A bījamantra (Sanskrit: बीजमन्त्र, romanized: bījamantra, lit. 'seed-mantra'),[1] also rendered beej mantra, is a monosyllabic mantra believed to contain the essence of a given deity in Tantra and Tantric Hinduism.[2][3] It is ritually uttered for the invocation of a deity, of whom it is regarded to be the true name as well as a manifestation.[4] It is regarded to be a mystic sound made of the first few characters of a given deity's name, the chanting of which is regarded to allow an adherent to achieve a state of spiritual sanctity.[5] These mantras are also associated with the chakras of the body.[6]
The Romanian scholar Mircea Eliade stated that an adherent who chants the semantically meaningless bījamantra "appropriates its ontological essence, concretely and directly assimilates with the god".[7]
ExamplesEdit
A few of the major bījamantras include:
| Devanagari | Transliteration | Deity |
|---|---|---|
| औं | auṃ | Parabrahma |
| श्रीं | śrīṃ | Lakshmi |
| ल्क्ष्मीः | lakṣmīḥ | Mahalakshmi |
| त्व्म्श्रीः | Mahasaraswati[spelling?] | Mahasaraswati |
| क्म्लीः | kāmalīḥ | Mahakali |
| ल्क्ष्मीं | lakṣmī | Lakshmi |
| ऐं | aiṃ | Saraswati |
| क्लीं | klīm | Kali |
| क्रीं | krīṃ | Kali |
| ह्रौं | hrauṃ | Shiva |
| श्वीं | śvi | Shiva |
| गं | gaṃ | Ganesha |
| हूँ | hūṃ | Shiva |
| फट् | phaṭ | Destruction |
| ह्रीं | hrīṃ | Bhuvaneshvari |
| क्लीं | klīