All World
Gayatri Pariwar

Mantra Vijňāna as developed by the ṛiṣis – the Indian
        sages of yore, is a science based on the realization of the omnipotent power of Śabda – the eternal sound.
    
Mantra Cikitsā (mantra-therapy) has been an important branch of ancient Indian Medicine. This is a sublime sound therapy and science of healing of the body and the mind derived from the principles of Mantra Vijňāna. Even today, the use of this ‘esoteric’ mode of treatment is quite popular – especially in the interior parts of India, for eliminating the poisonous effects of biting by the snakes, scorpions, dogs or lizards etc. Mantra therapy is also applied here for curing a variety of diseases including jaundice, typhoid, epilepsy, hysteria ... etc.An article entitled ‘Śabda Brahṁ Kā Pratīka Mantra’ is worth mentioning in this context. In this article (c.f. The Hindi digest ‘Kādambinī’; December ‘67; pp. 18-), the author, Shri Govinda Shastri has also described one such incident in detail where he had witnessed a complete and quick (just in two days!) cure of severe jaundiceby themantra cikitsā.
The following quote of Yoga Vaśiṣṭha(Śloka no. 6|1|8|1|39) throws light on the power of Mantra Cikitsā:

Yathā Vireka Kurvanti Harītakya Swabhāvataḥ |
Bhāvanāvaśataḥ Kārya Thatā Paralavādayaḥ ||

Meaning: As Harra (a medicinal herb) activates the digestive system by almost instantaneous cleaning of the stomach, the enunciation – accompanied by thorough mental concentration and faith, of the special syllables like “Ya”,“Ra”,“La”,“Va”...,of the mantras also create definite effects on the body.

The limitless power of Śabda enfolded in the specific compilation of the Vaidika Mantras was deeply realized by the rishis. They were therefore known as mantra dṛaṣṭās – the visionaries of mantras. They had experienced, experimented and expanded enormous applications of the science of mantras. While teaching different modes of tions necessary to avoid any improper use of such mantras.Prof. Bever, a noted scholar from Germany, has also expressed similar opinion about the immense subliminal power indwelling in the mantras.

The quality of sound we hear in different ways does have a direct bearing upon our mental and emotional reactions. This could be seen in our day-to-day encounters too. For example, the roaring sound of a lion or the trumpeting of an elephant does create a feeling of fear even if it is heard for the first time or even if the listener does not recognize‘what sound is that?’ Similar is true of the ‘irritating’ voice of a crow. On the contrary, whenever heard, the sweet warbling sound of a nightingale is going to generate soothing effects only.... The latent vibrations of Śabda immanent in every kind of sound, can stir the ocean of surrounding energy waves to separate out and expunge the forces of opposite (insidious) quality....

Mantra Cikitsā is indeed a science based on the deep understanding of the latent power of Śabda and its intimate relationship with the consciousness and the vital energy centers in the body.Before going into the details of the structure and functional mechanisms of mantras, let us consider the evidential examples of the power of sound in terms of the wide range of its applications in modern medical technology.

Whenever a bell is struck, its chiming continues for some time because of the vibrations in the atoms of the material of which the bell is made.... Almost infinitely many types (i.e. different frequencies) of vibrations exist around us but our ears can ‘hear’ only those as ‘sound’ which reach them at audible frequencies.As mentioned earlier, every kind of vibration produces sound (sonic wave) and there are infinite types of sounds that we cannot perceive.... The ultra-and infra-sounds fall under this category of ‘subtle’ or ‘latent’ sound.The sound produced by vibrations in the frequency range of about 8 X 105 to 106 cps is identified as ultrasound. The ultrasound waves are so powerful and fast that they could penetrate and cut the hard materials like diamonds and bones in negligible fraction of a second. With the development of advanced technology for the controlled generation and perception of such waves, ultrasound has offered significant applications right from heavy industries to delicate surgical operations of the internal organs and tissues since the past few decades.
The early applications of ultrasound in medicine and surgery had received worldwide publicity. Some reported incidents in this regard include the following: A severe backache of a lawyer in Paris was cured in just five minutes. The late American president Mr. Kennedy had once suffered from backache and muscular stiffness while he was participating in a tree-plantation programme somewhere in Canada. He was instantly treated by ultrasound therapy used by his personal doctor, Dr. Trawell. The physical disabilities of over ninety children, who were suffering from Polio or Arthritis, were cured in Paris by the same therapy. The otherwise ‘permanent’ mole of a patient in Germany was completely removed in a fortnight by a regular treatment by ultrasound for few seconds every day.

