The secret character of mantras, together with the fact that they embody the
highest and most efficacious power ofva ̄c, the spoken-speaking Word, a power
calledmantravı ̄rya, is the reason why they may be transmitted and received only
in secrecy and by word of mouth. They go, as is said, “from ear to ear” (karn.a ̄t
karn.am). A written mantra (and this is true not only in Tantric circles) or a
mantra found in a book is lifeless, powerless,^13 since it lacks the spiritual element
which only a qualified master can transmit. When their use is prescribed in a
text, secrecy in transmission is upheld by employing conventional names for
their constituent letters, or by quoting these letters in reverse order or in disor-
der, or else by using secret diagrams called prasta ̄raorgahvara(“display” or
“cavern”), which are ritually drawn and in which the letters of the Sanskrit
alphabet from which those of the mantra are to be chosen are displayed in a par-
ticular order. These conventional ways of quoting mantras without actually
revealing them are called their “extraction” (mantroddha ̄ra). The secret esoteric
transmission of mantras applies to those conferred during initiation and espe-
cially to those which are to be used for a specific religious or magical purpose.
Such devices are not necessary for mantras used in the course of ordinary
rituals, even if only selected (initiated) individuals are permitted to perform these
rites.
Each Tantric tradition has its own system of mantras and usually considers
the mantras of other traditions ineffective or dangerous. Such inadequate
mantras, whether they belong to one’s own or to another initianic lineage, are
sometimes described as suffering from defects (dos.a), usually described as of a
very human character (being hungry, asleep, poor, cross-eyed.. .). Rites called
mantrasam.ska ̄ra, “purification of mantras,” aim at removing such defects. We
have here cases where mantras seem to be regarded more as supernatural
individual entities than as forms ofva ̄c– even though the defects so concretely
described consist mostly in the presence (or absence) of particular letters or com-
binations of letters. There are also mantras which are by nature faultless, or
which can be used without restrictions as to their form or nature: OM. is an
example. Such mantras, or those which can be used for different purposes asso-
ciated with other mantras, are said to be sa ̄dharan.a, generally applicable. The dis-
tinction between two categories and uses of Tantric mantras is worth noting, for
there appear to be, on the one hand, ritual formulas which dothings when used
by authorized persons at the proper time and according to prescribed rules,
which are usually not secret, being found in all ritual manuals, though they may
includebı ̄jaswhich are esoteric in character. On the other hand, in initiations
and/or for particular rituals, in particular those that may be called magical,
mantras are esoterically transmitted from a master, who is a mantrinin that he
knows and masters mantras, to a qualified disciple. This is especially the case in
the Tantric initiation (the dı ̄ks.a ̄) thanks to which the initiand will be admitted
into a particular group and be permitted to perform certain rites. If the initiate
does not seek merely liberation (moks.a), if he is not what is called a mumuks.u,
but intends to attain particular powers (siddhis), or enjoy particular mundane
or supramundane rewards, an intent denoted by the Sanskrit root SIDDH, he is
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