to the Sun: "The face of the
gods
has arisen
brightly,
the
eye
of
Mitra, Varuna,
Agni;
it has filled
heaven,
earth and
atmosphere; Siirya
is the 'soul' of the
moving
creation
and of the
stationary".
That the mantras
belong
to those 'entities' which were
already
at an
early
date considered manifestations or
representatives
of the One or
of the Lord
may appear
also from Maitri
Up.
6,
I6 "the offerer and the
enjoyer (of
the
sacrifice),
the
oblation,
-the
Mantra,
worship,
Visnu,
Prajapati, everyone
whatsoever is the
lord,
the witness who shines in
yonder
orb
(the sun)".
The sacramental
power
of mantras is no doubt
referred to in the
Chandogya
Up.
7, 4,
2: as the mantras are
dependent
on
living
creatures,
so the
performance
of ritual acts
depends
on mantras.
As
already
stated,
mantras are to
accompany,
to
sanctify
and
'ratify'
the ritual
acts,
permeating
them with the transcendent
power
of the
1
H. D.
Sharma,
Contributions to the
history of
brdhmanical asceticism,
Poona
I939, P. 40
f.
2
See M.
Bloomfield,
A Vedic concordance,
Harvard
I906, p. 369.
258
The Indian Mantra
divine Word 1. This
consecratory
function manifests itself in a
large
number of cases in which modern men would not
expect
it.
By pronoun-
cing
the
proper
mantra the sexual act is for instance raised to the rank
of a rite
resuscitating
and
wielding
that
particular part
of the universal
and
omnipresent
creative force which is active in the creation of new
human life: Brhadar.
Up.
6,
4,
2I. "Then he
spreads
her
thighs apart,
saying: "Spread yourself apart,
Heaven and Earth"
(identification
with
the cosmic and
mythic prototype).
After
having
inserted his member in
her and
joined
mouth with
mouth,
he strokes her three times as the hair
lies,
saying:
"Let Visnu make the womb
prepared.
Let Tvastar
(the god
who makes the
implements
of the
gods etc.) shape
the
(various)
forms!
Let
Prajapati (the deity presiding
over
creation) pour
in
etc.",
these
verses and some which are to follow
being
mantras and
constituting
an
almost literal
quotation
of
Rgveda
Io,
184.
Two stanzas occur also in
the Atharvaveda
(5, 25, 3
and
5)
as
parts
of a text which is to
accompany
a rite for successful
conception
and in the
Grhyasuitra (a
ritual handbook
containing
directions for domestic rites and
ceremonies)
of
Hiranyakesin
(I, 25, i) among
the rules and formulas of the
"impregnation-rite"
2.
The authoritative texts on dharma such as
Yjniiavalkya
I,
99 prescribe
japa,
i.e.,
muttering
of the
Gayatri
3
and other Vedic
mantras,
as the
principal part
of the
morning
and
evening
adoration 4.
By reciting
these
verses a man becomes
pure (Vasistha
DhS.
28,
I0-25).
It is even
taught
(Visnu
DhS.
55, 21)
that a brahman attains the
highest perfection by
japa
alone. The
japa
should
(ibid. 64, 36-39) comprise very
sacred
texts,
particularly
the
Gayatri (RV. 3, 62,
Io)
and the Purusasfikta
(io, 90),
as there is
nothing superior
to these. A Hinduistic text
(Vrddhaharita
6,
33; 45; 613; 213) lays
down rules for the number of times a mantra
should be
repeated (the 'special'
numbers Io8 or Ioo8 are
obligatory).
Japa
without
counting
the number is fruitless 5.
From the number of those Vedic mantras which remained in use for
over
twenty
centuries I mention the formula
agne vratapate
vratam
carisydmi
"0
Agni (the god
of
fire),
lord of vows! I will observe
my
vow
(; may
I
accomplish
it;
may
it be successful for
me)"
which,
occurring,
e.g.,
in the
Vajasaneyisamhita
of the White
Yajurveda (I, 5)
was to be
1
Cf., e.g.,
also W.
Eidlitz,
Der Glaube und die
heiligen
Schriften
der
Inder,
Olten
I957, P. 92
ff.
2
See also P. V.
Kane, History of
Dharmas'istra, II, I,
Poona
I94I,
p. 201 ff.
3
See further on.
4
Kane, History, II, i,
p. 313; 685
ff.
6 The
counting
could be done
by
means of a
rosary:
see W.
Kirfel,
Der Rosen-
kranz,
Walldorf-Hessen
I949.
The term
japamdli
"Gebetskranz" occurs
only
in
comparatively
recent
manuscripts.
259
J.
Gonda
spoken by
a sacrificer who
together
with his wife was about to take the
prescribed
vow of abstinence
during
the
performance
of
religious
cere-
monies
(see, e.g., Satapathabrahmana
I, I, I,
2).
The same mantra was
in the second half of the XVIth
century
A.D. still
prescribed by
the
author of the
Prayascittapraksa
1
in cases when
somebody
wished to
undertake a vow or
penance.
The recitation of mantras
may
also serve as a substitute for definite
religious
duties.
Thus,
if one is ill or otherwise unable to
undergo
the
regular daily
bath or ablution one
may
resort to the mantrasndna-
(lit.
"the
mantra-bathing")
which consists in
sprinkling
water with the
stanzas RV.
10, 9, I-3 "ye
waters are indeed
refreshing; procure vigour
for us that we
may
see
great delight;
make us
participate
in
your
most
auspicious juice
...
you quicken
us and make us live
(anew)".
The
significance
of mantras in Indian
religions
can indeed
hardly
be
over-estimated 2.
They
are one of those elements of the Indian culture
which existed
already
before the dawn of
history
and
survive,
until the
present day,
in a
variety
of functions and
applications.
There even is a
Hindu
saying
that the whole world is
subject
to the
gods,
the
gods
to the
mantras,
the mantras to the
brahman,
and therefore the brahmans are
our
gods
3. This belief becomes more understandable if we remember
first,
that the brahmans are a manifestation of the fundamental
power-
concept
Brahman
and,
in the second
place,
that a mantra
possesses
the
same kind of creative force which was
present
at the creation of the
universe.
Whereas the three
Aryan
or twice-born classes are entitled to formulas
from the
Vedas,
for the
conglomeration
of the lower
classes,
collectively
known as
Midras,
texts from
younger
works,
e.g.,
the
puranas,
are used.
Because the Veda was forbidden to women as
strictly
as to uiidras a
result was
that,
with the
exception
of the
marriage ceremony, every
domestic sacrament was
performed
without mantras in the case of
girls
(Asvalayana-grhyasfutra
I, I5, Io;
Manu
2,
66).
These circumstances
have no doubt contributed much to the
increasing
use of non-Vedic
mantras and the
replacement
of old Vedic stanzas and formulas
by
so-
called Hinduist formulas which
may
be considered to be at least in
part
of
younger,
and in
part
of older extra-Vedic
origin.
In Hinduistic texts
4
it is
taught
that whereas
formerly
the Vedic
1
See
Kane, History, IV, p.
124.
2
See,
e.g.,
also Sh. Bh.
Dasgupta,
Aspects
of
Indian
religious thought,
Calcutta
1957,
p. 22
ff.;
E.
Thurston,
Omens and
superstitions
of
Southern
India,
London
1912, passim.
3
L. S. S.
O'Malley, Popular Hinduism,
Cambridge I935,
p.
I90.
4
See,
e.g.,
also A.
Danil6ou,
Le
polytheisme hindou, 1960, p. 501 ff.;
Arthur
260
The Indian Mantra
method of
worship comprising
inter alia the
muttering
of the
Gayatri
could
suffice,
it is in the
present
Kali
age
not
possible
to
worship according
to that method. Of
course,
the twice-born who
wilfully
or
negligently
omits to recite this fundamental mantra makes himself so to
say
lower
than a
foreigner, unworthy
of
taking
the name of
God,
because that
which makes a brahman
by
its
presence
and a
foreigner by
its absence
is the
great
eternal and universal mantra
power,
and the
Gayatri
is a
mass of radiant mantra
energy (tejas).
One
should, nevertheless,
adopt,
in the
present age,
other mantras which are to stimulate one's faculties
with divine radiant
energy.
The
superiority
of the
power
inherent in
mantras
is,
in
Hinduism,
illustrated
by many mythical
and
legendary
tales. When for instance Visnu had to
fight
the two demons Madhu and
Kaitabha who had stolen the Vedas and thus created
great
confusion,
he was unsuccessful as
long
as he relied on his
physical energies;
when,
however,
he had resorted to his "mantra
energy"
he
ultimately destroyed
them
(Jayakhya-samhita).
In order to illustrate the
efficacy
1
attributed to mantras in
post-
Vedic times some
quotations
from various texts
may
be
subjoined
here.
"That demon will not be able to
destroy my
son,
for he is a
hero,
thorough-
ly
versed in mantras and
energetic" (Mbh.
I, I6I,
14).
When no
particular
hymns
are
prescribed
for the removal of sins Vedic mantras are
powerful
and become
purifiers
if
accompanied by tapas ('asceticism')
and the
verses from the Samaveda
may,
from ten times as the
minimum,
be
repeated
for the same
purpose (Samavidhana-brahmana
I, 5, 2).
Not
only
in the texts
belonging
to the
Atharvaveda,
but also in such 'hand-
books' as the
Rgvidhana
2, so much
importance
was attached to the
words of the Veda that numerous
hymns
of the
Rgveda
are
prescribed
for the removal of
sins, diseases, misfortune,
the
conquest
of enemies
etc. etc. "What is the use of
many
mantras and the
performance
of
Avalon
(Sir John Woodroffe), Principles of
Tantra
2,
Madras
1952,
ch. IV and ch.
XI;
the
same,
Shakti and Shakta
3,
Madras
I929,
ch.
XXIV;
B.
Bhattacharyya,
An introduction to Buddhist
esoterism,
Oxford
1932,
p.
55 if.;
C. G.
Diehl,
Instrument
and
purpose,
studies on rites and rituals in South
India,
Lund
1956, passim;
S. Bh.
Dasgupta,
Aspects
of
Indian
religious thought,
Calcutta
I957,
p. 22
ff.;
W. Y. Evans-
Wentz,
Tibetan
Yoga
and secret doctrines
2,
Oxford
I958, passim.
1
Sometimes a simile or
comparison may help
us in
forming
an idea of the
process supposed
to take
place
when a mantra
produces
the effect desired. In the
Srisamputika (quoted by
S. Bh.
Dasgupta,
Obscure
religious
cults as
background
of Bengali
literature,
Calcutta
I946, p. II9)
the actual
presentation
of the desired
object through
the
'power
of attraction' stimulated
by
the
right
use of a mantra
is
compared
to the
production
of
juice
from
sugarcanes through pressure,
to that
of
light
from wood
through friction,
to that of cream
produced
in milk etc.
2
See
my English
translation of the
Rgvidhana,
Utrecht
I95I.
26I
J.
Gonda
religious
observances
(vratas)",
the author of the Visnuite Nrsimha-
purana
exclaims
(63, 6),
"when the mantra Om namo
Nadryanaya
is
capable
of
securing
all desired
objects
?"
According
to
tradition,
the rsi
Durvasa had
given
to
Kunti,
the mother of the
epic
heroes,
the Pandavas,
who had shown
respectful
devotion to
him,
a mantra
by
means of which
she
might
have a child
by any god
she
pleased
to invoke. She called
upon
the
Sun-god
and became
by
him and without
any
detriment to her
virginity
the mother of the hero Karna
(Mahabharata
i,
IIi).
Without the
special consecratory
mantras a
temple
or the
image
of
a
god
remains a mere
building
or a
'profane' image,
not an
object
filled
with the divine
essence,
worthy
of
worship, capable
of
helping
the devout
in their
attempts
to reach their
higher goals.
Thus Rudra-mantras are
to be muttered in
establishing
an
image
of
Rudra,
Visnu-mantras in
consecrating
an
image
of Visnu. Brahma-mantras are to be
pronounced
in
consecrating
the
image
of Brahma etc.
(Matsya
Pur.
266,
39).
The
formulas to be
pronounced
run for instance as follows: "I establish the
Sun-god
who holds a lotus in the hand and who has
long
arms". The
mantras are identical with the
god;
for
instance,
the five mantras used
in
establishing
a five-faced
image
of
Siva
are
equivalent
to these five
faces which
represent
the
god's
Isana,
Tatpurusa, Aghora,
Vamadeva
and
Sadyojata aspects.
A few references
may
suffice to
give
an idea of
the
importance
of mantras in connection with the erection of a
temple
1.
Among
the substances to be used in
building
a
sanctuary
are
bricks,
which, being
made of
earth,
share in the nature of earth.
Through
the
fire in which
they
are baked the sacrificial essence remains burnt into
the
brick,
in its
substance,
which is earth.
They
are settled with the
settling (sddanam)
mantra which makes them lie
steady
and
firmly
established
(Vajasaneyi
Samhita
I2, 53
"thou formest a
layer,
sit
steady
with that
deity
as thou wast wont to do with
(the mythical fire-priest)
Anigiras ...").
When the bricks are laid other
'rhythmic
formulas'
(mantras)
are recited to ensure that
they
lie
steady
and firm. At another
moment formulas are
pronounced
to ensure that the bricks and the
other
parts
of the structure will function
well,
that the
building
will be
the house of God and his concrete manifestation. Before
constructing
a
'fireplace'
for the Vedic sacrificial fire the
expert "goes through
the
whole
prescribed process
of construction
imagining
all the while that he
is
placing every
brick in its
proper place
with the mantra that
belongs
to
it" 2
S.
Kramrisch,
The Hindu
Temple, University
of Calcutta
I946, p. I04; 136;
140
etc.
2
Cf.
Baudhayana
Sulva
Sitra
2,
62 ff.
262
The Indian Mantra
The
ceremony
of
bringing
the
goddess
Kali into an
image,
i.e.,
of
transforming
the mere statue of carved stone into a sacred
object by
inducing
the
divinity
to live in
it,
is-to mention another instance-
described as follows
(Mahanirvanatantra
6, 70
ff.): "Having
thus invoked
the
goddess
into the
'figure'
one should install her vital breath into it
by
means of the 'Foundation'
(Pratistha)
mantra:
Having
first recited
(the
mantras)
aum,
hr.m,
krm,
sr.m
and
svdhd,
one should exclaim: 'let the
life of this
deity
be here' etc. Next one should recite the five mantras
and
pronounce (the formula): 'may
jzva
(the
individual
soul)
of the
goddess
be in this
image
and
may
the
image
have all the senses of the
goddess'. Again reciting
the five mantras one should
say: 'speech,
mind,
sight,
smell,
hearing,
touch be unto it'. Afterwards one should recite
twice the mantra
'may
the prdna
(vital breaths)
of the
goddess
come
here and live
happily
for
ever,
svdhd'. After
welcoming
the
goddess
("hast
thou had a
good journey?")
. .
.,
one should recite the
principal
(mila)
mantra for
purifying
her
image
and
sprinkle
it thrice with sacred
water. Then ... one should
worship
her". It should in this connection
be remembered that the
aspect
of
divinity
is
twofold, one, 'coarse',
being represented by
the
image,
the
other, 'subtle',
by
the mantra.-
Objects
of minor
cults,
for instance votive stones known as
ndgakals,
which are set
up by
women
desiring
children in honour of snake-
divinities,
are likewise consecrated with a
special
ritual and sacred
formulae, i.e.,
mantras.
Bathing
when done with the
proper
mantras washes
away
all sins.