The first experiment on ultrasound treatment of wounds was conducted on twenty-seven patients, whose body parts were cut during accidents....,in the Sallpetrie hospital in Paris. The wounds of about eighteen of these patients were cured completely while about eight had recovered partially. Some German doctors also succeed in applying ultrasound therapy to cure some diseases of ears that were incurable by medicines or surgery. In their initial attempts on a sample of sixteen patients, the doctors had achieved almost instantaneous success in the case of six patients and an equal number of patients showed partial but positive response.

Ultrasonics has found significant place in advanced medical technology today.Although the existence of these waves was discovered within two year since that of the X- rays (in 1895), their first successful application was registered by Dr. Karl T. Datzic’s work in 1942. Soon after this, Dr. H. Hubert of the Geology division in a University of California had also demonstrated the use of ultrasonic vibrations in cleaning delicate old bones that were lying (stored) in brittle state. Similar contemporary works had triggered multifaceted research and technological developments and the domain of ultrasonic applications had soon expanded to the areas ranging – from cleaning and washing, to the cutting of heavy metal sheets...; from engineering tools to delicate surgery ..., etc.

When the subtle and high-speed vibrations of ultrasound are electrified, their penetrating power is intensified tremendously so that they could pass through the atoms of any kind of ultra-dense material.This rare property has given rise to a unique application of ultrasound, viz. –sonography. It has been found to be more useful than the X-ray radiation both in terms of thenoninvasiveness and the accuracy and fineness of scanning. Even in the earlier days of its development in the high-tech countries, the medical applications of sonography had helped successful diagnosis of several intra-body ailments/ abnormalities where X- rays had failed.

Apart from the applications in surgery and sonographic recordings, the sophisticated use of these super fast ultrasonic waves in medical biotechnology include cell-membrane treatments and RBC upgradation. Some researchers at Los Angeles (USA) and in Germany have also successfully experimented for using these waves along with intravenous drug injecting and infrared radiation therapies.

Development of ultrasound transducershas further advanced the ultrasonic applications at the cellular and molecular levels. The ultrasound transducers convert electrical energy into sonic energy and generate sound waves at a speed higher than 20,000 per sec. These waves, when collide with an object, produce a ‘reflected’ image of the same. This image can then be recorded and processed by other energy medium(s) as well. Techniques based on ultrasound transducers have been very useful in tissue culture processing and analysis.

Dr. Joseph Holmes’ research at the Colorado University, USA, was among the first few successful experiments on such noninvasive techniques. Ultrasonic transducers are now a common tool in advanced research on deciphering the cellular and molecular mechanisms of various diseases ranging from tuberculosis to several types of cancers.

The above examples of modern scientific utilization of the power of sound give us sufficient reason to find substance in the power of mantras especially in the context of – mantra therapy for the elimination of a number of disorders, ailments and toxic effects... etc. These also evince the possibilities of hypnotic control of other person’s mind by the mantra-based tāntrikatechniques like māraṇa, mohan, uccātana... etc. The historical scriptures like Mahabharata describe the use of mantras-based weaponry that used to be more powerful in effect than the atomic bombs...This too appears feasible vis-à-vis the modern concept of sound-bomb.

