The Vedas define mantra as “mananāt trāyatē iti mantrah” ,i.e., the contemplation or sustained repetition of which protects us from all miseries. In other words, mantra is the procedure that frees the mind from its own obsessive-compulsive thinking which is the root cause of all miseries. A person not into spirituality might be skeptical about the power of mantras. However, in this era where we are conditioned with Western thought, it is natural to question the efficacy or the relevance of mantras. In this blog, “Exploring Ancient Wisdom of Mantra for Modern Life” i will delve into the topic of mantra and uncover how you can harness its power for personal development.

Though I cannot give any proof of my personal experience with mantras, I feel that mantra has the power to transform a person’s life, provided he/she has complete belief, dedication and discipline in chanting the mantras. The ancient sages and many present-day genuine spiritual leaders are the living proof that mantras work. Though this blog is based on my learnings from various sources, I can say that much of this blog is inspired from Om Swami‘s book “The Hidden Power of Gayatri Mantra”.

The Origin of Mantras

Sages or rishis received or experienced mantras, sacred utterances, in higher states of consciousness. The Sanskrit mantras are derived from the Vedas, a collection of ancient Hindu religious texts regarded as the oldest layer of Sanskrit language literature. People believe that ancient practitioners initially transmitted the Vedas orally from one person to another before Sage Vyas compiled them into texts.

Since there are thousands of mantras in the Vedas, I guess it would be better to take up a mantra that is considered to powerful. Gayatri mantra is considered to be one of the most powerful mantra. As mentioned earlier, this mantra has its origin from one of the vedic texts i.e, the Rig veda.

The Science of Mantras

As mentioned by me earlier, this blog will have many inputs from the book “The Hidden Power of Gayatri Mantra”. The author delves into the science of mantra when he mentions the sentence, “We become the kind of people we surround ourselves with”. The whole premise of meditation, of devotion is based on this alone. In this book, the author provides information on how to invoke a mantra (Gayatri Mantra) and benefit from it. Mantra science is like a wealth that you seek, but the spiritual wealth is already inside you. The question is how to put the already existing wealth to use.

Gayatri Mantra

The versus in Vedas are organized in meters, called chanda in Sanskrit, and Lord Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita “Gayatri Naam Chandasaamaham” ,i.e, of all the Vedic meters I am Gayatri. The meter of Gayatri has many mantras, with Gayatri mantra being the most significant. Although the usual Om Bhur-bhuvah-svah does not start the mantra in the Rig Veda, the recommended complete mantra is as follows:

Om Bhur bhuvah Svah

Tat savitur varenyam

Bhargo Devasya Dhimahi

Dhiyo Yo Nah, Pracodayat

SAVITUR GAYATRI MANTRA

The meaning of mantra as explained by the author, forms the basis of the Gayatri mantra. The meaning is that we are now meditating upon the one who alone is fit to be worshipped. May that divine radiance, that divine energy which is full of light, guide our intellects. May it put our intellects in motion, so we have a certain wealth of wisdom to put to use.

History of Gayatri Mantra

In order to understand the true power and energy of Gayatri mantra, we have to revisit a chapter in ancient history to know the circumstances in which the first sage invoked this mantra.

The valiant king Kaushika who was returning with a large number of troops, came across the hermitage of Sage Vasishtha. They had run out of provisions and dropped into the hermitage to drink water and rest. But to the King’s surprise, Sage Vasishtha arranged a meal for the King and all of his men. It was natural for the King to question the Sage about how he prepared meal for his entire army. To which the Sage replied that he had a wish-fulfilling cow.

Kaushika got thinking. The cow would be better with a king rather than a sage who does not need all the power of the cow. The king decided to take the cow with force since the Sage did not want to give the cow to the king. However, Kaushika and his army of men could not take the cow as they became helpless in front of the Sage Vasishtha’s power of penance. King Vasishtha apologized and left the place with his army.

Kaushika returned to his palace but was burning inside for revenge since he had to apologize in front of his own men. Also, the Sage did not carry a single weapon. He chose to seek the Sage’s power instead of pursuing territorial conquests or ruling. Renouncing everything, he dedicated his life to penance. For many years, he prayed to Lord Shiva and acquired several powerful weapons. Since the Sage Vashistha could not be defeated with even those weapons, Kaushika prayed to Lord Brahma for many years for the Brahmastra, the most potent weapon. Though he received that boon from Brahma, yet he still could not defeat the Sage Vashistha.

The realization:

The king Kaushika accepted his defeat. Then, realization dawned upon him when Vashistha told him the secret. You have been doing all this penance to attain something, but you have forgotten your own attainment: you have not invoked the divinity in you. You are not defined by what you have or what you can do, but by who you are, deep inside you. Listening to this, Kaushika decided not to seek weapons or harbor animosity anymore. He started doing penance not for weapons this time but for the welfare of all sentient beings. With his unrelenting and intense penance, one by one, siddhis and greater powers came to him.