When for instance
bathing
in the sacred
pool belonging
to the
temple
of Siva in Benares which
according
to the tradition
(Brahmapurana 56,
72 f.)
was built
by Markandeya
the devotee has to
dip
his head three
times,
to utter a mantra "Save me who am immersed in the sea of
mundane
existence,
swallowed
by
evil, senseless,
0 thou who art the
destroyer
of the
eyes
of
Bhaga,
0
enemy
of
Tripura, homage
to thee!".
Afterwards he must
go
to the
temple, worship
the
god
with the so-called
milamantra, i.e.,
the
principal
or fundamental mantra of his
religion,
viz.
Om namah
Sivdya "Om,
adoration to
Siva",
with the Vedic
Aghora
mantra
(om aghorebhyo
'tha
ghorebhyo aghoraghoratarebhyah,
sarvatah
sarva
sarvebhyo
namas te 'stu rudra
rupebhyah
"Om,
be there adoration
to
thy reassuring
manifestations,
0
Rudra,
and to the terrific
ones,
to
the
(manifestations)
which are
(at
the same
time) reassuring
and
terrific,
O
Sarva,
to all these
(manifestations)
in all
respects"
1
and a mantra
1
In this form the mantra occurs in the
Mahanarayana
Upan.
282. See also
Maitr. Samh.
2, 9, o1,
etc.
263
J.
Gonda
belonging
to the
category taught
in the
puranas,
the
large
body
of
Hinduistic
religious
literature,
for instance: "0
three-eyed
One,
adoration
to
thee,
0 thou who bearest the
(half-)moon
as an
ornament,
save
me,
O thou who art
diversely-eyed, great god,
adoration to thee". Such
prayer-like
mantras are far from rare: "0 Lord who art invincible
through
the
all-conquering
thousand
spokes (of thy discus),
I am
taking refuge
in
Thee'
(Ahirbudhnya-Samhita, 37).
In his Arthasastra
Kautilya
instructed that there should not be
any
sowing
without the
appropriate
mantras:
"Always,
while
sowing
seeds,
a handful of seed bathed in water with a
piece
of
gold
shall be sown first
and the
following
mantra recited: 'Adoration to
god Prajapati Kasyapa;
(the goddess)
Sita
(who presides
over the furrow and
agriculture)
must
always prosper
in
respect
to seeds and wealth'
"
(2, 24, 41).
From other
texts,
e.g., Rajatarafigini (XIIth cent.),
it
appears
that the
crop
on the
fields were watched
by
mdntrikas, i.e.,
guards
who exercized their function
by
means of mantras
(I, 234).
That even
great philosophers
took an interest in mantras
may appear
from
Ramanuja's (+ IIoo)
attitude to them. He is not
only
the author
of a
special
work on the
daily
rites connected with
purification,
adoration
and meditation
(Nityagrantha)
but is also related to have conferred the
five sacraments on his
disciples
who desired to be initiated: a branded
disc and shell
(Visnuist 'symbols')
on the shoulders
(tdpa),
the mark of
the
religious community
on the
front,
a
religious
name,
the
mantras,
and the ritual
presentation
to the
image
of the
god
1. One of his
successors,
the famous scholar Vedantadesika
(? I380)
wrote a considerable number
of
theological
works in
explanation
of the mantras
which,
together
with
some other
texts,
were considered to be of fundamental
significance.
Among
the mantras to be
imparted
to those who are initiated into the
Sri-Vaisnava school of
thought
and devotion is also the so-called
caramagloka, i.e.,
Bhagavadgita
I8,
66
"Abandoning
all
duties,
come to
Me alone for
protection;
I shall release thee from all
evils;
be not
grieved".
The
great
teacher of an ecstatic Visnuist devotionalism
Caitanya
(? I485-I533)
"fut
protege
au moment de sa naissance
par
deux mantra
dit Visnuraksa et Deviraksa. On
croyait que
la recitation de ces deux
mantra
empechait
les mauvais
esprits
de nuire a l'enfant. On les
repetait
en faisant a l'exterieur le tour de la chambre natale" 2. Of
Caitanya's
wife
1
K.
Rangachari,
The Sri Vaisnava Brahmanas, in Bull. Madras Govt.
Mus.,
N.S.,
Gen. Sect.
II, 2,
Madras
1931,
p.
35
f. Cf. also H. W.
Schomerus,
Der Qaiva-
Siddhdnta,
Leipzig
1912,
p.
372
f.
2
J.
Helen
Rowlands,
La
femme bengalie
dans la litterature du
moyen-dge,
Paris
I930,
p. IIo.
264
The Indian Mantra
it is told that "elle ne
mangeait que
du riz sans sel. Elle
s'asseyait
devant
deux
pots d'argile:
l'un contenait du
riz,
l'autre dtait vide. Elle
rdpdtait
seize fois le mantra de Hari
(Visnu)
en tenant un
grain
de riz:
puis
elle
pla~ait
le
grain
dans le
pot
vide. Elle continuait ainsi
jusqu'
a midi. Elle
ne
mangeait jamais que
ce
qu'elle
avait consacr6 de cette
fa9on
..." 1.
The master himself who laid
down,
by
his
precept
and
example,
sincere
zeal and
devotion,
and a
passionate
love for Krsna as the
only
means of
salvation,
elevated the
simple
recitation of God's names to the level of a
high spiritual discipline
as a sacred mantra.
In
Bengal
whenever a
person
suffers from an illness
presenting any
unusual
features,
it is attributed to
possession,
and the
remedy
is
sought,
not in
medicine,
but in exorcism. "The exorcist or
ojha
is believed to have
in his
power
a bhit
(evil spirit),
and
by
means of mantras he forces his
own familiar
spirit
to drive
away
the one which is
causing
the trouble" 2.
The control of such 'evil
spirits'
is indeed assured
by
the use of certain
mantras,
which
every
exorcist
learns,
and
usually keeps
secret,
unless he
imparts-sometimes only
on his death-bed-them to his son or his
successor in office. To
give
an instance 3: "Bind the Evil
Eye!
Bind the
fist! Bind the
spell!
Bind the Bhit or the Churel
(the spirit
of a woman
who has died in
child-birth)!
Bind the witch's hands and feet! Who can
bind her? The teacher can bind her!
I,
the
disciple
of the
teacher,
can
bind her!
Go, witch,
to
thy
shrine wherever it
may
be! Sit there and
quit
the afflicted
person!"
These modern
exorcists,
like their
predecessors
in
the
Atharvaveda,
often invoke divine
beings,
for instance the
ape-deity
Hanuman and noted 'witches' to assist in the
ceremony.
It is needless to dwell on the existence of mantras which counteract
the influence of enemies or of less
potent
mantras,
which cause or avert
death,
inspire
love or
hatred,
prevent
thieves from
entering
a
house,
enable a man to cross rivers or to overcome other difficulties 4, to
conjure
snakes
(Rajatarafigini 5, I02),
to win the favour of
girls
or women or to
find them a
husband,
etc. The whole existence of an Indian
prince
or
peasant
is,
a modern Indian author
5
holds,
regulated by
mantras,
which
have no less than sixteen different functions:
they
enable the
devotee,
to realize final
emancipation;
to
worship
the manifested forms of the
divine;
to honour the minor
deities;
to communicate with the
gods;
to
1
Ibidem,
p.
209 f. Cf. also R. C.
Majumdar,
in R. C.
Majumdar
and A. D.
Pusalker,
The
History
and Culture
of
the Indian
people, VI,
Bombay
I960, 568.
2
E. A.
Gait,
Census
Report, Shillong I892,
p.
132.
3
W.
Crooke,
Religion
and
folklore of
Northern
India,
Oxford
I926, p. I34.
Com-
pare, e.g.,
also B.
Bonnerjea, Ethnologie
du
Bengale,
Thesis Paris
1927,
p.
I35.
4
See, e.g., J. Herbert,
Spiritualite hindoue,
Paris
I947, passim.
5
B. K.
Majumdar, Principles of Tantra, p.
38.
265
J.
Gonda
acquire supranormal
abilities;
to feed the
gods
and the deceased an-
cestors;
to communicate with the
dead,
with
spirits
etc.;
to avert evil
influences;
to exorcize
demons;
to cure men of
diseases;
to
prepare
officinal
water;
to
destroy living beings;
to counteract the
strength
of
poison;
to exert influence on
thoughts
and deeds of other
people;
to have
control over
men, animals,
spirits
etc.;
to
purify
one's
body.
The sacramental force of a mantra is
apparent
from its use as an
initiatory
formula,
for instance at the
ceremony
of
receiving
a new
member in a
religious
order 1.
Generally speaking
the
guru (religious
teacher or
spiritual mentor),
initiates the
adept
into the
mysteries
of the
sacred words.
Mastery
over
spells (mantravidya)
came therefore to be
considered as a creditable
qualification
of teachers and
spiritual guides
2.
In
assigning
a
particular
mantra to a
disciple
the Hinduist
gurus
are
generally speaking very punctilious, seeing
to it that
they
do not mistake
the
right deity
and
choosing
the one who
may
be in
spiritual
attunement
with the
neophyte
3. The
accuracy
of the
mantras,
which are not
rarely
composed
in an
enigmatic language,
was moreover
jealously guarded.
In
order to 'live' and to be efficacious a mantra must have been handed
down
orally
from the
very
first 'seer' who 'saw' it in a
suprasensual way
and be
pronounced by
a
person
who believes in it. It is 'the
power
of
the mind which makes it efficacious'.
The mantras were
generally
recited or chanted in
accompaniment
of
the rites 4.
Hinduism,
like
Vedism, however,
regards
as rites a
large
number of acts which in our modern view would be classified as social
or
economic,
hygienic
or utilitarian actions or
performances.
For in-
stance when a
person
is about to
pass away
his relatives
should, according
to medieval authorities
5,
make him
give
a
gift
of
cows, land,
gold
etc.
The verbal declaration of the donations is made in the words: "I shall
make
gifts
for the attainment of heaven
(for
the removal of all
sins)".
At the time of
making
the
gifts
a number of non-Vedic mantras are to be
recited.
The so-called
prayascittas,
i.e.,
"expiations"
or "rites of atonement",
1
See, e.g.,
M.
Monier-Williams, Hinduism,
I877,
ed. Calcutta
1951,
p.
70;
G. W.
Briggs,
Gorakhnath and the
Kdnphata Yogis,
Oxford
I938,
p. 28; 32;
K.
Ranga-
chari, The
?ri
Vaisnava
brahmans,
Madras
I93I,
p. 22.
2
See,
e.g.,
P. B.
Desai,
Jainism
in South
India, Sholapur 1957,
p.
74.
2
For the esoteric character of mantras see also S.
Dasgupta,
A
history of
Indian
philosophy, III,
Cambridge
I940, p. I02;
see also B.
Bhattacharyya,
An introduction
to Buddhist
esoterism,
Oxford
1932,
p.
59.
4
The number of Vedic mantras included in the ritual handbooks for the
performance
of the domestic rites
(Grhyasutras)
comes,
for
instance,
approximately
to
2500.
6 See
Kane, History, IV,
p.
I82.
266
The Indian Mantra
are likewise
performed
to the
accompaniment
of
appropriate
mantras 1.
For
instance,
when in order to atone for a crime or a
transgression
of a
rule a
special porridge
should be
prepared,
a series of formulas was to be
pronounced
over
it,
beginning
with: "thou art
barley,
thou art the
king
of
corn,
thou
belongest
to Varuna ... as a
dispeller
of all
evil,
trans-
mitted as a means of
purification
... thou art
nectar;
purify
me of all
evil,
of
any
sin I have
committed,
and so on". Not
infrequently
the
mantra
expresses
the
speaker's
intentions
very accurately:
thus in
sacrificing by way
of
expiation,
one's own hair as a
preliminary
to a
(symbolical) voluntary
death in fire one has to
pronounce
the words:
"I sacrifice
my
hair to
Death;
I clothe Death with
my
hair". Under
certain circumstances the mantras are to be muttered three
times,
"because the
gods
are three times in accordance with truth"
(Maitrayani-
samhita
I, 4, 8)
2.
Special potent
mantras
could,
when
accompanied by
ascetic
behaviour,
serve as
prdyascittas (Samavidhana-brahmana
I, 5, 2).
Thus in the
religious practice
of the Hinduist
period-and,
we can be
sure,
also in the unwritten tradition of earlier times-the
concept
of
mantra covers also all
potent (so-called 'magical')
forms of
texts, words,
sounds,
letters which
bring good
luck to those who know or
'possess'
them and evil to their
enemies,
spirits,
demons,
casters of the evil
eye
etc. 3. As charms these mantras need not
always
be
spoken. They
are
efficacious also when
written,
wrapped
in
cloth,
inscribed on
plates
of
stone,
wood or
metal,
and carried about in amulets 4,
attached to
walls,
or swallowed. The charms written on
prayer flags,
so common in
Lamaism,
produce
a
'prayer'
at
every separate
flutter of the cloth. When inscribed
on
paper,
the ink in which
they
are written is sometimes
drunk,
or the
mantras themselves are
kept
in metal cases or inscribed on metal to
serve as talismans.
Thus until the
present day
mantras both written and
pronounced,
are
held a
very powerful protection against
witchcraft, diseases,
evil
spirits.
Holy
names
occurring
in them are
sovereign
means of
preventing
the
evil influences from
finding
flaws in the
material,
design
or consecration
of these
protective objects.
Patients are not
only
rubbed with con-
secrated
oil,
or rubbed and beaten with
magically potent objects; they
are also freed from the
'spirits' by
a continuous recitation of
mantras,
to which the evil
powers
cannot offer resistance. Formulas written on
1
See W.
Gampert,
Die Siihnezeremonien in der altindischen Rechtsliteratur,
Prague I939, p. 59; io8; I78;
22I
etc.
2
For the
'liturgical'
three see also
Heiler,
Erscheinungsformen, p. I65.
3
Ja'far Sharif,
Islam in
India,
Oxford
I92I,
p.
I87; 244; 251; 259.
4
See, e.g., Briggs,
Gorakhnath and the K2nphata
Yogis,
p.
I78.
267
J.
Gonda
palm
leaf
are,
in Orissa and
elsewhere,
even
nowadays, hung
on the door
in order to secure a house
against
the
entry
of evil
'spirits'.
In times of
epidemics villages may
be
protected by
bamboo
posts
to which
flags
or
other
powerful prophylactic
devices are
attached,
furnished with tantric
mantras-or in Moslim
milieus,
texts from the
Koran,
written with ink
or the blood of moles or bats 1.
Among
those communities where the
belief in mantras is still
widely spread
are the
Oraons,
or
Kurukh,
as
they
are called in their own
language,
a Dravidian
agricultural
tribe of
Chota
Nagpur. Pupils spend, every
week,
a whole
night
in
learning
mantras and
purificatory
or
apotropaeic
rites. Sometimes a
great
divine
guru
is said to
produce something
wonderful: one of the
pupils
seems to
learn all the mantras and incantations
by
intuition or revelation. Even
in modern times
many
a one believes that a considerable
variety
of
magical
acts
may
be
performed, provided
the
adept
has found the
proper
mantra 2.
A mantra
may
therefore be described as a
power (sakti-)
in the form
of formulated and
expressed thought.
"There is
nothing necessarily holy
or
prayerful
about a
mantra",
Sir
John
Woodroffe3 observed with
regard
to the
usages
and
opinions prevalent
in Tantrist circles. "Mantra
is a
power (mantrasakti-)
which lends itself
impartially
to
any
use. A
man
may
be
injured
or killed
by
mantra;
by
mantra a kind of union with
the
physical
sakti- is
by
some said to be
effected;
by
mantra in the initia-
tion ... there is such a transference of
power
from the
guru
to the
disciple
that the latter swoons under the
impulse
of
it;
by
mantra the sacrificial
fire
may
and,
according
to ideal
conditions,
should be
lighted; by
mantra
man is
saved,
and so forth".