In the present times of technological developments, the physical powers and electronic devices are used to produce ultrasonic vibrations... During the ancient era of research on mantras, the ṛiṣis used to generate, perceive and extract the power of eternal sound in the mantras with the help of their own body and mind. The vital energy that enables functioning of the body-system and the spiritual power of the inner sentiments and the unconscious mind were the principal source of their experiments on mantra-sādhanās.Among the spiritual saints of the modern India, the revered names of Maharṣi Raman and Maharṣi Aurbindoare often cited in the context of creative use of the boundless power of Śabda hidden in one’s thoughts and sentiments.

Sri Aurobindo’s mental waves are said to have invited, inspired and controlled a large number of great souls who had descended in India to initiate and successfully excel India’s non-violent struggle for freedom.... MaharṣiRamansimilarly is described to have had the supernatural power to influence the thoughts and sentiments of others by his mental and latent spiritual ‘messages’. Many people have‘witnessed’ the demonstrations of his power – he was even able to communicate, guide and share the sentiments with the animals around him and his Ashram.

The force of Śabda rooted in the thought waves and emotional currents is evolved and works in the subliminal domain of the Manomaya Kośa – the Mind Cell (the mental sheath of the soul). Its power that gives rise to sonic vibrations has tremendous potential to affect every thing, including, the energy spheres on the farthermost planets in the cosmos.... Focused generation and adept control15  of this power is essential for creating specific effects that could be manifested and perceived in the sentient world. Our ṛiṣis had detailed knowledge of the complex structure and the immense powers of the human body and mind. Their spiritually beatified intellect had a reach in the gigantic expansion of the cosmos too. Their intrinsic knowledge and realization of the subliminal impulse of Śabda and its manifestation in Nature had enabled them quote the Vaidika Mantras in specific phonetic patterns and also devise specific scripts to represent the latter. They also invented the modes of rhythmic enunciation and chanting of these mantras for generating and regulating specific streams of the eternal power of Śabda.The vaidika hymns (ṛacās), though appearing like simple prayers with different combinations of syllables, are, in fact, like subtle devices that are scientifically designed to extract and use the power ofŚabda immanent in sound.

The universe is described as an unlimited ocean of sonic vibrations of infinitely many types of subtle and physical sounds. The latter include – the solar noise, the sounds produced by the gigantic motion of planets and by meteoritic explosions, ‘cosmic noise’ produced by the gigantic flow (motion) of the galaxies and the uncountable varieties of other sounds of smaller intensities. The superb super-impositions of these infinite sonic vibrations continuously give rise, and also get ‘absorbed’ into the self-existent eternal sound of Oaṁ. The spiritual sādhanā of Śabda helps realization and intrinsic perception of this omnipresent sound.

When the (ultra) sound, externally produced by the electrically induced vibrations in a tiny Brazilian Quartz itself could offer so many applications of immense importance in medicine and technology then what would be the potential of the eternal supernatural sound of the evolutionary impulse of the universe?The advanced scientific research into higher dimensions of sound should leave no room for doubting the supernormal experiences of theṛiṣis who had attained(by Śabda Yoga) the ability to reach the cosmic dimension of omnipresent sound.

Some scientific experiments on investigating the latent power of sound throw light upon its linkage with the willpower. Authentic reports on interesting examples in this regard include the following demonstration which took place in Australia only a few years ago. Two researchers named Graham and Nile had conducted this demonstrative experiment. Thousands of people witnessed that – a loud and consistent (i.e. at a constant amplitude) utterance of the word START indeed resulted in the starting of a 5 -7 tons heavy car; shouting of the word GO triggered this car to move along the road at full speed without a driver.... Equally surprising was the observation by the spectators that the car also instantaneously obeyed the oral order of “HALT”!The scientific principle in the above experiment was – the conversion of sound into electrical energy.The demonstrator was holding a tiny (of the size of a matchbox) transistor that was transmitting his voice (i.e., the ‘sound’ of the ordered words) at appropriate frequencies, via electrical power to the control unit connected beneath the dash-board of the car. The electromagnetic effect of the same was utilized by the ‘car- radio’ connected to this unit on the one side and the controller unit (the engine, brakes etc.) of the car on the other.

