Scientific Roots of the Divine Impact of Mantra Sādhanā

That sound can be recorded (e.g., by tape-recorders), amplified (e.g., by microphones, loudspeakers), propagated (e.g., by radio-waves and satellite signals), recognized (e.g., by the radar), measured and analysed (e.g., by voice-printers) — in physical terms, proves its existence in matter. Several examples of the destructive and creative effects of sound on the matter can also be found in day-to-day life. But these all pertain only to the physical properties of Śabda¹. The science of mantra is more comprehensive, as it deals with making adept use (by suitable sādhanās) of the physical as well as sublime powers of Śabda.

Impact of the 'physical' sound — i.e., sonic vibrations/waves in the physically perceivable domains of Nature — has been extensively studied in modern laboratories. With advanced scientific research and technological developments, a wider range of vibrations/energy-waves with frequencies beyond infra- and ultrasound are being explored. In view of this, it seems that in the future, it would be possible to study higher-level impact of mantras vis-à-vis that of the yet unperceived frequencies of 'physical' sound.

The Mantra as a Living Radar

The radar-devices send radio waves (electromagnetic waves) far away in the space, and receive the echoed signal back in few microseconds. The radio waves travel in vacuum at a speed of approximately 299,775 km/s. Whenever their collision takes place with any object on their way, these waves are reflected at equally fast speed. The vibrations of these reflected signals contain the 'information' about the position, size and some other properties of the object.

The human body could also be regarded as a 'radar-device' with respect to the 'sonic' effects of the mantras. The extrasensory inner components (like the Ṣaṭa chakras or the granthis, etc., referred to in the science of yoga) of this biological radar send supernormal radio signals in the 'etheric whole' via the vibrations of mantra-japa² in specific rhythms. This wonderful radar receives back the quintessential signals of Śabda as an 'echo' from the cosmic nucleus (devatā³) of the mantra.

The sublime power of Śabda — linked with spiritual enlightenment and hence with the awakened power of the mind, inner-self, and the soul of the sādhaka — enables the impact of mantras on the 'radar' of the sādhaka's physical, subtle and astral bodies. Thus, it empowers the sādhaka with psychic potentials, supramental talents, and divine inspirations upon successful completion of a higher-level mantra-sādhanā.

Scope of Interdisciplinary Research

The realization, to some extent, of the subtle power of sound, has been revived in the modern era by the scientific works on ultrasound and infra-sound. Sound-based imaging got a boost during 1912–14 with underwater acoustics, echo-recording of objects lying in the deep sea. Pioneering work was carried out during this time in France by Paul Langevin, and in Britain by A. B. Wood and associates.⁴ There has been significant progress in the applications of ultrasound in the twentieth century. In 1940, the American acoustical physicist Floyd Firestone devised the first ultrasonic echo imaging device, the Supersonic Reflectoscope, to detect internal flaws in metal castings. Ultrasonic energy was first applied to the human body for medical purposes by Dr. George Ludwig at the Naval Medical Research Institute, Bethesda, Maryland.⁵⁶

The effects of the mantra are based on sublime levels of sound far beyond the ultra- or infra-frequency-ranges of sounds. The body components like the tongue and the palate are supporting tools for augmenting the frequency of sound of the syllables of mantra. The extrasensory energy-centres of the body (the yogic chakras, including those in the brain) are activated by deep meditation during mantra-japa. Their energy, coupled with the bio-electricity and the strength of consciousness (of the sādhaka), amplifies the frequency of the sound waves of the mantra far beyond the limits of ultrasonic and supersonic vibrations.

Scientific investigations on mantra vidyā (mystic knowledge and deep-science of mantras) would be necessary because only a handful of genuine 'experts' of this latent field of knowledge could be available today. Many 'so-called' religious and spiritual 'masters' have been making a mockery of this great science by false propaganda and superstitious proclamations since the medieval era of moral, cultural, and social decline. This has created a negative image of the Vedic sciences among intellectuals in general. Now is the time to rediscover and reinvestigate the ancient knowledge in a scientific light.

Laboratory experiments on ultrasonic effects have shown that the vibrations at a high frequency (of the order of fifty million per second) can produce so much energy that would convert the surrounding material into vapours and ashes almost instantaneously; then what about the power of the vibrations generated at faster frequencies using bio-electricity, vital energy, and sublime force of the otherwise unused (dormant) energy of human-consciousness?

