With growing interest of many people in Indian Yoga and Meditation you might have heard them talking about the power of Mantras. In fact there are many people who experience inner peace and calmness by reciting or simply listening to some mantras. What exactly is this effect of Mantras. Is it purely a placebo effect or is there any science behind it ? Let’s dig deeper into this.
What is a Mantra ?
Before discussing the power or the effect of Mantra first we need to know what a Mantra is. A Mantra is a word or a prayer, mostly in Sanskrit, that is chanted or sung. It might be as simple as a single word Om (Aum)( ॐ) or a set of rhythmic words and phrases like the Gayatri Mantra. A mantra is repeated multiple times (mostly 108) by people. Most mantras dates back to the Vedic period (1500-500 BCE) or even older.
How Mantras affect us ?
Well on the surface it appears that reciting mantras is a religious thing only. But if you go deeper, you will realize their power. But before that we have to understand one very basic fact about human bodies. Firstly, that the heartbeat and breathing are interconnected. The oxygen required by our body is directly proportional to the rate at which our heart beats. For example, when a person exercises, muscles need energy for movement. To provide this energy heart have to beat faster to pump more oxygen. In simple terms, as the heart beats faster, it uses more energy and sends more oxygen to the body.
Now, excersice is a very positive example. If we observe statistically heartbeat of individuals mostly increases due to wrong and negative reasons. It might be due to stress, age, bad fitness level, illness etc. Prolonged increased heart rate might result in cardiovascular deseases or a heart attack.
If you notice any mantra, it is rythemic. When we chant the same mantra repeatedly it sets our breathing pattern in a certain manner. When breathing is happening in a set manner it directly affects our heartbeat. A balanced breathing pattern and heartbeat togather give a feeling of relaxasation and calmness.
Effect of Mantras on the Universe?
It is often said that if you are going through tough times chanting certain Mantras will help you. Mantras have effect on our bodies and help keep us calm is understandable but Can recitation of mantra bring about a change in our environment? How is this possible? To understand this we need to understand some basic scientific facts.
The smallest unit of this world is an Atom.Every organic and inorganic matter is made up of atoms. An atom is composed of a nucleus (consisting or nutrons and/or protons) and electron(s) surrounding the nucleus. For a very long time it was beleived that electrons orbit around the nucleus just like planets do around the Sun in a solar system. But the movement of elctrons is not like that. Recently it has been established that electrons actually oscilate or vibrate around the nucleus.
When we recite Mantras vibration is produced. One vibration have the capability to affect another vibration. So when we recite Mantras we affect everthing around us. So with the right Mantras we can very well change the energy field around us to a positive one and make the Universe work in our favour.
And above everything I would like to suggest just one thing. Dont beleive anyone else or this article. Sit alone, close your eyes and chant a Mantra and feel the difference. You can start by a very simple Mantra like “Om Namah Shivay” or even and “Om”.
Gyan granth 