Rigorous scientific analysis of the power and properties of sound has become feasible with the advent of the technology for Spectrography16  of the recorded (perceived) sound.In a series of experiments, Dr. Lawrence Castro of the AT & T Bell Labs (USA) had found that – the spectrograph of an individual is specific to himself and will not be identical to that of any one else.If the same sentence was spoken by different persons, the respective spectrographs were also found to be different. Even if the frequencies and amplitude of the spoken sound was the same, the types of line segments in the graphs corresponding to different persons’ voices were different.If a sentence was spoken by a single person under different states of the body (e.g. normal, having high fever, under common cold etc.), the spectrograph remained the same. Further experiments on spectrographs showed that the sound waves are independent of the effects of rainfall, storm, temperature, pressure etc.

The sound waves generated by even the subtlest sound are spread instantaneously and can traverse thousands of miles along with other vibrations of similar frequency in a matter of a few seconds.... In this process some waves could also be reflected back with the vibrations of matching frequency moving in other directions.... Thus, each good or bad word spoken by us carries it influence everywhere around and it would eventually reach back to us with the corresponding magnified effects.

The science of Mantra is based on the realization of the ‘original energy currents’ subliminally indwelling in Śabda without any amplification or control by external (e.g. by electrical impulses) energies.The recent invention of retrometer by Dr. Neuman E. Thomas of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) research center at Langley, USA, has helped scientific investigations on the inherent energy of sound.The photosensitive cells of the retrometer help conversion of light into electricity and the latter is converted into sound energy by appropriate transducers and receptors..... Conversion and transmission of sound into light is carried out in this instrument by a reverse operation analogously.
Experiments conducted with the help of the instruments of the above types have shown that the super-sonic (including ultrasonic and infrasonic) waves are similar in nature to the light waves.This similarity increases with a reduction in their wavelengths. The supersonic waves can be reflected and transmitted in different mediums with greater ease (i.e. with lesser energy).... Moreover, as these waves traverse a dense medium at a faster pace than a rare medium, they could attract the power of different kinds of sources of light by a complementary process.

Every mantra in the Vedas has been linked with a devatā that symbolizes an eternal energy field of specific flow of cosmic consciousness. Whenever a mantra is enunciated or chanted in a specific rhythmic manner, its associated sonic waves expand in a specific pattern and after traversing across the layers of energy-particles in the surrounding space reach and penetrate the corresponding cosmic nuclei of divine powers.

The subtle energy of mind generated through meditation while performing a japa of the mantras helps transformation of the sound waves into electromagnetic waves for necessary cosmic transmission.The collision of the mantra-waves with the corresponding divine power center results in the reflection of the desired (as per the aim of the associated mantra) cosmic radiation. The latter return back to the physical and subtle energy cores in and around the sādhaka17 , or, reach at some other ‘point’ in the universe as directed by the specific chanting pattern of the corresponding mantra.
The above process of transmission and reception or ‘communication’ between the sādhaka and the divine center(s) is slow and shows negligible effects in the beginning. Its impact gradually increases in a compounded manner with the dedicated practice and perfection in the upāsanā and japa of the mantra along with a rise in the intrinsic faith, mental piety and concentration and continence of the sādhaka.

Savitā – the subtle body, the eternal source of energy for the Sun – is supposed to be the devatā of the great Gāyatri Mantra.A truly devoted, spiritual sādhaka of this mantra receives the vital energy, inspiration and divine illumination from Saviā. Apart from the natural gains of the physical and mental vigor and discerning intellect, his attitude gets enlightened and likewise the solar rays, his inner mind can envision and reach (realize) everything existing in the universe.The internal piety and moral strength of sentiments and the divine faith of the sādhaka help faster attainment of these miraculous powers through the japa- sādhanā of the Gāyatri Mantra.