IV
No
unanimity
existed
among
the ancient Indian authorities with
regard
to the definition of mantra 4. The Veda
consisting
of mantras and
brahmanas
(see, e.g., Sayana, R.gvedabhasya,
bhuimika, p. 3
5),
the
former
are-e.g.,
in
Jaimini's
Mimamsadar?ana
2, I, 32
f.-defined as
"texts
indicating things
connected with the
performance
of
actions",
a
view
rejected by Sayana
because of the extreme
heterogeneity
of the
1
A. N.
Moberly,
Amulets as
agents
in the
prevention
of
disease in
Bengal,
Memoirs
As. Soc. of
Bengal,
i
(Calcutta I906), p. 227
ff.
2
P.
Dehon,
Religion
and customs
of
the
Uraons,
Memoirs As. Soc. of
Bengal
i
(Calcutta I906), p. I76
ff.
3
Arthur Avalon
(Sir John Woodroffe),
The
serpent power,
Madras
I950, p. 83
f.
4
A brief
survey
of
opinions
is
presented by
K. Satchidananda
Murty,
Revelation
and reason in Advaita
Vedanta,
Waltair-New York
I959.
6 Poona edition.
268
The Indian Mantra
mantras.
According
to others mantras throw
light
on the
things
and
the deities of the rituals
(Madhusfidana
Sarasvati, Prasthanabheda, p.
3).
The
Veda, however,
"reveals the means of
obtaining
the transcendent
goal
of man"
(Sayana,
ibid.,
p. 22),
or "makes known the transcendent
means of
obtaining
the desirable and
avoiding
the undesirable"
(the
same,
on the Taitt.
Samh.,
Upodghata, p. 2);
it is the
only
source of
knowledge
of dharma and brahman
(RIVbh.,
bhuim., p.
24).
Now,
according
to the traditional
theory
of the Indians the Veda is
eternal truth: "the sacred metrical texts of the Veda are not
made,
they
are eternal"
(na
hi chanddmsi
kriyante, nitydni
chanddmsi).
This
infallible,
all-embracing
and omniscient
corpus-"that
which is in it is
elsewhere,
which is not in it is nowhere"
(Mbh.
I, 62, 33
P.
yad
ihdsti tad
anyatra,
yan
nehdsti na tat
kvacit)-is traditionally
considered to have emanated
from
Brahman,
the
fundamental,
eternal and
omnipresent Principle,
that is to
say,
to be Brahman in the
special
form of Word . It has been
formulated and 'exhaled'
by
deities who
are,
in this
connection,
given
the somewhat
deceptive
title of "maker of the Veda"
(vedakartd)-a
term which for instance when
attributed,
in Mahabharata
3, 3, I9,
to
the Sun
(Surya),
is
coupled
with
veddiigah "auxiliary part
of the Veda
preserving
the whole and
serving
its
proper understanding
and
employ-
ment)
and vedavdhanah
"bringing
the Veda". That is to
say,
God
(e.g.,
in the later
epic, Visnu)
emits the Veda as he does all else at the be-
ginning
of
every
new
aeon,
and
particular
divinities,
especially
those
connected with
light (e.g., Agni,
the
god
of fire and
light)
transmit
them,
hymn by hymn, by
the
supranormal way
of
inspiration
to those exalted
men called
rsi,
the receivers of the eternal
truth,
who
being gifted
with
the
power
of vision
(dhih)
'see' the words of the
Veda,
and transform
them,
in their heart and
mind,
into sacred
texts,
into the
rhythmical
sacred
speech,
which
coming
from the Unseen enables the man who
knows how to use and to recite them to wield
extraordinary
influence,
to come for his benefit into contact with the Unseen.
Although
the term
"makers of mantras"
(mantrakrt, mantrakarta)
is
occasionally given
to
these
inspired poets (kavih),
this term should not create the misunder-
standing
that the mantras are
products
of human effort. It
is,
according
to the formulation of the Mahabharata
(12, 328, 50)
the
Self-existent,
i.e., Brahman,
who created the Veda in order to
praise (i.e.,
to
strengthen
by
means of
powerful eulogies)
the
gods (stutyartham
iha devdndm veddh
srstdh
svayambhuva).
1
See, e.g.,
Renou,
in etudes
v6diques
et
panin6ennes 6,
Paris
I960, p.
I ff.;
A.
Holtzmann,
in ZDMG
38, p. I88;
E. W.
Hopkins,
The
great
epic
of
India,
New
York
I902, p. 3 f.; J.
Gonda,
The vision
of
the Vedic
poets,
's-Gravenhage I963.
269
J.
Gonda
The Vedic verses
being
used as
liturgical
and sacramental texts and
formulas for
sacrifices,
differences of
opinion
arose with
regard
to the
relation of words in a sentence or their relative
importance
with reference
to the
general
tenor of the utterance. Another
point
of
dispute
was,
for
instance,
the use to which a definite text
might
be
applied
as a
mantra,
because
many
Vedic verses and stanzas were used in connection with a
considerable
variety
of ritual acts 1 and the relations between text and
action often were far from evident. It was the so-called
philosophic
school of the Puirvamimamsa 2 which founded a
systematized
code of
principles according
to which the Vedic mantras could be
interpreted
for
ritual
purposes.
One of its other
objects
was to demonstrate and establish
the nature of the mantras themselves and to
prepare by
means of
speculations
with
regard
to
word, soul,
perception,
the
validity
of the
Veda, etc.,
a rational
ground
for its doctrine of mantras and their
practical utility.
The
large
metrical
parts
of the Vedic literature
consisting
of mantras
it is small wonder that their nature and
composition
were also made a
subject
of those
philosophers
who
applied
themselves
especially
to
linguistic problems.
It was
taught
that the fixed combination of words
marked
by
a definite and
rigid syntactical
order did not allow
any
alteration whatsoever
(Nirukta,
I,
15)
3: a doctrine which is in con-
formity
with the 'orthodox' view that the mantras are eternal. The use
of
synonyms
was-to mention
only
this-not
permitted
4. The main-
tenance of this
principle
was however also
necessary
to
prevent
the
Vedic verses
i.e.,
the
mantras,
from
being
affected
by
distortions and
corruptions.
To
repeat
a mantra
incorrectly
was a sin. The Vedic mantras
have their
reputed unchangeability
in common with
comparable religious,
juridical,
sacramental formulas or authoritative texts of other more or
less traditional communities. There is no
denying
that the fixed form
serves to differentiate them also from the
bhdsd,
the current or
spoken
language,
which,
as all
things
human and
sublunary,
is
changeable.
It
was,
and
is,
strongly
believed that these
formulas,
vested with a
capacity
beyond
human
understanding,
if
properly pronounced
with
strictly
1
A recent
study
is P. K.
Narayana
Pillai, Non-Rgvedic
mantras in the
marriage
ceremonies,
Trivandrum
1958.
2
See, e.g.,
A. B.
Keith,
The
Karma-Mimamsd
London
1921.
3
Cf., e.g.,
Prabhatchandra
Chakravarti,
The
linguistic speculations of
the
Hindus,
Calcutta
I933,
p. 103.
4
However,
in
practice
the mantras have
generally speaking proved
to be far
from
invariable;
of the text-units which in
many
cases are used
by
more than one
Vedic 'school' it is estimated that about
Io.ooo
show variations
(M.
Bloomfield
and F.
Edgerton,
Vedic
variants, I, Philadelphia 1930, p.
11).
270
The Indian Mantra
enjoined rhythm,
accent, intonations,
and movement of
hands,
have the
capacity
of
achieving
the result
desired,
for instance of
influencing
the
higher powers,
and of
making
the deities invoked
active,
of
working
miracles. While
pronouncing
them one
must, however,
concentrate one's
thought firmly
on the
god
whose
power
is contained in the formula.
"That is called mantra
by
the
[evocative]
meditation
(manana-) upon
which the soul in the
living being (jiva-) acquires
freedom from
sin,
enjoyment
of
heaven,
and
liberations,
and
by
the aid of which he
acquires
the fruit of his fourfold endeavour
(i.e., religious obligations,
subsistence
etc.)"
1
The
psychical
attitude in which mantras are to be recited is far from
being
indifferent. The
disciples
of the famous
preacher
of the Krsna-
Radha faith
Caitanya (1485-1533)
2 for instance formulated elaborate
rules with
regard
to the mood in which Krsna's name and the mantras of
their
community
should be recited and meditated
upon
3. It
is,
in
general,
deemed
necessary
that in
studying
and
reciting
mantras a
large
number
of
very
intricate directions are observed. The mind of the
adept
should
be
completely
calm and
purified,
the recitation must not take
place
before a definite state of mental concentration has been
reached;
no
sign
of
fatigue may
be
perceptible. Moreover,
the more a
worshipper
advances
in his
japa
the more does he
partake
of the nature of the
deity
he
worships
and the sooner will he effect his salvation. In the
practice
of
praising
the
gods
the number of mantras is therefore an instrument of
power.
The
effect is assured
only
if the number is
complete.
Hence the unmistakable
predilection
for
'homage' consisting
of a
large
number
("thousand")
of
names. It is for instance
taught
that
praising
Visnu with a thousand
names removes sins and
gives good things
for this life and the life to
come 4. A mantra which under
ordinary
circumstances is to be read Io8
times,
must be recited Ioo8 times if there are difficulties to be overcome.
Reports speak
of brahmans
muttering
the name of the
god Subramanyan
5
x
o00
x Ioo8 times while
showering
flowers over his
image
5.
It
should, however,
be added that there were also milieus in which the
greatest efficacy
was attached to meditation in which there is no
1
Gayatri
Tantra,
quoted by
A.
Avalon, Principles
of
Tantra
2,
Madras
1952,
p. 263.
See also the same
(Sir John Woodroffe),
Introduction to Tantra Shastra
2
Madras
I952, p.
8I ff.
2
See, e.g.,
D. Ch.
Sen, Chaitanya
and his
companions,
Calcutta
I917.
3
W.
Eidlitz,
Die indische
Gottesliebe,
Olten
I955, P. 179.
4
Ramanujacariyan,
SrZ- Visnu-Sahasra-Nama-Stotra,
Preface. Hence the exist-
ence and
popularity
of treatises such as Sivasahasranama-stotra "Praise of the
thousand
(ioo8)
names of Siva"
(e.g.,
Mahdbhdrata
13, 17).
Cf. also S.
Siauve,
Les noms
vddiques
de
Visnu,
Pondich6ry 1959.
5
Diehl, o.c., p. 332.
27I
J.
Gonda
muttering
at
all,
and that also
among
those who considered the
personal
intimate devotion called bhakti the best
religious
attitude mantras were
not
always
considered a
necessity
1.
As
implied
in the above
part
of this article the function of mantras
does not end in
conveying
an
ordinary
sense 2. It is even
generally
admitted that
they
exert
extraordinary power
with which
they
are
vested not so much
through expressing
that sense
3
as
through
their
'sound-vibrations' 4.
They
often have no
ordinary meaning
at all 5. Or
they
have,
in addition to a
'gross
sense',
a 'subtle sense' which
may
be
explained
in different
ways, namely
from the different
standpoints
of various
religious systems.
For
instance,
the Vedic
syllable
Om
means,
according
to the
Ahirbudhnya-Samhita,
5I
ff.
O(ta) m(ita),
i.e.,
"(Every-
thing)
limited
(mitam)
is threaded
(otam)
(on
Him)" (gross sense),
or
Brahman,
Visnu and Siva etc.
(subtle sense). According
to the belief
rationalized and
systematized by
the
philosophers
of the Mimamsa-
school,
the sound
produced
in
pronouncing
a word is eternal and a sound-
representative
of an eternal
principle
6. The Vedic mantras exist
eternally,
1
Cf.
Bhaktivijaya I5, I75 (J.
E. Abbott and Pandit Narhar R.
Godbole)
I,
Poona
I933,
p.
257.
2
In this connection
passing
mention must be made of the remarkable
doctrine,
attributed to an ancient
authority,
Kautsa,
but also found in the Mimamsasiutras
(i,
2, 32):
the mantras do not
convey
a
meaning
at all because the words as well
as the order in which
they
occur are
traditionally
fixed or determined. This doctrine
must however not be misunderstood. "La determination de la
parole
est d'une
importance capitale
dans les mantra et
l'emporte
sur leur sens
litt6ral,
en tant
qu'elle
fixe leur forme et rend
impossible
la transf6rence
grammaticale
et lexicale
par
des modifications de
position
et des substitutions de mots suivant le sens
qu'on
voudrait
exprimer.
C'est d'ailleurs
uniquement
en raison de sa forme determin6e
que
le mantra
possede
une valeur rituelle"
(D.
S.
Ruegg,
Contributions a l'histoire
de la
philosophie
linguistique
indienne,
Paris
1959,
p.
27).
3
As
appears
from the mantras
quoted
in this article
they
often
express
a
perfectly
clear exoterical sense
(not rarely homage
or
praise),
but from the esoterical
point
of view this sense is not
necessarily
connected with the true
value,
though
it
may
have a mnemonic value.
4
It is not even
always
considered
necessary
that a brahman should understand
the
meaning
of the formula he
utters,
and for those who hear them the exact
meaning,
couched in words of a dead
language,
is almost
always incomprehensible.
According
to some authorities
(see
P. V.
Kane, History of
Dharmasdstra, IV,
Poona
I953,
p.
5I)
it is
necessary
to understand the
meaning
of Vedic rites in the
great
Vedic
?rauta-rites,
but not in the
smarta-rites, i.e.,
those of the traditional
Hinduistic
orthodoxy
who did no
longer perform
the ?rauta-rites
(Die Religionen
Indiens, I, p.
217).
6 That is
why experts
were
particularly
fastidious with
regard
to the
right
pronunciation
of mantras.
See, e.g.,
also F.
O. Schrader, Introduction tothe Piica-
ratra,
Adyar I916, p. I4I; I43.
6
See, e.g.,
P. Ch.
Chakravarti,
The
philosophy of
Sanskrit
grammar,
Calcutta
I930, esp. p. 87 ff.;
Sudhendu Kumar
Das,
Sakti or divine
power,
Calcutta
I934;
S. Bh.
Dasgupta,
Aspects
of
Indian
religious thought,
Calcutta
I957,
p. 22
ff.;
272
The Indian Mantra
representing principles
which are co-existent with the
very
cosmic
process
and
they
are even to survive that
process. They
are
aspects
of
the eternal truth revealed to
worthy
men in the form of sound 1. These
ideas came to be
linguistically
and
philosophically
founded on the
theory
of
sphota,
the
imperishable,
eternal,
and self-existent bearer of
the word sense which is not created or constituted
by
the sounds of an
enunciation,
but
being
inherent in them exists over and above
them,
producing
the
knowledge
of the
meaning. Sphota
which bears a
perma-
nent relation to the
things signified
is so to
say
the essence of the sounds
used in
language
which
produces
the
cognition
of
things.
We cannot
enter into a detailed discussion of this remarkable
theory
which foreshad-
owed one of the most fruitful discoveries of modern
linguistics
and must
limit ourselves to some casual references to its
import
in connection with
the belief in
mantras,
which is in
religious practice closely
associated
with
'mystical', psychological
and
mythological concepts
and lines of
thought.
