Nat

ureandWeal
th
Vol
.VINo1

Ef
fectofMant
raonMent
alHeal
th
Dr
.Kamakhy
aKumar
*
Depar
tmentofHumanCons.&YogicSci
ence,
DevSanskri
tiVi
shwavi
dyal
aya,
Shant
ikunj
,Har
idwar(
U.A)249411

Manburnsandr ui
nshimsel
finthef i
reofunendi
ngcravi
ngs.Hisdir
edesiref
or
ful
fi
ll
mentalwaysr
emainsunful
fi
ll
ed.Wewantt obehappybutoftenf
indthatt
he
cir
cumstancesofl
ifepul
lusbacki ntothemireofdi
scontent
,desperat
ionand
worri
es.

Mantrashavegreatsi
gnif
icancei nthement alandspir
it
ualevoluti
onofharmony .
Thesecouldalsomanifestt r
emendousr esul
tsinthephysicalwor l
d;t
heycould
bepower f
ulli
keaPat tontankoranat omicbomb.Ourspi ri
tuall
yempower ed,
eminentancestor
s–t her ishis,knew thisfactandhadt hereforedevel
opeda
wholegamutofmant r
asf orspeci f
icpur
posesandhadal sodev isedthemethods
ofexperi
mentati
onwithuseoft hesesubli
minaltool
s.

Mant rasal sohav etheirownhi st

oryofdi
scov eryandmast eryofinnerreal
msof
consci ousnessbyal ongl ineofmast ersandseeker sofspi rit
.Mant r
asand
yantrashav ebeeni nexi stencesi nceprehistori
ctimes.TheVedi cscri
ptur
es
describet hatoncet hedev as( gods)andtheasur as(demons)ar guedast owhat
wassuper ior–mant r
aory antra?Thedemonsr egar
dedy antrasassuper i
orand
mi ghti
erasmat eri
alresour cesandcapabilit
ieswer emor ei mportanttothem.
Thegodsaf fi
rmedt hepr omi nenceofmantras;thatis,spi
ri
tuali
tywasofgr eater
signif
icancet othem.Weal lhav eseenandusedsev eralt
ypesofy ant
rasinthis
ageofmat eri
ali
sti
cpr ogress.Letusacquai ntour sel
veswithsomeknowl edgeof
mant rasher e.

Theef fectsofmant rasl argelypert ai

nt ot hement al
,emot ionalandspi r
it
ual
realmsofl ife.Mant rasi nspirepositiveandpenet r
atingt houghtsandenl i
ghten
theemot ionalanddeeperl evelsofconsci ousness.' Mananat -t
ray ateitiMant r
ah'
-Byt heManana( const antthinkingorr ecol l
ecti
on)ofwhi chonei spr otectedoris
releasedf rom ther oundofbi rthsanddeat hs, i
sMant ra.Thatiscal l
edMant r
aby
themedi tati
on( Manana)onwhi chtheJi v
aort hei ndiv i
dualsoulat t
ainsf r
eedom
from si n,enj oymenti nheav enandf i
nall i
beration,andbyt heai dofwhi chit
attainsi nf ullthef our f
oldf ruit(Chat urvarga),i.e.,Dhar ma,Ar t ha,Kamaand
Moksha.AMant raissocal ledbecausei tisachi evedbyt hement alprocess.The
root'Man' i
nt hewor dMant racomesf r
om t hefirstsy ll
ableofthatwor d, meaning
'
tot hink',and' Tra'fr
om ' Trai'meani ng' topr ot
ect 'or' f
ree'fr
om t hebondageof
Samsar aort hephenomenalwor l
d.Byt hecombi nationof' Man' and' Tra'comes
Mant r
a.

Mantr
asareintheform ofpr
aiseandappealtot
hedeit
ies,crav
ingforhelpand
mercy.Some Mant r
as contr
oland command t he evilspiri
ts.Rhythmical
vi
brat
ionsofsoundgi
veriset
of or
ms.Reci
tati
onoftheMantrasgivesri
setothe
Nat
ureandWeal
th
Vol
.VINo1

f
ormat
ionoft
hepar
ti
cul
arf
igur
eoft
hedei
ty.

Therearesev eralway st opr acti

ceMant raYoga.Repeatt heMant r
av erballyfor
sometime,inawhi sperf orsomet i
meandment allyforsomet i
me.Themi nds
wantsv ari
ety.Itget sdi sgust ed with anymonot onouspr acti
ce.Thement al
repet
it
ionisv erypower f
ul .I tist ermed ManasikaJapa.Thev erbalorl oud
repet
it
ioniscal ledVai khar iJapa.Thel oudJapashut soutal lwor l
dlysounds.
Thereisnobr eakofJapaher e.Repeti
tioninawhi sperorhummi ngist ermed
UpamshuJapa.Ev enmechani calrepetiti
onofJapawi t
houtanyBhav ahasa
greatpuri
fyi
ngef f
ectont hehear torthemi nd.Thef eel
ingwi l
lcomel ateron
whent heprocessofment al pur i
fi
cati
ongoeson.

