To utter a mantra is to invoke the Deity signified by it

Highways Of God - Pandit, M.P. Keywords: PHILOSOPHY. PSYCHOLOGY; Philosophy of mind Downloads: 149. MANTRA Q: What is a Bija Mantra? Can it be effective even when it is not received from, a competent Guru ?

A: All manifestation is through Sound, Sabda- Brahman. Bija-Mantra is seed sound. It may consist of a syllable or a number of syllables. The sound or dhvani produced by the utterance of the syllable (or syllables) is, in the Mantra Sastra, the equivalent in human speech, the vaikhan expression, of the original subtle sound-vibration which is produced by the movement of the forces (of Consciousness) while manifesting a thing. That subtle sound, matrkd, is the true Name of the thing manifested and to repeat it is to call the thing into awareness, into active being. This is the main principle of the Mantra.

Thus the manifestation of a Devata which is an emanation, a self-formulation of the Supreme Godhead, is accompanied by a characteristic sound. This mdtrkd is the sound-form of that Deity. This sound-value rendered in terms of human speech is the Mantra, the sound-body of the Devata on the human level. When this sound is uttered the vibrations that go forth are the very vibrations that were active when the Devata first manifested and consequently they urge the same manifestation again. Hence it is that to utter a mantra is to invoke the Deity signified by it.

It goes without saying that the evocation, to be effective, must carry the power, the consciousness with which the original sound-vibrations were instinct. With- out it the Mantra is a dead word. The Mantra-caitanya must be awakened and made active. And that only a Guru, one who has already realised and holds in him-self something of the dynamics of the Mantra, can do. 1 When such a one communicates the Mantra to another, he not only speaks the Word, but also transmits in his very utterance the caitanya, the life-power of the Mantra^ so that when the recipient repeats it, it is a Word which is loaded with its innate power-charge that is released into action. 1

Theoretically it is of course possible for one to energise and enliven a Mantra by his own tapasya. It is also possible to receive the living Mantra directly from a Higher Source, as has happened at times. What is important and indispensable is that the Mantra must vibrate with the power that underlies its manifestation.