The doctrine of mantras is therefore
closely
connected with the
theory
of the eternal Word 2 which is the subtle link between
concept
and
utterance and which in the Hinduist
Sakta
system
of
soteriologic thought
is
identified with God's Sakti or creative
power-in
a
personal
form
represent-
ed as His
spouse,-a category
intermediate between
God,
who is
pure
con-
sciousness,
and
Matter,
which is unconscious. The Eternal brahman exists
in its form as the sound-brahman
(sabda-brahman,
i.e.,
qualified
or
sagunta-
brahman),
the substance of which is all
mantras,
in the embodied souls
(jIvdtman).
It is from this sabda-brahman that the whole universe
Umesha
Misra, Physical theory of
sound and its
origin
in Indian
thought,
Allahabad
University
studies, II, I926; J.
N.
Farquhar,
An outline
of
the
religious
literature
of
India,
Oxford
I920, p.
201.
1
Hence also the doctrine that in the
highest stage
in which
speech
is believed
to exist
(i.e.,
the
non-manifested,
transcendent
stage
which,
being
devoid of all
succession in
time,
exists
only
in
pure
consciousness or in
spiritual
contact with
the basis and essence of our
being), speech
is also called mdntri vdk "mantric
speech".
For a better
understanding
it
may
be recalled to mind that
according
to the Indian
philosophers
of
grammar
the sound of a word is
only
the outward
manifestation of that word
(vaikhari form);
it
presupposes
a subtle form
(madhya-
ma),
in which the words are not articulated as aerial
vibrations,
but are articulated
as mental
processes.
This state
presupposes
the still subtler form
(pasyantz),
in
which the word and the
concept
for which it stands lie
inseparable
as a
potency
like the seed of a tree before
sprouting.
Behind this
potential
state is the state
called
para, i.e.,
the above-mentioned
highest
state.
2
The
high importance
of human
speech
was
early
understood and made the
object
of
speculative thought;
see,
e.g.,
Chand.
Up.
7,
i and 2
and,
in
general
B.
Essers, Vac,
Thesis
Groningen I952.
See also N.
Macnicol,
The
living
traditions
of
the Indian
people,
London
I934,
p.
70.
On
alphabet
and
power
see also G. van der
Leeuw,
Religion
in essence and
manifestation,
London
1938, p.
435.
Oriens 16 18
273
J.
Gonda
proceeds
in the form of sound
(sabda)
and the
objects (artha)
denoted
by
sound or words. "This is the
meaning
of the statement that the
goddess
(devi) (i.e.,
the
sakti)
and the universe are
composed
of the
signs
for the
sounds which denote all that is" 1. If this sakti
genesis
of the mantras
is lost
sight
of,
the Tantric schools of
thought
hold
2,
they
will be as
futile as the autumnal clouds which
give
forth thunders but seldom
pour
down rain. The
philosopher Ksemaraja (XIth cent.)
even
argued
that there does not exist
any
real difference between a mantra-which
is the
mind-energy
of the devotee-and the
Supreme Principle
of Divine
energy
3.
Every
sound of a
language
is therefore instinct with the
power
of God's
Sakti,
and mantras framed from them are
omnipotent
formulas,
replete
with unconceivable
power,
at the service of the initiate 4.
Every
mantra
being
a divine creation or emanation the whole
body
of them is
identical with the Sakti 5.
For instance,
the so-called
pranava, i.e.,
the
'mystic' syllable
Om-
originally
a 'numinous
primeval
sound' which is still uttered with the
utmost reverence-is
throughout many
centuries
regarded
as a
positive
emblem of the
Supreme.
It is said to have flashed forth in the heart of
Brahma,
while he was absorbed in
deep
meditation. It unfolded itself
in the form of the
Gayatri,
which,
in its
turn,
became the mother of the
Veda's 6.
The mantras
relating
to the
gods represent
their
essence-they
are in
a sense identifiable with
them,-and
the
gods
have, according
to the
teachers whose views are
reproduced
in this
paragraph,
no
power
other
than that of the
mantras,
each of them
being represented by
a
special
mantra,
in which the
deity
has revealed one of its
particular aspects.
One
may
also
say
that-as
already
observed in a former
part
of this
article-the
power
of a divine
being
resides in its name or formula which
therefore is a means of
establishing
connections between the
divinity
1
Sir
John
Woodroffe,
Shakti and Shdkta
3,
Madras
1929,
p.
453.
2
For
particulars
see S. K.
Das, p. I76.
3
It is
my
intention to devote a
separate
article to this
point.
4
According
to the tradition the
patriarch
Manu was the first to
perceive
the
mental formulas which are the subtile forms or
'body'
of
things
and ideas and to
explain
them to
men, creating by doing
so the first human
language,
the
primordial
speech
of
mankind,
the most authentic derivative of which is
Sanskrit,
the
language
of the sacred formulas.
5
See, e.g.,
also E. A.
Payne,
The
Sdktas,
Oxford
I933,
p. I8 f.
6
According
to the authors of the brahmanas the Vedas with all the mantras
are the thousand-fold
progeny
of Vak
(Speech),
who is also identified with each
of the Vedic metres
(cf., e.g.,
TaittS.
5, I, 9, i;
PBr.
5, 7, I).
Cf. also RV.
Io, 125,
3.
This idea of Vak
bringing
forth the mantras
gave rise,
in the later Trika school of
thought (i.e.,
the Kashmirian
Sivaism),
to the idea of the Matrkd Sakti
(maternal
power)
of Para Vak
(the Highest Speech).
See also S. K.
Das, p. 25
ff.
274
The Indian Mantra
and its
worshippers,
a means also of
conjuring up any
divine
being.
Thus it becomes clear that for instance the name Krsna is in the Narasim-
hapurana
called a mantra
granting
all bliss 1. "The
body
of
god proceeds
from his mental
formula,
from his 'wordseed' " 2. The mantras are in
this trend of
thought
eternal and indestructible
'prototypes'
from which
the
phenomenal
forms can
always
be derived. When we use them we
come into touch with the
very
nature of the idea it
represents. They
enable man to
transgress
the limits of his
phenomenal
existence 3.
The sabda or sound of a mantra is conceived as a
'spiritual' sound,
produced by
the
worshipper's
mind heard
by
the heart and under-
standable
only by
the initiated. "Kraft und
Wirkung
eines Mantra sind
abhangig
von der
geistigen Haltung,
dem
Wissen,
der Verantwortlichkeit
und der seelischen Reife des Individuums" 4. Each
being,
in all states of
existence,
and each inanimate
object possesses
a
bodily
form attuned to
a certain
frequency
of vibration. That is to
say,
there is associated with
each
organic
creature
(sub-human,
human and
super-human)
and with
each
phenomenal object
or
element,
a
particular
rate of vibration. If
this be known and formulated as sound in a mantra and if it be used
expertly
it is considered
capable
of
disintegrating
the
object
with which
it is in
vibratory
accord,
or of
impelling
deities to emit their divine
influence. To know the mantra of
any deity
is therefore to know how to
set
up psychic
communication with that
deity
5. A mantra is from this
point
of view a
syllable
or series of
syllables,
of the same
frequency
as
the
(usually invisible) being
to which it
appertains; by knowing
it one is
able to command the elements and
phenomena
of the universe. In
employing
mantras one is therefore to concentrate one's mind
upon
the
mystic process
of the transmutation which is to result. Realization of
1
See P.
Hacker, Prahlada,
Wiesbaden
I959,
p.
I59. According
to the Visnuist
philosopher
Vallabha the
only
God is
Krsna-Visnu,
the mantras
only
are his
name,
and the
only
work his service.
2
Yamala-tantra, quoted by
A.
Danielou,
Le
polytheisme hindou, I960, p.
502.
3
In order to illustrate the
importance
attached to mantras also
by
those intel-
lectual leaders who founded the
great
schools of
thought
it
may
be observed that
Kanada,
the first to
give
a
systematic exposition
of the atomistic
pluralism
and
philosophy
of
distinctions,
the scientific and
analytic
Vaisesika
(see, e.g.,
S. Radha-
krishnan,
Indian
philosophy, II,
London
I923 (5I948),
p.
I76 ff.), explicitly
teaches
that it is Vedic
"works",
such as
holy
ablutions,
fasting, sacrifice,
retired forest
life,
and the
muttering
of mantras which lead to the unseen
mysterious
virtue
through
which the desired
object
will be achieved.
4
Lama
Anagarika
Govinda,
Grundlagen
tibetischer
Mystik, Zurich-Stuttgart
1947,
p.
I6 f.; 25.
5
For
particulars see, e.g.,
also W. Y.
Evans-Wentz,
The TibetanBook
of
the Dead
2,
Oxford
I949,
220
ff.;
the
same,
Tibet's
great yogi Milarepa 2,
Oxford
I95I, p.
37,
n. 2.
275
J.
Gonda
a mantra
(occurrence
of
mantra-caitanya)
is the union of the conscious-
ness of the sddhaka with that consciousness which manifests in the form
of the mantra. It is this union which makes the mantra 'work'. "Worte
sind
Siegel
des
Geistes,
Endpunkte-oder richtiger
Stationen-unend-
licher
Erlebnisreihen,
die aus
fernster,
unvorstellbarer
Vergangenheit
in
die
Gegenwart
hineinreichen und ihrerseits
Ausgangspunkte
zu neuen
unendlichen Reihen
werden,
die in eine ebenso unvorstellbar ferne
Zukunft tasten. Sie sind das
Horbare,
das am Unhorbaren
haftet,
das
Gedachte und das
Denkbare,
das aus dem Undenkbaren wachst" 1.
"Om in seinem
dynamischen Aspekt
ist der Durchbruch des individuellen
zum iiberindividuellen
Bewusstsein,
der Durchbruch zum 'Absoluten',
die
Befreiung
vom
Ichsein,
von der Ich-Illusion" 2.
"Special emphasis
is
put upon
mantra,
an infallible means to liberation. Mantra is con-
centrated
thought
of
great power.
It is built
upon
sabda
(sound),
ndda
(resonance),
and prdna
(breath), synonymous
of cosmic
energy.
In
gross
form ndda
supports
the
things
of the universe as their
soul,
in subtle
form it is
represented by
the Absolute Goddess. The subtle form is
realized in the
gross
one. So
mantra,
breathing, japa, generate
vibrations
of ndda as soul of the universe. ... Ndda
(vibration)
and
jndna (illumina-
tion)
are two
parallel
manifestations of
Sakti
.. ." 3. Some schools of
yogis
went so far as to assume that the 'sounds'
produced by
the
process
of
breathing ('ha'
+ 'sa'),
becomes a
mantra,
viz. hamsa-which as a
noun
meaning "goose"
or "swan" is a name for the 'soul' or
spirit,-
the so-called unmuttered
gdyatri (ajapagdyatrz). By involving
this
mantra the
breathing process
adds
effectively
to its own definitive
superfluity.
In those Hinduistic circles which
being
characterized
by
sacral
magic
based on the conviction that there is a consistent connection and cor-
respondence
between the
(psychical)
microcosmos and the
(physical)
macrocosmos are known as
tantristic,
mantras are credited with an
unlimited
power4. Nothing,
not even the final
emancipation
from
mundane
existence,
is considered
impossible
if one knows how to recite
a
particular
mantra in accordance with the fixed rules
5
and how to
realize,
by
means of these
mantras,
the
identity
of oneself with the
great
cosmic
powers,
which
are,
like our own
soul-and-body only
a manifesta-
1
Lama
Anagarika Govinda, Grundlagen
tibetischer
Mystik,
Ziirich
1957,
p.
3.
2
Lama A.
Govinda, o.c., p. I40.
3
Briggs,
Goraknath and the
Kdnphata
Yogis,
p.
282.
Cf., e.g.,
also
J.
Herbert,
L'enseignement
de Ramakrishna
9,
Paris
1949,
p. I9I.
4
The reader
may,
in
general,
be referred to the
many
books
by
Arthur Avalon
(Sir John Woodroffe),
which
should, however,
be consulted with some caution.
6
Cf., e.g., Sadhanamala,
ed. B.
Bhattacharyya,
Baroda
I928,
p.
575;
p.
31.
276
The Indian Mantra
tion of brahman 1. A definite mantra called lokandtha enables the man
who knows how to use it to obtain remission of mortal sins. The
complete
attainment of
anything
from
purely
mundane affairs such as success in
love to achievements on the
highest spiritual
level
may
be realized
by
means of a
special
mantra. Branches of science
may, through
them,
be
mastered without
study,
a state of absolute
safety
be
acquired
without
delay.
The formula which
gives
a
perfect
rdsume of the essence of brah-
man,
Om sac cid ekam brahma lit. "Om
(absolute) being, (absolute)
con-
sciousness,
one is brahma" secures not
only
final
emancipation
but also
success in
worldly
affairs,
safety against
evil and
dangers
etc. The man
who knows the
power
which is inherent in this mantra is
blessed,
his
family
has become
ritually pure.
The literature of Paficaratra Visnuism
which
though constituting
a
group
of Hinduistic
systems partly
based on
Tantrism is not without
starting-point
in the Vedic tradition 2, deals not
only
with
cult, ceremonies, dharma, bhakti,
yoga,
etc. but also with
mantrasdstra, i.e.,
a kind of
'mystic
and esoteric
linguistics' applying
itself to the secret sense of mantras in order to exercize
power
over the
potencies manifesting
themselves in them. The
Pinicaratrins
believe in
the esoteric nature of the mantras which are
regarded
as the
energy
of
God
(Visnu)
as
pure
consciousness. The first manifestation of this
power
can
only
be
perceived by
the
great yogins,
the next is the
identity
of a
name and the
object
or
objective power
denoted
by
it. The evolution
of this
objective power
is the third
stage. Together
with the evolution
of
every
sound of the
language
there is also the evolution of the
objective
power
of which it is the
counterpart
3. Whereas the
energy
of the vowels
is transformed into audible sounds 4, the consonant sounds are considered
to be the
prototypes
of different manifestations of
world-energy,
which
again
are
regarded
as
'symbols'
of different deities or
superintendents
of
energy.
An
assemblage
of some of the sounds stands therefore for an
assemblage
of
types
of
energy,
for
complex power.
The meditation and
worship
of these
may consequently
be
expected
to
bring
these
objective
powers
under control of the man who knows how to deal with mantras.
"While the Vedic
Aryans subject
themselves to severe
punishments
and
self-torture to atone for the crimes
committed,
the Paficaratras have
1
In tantric literature the term mantra-
was,
by way
of
popular etymology
(see above), generally
associated with man- "to think" and
tra(i)-
"to rescue,
liberate" so as to
suggest
that it is that which liberates when
properly
meditated
upon
and
ritually pronounced.
2 Cf. Die
Religionen Indiens, I, p.
247
f.
3
See
especially Ahirbudhnya-samhita,
ch. I6 and
17.
4
For
particulars
see also S.
Dasgupta, History of
Indian
philosophy,
III,
Cambridge I940,
p.
58.
277
J.
Gonda
recourse,
for
purification
in all
cases,
to the
magic power
of the sectarian
mantras,
so
deep-rooted
their belief in these mantras is. Whatever
heinous crimes a Vaisnava
may
commit,
he is sure to be free from
sin,
according
to the
Paficaratras,
by muttering
a sectarian
mantra,
the
peculiarity being
that the nature of the mantra and the number of
mutterings
differ with the nature of the crime" 1. Whereas for instance
in the case of
adultery
with the wife of one's
guru
the ancient authorities
prescribe
such
punishments
as
lying
on a heated bed of iron or
embracing
the iron
image
of a woman
glowing
with
heat,
a Paficaratra Vaisnava
who is
guilty
of this
great
sin
is,
according
to the
Jayakhyasamhita
(25, 3I ff.),
to mutter the
Nrsimhamantra,
the number of
mutterings
varying
as the crime is
voluntary
or otherwise. This text
(which
is dated
about
450 A.D.)
is
permeated by
such a
strong
belief in mantras that
it is asserted that
they
are not
only capable
of
conferring enjoyment
(bhukti-),
but even final
emancipation (mukti-).