Manydef i
nemant raasanupl i
fti
ng,ener gy-
chargedsublimat edt houghtcur r
ent .
Forexampl e,Gayatr
imantraisthemostsacr edandsubl i
met houghtinthewhol e
creat
ion.Init
,prayerhasbeenmadet ot heDivinesymbolizedasSunonbehal fof
wholeofhumani tyforthegiftsofr i
ght eousnessandenl i
ghtenedi ntel
ligence.
“Om bhoor bhuvahswaht atsavit
urvareny am bhargodevasy adhi mahidhi yoy o
nahpr achodayaat”(MayAlmightlyil
l
umi nat
eourint el
l
ectandi nspireust owar ds
theri
ght eouspath)Buttheintel
lect
ualunder standingofthemeani ngofmant ra,
alt
houghgood,i snoti nitselfsuffi
cientt omakei tef f
icacious.I tdoesnot
encompassal lthevari
egat
eddi mensionsofamant ra.

Amant ramayhav eameani ng,

oritmaynothav eone.I tmaybesublimet hought,
oritmaynotbe.Manyt imes,t
hearrangementofi t
ssy l
l
ablesissuchast ogive
outameani ng,whi l
eatot hertimes,thisconstr
ucti
oni ssohaphazar dt hatno
i
ntell
i
giblemeaningcanbemadeoutofi t.Ther
earesev eralot
herMantrasl i
ke:
Om NamoBhagavat eVasudevaya,
Om NamoNar ayanay a,
HariOm TatSat ,
Om t r
yambakam y ajamahe sugandhi m pusht ivardhanam ur varukamiva
bandhanaanmr i
tyormukshiyamaamr itaatand
Om NamahShi vaya

Mant ras are notsome v erbalst r

uctures to be enunci at
ed rhy t
hmi call
yand
repeatedly.Rather,thesear esubt lemeansofcont emplati
ngt hatcanr eori
entt he
ment altendencies.Manypeopl esuf f
erf rom av ariet
yofadv er
siti
es,scar cit
ies
andwor ri
esbecauset heydonothav et heapt i
tudet obei niti
atedi ntopr oper
mant ras(ofsanet hinking,righteousat tit
ude,etc) .Mantrasar edef i
nedast he
toolsf orl
iberati
onf r
om i gnorance,i l
l
usion,infir
mi ti
esandsor rows.Thesecan
transformt hecour seofl ifeandconv er
tagoni esi ntojoys.Indeed,mant ras,as
specialcar r
ier
soft heener gyofcosmi csound,dohav eamazi ngpot ential
sf or
affecti
ngt hephy si
calwor ldal so( assomeofy oumi ghthaveseenorr eadabout
mant rabasedheal ingofphy si
calandment alai lments,etc).Butt hespi rit
ual
power sandbenef i
tsoft hemant rasarefarmor ei ntenseandcr eati
ve.

Mant
rasar
everyspeci
alconf
igur
ati
onsofsoundsorsy
ll
abl
es.Accor
dingl
y,each
mant
rahasspeci
ficpatt
ernsofenunci
ati
onorchanti
ng.Mantr
aswor kont he
Nat
ureandWeal
th
Vol
.VINo1

yantraofourphy sicalbodyandal soonourener gy-body, mindandt heinner -

self
.
IntheMant r
aYogamedi tati
ononehast ochantawor doraphr aseunt ilhe/she
tr
anscendsmi ndandemot i
ons.I nt hepr ocesst hesuperconsci ousisdi scovered
andachi eved.Ther hythm andt hemeani ngofmant rascombi net oconductt he
mindsaf elybackt ot hepoi ntofmedi tation-thehi gherconsci ousnessort he
specifi
cspi ri
tualfocus.Di fferentsy l
l
abl es,phr asesand wor dspossest hei
r
uniqueheal i
ngpot enti
al.Hencet heyar echant edataspeci fictime.Asat oolto
achievestill
ness,t hemant rai st o bedi scarded att hemomentst ill
nessi s
achieved.Somet i
mesmant rasar eal soappl iedt omodi fycircumst ances.I nthe
chantingoft hemant r
asi tisofi mmensei mpor tancet hatt heyar epr onounced
properlyorelsealltheirintendedef fectwoul dnotcome.Forsuchpur posesi tis
i
mpor tantthatthepr operpr onunci ati
oni simpar ted.

Withregularpracti
ceofabal ancedseri
esoft echniques,theenergyofthebody
andmi ndcanbel iber
atedandt hequalit
yofconsci ousnesscanbeexpanded.
Thisisnotasubj ecti
veclaim butisnowbei nginvesti
gatedbyt hesci
enti
stsand
beingshownbyanempi ri
calf act
.Experi
enceoft hecal mingef f
ectofMant ra
meditat
iononlyf or10mi nuteseachday ,wouldcreateaper iodofphysi
calrel
ief
thatenhancesimmunef unction.Ov ert
ime,thebenef it
sofMant raYogahav ea
cumulati
veeffect,i
mpr ovi
ngt hewell-
bei
ngoft hepractit
ioner.