The Power of Mantrams  - Abbe JA Dubois

These famous mantrams, which the Hindus think so much of, are nothing more than prayers or consecrated formulas, but they are considered so powerful that they can, as the Hindus say, enchain the power of the gods themselves. Mantrams are used for invocation, for evocation, or as spells. They may be either preservative or destructive, beneficent or maleficent, salutary or harmful. In fact, there is no effect that they are not capable of producing. Through them an evil spirit can be made to take possession of any one, or can be exercised. They can inspire with love or hate, they can cause an illness or cure it, induce death or preserve life, or cause destruction to a whole army. There are mantrams which are infallible for all these and many other things besides. Fortunately one mantram can counteract the effect of another, the stronger neutralizing the weaker.

The purohitas are more familiar with these mantrams than any other class of Hindus; but all Brahmins are supposed to be acquainted at any rate with the principal ones, if this Sanskrit verse, which one often hears repeated, is to be believed:—

Tan mantram brahmanadhinam Brahmana mama devata

which means, ‘The universe is under the power of the gods; the gods are under the power of mantrams; the mantrams are under the power of the Brahmins; therefore the Brahmins are our gods.’ The argument is plainly set out, as you may see, and these modest personages have no scruples about arrogating to themselves the sublime title of Brahma gods, or gods of the earth.

As an instance of the efficacy of mantrams, I will cite the following example, which is taken from the well-known Hindu poem Brahmottara-Kanda, composed in honor of Siva:—

‘Dasarha, king of Madura, having married Kalavati, daughter of the king of Benares, was warned by the princess on their wedding-day that he must not take advantage of his rights as her husband, because the mantram of the five letters, which she had learned, had so purged and purified her that any man who ventured upon any familiarities with her would do so at the risk of his life, unless he had been previously cleansed from all defilements through the same medium. Being his wife she could not teach him this mantram, because by doing so she would become his guru, and consequently his superior. The next day the husband and wife both went in quest of the great Rishi, or penitent, Garga, who, on learning the object of their visit, bade them fast for one day and bathe the following day in the Ganges. Thus prepared the pair returned to the penitent, who made the husband sit down on the ground facing the east, and having seated himself by his side, but facing the west, he whispered these two words in his ear, "Namah Sivaya1!" Scarcely had the king Dasarha heard these marvelous words when a flight of crows was seen issuing from different parts of his body, which flew away and disappeared; these crows being nothing more or less than the sins which the prince had previously committed.’

‘This story,’ continues the author, ‘is really true. I had it from my guru Veda-Vyasa, who learned it himself from the Para-Brahma. The king and his wife, thus purified, lived happily together for a great many years, and only quitted this world to join Para-Brahma, the Supreme Being, in the abode of bliss.’

When one points out to the Brahmins that these much-vaunted mantrams do not produce startling effects in the present day, they reply that this must be attributed to the Kali-yuga, that is to say, to the Fourth Age of the world, in which we are now living, a veritable age of iron, when everything has degenerated; a period of calamities and disasters, when virtue has ceased to rule the earth. They maintain, nevertheless, that it is still not at all uncommon for mantrams to work miracles, and this they confirm by citing stories which are quite as authentic and credible as the one I have just related.

The most famous and the most efficacious mantram for taking away sins, whose power is so great that the very gods tremble at it, is that which is called the gayatri. It is so ancient that the Vedas themselves were born from it. Only a Brahmin has the right to recite it, and he must prepare himself beforehand by other prayers and by the most profound meditation. He must always repeat it in a low voice, and take the greatest care that he is not overheard by a Sudra, or even by his own wife, particularly at the time when she is in a state of uncleanness. The following are the words of this famous mantram2:—

Dhimahi dhiyo yonah pracho dayat.

It is a prayer in honor of the Sun, one of whose names is Savitru. It is a great mystery. Each word, and indeed each syllable, is full of allusions which only a very few Brahmins understand. I have never met any one who was able to give me an intelligible translation or explanation of them. A Brahmin would be guilty of an unpardonable crime and the most terrible sacrilege if he imparted it to an unbeliever. There are several other mantrams which are called gayatri, but the one mentioned above is that which is most generally used.

After the gayatri, the most powerful mantram is the mysterious monosyllable om or aum. Though it is to the interest of the Brahmins to keep the real meaning of this sacred word a profound secret, and though the greater number of them do not understand it themselves, there does not appear to be much doubt that it is the symbolic name of the Supreme Being, one and indivisible, like the word aum3. This mystic word, which is always pronounced with extreme reverence, suggests an obvious analogy to that ineffable and mysterious Hebrew word Jehovah.