Power of Spiritually Refined Voice

The subtle power of Śabda, induced in the vāka⁷, is referred to in the ancient Indian texts as the supreme creative power of God:

prajāpatirvā idameka āsaṁ tasya vāgeva svamāsīt vāg dvitiyā sa aikṣatemāmeva vāca visr̥jā iyaṁ vā idaṁ sarva vibhavantyeśyatīti tāṣḍya brāhmaṇa (20 |14 | 2)

Meaning: Prajāpati – the Creator of the Universe, was alone; only the eternal force of vāka (evolutionary vibration of the Omnipresent, Eternal Consciousness Force) was pervaded everywhere. He wished to make the manifestation of vāka. Everything was then created by the vāka.

Research on vāka is beyond the reach of material-based modern science. Nevertheless, the extraordinary impact of the words of people of great character, whose physical appearance, voice, vocal and writing skills might be very ordinary, is authentic evidence of the power of refined voice. The immense power of the words of Mahatma Gandhi is a globally renowned exemplar of this fact; it needs no proof in any laboratory.

Acharya Vinoba Bhave, an ardent disciple of Mahatma Gandhi and the founder of the Sarvodaya Mission, used to regard the process of speaking as a mode of worshiping the vāṇī (voice). He had accordingly restrained and refined this faculty so well that every word uttered by him was like a 'japa.' This is why his short but inspiring speech used to have magical effects on the audiences. It was this power of his refined vāṇī (spoken, mental, and inner voice) that had made his bhūdāna (donation of farming land for the poor and needy) project a real success.

A quote in śatapatha brāhmaṇa mentions that the words or speech which can eliminate the evils from the minds of all people and which can inspire the human society towards the righteous path — are true mantras of sarasvatī (the deity of pure knowledge and intelligence). Thus, as far as the psychological impacts are concerned, any kind of speech or conversation, which is originated by altruist sentiments and intrinsic urge towards the real welfare of all, can be effective like a mantra.

Disciplines of Mantra Sādhanā

The "kalpa" methods of Ayurvedic treatments of any disease begin after performing nāḍī śodhana, which consists of five basic steps — vamana, virechana, snehana, swedana, and nasya — pertaining to the complete cleansing and purification of the body system. The Rāja Yoga, Haṭha Yoga and the Tantra Yoga also have five basic disciplines (yamas and niyamas) and training steps each. The practices of learning the associated yoga cannot begin without the completion of these training steps.

Similarly, the experiments on a mantra sādhana demand deeper refinement and understanding, and endeavours for mental and emotional conjunction with the five components — namely, the Rishi, Chhanda, Devatā, Bījā and Tatva — of the mantra as described in its viniyoga (structural classification)⁸.

Ultrasonic devices are often used for identifying electrical leakage or short-circuit in complex networks. The sonic patterns of the mantras, when realized inside the body, can similarly help the sādhaka know his internal defects and infirmities and also invent the incredible web of the extrasensory nuclei of consciousness inside the body. With consistent progress in mantra-sādhanā, divinity indwelling in the individual self can be expressed and experienced by absolute self-realization. This eventually results in divine transmutation of the sādhaka's inner self.

Notes

References

"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched — they must be felt with the heart." — Helen Keller

"Believe you can and you're halfway there." — Theodore Roosevelt

Śabda: Eternal, the cosmic element of sound (generated by the evolutionary impulse of Brahma); absolute self-existent source of all expressed — including audible and inaudible sounds; and the spoken, written or mentally generated words, and unexpressed, sublime sounds/sonic vibrations in the etheric expanse. ↩
Japa (of a Mantra): Silent or mental chanting in a rhythmic (consistent) manner with emotional engrossment. ↩
Devatā of a Mantra: Specific spiritual and sonic energy-field of Śabda (in the cosmic expanse) associated with the vibrations generated by adept japa of the mantra. This is called a devatā in the case of Vedic Mantras. ↩
Wood A.B. Report from the Board of Invention and Research to the Royal Naval Scientific Service. J. Royal Naval Sci. Service Vol. 20 (4), pp. 185–284. (1914) ↩
Ludwig, G.D. and Struthers, F.W. Considerations underlying the use of Ultrasound to detect Gallstones and Foreign Bodies in Tissue. Naval Medical Research Institute Reports, Project #004 001, Report No. 4, June (1949) ↩
Ludwig, G.D. The Velocity of Sound through Tissues and the Acoustic Impedance of Tissues. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. Vol. 22, pp. 862–866. (1950) ↩
Vāka: Pure, truthful and spiritually sublimated voice (speech and mental voice) of an accomplished sādhaka (yogi) of mantra-sādhanā. ↩
Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya: Śabda Brahma–Nāda Brahma. "Pt. Shriram Sharma Acharya Samagra Vangmaya" Vol. 19. Akhand Jyoti Sansthan, Mathura. (1995) ↩