It is also the
Jayakhya-samhita
which maintains that of the two
ways
to realize samddhi
(the
intensive meditative concentration which leads
to final
emancipation)
the method of the
practice
of
(concentration on)
mantras is more efficacious than that which
proceeds through absorptive
emotions,
because the former does not fail to remove all obstacles to
self-realization,
that
is,
to reveal the ultimate
reality.-The importance
of mantras
may
also
appear
from the fact that in the texts of this
religion
separate chapters
were devoted to this
subject
beside others which deal
with
images,
initiation, self-control, meditation,
ritualistic
worship etc.,
that there are also
chapters
dealing
with the
chanting
of,
or meditation
on,
these formulas etc.
In the
Sivaist
Sakta
systems
Siva's
sakti
(creative power)
is a
category
intermediate between
Siva,
God as
pure
consciousness,
and
Matter,
which
is unconscious.
Mythologically
his
spouse,
this
Sakti
is not
only
the
creative force but also the cause of
bondage
and release. She
is, however,
also the eternal Word and the subtle link between
concept
and utterance.
To this basic
theory
is attached the whole doctrine of
mantras,
the whole
body
of which is identical with God's
Sakti,
every
sound of the
language
being
instinct with her
power.
An
important
tenet of the
Sivaist
school
of
philosophic thought
which flourished in Kashmir was the idea of para
Sakti
(Highest Potence) assuming
the form of
energy residing,
in a latent
condition,
within the sounds-and the
symbols
used for these sounds in
writing-of
the mantras 2. Here also the esoteric
aspect
of mantras and
1
R. C.
Hazra,
Studies in the Puranic records on Hindu rites and
customs,
Dacca
I940,
p. 220 f.
2
I refer to Sudhendu Kumar
Das,
Sakti or divine
power,
Calcutta
1934,
p. I6I.
278
The Indian Mantra
the
spiritual
exercises
performed
with them were
considerably developed
together
with
philosophical
doctrines.
The doctrine that God's Creative Power is incarnate in sound led to
the conviction that the mantra
expressing
the
highest religious
belief is
not
only
a bearer of
supranormal power,
but also the concentrated
essence of all divine truth. Thus a
special spiritual
value is not
rarely
attached to the mere utterance of the name of the
god
one adores or of
the
repetition
of the mantra of the
religious community
which in this
connection has been called its 'watch-word' 1: the idea contained in the
mantra
is, indeed,
"the sum of all
spiritual
truth",
"the
spiritual
food
which has to be assimilated
by
the soul". A mantra is identical with the
aspect
of the
god
which is invoked with or
by
means of
it,
or to
express
the same
thought
otherwise:
being
the
deity
itself it
expresses
an
aspect
of his
being;
when the
mantra-power
is awakened the
deity
is revealed.
Each
religious group
has indeed its own
special
adoration-mantra;
thus
among religious
communities of Visnu
worshippers
Om namo
ndrdyanaya
or Om namo
bhagavate vdsudevdya
2.
According
to puranic authorities
those who meditate on that "mantra of twelve
syllables" ("O.m
adoration
to the venerable V.
=
Krsna-Visnu")
do not return to the
cycle
of
births and deaths. The number of the
syllables
is
significant;
whereas
Visnu's mantras consist of
eight
or twelve
syllables-that
of the followers
of Vallabha
running,
e.g.,
as follows:
Sri-Krsna
saranam mama "the
holy
Krsna is
my refuge"-those
of Siva
(namah Sivdya)
have
only
five. The
importance
of a
special
mantra
may
for instance be illustrated
by
the
tradition that Narahari
Sarkar,
a friend and follower of
Caitanya
who
was the first to
preach
the
worship
of this XVIth
century Bengal
Visnuite
spiritual guide,
did not
only
write the first
hymns
devoted to
him but
prepared
also the code and the mantra for his
worship
3. Hence
also the aversion of the adherents of a
particular religion
to mantras
belonging
to another
religious community.
The
opposition
between
Visnuists and Sivaists
being
ritual and
sociological
in nature rather than
1
J.
N.
Farquhar,
The crown
of
Hinduism,
Oxford
1913,
p.
449.-To
add another
instance: the chief mantra of the Visnuite Narasimha
religion
is
glorified
in an
Upanisad
called the
Nrsimhapirvatapaniya by 'mystic'
identifications and inter-
pretations;
the same text
gives
also directions for the
making, by
means of this
formula and other famous Visnuite
mantras,
a
yantra, i.e.,
a
diagram,
which worn
on the neck
etc.,
is considered a
potent
amulet
(Farquhar,
An outline
of
the rel. lit.
of India,
Oxford
1920,
p.
I89).
The use of this famous formula was not confined to
this
community,
but also
expounded
in the
Ahirbudhnya-Samhitd
of the Panica-
ratrins.
2
See, e.g.,
also R. C.
Hazra,
Studies in the puranic records on Hindu rites and
customs, p. 97
; oo.
3
D. C.
Sen, Chaitanya
and his
companions,
Calcutta
I9I7,
p. I02 f.
279
J.
Gonda
dogmatic
or
philosophical,
the former were not allowed to
perform
Sivaist
rites or to
pronounce
Sivaist
mantras 1. Even the mantras used
in different sections of the same
religious community may
be
different;
in the Chaura section of the followers of Kabir there is
only
one
mantra,
but in the
Chattisgarh
section two mantras are
given
at the time of
initiation.
Among
the followers of
Ramanuja,
the 'Southern
School',
being
more
liberal,
provides
for the
teaching
of the mantra Om namo
ndrdyanaya
to all classes of
people,
while the Northern school omits
the
syllable
Om when the formula is
taught
to non-Brahmans.
These
beliefs,
being
indicative of a
special
mental structure
2
and
which are in substance characteristic of
many
human communities at a
certain
stage
of cultural
development,
were
systematized
and made a
corner-stone of their doctrines
by
the Tantrists 3. The
efficacy
of mantras
constituting
their cardinal
tenet,
the
spiritual background
of their
worship
is
primarily
an effort to awaken the
power ('consciousness')
of
the mantra in order to visualize the
deity
from inside.
Basing
themselves
on the naive belief that there is a natural connection between a name and
the
object
so
named,
that there is an
inseparable relationship
between
these-the Visnuists
going
even so far as to consider the
deity
and his
name coincident or
identical-they
describe the
mantras,
which are full
of
potentiality,
as
living representatives
of deities. A mantra is therefore
considered to be the
ripa (form)
of the
deity. Any
modification is
significant.
Thus,
if the adherents of the
Sri-Vaisnava
faith add the
name
Sri
to their mantra Om namo
ndrdyanaya they
wish to indicate the
importance
of the divine
grace
and the effort of the
spiritual aspirant.
This is
why
at the time of
muttering (japa)
4
an
adept (sddhaka)
is
required
to
ponder
over the elements of the mantras and to call to mind
the
person
of the
deity presiding
over it. What are called
bizamantras
("seed-mantras"
or basic
mantras)
are thus names and subtle forms of
deities, i.e.,
of
powers. According
to Hinduist belief the so-called
bijas
("germs",
i.e.,
"sources" or
"primary principles")
are
potent syllables
believed to form the essential
part
of definite mantras which
express
the
special power
of a
deity
or a
degree
of 'holiness' and are correlated
with the
very
essence of that
god
or state. Even the cosmos itself is
1
Hacker, Prahlida,
p. I72.
See also F. E.
Keay,
Kabir and his
followers,
Oxford
I936, p. I53.
2
See G. van der
Leeuw,
L'homme
primitif
et la
religion,
Paris
I940.
3
Cf. also M. P.
Pandit,
Kundalini
Yoga,
Madras
I959, p. 32
ff.
4
See,
e.g.,
M.
Eliade,
Yoga,
Essai sur les
origines
de la
mystique
indienne,
Paris
I936, p.
214; J.
Herbert, Spiritualite hindoue,
Paris
I947,
p.
366 ff.;
A.
Dani6lou,
Le
polytheisme
hindou,
Paris
1960,
p. 503
ff.
280
The Indian Mantra
structured and
supported by potent
formulas of this
category
1. Each
deity
has his or her own
bija;
thus
krzm
belongs
to
Kali,
ran to
Agni
etc.
The
bijamantra
klim associated with the
principal
mantra enables the
initiate to exert influence on the universe in its
entirety
because it
grants
the fulfilment of all desires. The
mayamantra (hrtm) puts
him in a
position
to be as
small,
light, great
etc. as he
wants,
and the Sarasvati
(the
Indian
Minerva)
mantra
(aim) grants
him the
highest degree
of
intelligence
2. Combination of 'basic mantras'
may help
to
express
'complicated
ideas'. It
may
be added that
monosyllabic
and in them-
selves senseless words
played already
an
important part
in the chant
of the Vedic Saman
hymns.
"The sacrifice is not
(correctly) performed
without the Saman
(chant),
and the Saman is not chanted without
having
uttered hin . . . the word hin means 'breath'
"
...
(Satap.
Br.
I,
4,
I,
I
f.); "they sang praises
with the
gayatri-stanza
without the hii"
(ibid.
2, 2, 4, I)
3.
The
muttering
of the divine name is even a
special system
of
japa,
which is believed to
produce great
effect because the name and its bearer
are identical. In that case the name-the
sound-symbol pregnant
with
all the
potentialities
of the
Supreme Being-is accompanied by
a
bzia,
because there cannot be an effective mantra without a
bija.
In the
opinions
of some authorities
ndma-japa
must be executed
along
with
meditating
over the
meaning
of the name
(artha-bhdvand).
That is to
say,
in
repeating,
for
instance,
the name of Krsna one must feel that
the
god,
who is the
Supreme Being,
is
constantly attracting
one's whole
being
towards Himself.
Among
those who followed the famous weaver-saint Kabir
(? I440-
1518),
who while
being
influenced
by
ancient tantric and
yogic
traditions
made them
develop
into elements of
really deep spiritual significance,
the idea of mantra
grew,
on the other
hand,
to become the
inspired
message
of the
spiritual
teacher,
furnishing, through
him,
the
key
to
1
Some
particulars
on
japa
are mentioned
by
P. V.
Kane, History of
Dharmasastra
II,
Poona
194I,
p. 685
ff. Mantras were for instance io8 or Ioo8 times
repeated.
2
Trailokyasammohanatantra, quoted
in Haribhaktivilasa
I6, 82-85.
3
Generally speaking
all
bijamantras
are tantric in
origin,
"mais en meme
temps
il est tres int6ressant de d6couvrir
que
l'incantation Om utilisee avec l'incantation
principale peut
detruire toutes les actions
pr6ecdentes qui pouvaient
constituer
des obstacles sur le chemin de la liberation definitive
(Haribhaktivilasa 17, 86).
L'incantation Om aide donc l'adorateur a trouver le salut. Naturellement Om
est
6galement
un
bijamantra,
mais au lieu d'avoir son
origine
dans la tradition
tantrique,
elle remonte a la
p6riode v6dique.
Aucun
bijamantra
cr66 a la
p6riode
tantrique
ne sert a l'obtention du
salut,
ce n'est
que par
le
bijamantra
de la
p6riode
v6dique
qu'il peut
etre trouv6"
(R.
V.
Joshi,
Le rituel de la devotion
Krsnaite,
Pondich6ry I959,
p.
38).
J.
Gonda
the
meaning
of the universe.
"Everything
connected with the three
worlds is contained in the
fifty-two
letters"
(Adi
Granth,
Gauri
I, 2).
The word
(sabda)
is, moreover,
the
mysterious
utterance of
speech
which
conveys knowledge
of the unknown and makes wise unto
salvation,-an
ancient
thought
of which these
simple people
were
fully
conscious. But
this truth was
especially
understood in connection with the name of
God,
the Satndm
("the
name of the one truth and
reality").
Kabir was
no
philosopher,
"but
speech
was
obviously
a mediation of the
unknown,
and as such,
when that unknown was
God,
mystic
and wonderful. It is
not
logos,
or
reason,
but rather the
testimony
of him who
knows,
however he
may
have come to know-and that remains obscure-or
again
it is the name of
God,
which is itself the unutterable
uttered,
the
hidden manifested" 1.
As we now know the
image
of an Indian
deity
must conform
strictly
to the
traditionally
correct vision of the
deity
2. Otherwise it would be
useless for the
purposes
of
worship.
When
fashioning
an
image
the
attitude of the artist-who must be a member of one of the
upper
classes-is to be the same as that of the devotee
(bhaktah)
who while
contemplating
it in
daily worship
endeavours to realize his
identity
with
the
god
he
worships
and whose
presence
is sustained
by
the
image.
The
artist must
produce
in
clay,
stone or metal the exact external
counterpart
of the inward vision of the
god
which he has 'seen' in
yoga, accomplishing
in this
way
a means of
guiding
a
process
of visualization and identification
on the
part
of the devotee who will use the
image.
"The devotee" the
Gandharva-tantra
teaches,
"having
controlled his breath and taken
up
a handful of
flowers,
should then meditate on the
deity
in his
heart;
and
beholding
there
by
his
grace
that
image,
the substance of which is con-
sciousness,
he must
mentally
establish the
identity
of the internal and
the external
image".
Next,
the
effulgent energy
of the consciousness
within is to be conducted without
by
means of the
mystic, magic bija-
syllable denoting
wind, i.e., life-breath,
which is
yain.
That is to
say,
this
syllable
which
represents
and evokes the force of the life-breath within
him,
must be
muttered,
so that that force is infused into the flowers.
These flowers then function as a vehicle to
bring
the initiate's life-breath
into the external
image
of the
god
so as to establish its
identity
with the
essence of the
god.
1
N.
Macnicol,
Indian
Theism,
Oxford
1915,
p.
I40
f.
2
See also H.
Zimmer,
The art
of
Indian
Asia, I,
New York
1955,
p.
318 ff.;
A. K.
Coomaraswamy,
Pour
comprendre
l'art
hindou,
Paris
1926;
D.
Seckel,
Bud-
dhistische Kunst
Ostasiens,
Stuttgart 1957, passim,
and
bibliography,
p.
257,
n.
27;
R. H. van
Gulik, Siddham,
Nagpur I956.
282
The Indian Mantra
Whereas the
images represent
the
superhuman
force of some
divinity
or divine saviour these
powers
or
powerful beings
are believed to exist
not
only
in visual forms-which should be visualized in
dhydna, i.e.,
concentrated meditation-but also in oral and written
forms;
specifically,
in the mantras which are to evoke and
conjure
these
powers
into mani-
festation. The
muttering
of the
right
mantras in a silent and continuous
repetition
of its
powerful
elements
(japa)
steadies the mind bent on
visualizing
a
divinity
and invites the
presence
of the same. The mantras
constitute the
spiritual body,
as known to mind and
ear,
whereas the
tangible
and visible
image
is the manifestation for touch and
sight.
The two
supplement
and
complete
each
other,
because
they
are
parallel
revelations
of the selfsame divine essence which
essentially
is
beyond
both
spheres
1.
The
theory
and
practice
of mantras is also
closely
associated with that
of
gestures (mudrds).
