Talk:Mantrasamskāra
By Swami Harshananda
mantrasamskāra (‘refining of the mantra’)
The tantras are a highly specialised literature dealing exclusively and exhaustively with the mantras of the various deities of the Hindu pantheon. Before these mantras are used for any purpose—sacred or secular—they have to be purified ceremonially. This is called ‘mantrasamskāra’.
Mantrasamskāra comprises ten rituals. They are: janana (extraction of the letters of the mantra through a specially drawn drawing called mātrkāy antra); jīvana (writing the letters of the mantra got from the process of janana, in the prescribed order and doing japa of each letter preceded by Om, to infill it with life); tāḍana (striking each letter with sandal-water, repeating ‘yam’); bodhana (beating the letters of the mantra with red oleander flowers [Nesium odorum] to the accompaniment of the syllable ‘ram’); abhiṣeka (bathing the same letters of the mantra [written on a metal plate as prescribed] with water using an aśvattha leaf [Ficus religiosa] and the syllable ‘ram’); vimalīkaraṇa (purifying the mantra with the special formula ‘om hraum’ while contemplating on it); āpyāyana (satiating the letters of the mantra in water in which kuśa grass or a flower is immersed, using the same mantra [om hraum] which is called ‘jyotirmantra’); tarpaṇa (offering
libations of water to the mantra to the accompaniment of the same jyotirmantra); dīpana (illuminating the mantra with the formula ‘om hrīm śrīm’); gupti (keeping the mantra as a great secret thus protecting its power).
All these are highly esoteric in nature and should be done under the expert guidance of a competent guru.
mantrasiddhi (‘the potency of the mantra being fully roused’)
Though a mantra received from a qualified guru in the traditional manner has its potency, this has to be fully roused to make it effective in the practical field.
One of the methods is puraścaraṇa (See PURAŚCARANA for details.).
Sometimes, this process of puraścaraṇa may have to be repeated two times more.
If the power is not roused even after this, then the sādhaka or the spiritual aspirant, under the direct guidance of the guru, has to take to the sevenfold procedure starting with bhrāmaṇa and ending with dāhana (vide Mantrayogasamhitā 67).
This procedure has to be directly learnt and practised under the guidance of an adept in the field.
A simple method suggested by some of the purāṇas is ‘akṣara-lakṣa-japa’. It is the same as repeating the mantra as many lakhs of times as there are letters in the mantra. For instance, to get mantrasiddhi in the six-lettered mantra, ‘Om namaś-śivāya,’ one has to repeat it 6 lakh times.
References[edit]
- The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore