centuries) said that mantras are mananatra ̄n.aru ̄pa, thought and salvation, that
is, a liberating form of thought. We should perhaps add here that the language
of mantras is normally Sanskrit. They are formed from Sanskrit words or
syllables, which is logical enough since they are regarded as forms of the power
ofva ̄c, the primordial Word uttered in the sacred Sanskrit language. In Tantric
practice, however, there are exceptions to this rule, especially in recent times.
Mantras in Vedism
In the Vedas, the noun mantra refers to the metrical texts collected in the
Sam.hitas that are recited, muttered, or chanted during Vedic sacrifices, be they
r.c,yajus, or sa ̄man, that is, hymns or poems, sacrificial formulas, or chants. All
that is not bra ̄hmana(rule or explanation) is mantra; and mantras, in Vedic reli-
gion, are the essential element of ritual performance, however complex in its
procedure and mise en scènethat performance may be. They are considered as
instrumental in the accomplishment of sacrificial acts: they are what causes and
effects the efficiency of the sacrifice.
The word mantra appears thus in Vedism as referring to something different,
at least in its verbal form – poems, hymns, chants – from what it referred to later
on, but even in those early times some permanent mantric traits were present.
First, mantras constitute the essential and efficient element in all ritual. More-
over, brief ritual formulas such as sva ̄ha ̄(the exclamation used when making an
oblation to the gods) were also regarded as mantras, and the three utterances
calledvya ̄hr.ti(bhu ̄h.,bhuvah.,svah.) referring to the earth, the intermediate space,
and the sky, chanted during Vedic ritual, were believed to be invested with the
creative power of the primordial Word. Vedic chant also included meaningless
syllables called stobha, such as ha ̄,bhu,phat., while in the Yajurveda other sylla-
bles of that sort (hı ̄m,hum,vet.. .) were used, to one of which, om., was attrib-
uted a particular and exalted position, which it has kept down to our days, as
the very essence of all that exists. Vedism thus shows the origin of aspects of
mantras which will be developed in the tantric mantras ́a ̄stra. The famous ga ̄yatrı ̄,
the invocation of Savitar, the Sun, a particularly sacred formula which was later
used as a mantra (sometimes with sectarian variants dedicated to other deities)
is also originally Vedic, since it is verse 10 of hymn 3.62 of the R.gveda. In fact,
as formulas or utterances imbued with power and believed to be of supernatural
origin, mantras have inherited and carried down to the present the Vedic con-
ception ofva ̄c, the Word, seen as the supreme power, placed above everything
else, identified with the brahman, the Absolute. But it is an absolute which is also
the sacred formula: from earliest times, godhead has been seen both as power
and as sacred word.
The Vedic solemn sacrificial rites have all but entirely disappeared in India.
When they do endure, it is as a kind of archaeological reconstruction of the past,
or as an artificial, domesticated form of return to some mythical origin. Certain
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