As the mudrds are believed to contain all the
secrecy
of touch as associated with the
potency
attributed to the
physiological (microcosmical)-macrocosmical system,
so the mantras are
supposed
to contain all the
secrecy
of the
potency
of sound. Mantra and
mudra
presuppose
the
theory
and
practice
of the
yantras
or mandalas 2,
i.e.,
complex arrangements
of
patterns
or
pictures
used in tantrist
Hinduism and
Buddhism,
consecrated areas to be
kept pure
for ritual
and
liturgical
ends,
protecting
themselves from
disintegrating
forces,
and-what is more-a
representation
of the
cosmos,
in its
process
of
emanation and of
reabsorption,
as it
develops
from the one essential
Principle;
in
religious
ceremonies it is in a
very complex liturgy
used as
a means of
reintegration
into the One that is All: the meditator has for
that
purpose
to
identify
himself with the
Supreme
Essence or
Principle
represented by
the
graphic symbol.
"If this concentration is not inter-
rupted,
in the centre of his own
heart,
the matrix of all
things
that can
be
created,
he will see the
syllable [mantra]
him
light up
and from its
incandescence he will see
emanating
the infinite number of divine forms
which
place
themselves round about
him,
according
to the
plan
of the
mandala.
They
then reabsorb themselves in
Him,
thus
renewing
the
primordial
drama. The
mystic,
consubstantiated with the One
Being,
is
transported
outside time at that moment. He can then substitute for
these visualized forms the more subtle structure of the
mandala, which,
instead of such
images, presents
the mantras or
germinal
formulae of the
Universal Essence" 3. Like
mantras,
yantras
"
'mystic' figures"
and
1
Cf.,
e.g.,
H.
Zimmer,
Philosophies of
India,
New York
I95I,
p.
23
f.
2
See G.
Tucci,
The
theory
and
practice
of
the
Mandala,
London
1961 (esp. p.
47 f.);
and
compare Anagarika
Brahmacari
Govinda,
Some
aspects of stipa sym-
bolism,
in
Journal
of the Indian
Society
of Oriental Art II
(1934),
p.
87
ff.
3
Tucci, o.c.,
p.
I04
f.
283
J.
Gonda
mudras
"gestures" play
a role as outward means in the
aspiration
of a
being
towards the One and universal with the
object
of
obtaining
an
inward illumination. The mantras and the other devices are
accessory
supports
of the inward act.
They
are believed to have as their effect the
production
of
rhythmic
vibrations
causing
a
repercussion throughout
the
indefinite series of states of the
being.
The sacred formula or
sequence
of words
may
therefore be said to
'symbolize', nay
to
represent
or incarnate the one
pure
and infinite
Subject,
the universal
ground, "pure light
and
consciousness",
by
objectivizing
it,
leading
the
spirit
lost in the
labyrinth
of
objectivation
back to the
One, i.e.,
the
pure subject.
That is
why
with the aid of the
divine name or with references to the deeds and
qualities
of the divine
the
spirit
which has
gone astray
and feels
separated
so to
say
recollects
that it is
pure
'self',
pure 'subject', pure
'consciousness' .
V
From the above it
may
be clear that a mantra is not a
prayer.
This
is,
however,
not to contend that there are no mantras which
may
be used
as
prayers,
or which are
prayers
from no
point
of view. In addition to
some
examples already given
in the
preceding pages,
the
Gdyatri may
be
quoted
as an instance. This most famous stanza
Rgveda 3, 62, IO
composed
in the
Gayatri
metre and dedicated to the Sun
(Savitar,
the
divine stimulator conceived of as the divine
vivifying power
of the
sun)
is in itself most
evidently
a
prayer
for illumination or
inspiration;
tat savitur
varenyam bhargo devasya
dhimahi
/ dhiyo yo
nah
pracodaydt
"that we obtain that desirable
(excellent)
radiance of
god
Savitar who
is to
impel
our 'visions'
(intuitions,
which are to be transformed into
mantras)". Being
addressed to Savitar it is also called Sdvitrf. The
Gayatri
is an instance of a
'prayer'
which need not
necessarily
be ac-
companied by
a sacrifice. Its
muttering
forms,
from remote times to the
present day,
a vital
part
of a brahman's
daily worship.
No
oblation,
offering
of
somajuice
or other sacrificial rite
accompanies
it when it
is,
as a so-called
sandhyd 2,
offered
two,
or sometimes three times a
day
-in the
morning (,
at
noon,)
and in the
evening3. Nowadays
it is said at
any
one convenient
time,
but
mostly
in the
morning.
This
mantra,
daily
repeated by
the
twice-born,
tended to
keep
alive also the
memory
of the
Sun-god
4,
the eternal source of life and
inspiration.
1 See also F.
Schuon,
Language of
the
self,
Madras
1959, p. I5
ff.
2
Religious
acts
performed by
members of the three
highest
classes of
society
at the
junctures
of the divisions of the
day.
3
For some
particulars
see
Avalon,
Principles of
Tantra
2, p.
270
f.
4
For the
worship
of
Suirya
see
my
Veda und alterer Hinduismus
(=
Die
Religionen
284
The Indian Mantra
The authorities on Vedic ritual
prescribe
the instruction in the
Gayatri
as
part
of the
upanayana ceremony:
a
boy
is to be
taught
and initiated
by
a
spiritual guide (guru)
who invests him with the sacred
thread,
teaches him, in a
very
elaborate and ceremonial
way,
the
Gayatri
etc.
Formerly
this
ceremony preceded
a
long period
of education
during
which the
boy
was also initiated into the Veda 1. In more recent times
the
Gayatri
is
whispered
three times into the
boy's
ear and the latter
has to
repeat
it as
many
times. As the mantra is not
repeated
in the
presence
of
others,
guests
etc. have to leave the room. After that
ceremony
the
boy
is
permitted
to
participate
in the rites and to recite verses of the
Veda 2. The
ceremony
itself makes the
youth
a
dvija, i.e.,
imparts
him
his second or
spiritual
birth. "That birth which a teacher
acquainted
with
the whole Veda in accordance with the rules
procures
for him
through
the Savitri is
real,
exempt
from
age
and death"
(Manu
2,
I48). According
to some authorities on Vedic ritual
3
the Savitri into which a brahman
youth
was to be initiated must be the
Gayatri
stanza. For a
ksatriya,
however,
it must have the form of a tristubh
stanza,
viz. RV.
I, 35, 2,
in
which Savitar is said to
approach
on a
golden
chariot,
looking
at world
and creatures
and,
when
bringing
darkness,
causing
them to rest. A
member of the third class
(vaiSya)
must be initiated
by
means of a
jagati
stanza,
e.g.,
RV.
4, 40, 5 (which praises Agni,
as
sun,
atmospheric,
ritual and domestic fire
etc.)
or
I, 35, 9,
in which Savitar is described as
moving
between heaven and earth and
warding
off diseases 4.
For the
application
of the Savitri one
might
refer to
Satapatha-
Brahmana
2, 3, 4, 39
"Then follows the verse dedicated to
Savitar,-for
S. is the
impeller (prasavita)
of the
gods;
and thus all his
(i.e.,
the sacrifi-
cer's)
wishes
(kdmdh)
are fulfilled
(samrdhyante), impelled
as
they
are
by
S.
(savitrprasitd eva)
...". Whereas in
I3, 6, 2, 9
the recitation of
the stanzas VS.
30, I-3,
one of which is the
Savitri,
is said to
please
or
propitiate (prindti)
the
god
Savitar,
so that he
impels (prasauti)
the
performers
of the
rite,
the
Brhadaranyaka-Upanisad
6,
3,
6
(=
Sat. Br.
14, 9, 3, II) combining
this mantra with other formulas
already pre-
scribes its use in an elaborated
rite,
viz. a
ceremony
and incantation for
Indiens
I) Stuttgart I960, p. 94
f. and
J.
N.
Farquhar,
An outline
of
the
religious
literature
of
India,
Oxford
I920,
p.
I51
ff.
1
See A.
Hillebrandt, Ritual-Literatur,
Strassburg I897,
p. 53
f.
2
For a somewhat detailed
description
of the
ceremony
as
performed
in moder
times see M.
Stevenson,
The rites
of
the
Twice-born,
London
1920, p.
27
if.;
P.
Thomas,
Hindu
Religion,
customs and
manners,
Bombay, p. 89
f.
3
I refer to Hillebrandt, o.c., p. 54. Cf., e.g., SAnkhayanagrhyasutra
2, 5, 4-7.
4
A
long
article could be written on the
'mysticism'
of the metres. The
gdyatri
"the smallest metre" is for instance said to
have,
as a
falcon,
carried off the Soma
from heaven
(Satap.
Br.
I, 7,
I, I; i, 8, 2, io).
285
J.
Gonda
the attainment of a
great
wish:
sipping
from a definite mixed
potion
one
should
pronounce
the Savitri
together
with the Sweet-verses while
pronouncing
the wish:
"May
I become all
this,
0
Earth,
Atmosphere,
and
Sky!"
The traditional translation of the verb
dhzmahi
is here also
"let us meditate" 1. For
worship
of the
sun, i.e.,
of the Atman in the form
of the sun the stanza is used
MaiUp.
6,
7, stating
that
according
to the
brahmavddinah the
sun, Savitar,
is to be
sought by
one desirous of the
Atman. "Because Savitar is God
(devah)
I meditate
(cintaydmi, expli-
cation of
dhzmahi) upon
that which is called his
light (bhargah)".
The
last line is
explained
as follows:
buddhayo
vai
dhiyas
td
yo
'smdkam
pracodaydt "thoughts
are
meditations;
and he will stimulate these
for us".
It is small wonder that the Savitri like so
many
other
important
concepts
in Indian
thought
could be
represented
as a
person.
As such
she is
Savitri,
the wife of
Brahma;
in Hinduism she became the
object
of
worship
2. It
may
be added that the two names of the mantra
give
rise to two female
figures: according
to the
puranic mythological
tale
3
Gayatri
was
procured by
the
god
Indra to Brahma as a substitute for
Savitri
who,
being engaged
in
managing
household
affairs,
could find
no time to attend a sacrifice instituted
by
her husband!
In the
puranas
stories are not
wanting
the
underlying
motive of which
is to raise the position of the
Vedas,
to attract the
public
to their
study
by holding
out a
prospect
of omniscience to those who read them and to
win more
respect
for the
Savitri,
"the mother of the Veda" 4.
The same
tendency
is obvious in the case of individual
spiritual
leaders
and founders of so-called sects
(which
in some cases
are, rather,
religions).
Goraknath
(who may
have flourished about the
beginning
of the XIIIth
century5)
for instance
taught
that
by
the mere desire to recite the
Gayatri
which is the
giver
of final
emancipation,
the
yogins
are freed
from all sins and demerit
(Goraksasataka 44);
"knowledge
and
insight
1
See, e.g.,
also E.
Senart,
Brhad-dranyaka-upanisad,
Paris
1934,
p. III: "l'eclat
du
dieu,
consid6rons-le". Similar
reinterpretations-and
until the
present day
differ-
ences in
translating-may, e.g.,
be
signalized
with
regard
to RV.
5, 82,
I turam
bhagasya
dhimahi; the last
quarter quoted
in
ChUp. 5, 2, 7
is translated
by
R. E.
Hume,
The thirteen
principal Upanishads,
Oxford
I934,
p.
230
"the Giver's
strength
may
we
attain!",
by
Radhakrishnan,
Princ.
Upan.,
p.
425
f.: "we meditate on the
strength
of the
god".
2
For
particulars Avalon,
Principles of
Tantra, p.
268 ff.
3
R. C.
Hazra,
Studies in the puranic records on Hindu rites and
customs,
Dacca
1940,
p. I21.
4
See
e.g. Hazra, o.c.,
p.
238
f.
5
J.
N.
Farquhar,
An outline
of
the
religious
literature
of India,
Oxford
I920,
p.
253.
286
The Indian Mantra
like this neither was nor shall be". In order to
give
an idea of the severe
self-discipline
involved in the
practices
of the Indian ascetics
O'Malley
1
quotes
the case of a teacher who ordered those who resorted to him the
repetition
of the
Gayatri
until the total of a million times had been
reached; moreover,
each time that it was
repeated
the
disciple
had to
meditate on its
meaning.
Those whom he
judged
to be weaker vessels
were
merely
ordered to write the name of Rama on bits of
paper
and to
throw these into the river.
What, however,
deserves our
special
attention is that this famous and
important
mantra had
already
at an
early
moment become the
object
of
esoterical
speculation
and
'mystic' explanation.
In the
Brhadaranyaka-
upanisad (5, 14)
the sacred
Gayatri
mantra is
esoterically explained.
The
long passage begins
with the observation that the formula
"earth,
atmosphere,
heaven"
(bhumir
antariksam
diyauh)
makes
eight syllables,
that
is,
one "foot"
(part)
of the
gayatri
metre
(which
consists of three
times
eight syllables)
2. "He who knows the 'foot' of the
Gayatri
to be
such wins as much as there is in these three 'worlds' ". That man
is,
in
a similar
way,
said to be
possessed
of all that which there is in the three-
fold
knowledge
of the
Veda,
because the words
rcas,
yajimsi,
sdmdni
(the
names of the three
categories
of mantras contained in the three
Vedas
3
make,
again, eight syllables.
He
wins, moreover,
as much as
breathes in this world. There
is, however,
a fourth
'foot',
the
visible,
which is
above-the-darksome, i.e.,
the Sun. The man who knows that
foot to be thus
glows,
like the
Sun,
with lustre and
glory.
The
Gayatri
is based
upon
that
fourth,
visible
foot,
which in its turn rests on
truth,
which
again
is based on life-breath. At this
point
of the
argument
the
conclusion is drawn that the
Gayatri
mantra
protects
the life-breath of
the man who learns
it,
because the formula is "thus founded with
regard
to the
dtman,
the 'self' or 'soul' ": it
protects (trd)
the
gaydh,
i.e., literally
"the
house, household",
but
here,
for the sake of this
'etymological'
explanation, interpreted
as "the life-breaths" 4. The first foot of the
1
L. S. S.
O'Malley, Popular Hinduism,
Cambridge I935,
p.
I98
f.
2
Among
the
subjects developed
in the later Tantric
speculations
is also the
doctrine
already
found in the
Upanisads
that the metres have an
important
influ-
ence on life.
Being
credited with a
special psychological significance they correspond
with our
emotions;
there exists a relation between the
specific
character of the
metre and the
specific spiritual
oscillations in our
being (see
also M.
Sircar,
Hindu
mysticism according
to the
Upanisads,
London
I934,
p.
25I).
3
The rcas
(Rgveda)
are to be
recited,
the
yajimrsi (Yajurveda)
are to
accompany
the sacrificial
acts;
the sdmdni
(Samaveda)
are
sung.
4
This
passage
has
recently
been discussed also
by
Dr.
J.
M. van
Gelder,
Der
Atman in der
Grossen-Wald-Geheimlehre,
's-Gravenhage I957.
As is well known
etymologies
or
pseudo-etymologies
are,
in the
brahmanas,
often used as
arguments.
See, e.g., my
article in the
periodical Lingua 5 (I955),
p.
6I
ff.
287
J.
Gonda
stanza
is,
as a
gift, equivalent
to the wealth of the threefold
universe,
the
second foot is
equivalent
to the threefold
knowledge
of the Vedas etc.
The
warning
is added that one should not teach a
pupil
the Savitri as an
anustubh
metre, because,
according
to some
authorities,
the anustubh is
equivalent
to
speech
and in this
way speech
would be
imparted
to the
pupil.
From this we
may
infer,
first that there existed
already
at an
early
moment
(VIth
cent.
