Mantra is the original language from which all others are derived. Mantric language, by definition, is language in which sound and meaning correspond. It is, for example, like poetry, where the sound of words reflects their meaning. Moreover, mantra is a science of sound in which the meaning and force of all sounds is known and developed toward a merging in the Isvara. The sound projects the meaning, partakes of it and is not separate from the object it names. Such names are the essential sound idea behind the object that evokes its meaning, which becomes the tool whereby its essence comes forth and is grasped. The mantric names of objects arise within the mind in meditative perception.
The mantric language of the Rig Veda Samhita is the word of the supreme being made manifest—not a set of moralistic commandments but the cosmic principles in all things, whereby their unique nature is comprehended. Such a language is a cosmic language that attunes us to the cosmic vibration from which we are isolated by the inertia of our animal and social conditioning. It is a multi-dimensional, intuitive language that combines symbol, myth, legend, ritual, alchemy, Yoga, philosophy and theology – all inner and outer way of knowing. Mantric language is developed organically from various roots that are its prime mantras, which are called bija mantras (seed-syllables). They are currents of meaning that unify, not roots that possess rigid meanings.
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