The Essence of Mantras Since ancient time till the present era; Mantras have been used as a remedy

for nearly every problem. With the increasing number of TV channels in India, the si tuation is such that you tell about any issue and one out of ten persons, you wi ll find at least one to come out with a handy Mantra to resolve your issue. The great learned pundits are there on the small screen almost round the clock. Now a question arises, do we really get benefit from those free of cost advice ? I d on't think the TV channels will be helpful to you in this respect. They should b e more than happy with the increasing TRP and would haradly get time to undertak e a survey to find effacasy of such remedial mantras etc. With a view to verify the effectiveness of mantras, let us try to answer these q uestions :* Can one mantra be effective for multiple purposes ? * What is the source of power of any mantra ? * What is the correct way of using a mantra ? * What matters the most - The sound, the tone and rhythm of reciting a mantr a, the meaning of the words used in the mantra, or the procedure prescribed? * By usage of a Mantra can any one be able to escape from experiencing the f ructification of Karma? * How does 'offering' of a mantra by a Siddha makes a difference? One Mantra removes all evil : One should not need any thing more than mere common sense to reject the notion o f 'elixir' kind of a Mantra that can be used to resolve a problem irrespective o f nature of problem. As we accept the low of 'Cause and Effect'; we have to find the likely cause of a problem and then the remedy has to address the cause. In a way, the remedy sho uld be a kind of reversal process of the cause. We can understand that every problem has to have a particularly related cause an d hence, it has to be addressed with a specific process. Thus, a Mantra to incre ase physical height of a person cannot be accepted as a cure of Cancer. Hindu mantras like 'Maha Mrintyunjaya Mantra', 'Gayatri Mantra', etc. suffer fro m the notion of 'One-for-All' remedy and we most humbly do not agree with the be lief. The sanctity of mantras for spiritual upliftment should be maintained and must n ot be recommended for temporal laukik reasons as trival as 'securing a job trans fer ' or 'begetting children' etc. People indulging in such activities are unkno wingly doing a grave disservice to the sacred heritage of Vedas. Prerequisites for Using a Mantra : The seers who formulated the mantras offered them to their disciples who were we ll-versed with the prerequisites as a part of the methodology of particular scho ol of spiritual Sadhana. The knowledge of such prerequisites was believed to be so fundamental that its narration, at times, used to be ommitted to avoid repeti tion. Most of the mantras have been a part of a Stotra or an Upanishad or a fullfleged Sadhana or an Anushthana and were never intended to be used in isolation. Howev er, over a period of time, some of the Pundits started compiling the mantras and formulated books of such collection. At this stage, the brevity was the call an d not only the prerequisites, but even the overall purpose and relevance lost th eir place. In the modern age, where education and spirituality has turned into an Industry,

Astrology, too, has slipped into the hands of commercial people. In absence of honest custodians and the rightful inheritors; mantras are prescribed in most bi zzare manner by the commecial astrologers for meeting their selfish means. Needl ess to say, mantras have become tools in their hands to exploit the greedy and i gnorant people. The Rishis who formulated the mantras also advocated certain procedures to be fo llowed for its right use. This include a formal commitment in the form of 'Sanka lpa', some movements and gestures in form of 'Nyasa', creating protective sheath in form of 'Kavacha' and offerings to the Devata in the form of 'Arghya'. Let us understand the procedure (Vineeyoga) as well as the parts of mantra. Sankalpa : Sankalpa with respect to Mantra Sadhana, means a formal committment about one's plan of the Sadhana. A statement of sankalpa generally contains one's own identi fication. This is in the vedic manner including one's full name, one's vedic lin eage i.e. Veda, Gotra, Shakha etc. Then follows ones desire to chant the Mantra for a particular duration and in particular number or undertake an Anushthana fo r fulfilment of a particular wish. The sankalpa is addressed to the Devata of th e Mantra. Ritualistically, a sankalpa is taken through Sanskrit. However, as we know the significance of Mental vibrations in Mantra Sadhana, it should be OK to undertake the Sankalpa in one's own language. Nyasa : Nyasa is an important preperatory stage of Mantra Sadhana. It is in a way a 'war ming up' and 'cleansing' session prior to undertaking Mantra chanting. There are different types of Nayasa, e.g.Anga Nyasa, Kara Nyasa, Rishyadi Nyasa, Hridayad i Nyasa, Panchatatwa Nyasa, Varna Nyasa etc. pembody himself for the Mantra he i s chanting. This is what called as Nyasa. For that purpose, Though each one has it's special benefits, Rishyadi Nyasa is famous. Kavacha : Kavacha' is the imagery sheild to be created for the protection of the Sadhaka d uring Sadhana. It is very important because, the Sadhaka loses his conscious sen se of awareness as he transgress into meditative state or altered state of aware ness. During such a state he stands vulnerable and exposed to abnormal frequenci es and vibrations. The performing of Kavacha protects the Sadhaka from such vibr ations. The Kavacha in a way create hypontic layer of self-confidence and keep h im comfortable Arghya : In addition to the procedure, it is vital to understand the essential parts of a Mantra. Every mantra is suppose to be complete only when it is used with the f ollowing six parts, knows as 'Shadanga': * * * * * * Rishi Chhandas Devata Beeja Keelaka and Shakti.