B.C.)
at least one variant of this famous
strophe,
and,
in the second
place,
that the Indians
were,
then
already,
keenly
aware of the fact that
speech may
be reduced to a definite or
systematic
order
by
means of the metres. Towards the end of the
chapter
the author
subjoins
a
'magical' application:
should the man who knows
the
Gayatri
bear hatred towards
anyone,
he should
(while reciting
the
mantra) pronounce
the words:
"may
his wish not
prosper!"
One of those
upanisad-like
texts which constitute a considerable
part
of the
Gopathabrahmana
1 is the
interesting
so-called
Gayatri-upanisad
(I,
I,
31-38)
2. In this treatise there is
question
of the
study
of "the
Sdvitri
gdyatri
of
twentyfour
'wombs'
(yoni)
and twelve
pairs (mithuna),
of which the
Bhrgus
and
Afigirases (two mythical
families of
priests)
are
the
eye,
in which the
complete
universe is contained". The words of the
formula are made the
object
of an esoterical
interpretation:
the
question
as to what the
inspired sages (kavayah)
mean
by
savitur
varenyam
is
answered thus: "the desirable of the sun" is the Vedas and their metrical
text
(veddms chanddmsi);
the "brilliant
light
of the
god"
is
explained by
the
inspired sages
as
"food", dhiyah
as "works" 3. Next
Savitar,
the
Sun,
and the Savitri are
successively
identified with a
large
number of
entities,
which are declared to be
yonis,
and
pairs,
for instance the sun is identified
with manah
('mind'),
the Savitri with
speech;
both are considered a
yoni,
and
together they
constitute a
pair.
Thus both Savitar and the Savitri
are
explained
as
representing
twelve 'cosmic
pairs', Agni
and the
earth,
Sun and
heaven,
sacrifice and sacrificial
gift
etc. Then follows an
exposi-
tion of the
supposed mystic
correlation of the three verses
(pddas)
of the
mantra with three sets of fundamental entities of twelve
each,
the first
with the earth,
the
Rgveda
verses, fire,
prosperity,
woman,
pair,
off-
spring, (ritual)
work,
asceticism, truth,
brahman
(neuter),
the brahman
(masculine)
and vow or
observance,
religious
devotion
(vratam)
which
are
successively
"connected" or
"brought together".
The man who
knows this and who while
knowing
this recites the first verse of the
1
M.
Bloomfield,
The Atharva-veda and the
Gopatha-brahmana, Strassburg
1899,
p.
ioI
ff.,
esp. p. Ino.
2
Cf.
Rajendralala
Mitra, Gopatha-Brahmanza,
Calcutta
1872,
p. I9 ff.
3
For this
equation
see also
my
The vision
of
the Vedic
poets,
chapter
on
dhZ-.
288
The Indian Mantra
Savitri
will,
as to life and line of
descendants,
be secure from
interruption.
The second verse correlates with the
atmosphere,
the formulas of the
Yajurveda,
wind
etc.,
the third with
heaven,
the chant of the
Samaveda,
the sun etc. The final member of each series is the vrata. The
subject
ends with
holding
out a
prospect
of
prosperity
to the man who
reverently
studies this text and identifies himself with its contents.
In order to
give
an idea of the
soteriological speculations
of which
much-used
mantras,
and
especially
the
Gayatri,
came in the course of
time to be the
subject,
the contents of the short Savitri
Upan. may
be
summarized here. After an introduction in which the Sun
(Savitar)
is
identified with a number of entities which for the
greater part
are
masculine, Savitri with other
entities,
so as to form
pairs (e.g.
Savitar
as "mind"
(manas),
Savitri as
"speech" (vdc))
1,
the formula is
explained:
the first verse
(bhis
tat savitur
varenyam)
refers to
Fire, Water,
Moon
which are desirable
(varenyam)
etc. "He who understands the Savitri thus
conquers repeated
death. The text
may
also be
applied
when one wishes
to avert
hunger.
After some indications with a view to ritual
application
and meditation the author
finally subjoins
an extended version of the
formula: hrim
(a bija)
bale mahddevi hrim mahdbale klim
(a bija)
catur-
vidhapurusarthasiddhiprade
tat savitur varaddtmike
hr.m varenyam
bhargo devasya
varaddtmike atibale
sarvadaydmurte
bale sarvaksudbhra-
mopandsini
dhimahi
dhiyo yo
no
jite pracuryah yd pracodayad
ttmike
pranavasiraskdtmike
hum phat svdhd. The inserted words are to invoke
the
goddess
as
very powerful,
as a
giver
of success with
regard
to the four
goals
of
life,
as
conferring
all
boons,
as the embodiment of all
compassion
and the
destroyer
of all
hunger
and confusion etc. "He who knows thus
has attained his
purpose
and will reside in the same heaven as the
goddess
Savitri".
-
Other instances are found Mahdndr.
Upan. 71 ff.; 284.
In later times the much-used stanza has often been the
subject
of
speculations
and
re-interpretations.
The main
reinterpretation-which,
however,
as
already
observed,
occurs
already
in the Maitri
Upan.
6, 7-
concerns the verb dhimahi in the second stanza. It is
secondarily
ex-
plained
as
"may
we meditate"
(yo 'sya bhargckhyas
tam
cintaydmi
"upon
that which is called his
(the
sun's, Savitar's,
God's
splendour
do
I
reflect",
Maitri
Up.).
Hence
frequent
translations such as: "that
excellent
glory
of
Savitar,
the
god
we
meditate,
that he
may
stimulate
our
prayers".
It
is, however,
not advisable to substitute this inter-
pretation
for the
original
one when
translating
older texts 2.
1
This
passage
is similar to and in
part
identical with
Gopatha-br. I, I, 33.
2
The above translation was
given by
A. B. Keith
(Taittirzya-Samhita, I, 5, 6,
4):
The Veda
of
the Black
Yajus School,
Harvard
I914, p. 75 (similarly,
TS.
4, I, II, I).
289
Oriens I6
I9
J.
Gonda
Hence also such
interpretations
as:
"Om;
let us
contemplate upon
the Adorable
Spirit
of the Divine Creator who is in the form of the
Sun;
may
He direct our minds towards attainment of the four-fold aims
(dharma,
artha, kdma,
moksa)
of all sentient
beings;
Om" 1.
According
to the
explication
the Self of all that exists in the three
regions
assumes a visible
appearance
in the form of the
Sun-god.
Brahman
being
the cause of all becomes visible as the
great Eye
of the world which
reveals and vivifies all
beings
and all
things. According
to the later
interpretation, prevalent
in Tantric
circles, Savitar,
the
Sun,
is
regarded
as the cause or
producer
of all that exists and of the state in which it
exists. He is the
deity
from which the universe has emanated and into
which it will be
again
absorbed. Time is of and in Him.
By bhargah
the
same
interpreters
mean the
Adityadevata dwelling
in the
region
of the
sun in all his
might
and
glory
and
being
to the sun what the dtman
("soul")
is to our
body. Bhargah
is, however,
not
only
the
light
in the
sun,
it also dwells in our inner selves. That is to
say,
that
being
whom the
sddhaka realizes in the
region
of his heart is the sun in the firmament.
The term
bhargah referring,
in the
eyes
of these
interpreters,
to the ideas
of
ripening, maturing, destroying, revealing
and
shining; Sfirya
in this
connection is he who matures and transforms all
things,
and who reveals
all
things by
his
light;
it is moreover he who will in his form of destructive
fire
destroy
all
things. Semantically speaking,
this
explication
of
bhargah
is an
extravagance.
As is often the
case,
here also an
etymological
explication
is added which not
only
is
incompatible
with the
former,
but
This
translation,
apart
from
exhibiting
some less felicitous
renderings
of
single
words follows the tradition
according
to which dhimahi
belongs,
as a
present
injunctive
to the verb
dhi-, didhZ-
in the sense of
"thinking, meditating".
This
form,
however
"belongs
here
only
as thus used
later,
with a false
apprehension
of its
proper meaning" (W.
D.
Whitney,
The
roots,
verb-forms
...
of
the Sanskrit
language, Leipzig 1885, p. 83): compare, e.g., Sayana's paraphrase: yah
savitd
devah nah asmakam
dhiyah
karmani
dharmadi-visayd
vd buddhih
pracodayat prerayet
tat
tasya devasya
savituh
sarvdntarydmitayd prerakasya jagatsrastuh paramesvarasya
varenyam
sarvaih
updsyatayd jneyatayd
ca
sambhajanzyam bhargah avidyatat-
kdryayor bharjandd bhargah svayamjyotih
parabrahmatmakam
tejah
dhimahi
vayam dhydyamah. Identifying
in this
explanation
the verb with a form of
dhyd-
"to
contemplate,
meditate on" the same
commentator, however, subjoins
several
other
interpretations. According
to the first the words
bhargo
dhzmahi are to be
commented
upon
by:
kim tad
ity apeksdydma; according
to the second
they
mean:
papdndm tdpakam tejomandalam
dhimahi
dhyeyatayd
manasd
dhdrayema. Explain-
ing,
in the next lines, bhargah
by annam,
he also
proposes: yah
savitd devo
dhiyah
procodayati tasya
prasdddd
bhargo
'nnadilaksanam
phalam
dhimahi
dhdrayamah;
tasyddhdrabhita bhavemety
arthah,
quoting GopBr.
I,
32,
6. Cf. also K. R. Venkata-
raman,
in: The Cultural
Heritage of India, IV,
Calcutta
1956,
p.
257,
and L. A.
Ravi
Varma, ibidem, p.
460
f.
1 See
J.
Woodroffe,
Shakti and Shdkta
3,
Madras-London
I929,
p.
457.
290
The Indian Mantra
also untenable:
bhargah
would also indicate that the sun divides
(bha)
all
things, produces
the different colours
(ra)
and is
constantly going
and
returning (ga).
The term deva
"god" according
to the same
interpretations
indicates that
Sfirya, being
a
god,
is radiant and
playful (lila):
he is
indeed in constant
play
with
creation, existence,
and
destruction;
by
his
playfulness (radiance)
he
pleases
all. He should be adored and
meditated
upon (dhZmahi)
that we
may
be relieved of the
misery
of birth
and death.
Although
the stanza does not
expressly
state so it is under-
stood that the
deity
is
hoped
to direct the devotee
along
the above
four-fold
path
1. It
may
be noticed that
among
the
interpretations given
of the Savitri there is also a
grammatically impossible
one
according
to which the first word tat
(= tesdm)
refers to
bhQr
bhuvah svah
"earth,
atmosphere,
heaven" which are made to
precede
the ancient formula:
"let us ... the
light
of
these,
viz.
earth,
atmosphere,
heaven" 2.
On the fixed form and
stereotyped
features assumed
by
a ritual
prayer
Heiler3 at the time made some remarks which-with some
modifications in order to reduce their evolutionistic
character-may
be
repeated
here. 'Die
streng
fixierte Gebetsformel' is not
foreign
to so-
called
primitive peoples.
"Am Feste der
Erstlingsfriichte spricht
der
Buschmann-Hauptling
ein
Gebet,
das
jahrlich
in derselben Weise
wiederholt wird" 3. "Das
biegsame,
elastische
Schema,
das in freier
Weise dem konkreten
Augenblicksbediirfnis angepasst wird,
ist das
Bindeglied
zwischen der
spontanen,
formlosen
Affektausserung
und der
genau
fixierten
Formel,
die als
Traditionsgut weitergegeben
wird. Die
diesen
Erstarrungsprozess bedingenden
bzw.
begiinstigenden
Momente
sind die
haufige
Wiederkehr des Gebetsanlasses wie die
enge Verbindung
mit bestimmten
Ritualhandlungen
... Als sekundare Momente kommen
in Betracht ein wachsendes Gefiihl der Unsicherheit
gegeniiber
der
Gottheit,
das sich nur bei festen Formeln
beruhigt,
sowie der
Mangel
selbstandiger Ausdrucksfahigkeit,
der zur
Beniitzung
von Formularen
zwingt".
"Die Gebetsformel ist
streng verbindlich,
ihre Wortlaut ist
unantastbar, sakrosankt ... Sie besitzt eine
ungeheuere
Stabilitt .. ." 4.
There
are, however,
also ritual formulas which were made or
composed
with a view to definite aims. "Diese sind
jedoch
keine freien
Gebete,
eingegeben
von dem Affekt des
Augenblicks,
sondern absichtlich ver-
fasst,
komponiert
oder doch
prameditiert
nach dem Muster anderer
1
See Sir
John Woodroffe,
The Garland
of
Letters2, Madras
1951, p.
265 if.;
see
also
p.
276
ff. Cf. also the same
(A. Avalon),
Principles
of Tantra,
ch. IV.
2
See Sir
John Woodroffe,
The Garland
of Letters2, p.
265.
3
F.
Heiler,
Das
Gebet, Miinchen
I918,
p. 133
ff.
4
Cf. also
Heiler,
Das
Gebet,
p. 363.
29I
J.
Gonda
Gebetsformeln. Sie sind meist das Elaborat bewusst schaffender Priester
oder Beamten. Die
Fassung
solcher Gebete muss
strengen Anforderungen
geniigen".
However,
notwithstanding
the marked
predilection
for fixed
prayers,
creeds,
hymns
etc. instances of variation
do,
like cases of reinter-
pretation,
not fail to occur 1.
Luther,
for
instance,
in
praying
the Lord's
prayer
did not
keep
close to the words of the text, because,
he
observed,
"the same
thought
can be
expressed
otherwise,
with more or less words" 2.
Valmiki,
the 'author' of the
Ramayana
who received the name of
Rdma-who was considered a manifestation of the
god
Visnu-as a
mantra,
was also
taught
the inverse order of this name:
mara,
which
was
explained
as
"ISvara
(Lord) Jagat (World)",
i.e.,
"first
God,
then the
Universe" 3. Another form of variation is
frequently prescribed
in
Hinduist handbooks
(puranas, tantras): taking
a mantra of a certain
number of
syllables (i.e.,
aksaras,
vowel
+
consonant)
for a
god-e.g.,
the well-known Om namo
bhagavate Vdsudevdya ("Om homage
to the
reverend
Vasudeva")
one has to
repeat
each aksara
according
to the
formula Omi
omkdrdya
namah svdhd
"Om,
homage
to the
syllable
Om,
svaha etc." 4.
Already
in the
Brhadaranyaka-upanisad,
6,
3,
6 the
three verses of the famous mantra are
separated
from each other so as
to combine with the three verses of RV.
i, 90, 6; 7
and
8,
constituting
in this
way
three stanzas of four lines
(anustubh).
Each stanza is followed
by
one of the three words bhir bhuvah suvah
(svar)
"earth,
atmosphere,
heaven" which are a
frequent accompaniment
of the
Gayatri.
There is
in this connection room for the observation that in
harmony
with a
principle
of Vedic
poetical
technics
(their
'formulaic'
character) part
of
the elements of R.V.
3, 62, IO
combine also elsewhere: cf.
I,
I59, 5
tad rddho
adya
savitur
varenayam
vayam
devasya prasave
mandmahe.
Such occurrences have no doubt facilitated the
production
of variants.
Whereas the Vedic
Gayatri
is forbidden to ufdras and women of all
rank,
the Tantras have a
Gayatri
of their own which does not show such
exclusiveness. In the Mahanirvanatantra
3, IO9
ff. the
worshippers
of
Brahman are informed of the
Brahma-Gayatri
which confers the successful
fulfilment of all aims of
life,
final
emancipation
included. It runs as
follows:
paramegvardya
vidmahe
paratattvdya
dhimahi,
tan no brahma
pracodaydt
which is
usually interpreted
as "let us know the
Supreme
Lord;
let us
contemplate
the
Supreme Reality;
and that Brahman must
5
See also
Heiler,
Erscheinungsformen,
p. 325
ff.
