| From The River Of Heaven |
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| Books By David Frawley |
| SANSKRIT : THE POWER OF MANTRA | |
| The main mantras of Hinduism and
Buddhism all derive from Sanskrit. While mantras need not be in Sanskrit, it lends itself more easily
to the mantric approach than other languages because it originates from
mantra. Other languages require overcoming their inertia, their less
conscious structure, to facilitate the energy of the mantra. Mantras are of two types; longer chants and shorter seed-syllables. Most known are the shorter seed or bija-mantras like Om. These consist of various root sounds like Om, Hum or Shrim. It is from these root sounds that the entire Sanskrit language is evolved and into which it can be reduced. These roots develop into both nouns and verbs. For example, from the root "ta" meaning to extend, there develops nouns like "tala", the palm of the hand, or verbs like "tanoti", "he extends". Longer mantras are chants, like the Vedic verses, of which the Gayatri is most important. They are more like prayers and show language in its developed form. The shorter root mantras have a more universal meaning. We can use them according to their energetic even if we do not understand the language that develops from them. The longer chants depend more upon our sense of their meaning and our intentions. They can be more easily translated into ordinary language as such prayers for universal peace, as "may all beings be happy".
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