With his inner eye, he had seen the one mantra, the essence of the Vedas, the cause of creation, the one mantra that had the power to pull anyone out of any adversity, that congregation of divine sounds that could help one realize one’s wildest dreams. The only mantra he ever invoked – the Gayatri mantra. The author in his book guides on how to invoke the Gayatri mantra in this age based on his personal experience.

Power of Gayatri mantra

There are many forms of Gayatri, but this one particular form is called Savitur Gayatri , which is derived from the word Savitri , the name of Mother Divine. An important aspect of mantra science is learning its proper use. When you chant mantras, and when the grace of Mother Divine is fully bestowed upon you, you will realize when and how to use it. This wisdom comes after a long time of mantra sadhana. Ultimately, the whole sadhana of Gayatri is to purify yourself. Otherwise, chanting has little meaning at the end of the day. If we fail to purify ourselves internally, then no mantra will ever yield any siddhis or powers. And siddhis will come to you, simply if you are purified.

Ways of Chanting a Mantra

There are four kinds of chanting, which lead to four progressive stages of sound. The first kind of chanting is called vachika , which means audible, verbal; something you speak. In vachika , Gayatri japa would be you chanting out loud, others around you can hear you easily.

The second type of japa is called upanshu – your lips move, and you make only a whispering sound. So it is with upanshu : only somebody who is no more than a few feet away from you can hear you. Upanshu japa is more effective than vachika.

The third kind of chanting is called mansika where you recall the whole mantra in your mind. It can be made more effective by gentle and conscious recollection of your mantra. Imagine that each section of the mantra is falling from the crown of your head one drop at a time: Om bhur-bhuvah svah, drip etc., As per the author who himself is a spiritual leader, says that by chanting mantra this way, your mind will concentrate better and your other thoughts will not intrude. The stillness of the mind is the first requirement for experiencing the Divine in its truest sense, which is when you want to experience the divine energy.

Chanting a mantra is done to not have your prayers answered. You chant a mantra because you want to invoke the divinity within; to gain immense inner strength; to constantly purify yourself.

Forms of Mantra Sadhana

All mantra sadhanas fall into three categories. The first is called nitya karma. Nitya karma is what a seeker does on a regular basis: it is refreshing your mind, practicing what you already know, every day. That, however, does not usually give you the power you may need from mantras for certain accomplishments. For that, there is a different kind of sadhana called naimittika karma. It is something that is done with a specific purpose in mind. Doing naimittika karma entails devoting a certain time for your sadhana. For example, you could say, “I am going to chant this mantra over the next X days, Y number of times in total”. According to the author, what you do during this period of time is what you accumulate for future use.

If you are going to accumulate energy, you also have a great responsibility to not use it just for yourself. It would be ideal to use it with great mindfulness for those to whom you are not connected. Under naimittika karma is a concept called purushcharana ,i.e, invoking a mantra and saving its energy for future use. The author has focused on the namittika karma in his above book. The last and third category is kamya prayoga. When you use a mantra for a certain application that is kamya prayoga.

Gayatri Sadhana

Chanting the Gayatri mantra stimulates the solar channel in your body. The author from his own experience confirms that this mantra generates heat. For, savitur also means sun. Invoking the Gayatri mantra in a structured manner will help you build a reservoir of divine energy. There are many ways to accumulate the energy of the Gayatri mantra in your consciousness. The more you gather, the more you have available for use at a later date. However, not everyone has the time or inclination to undertake a long purushcharana. Irrespective of how little or much you do, the quantity of japa should be the same everyday throughout your purushcharana.

The types of purusharana are as follows:
  • Mini invocation of 3-9 days,
  • Standard invocation of 40-120 days,
  • Extraordinary invocation of 18-24 months
  • Grand invocation of 24-32 months

As per the author, any person of any age can do this sadhana with or without initiation. You can start the sadhana on any full moon day either in the morning or at night. The main thing is to be consistent. The idea is to train your mind by doing the same thing at precisely the same time for the same amount of minutes/hours each day for a certain duration.

Please note that purification and other steps are necessary at the beginning of every session. Many mudras or japa handlocks are also used in the sadhana process. Mudras represent a powerful method to aid the flow of energy. The significance of mudras becomes evident from the fact that teachers in the olden days taught them to disciples only after years of practice. Many other mantras are chanted and offerings are also provided during the process.

One can reap the benefits of the sadhana either by following the comprehensive method of 36 steps or the brief method of only 7 steps each day as mentioned in the book. This sadhana is what differentiates an adept from an average seeker.

Further Reading :