Rishi : Rishi is the person who originally formulated the Mantra. In vedic culture, Rish i is believed as the seer, a visualizer of Mantra. The prerequisite of naming th e Rishi of the mantra before using the same is a humble way of showing gratitude and acknowledgement. This act of acknowledgement is the first step towards delu tion of personal pride and ego. The feeling of gratitude initiates the altered s

tate of mind leading to internal environment congenial to invocation of the Deva ta of the Mantra. Chhandas : Chhandas denotes to the gramatical formation of words in a particular rhythm. The chhanda sets the pattern of words and number of syllables. The form ation guides the recitation of the Mantra in a particular way. The pattern activ ates different points in human brain and further augment the internal psychic en vironment. Each chhanda has its own attributes to influence the mood of the pers on reciting it. Chhandas are classified into two types (1) Varnik Chhand (alphabetical stanzas) and (2)Matrik Chhand (stanzas containing short vowels). Hindu mantras follow the Chhandas of their respective Vedic Samhita and Shakha. Generally a distinct Mat rik Chhanda has been preferred by different Shakha in different Samhitas. Devata : Devata of the Mantra is the form of the god who is being propitiated. The deveta element engages the visualizing faculty of human mind. Every Devata has its own Shape, Colour, Posture, Gesture, Mudra, Ayudha, and personality. The preceding steps of Rishi and Chhanda prepares the ground for effective visualization of th e Devata. The initial utterrance of name of the Devata creates flashes of the vi sions. Its frequent repetition enables a devotee to contemplate upon the form of the Devata. Ultimately, he forgets his own self and gets unified with the form of the Devata. Beeja : Beeja is a single letter of Sanskrit Alphabet and it represent, again, shortes p ossible form of the Devata. The shape of the Beeja creates the route for the ene rgy to vibrate. Beejam resembles the basic character (tatva) of the mantra. for example jala tatva(soft), agni tatva (hard) etc. Keelaka : Keelaka means a nail. Now, what is significance of a Nail here with respect to r eciting a Mantra ? To understand the significance of Keelaka we have to link it with the nail that stops a rotating wheel slipping out of its excel. We know tha t the energy of a mantra is generated from the mind of the person and its import ant to keep it centered at a point to save it getting dissipated. This is done t hrough Keelaka. Some people symbolize it with a key of the lock. Thus, a keelaka is believed to be a Key to open the lock of the source of a Mantra power. Shakti : Shakti means Power. Shakti means power or energy of the Mantra. This is the powe r generated through reciting the mantra. It has to be noted that every Mantra has its own form of Shakti. However, let us admit that today, except the name denoted to the Shakti, we do not know much ab out distinct forms of the energy of Mantra. The main reason for this ommission i s attributable to the fact that graphical reproduction of the form of energy vib rations visualized during altered state of mind remains difficult. The second re ason for the misconception is that we consider the words 'Devi' and 'Shakti' as synomniums. Due to this ambiguity, it is quite possible that a Sadhaka of a Mantra may conte mplate upon a known form of Devi in stead of the energy vibrations of the Mantra . Now, it should be clear as to why we don't get the much acclaimed results from r eciting a mantra. If we ignore the essential 6 parts, how can we expect the desi red effects?

The limitation lies on two parts. First is the ignorance of the doer. The person who undertakes Mantra, does not know the essential pre-requisites. Secondly, th e limitation lies with the source from where a person receives the mantra. It is quite common now that people take mantra from any source, be it a cheap pocket book being sold at the roadside, any Sadhu or a TV Jyotishi. It is quite possibl e that the pre-requisites are compromised in offering and receiving the Mantra i n this manner.