Though the Brahmins are supposed to be the sole guardians of the mantrams, many others venture to recite them. In some professions they are absolutely indispensable. Doctors, for instance, even when not Brahmins, would be considered very ignorant, and, no matter how clever they might be in their profession, would inspire no confidence, if they were unable to recite the special mantram that suited each complaint; for a cure is attributed quite as much to mantrams as to medical treatment. One of the principal reasons why so little confidence is placed in European doctors by the Hindus is that, when administering their remedies, they recite neither mantrams nor prayers4.

Midwives must also be acquainted with a good many; and they are sometimes called mantradaris, or women who repeat mantrams; for there is no moment, according to Hindu superstitions, when mantrams are more needed than at the birth of a child. Both the new-born infant and its mother are peculiarly susceptible to the influence of the evil eye, the inauspicious combination of unlucky planets or unlucky days, and a thousand other unpropitious elements. A good midwife, well primed with efficacious mantrams, foresees all these dangers and averts them by reciting the proper words at the proper moment.

But the cleverest mantram reciters, and at the same time the most feared, are the charlatans who profess to be thoroughly initiated in the occult sciences, such as sorcerers, necromancers, soothsayers, &c. They have in their possession, if they are to be believed, mantrams which are capable of working all the wonders which I enumerated at the beginning of this chapter. They recite them for the purpose of discovering stolen property, thieves, hidden treasure, foretelling future events, &c. In a country where superstition, ignorance, and the most extravagant credulity reign supreme, it is no wonder that imposters abound and are able to make a large number of dupes.

The hatred which is felt for these mischievous sorcerers is only equaled by the fear that they inspire; and that is saying a great deal. Woe to any one who is accused of having injured another by his spells! The punishment that is usually inflicted consists in pulling out two front teeth from the upper jaw. When bereft of these two teeth, it is thought the sorcerer will no longer be able to pronounce his diabolical mantrams distinctly. If he mispronounces the words his familiar spirit will be angry, and the misfortune that he is trying to bring down upon some one else will, it is thought, fall on his own head.

One day a poor man who lived near me, and who had just undergone this painful punishment, came and threw himself at my feet, protesting his innocence and begging for protection and for advice as to how he could obtain justice. The unfortunate fellow certainly did not look like a sorcerer, but as I had neither the power nor the means of interfering in the affair, I could only offer him my sympathy and assure him how indignant I felt at the iniquitous treatment to which he had been subjected.

There are certain mantrams which have a very special signification. They are called bija-aksharas, or radical letters; such, for instance, as hram, hrim, hrom, hroum, hraha, &c. To those who have the key to the true pronunciation of them and know how to use and apply them, nothing is impossible; there is no limit to the miracles they can perform. The following is an example:—

Siva had initiated a little bastard boy into all the mysteries of these radical letters. The boy was the son of a Brahmin widow, and on account of the stain on his birth had experienced the mortification of being excluded from a wedding feast, to which many persons of his caste had been invited. He revenged himself by simply pronouncing two or three of these radical letters through a crack in the door of the room where the guests were assembled. Immediately, by virtue of these marvelous words, all the dishes that had been prepared for the feast were turned into frogs. This wonderful occurrence naturally caused great consternation amongst the guests. Every one was convinced it was due to the little bastard, and fearing worse might happen they all rushed with one accord to invite him to come in. After they had apologized humbly for what had happened he entered the room and merely pronounced the same words backwards, when the frogs suddenly disappeared, and they saw with great pleasure the cakes and other refreshments which had been on the table before.

I will leave it to some one else to find, if he can, anything amongst the numberless obscurations of the human mind that can equal the extravagance of this story, which a Hindu would nevertheless believe implicitly.

© `Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies’ by Abbe JA Dubois, published (1999) by Book Faith India, 414-416, Express Tower, Azadpur Commercial Complex, New Delhi.

1.This means, `All hail to Siva!’ and is the mantram of the five letters - Dubois.

2..Long after I had finished my first work, I found in No. 27 of the Asiatic Journal of 1818 two different     English translations of the gayatri, the exactitude of which I in no way vouch for, nor can I give any preference to either translation. This, at any rate, is the sense of them:-

i) `Let us worship the light of God, greater than you, O Sun, who can so well guide our understanding. The wise man always considers this (the Sun) the supreme manifestation of the divinity.’

ii) `Let us worship the supreme light of the Sun, the God of all things, who can so well guide our understanding, like an eye suspended in the vault of heaven.’ - Dubois.

3.The Hindu conception of the word aum is thus explained by one authority:- `As long as there has been a Hindu Faith the power of sound has been recognized in the Sacred Word. In that word lie all potencies, for the sacred word expresses the one and latent Being, every power of generation, of preservation, and of destruction.... Therefore was it never to be sounded save when the mind was pure, when the mind was tranquil, when the life was noble.’- Ed.

4.Failure to feel the pulse is also regarded by the Hindus as a sure proof of medical ignorance. - Ed.

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