2
Heiler,
Das
Gebet, p. 293.
3
See
J.
Herbert,
L'enseignement
de
Ramakrishna,
Paris
1949,
p.
270.
4
The
complete alphabet
could in this
way
serve as a varied mantra
(Kane,
History, IV, p. 900 f.).
For the
power
inherent in the
alphabet
see also G. van der
Leeuw, Religion
in essence and
manifestation,
London
I938,
p.
435
ff.
292
The Indian Mantra
stimulate
(direct)
us" 1. It
may
be observed that
apart
from the
general
metrical form this formula has the words
dhzmahi
and
pracodaydt,
occurring
in the same
place,
in common with the famous
Rgvedic
stanza.
Everything
which is
done,
the text
continues,
be it
worship
or
sacrifice,
bathing, drinking,
or
eating,
should be
accompanied by
the recitation of
this mantra.
In a more extended form and in accordance with a traditional form the
Gayatri
runs also as follows 2: "This new and excellent
praise
of
thee,
O
splendid playful
sun,
is offered
by
us to thee. Be
gratified by
this
speech
of
mine;
approach
this
craving
mind as a
loving
man seeks a
woman.
May
that Sun
(Pisan)
who
contemplates,
and looks
into,
all
worlds be our
protector.
Let us meditate on the adorable
light
of the
Divine Ruler.
May
it
guide
our intellects. Desirous of
food,
we solicit
the
gift
of the
splendid
Sun
(Savitar)
with oblations and
praise".
In the
puranic
and tantric
liturgies
the ancient
Gayatri
was not
rarely,
in accordance with this tantric
model,
modified and
adapted
to the needs
and
requirements
of a Hindu
religion.
In other cases it was made a
model or standard to be followed and imitated
by
the
worshippers
of
some Hindu
god
or the
adepts
of a
soteriologic mysticism.
Thus it reads
in the Garuda Purana
23, 5
f. "then he should mutter the
Gayatri
'Om
ham tam
mahesdya vidmahe,
vdgvisuddhdya
dhimahi
/
tan no rudrah
pracodaydt'
",
which means "we
(let us)
make the Great Lord the aim
of our
knowledge,
let us
contemplate
the
purity
of
speech,
Rudra
(= Siva)
must stimulate us with
regard
to that". In the Kalika
Purana, 66,
22
there occurs a similar and somewhat extended
variant,
the stanza con-
sisting
of four
quarters: kdmdkhydyai
ca vidmahe
kdmesvaryai
tu dhTmahi
/
tatah
kurydn
mahddevi tatas
cdnupracodaydt,
the
goddess
to be meditated
on
being Kamakhya,
i.e.,
Durga
or Kali. Thus the ancient formula
was,
while
retaining
its metre or
rhythm
and even
part
of the
original
words,
enriched
by
new elements so as to be
equal
to new
applications.
Those
followers of
Caitanya
whose main interest is a life of devotion
may
follow
elaborate directions for the
worship
of the
guru, Caitanya
and Krsna
(with Radha).
The second
part
of these threefold ceremonies is
characterized,
inter
alia,
by
a
repeated muttering
of the
'Gayatri'
"I know
Caitanya,
I meditate on Visvambhar
(= C.); may
the
knowledge
of Gaur
(= C.)
be revealed unto me" 3. Thus the
Gayatri
had,
in later
times,
various
developments, many gods
and
religious
movements
possessing
1
See, e.g.,
A.
Avalon,
The Great
Liberation,
Madras
1927,
p.
55;
the same
(J.
Woodroffe),
The Garland
of Letters2, p.
267.
2
See, e.g.,
Thomas, o.c., p. 32.
3
M. T.
Kennedy,
The
Chaitanya movement,
Oxford
I925,
p.
I90.
293
J.
Gonda
their own variation.
Preserving
an evident
analogy
with the
original
pattern
these variations contain after a
bija
mantra,
the statement of
knowing
or
recognizing
a
particular deity (vidmahe),
next the 'meditation'
(dhimahi),
then the last
stage
of
soliciting
the
god's guidance
and stimu-
lation
(pracodaydt).
These
variations,
like the name of the mantra
itself,
even found their
way
into Indonesia 1.
Moreover,
the second verse of the
Gayatri proper,
i.e.,
the words
bhargo devasya
dhtmahi
are-it is true in a
corrupted
form,
barga
dewo siadi mahi-found in a remarkable
medley
of mantras which
are to be recited
by
the
priest
when
putting
on the sacrificial thread. The
above words are introduced
by
a formula
containing
the words vedamantra
gdyatri
2.
VI
It is
easily intelligible
that the Vedic mantras used for ritual or
sacramental
purposes though
believed to be
divinely inspired
are
by
the
great
mass of the
people
often
regarded
as
merely
a
spell
or charm which
will
keep
off evil and misfortune
3
or
bring
about
supranormal
effects 4.
Such is the fate of
important
Buddhist texts of
great philosophical
value,
which
degenerated
into
magical
formulas or charms used to
assuage
all
pains
or to
preserve
a man from
calamity
5. But also definite Buddhist
schools of
thought, especially
the
Vajrayanists
6,
a Buddhist
variety
of
Tantrism,
believe
blindly
in the
great supranormal power
of that con-
centrated form of transcendental truth and
might
that are the mantras:
"what is there
impossible
for mantras to
perform
when
applied according
to the
rules-which,
it must be
added,
are
strict, minute,
and numerous-"
(Sadhanamala,
p.
575). They
are even considered to be a means of ob-
taining
the status of a buddha or of
washing away
the five
great
sins.
1
See R.
Goris,
Bijdrage
tot de kennis der
Oud-Javaansche
en Balineesche
Theologie,
Leiden
I926, p. i8; 44 ff.; 83; I42.
2
For the so-called Balinese Vedas see
Goris, o.c.,
p. I37.
3
The
speculations
of the medical
schools,
the so-called
"knowledge
of a full
life-time"
(Ayurveda)
is
closely
connected with the Atharvaveda
(see, e.g.,
S. Das-
gupta,
A
history of
Indian
philosophy,
II, Cambridge I932,
ch.
XIII):
a
physician
should,
according
to the Carakasamhita
I, 30,
20
particularly
be attached to this
authoritative
body.
The
Atharvaveda, consisting
of texts
mainly
intended to
counteract diseases and
calamities, deals,
the author
continues,
with the treatment
of diseases
by advising propitiatory
rites, offerings, penances, purifications, fasting
and mantras.
4
Cf., e.g.,
E.
Thurston,
Omens and
superstitions of
Southern
India,
London
I912,
passim.
5
See, e.g.,
C. H. S.
Ward, Buddhism, II,
London
1952, p.
68 f.
6
See, e.g.,
H. von
Glasenapp,
Die
Entstehung
des
Vajraydna, inZDMGgo (1936),
p.
546 ff.;
R.
Tajima,
Etude sur le
Mahavairocanasitra,
Paris
1936.
294
The Indian Mantra
Whereas at first the
mantras,
as far as we
know,
were
mainly
used in
magico-religious
rites,
for the
purpose
of furtherance of
wordly
interests
and
protection
from
danger,
in the course of
time,
and
among
the
Buddhists from the VIIth
century
onward,
an
ever-increasing
use was
made of them in order to
prevent
evil
powers
from
interfering
with the
devotee's
spiritual
life.
They
became in sections of the
religious
com-
munities the device
par
excellence
by
which the
spirit
ascends toward
the
deity,
the chief vehicle of
salvation,
the
very key
to final eman-
cipation.
This was
especially
the case when in
Mahayanist
Buddhism,
which
incorporating
not
only
numerous Hindu-Buddhist elements but
also
local,
non-Aryan
and non-Indian
cults,
proved
to be
very
accessible
to Tantric
influences,
a
large
number of
general
Indian rituals had been
adopted.
In the
eyes
of those who believed in their
omnipotence
and
infallibility they
can confer even Buddhahood. Thus the whole
subject
of mantras came to be treated as an elaborate 'science'.
Special chapters
on 'charms'
came,
from the IIIrd
century
A.D. onward to be added to
important
Buddhist
texts,
and a
special
form of Buddhist
Tantrism,
the
Mantrayana,
came into existence . As is indicated
by
its name its
doctrines centred round the
potent
formulas. In a certain
stage
of
develop-
ment the
outstanding figure
of the Bodhisattva
Avalokitesvara,
who
by
his miraculous
power
and
by
his infinite care and skill affords
safety
to
those who are
anxious,
acquiring,
in the course of
time,
sovereignty
over
the
world,
ended
by becoming
a
great magician
who owes his
power
to
his mantras. As the ancient Vedic mantras were
inspired by gods
or 'seen'
by
rsis,
thus the Buddhist mantras were
given
to the devout
by
bene-
volent
higher beings.
The famous Tibetan Omt mani padme him is one of
Avalokitesvara's most
precious
gifts
to mankind.
The mantra-element seems to have been introduced in
Mahayana
Buddhism first in the form of the
dhdran,
the
'mystic' syllable
credited
with the
capacity
of
keeping up
the
spiritual
life of the initiate. The
famous
philosopher
Vasubandhu
(IVth
cent.
A.D.) gave,
in his Bodhi-
sattvabhfimi,
an
exposition
of the nature of the dharanis and a
philosoph-
ical
explanation
for the utilization of mantras for the realization of the
ultimate truth. Several classes of dharanis are
distinguished,
one of them
leading
to
memory, perfect insight, generosity
etc., another,
the mantra-
dhdra.n,
to
perfection.
What
may
interest us most is that Vasubandhu
2
adds a
philosophical explanation
of how the mantras enable the initiate
to realize the
very
nature of the dharmas
(i.e., potencies, atoms-of-being,
or elements-of-existence which
through
the influence of karma combine
1
See, e.g.,
G.
Rosenkranz,
Der
Weg
des
Buddha,
Stuttgart
I960,
p.
91
ff,
2
Vasubandhu, Bodhis, p.
272
ff. U.W.
(Tokyo).
295
J.
Gonda
so as to constitute the transient
phenomena),
that is to
say,
how
syllables
such as iti miti kiti bhiksdmti paddni
svdhd,
the
meaninglessness
of which
is
expressly taught,
enable the initiate to
understand,
by pure
intuition,
that the nature of the dharmas is
meaningless
and to
bring
about the
revolution of a
unique
and immutable transcendental
meaning
which is
the real nature of All 1.
However,
the same Vasubandhu also observed
sceptically
that herbs rather than mantras
are,
in case of
illness,
the
curative
agent,
but that the doctors claim that the
drug
is successful
only
through
the formula which is their
professional
secret 2. The fact
may
indeed not be
suppressed
that a reaction came in the form of
groups
of
spiritual
leaders and
yogins
who revolted
against
this
'magical'
belief in
mantras,
rituals and ceremonies etc. and who while
stressing
esoteric
religious
doctrines and
purely spiritual
realization of the oneness with the
Absolute,
dispensed
with these external means: "the truth is not to be
muttered as a mantra".
In order to
appreciate
the function of mantras in Tantric Buddhism
the
process
of
muttering (japa) according
to the Mahavairocanasutra
may
be recalled to mind. After the
contemplative
recitation,
which has
four
aspects-reciting
the mantra while
contemplating
their elements
(the
so-called 'heart
enlightenment'); distinguishing
the sounds of the
elements;
understanding
the
significance
of the
phrases;
the
regulation
of the breath in order to
contemplate
the mutual
interpenetration
of
the devotee and the Buddha-there follows the recitation
accompanied
by offerings (flowers etc.)
and the 'recitation of realization' which
brings
about the success
(siddhi)
desired.
Naturally enough,
the relations between mantras and other
supra-
normal
power
were
susceptible
to different
interpretations.
Thus the
author of the Mahavairocanasuitra
(ch. 4)
was of the
opinion
that the
miraculous force
residing
in these formulas was due to the
original
vow
of the Buddhas and
Bodhisattvas,
so that
by pronouncing
them one
acquires
merit without limits. The Buddha
has,
so to
say,
consecrated
them and exerted
upon
them an inconceivable influence.
According
to the Tibetans it is in order to attain to an
enlightened
attitude even
nowadays necessary,
not
only
to be in
harmony
with the
dharma,
learned,
and
disciplined,
but also to be able to
grasp
and understand
what is meant
by
the mantras 3. In their
country
mantras
appear
in
1
See, e.g.,
also S. Bh.
Dasgupta,
Obscure
religious
cults as
background of Bengali
Literature,
Calcutta
I946, passim.
2
E.
Conze, Buddhism,
Oxford
I95I (1953),
p. I8I.
3
sGam.po.pa, Jewel
Ornament
of
Liberation,
translated and annotated
by
H. V.
Guenther,
London
I959, p.
II8.
296
The Indian Mantra
Tibetanized Sanskrit. For
instance,
on
sitting
down to
expound
and
learn the dharma one should recite the mantra which overcomes the
power
of Mdra
(i.e.,
Death
representing
the
phenomenal
world as
opposed
to
Liberation)
in order to make sure that no obstacles can arise:
"Peace,
peace, appeaser
of
enemies,
conqueror
of
Mara,
thou who wearest a
garland
of
skulls,
thou
resplendent
one,
thou who lookest
around,
art
pure
and immaculate and removest all
stains;
thou who lookest
every-
where,
who bindest all evil and art
thyself
free from the fetters of
Mara . .
.,
let all the devilish
impediments
vanish" 1.
The
importance
of mantras in Indonesian tradition-which in cult and
belief has been
strongly
influenced
by India-may appear
from the
following
narratives.
"Siva
and his wife Devi Sri were
walking
once in
the mountain Waralau. Moved
by
the
lovely beauty
of the
place
Siva
wanted to
enjoy
his wife. She would not and while he strove with her two
drops
of
sperma
fell into a hollow of the mountain. The
god
said mantras
over
them,
and
they
became
twins,
a
boy
and a
girl
. ." 2. When
according
to the well-known Indian tale
Smara,
the
god
of
love,
wished
to disturb Siva's meditation in order to focus his attention on
Parvati,
but Siva did not
awake,
Kama
concentrating
his
thoughts
so as to
produce
a mantra let this
powerful spell
enter Siva's mind with the
result that the latter awoke 3. In the medieval
story
of the witch Calon
Arang
the famous rsi Bharadah was unable to restore
by
means of a
mantra a tree which had been burned to ashes
by
the
strong glance
of
the witch. In another
story
a child is made a demon
by
the mantras of
a
priest
and when this man hid himself to listen to the
priest's
secret
instruction and so heard the
mantras,
the
priest
had no choice but to
ordain him 4.
1
Guenther, o.c.,
p.
I59.-For
the
reinterpretation
of the well-known Tibetan
mantra Om mani
padme
hum
see, e.g.,
E.
J. Thomas,
in
JRAS
I906, p.
464.
2
B. de Zoete and W.
Spies,
Dance and drama in
Bali,
London
1938 (1952),
p.
105.
3
Ibidem,
p. 324.
4
Ibidem, p. 305.-For
mantras in the island of Bali see also the
Ganapati-
tattwa, ?
28
(ed.
Sudarshana Devi
Singal,
New Dehli
I958).
For the
migration
of
the
'magic syllable'
Om
(India,
Tibet,
Further
India,
Indian
Archipelago)
see
J. J.
Boeles,
in: India
Antiqua (Festschrift J.
Ph.
Vogel),
Leiden
I947,
p.
40.
297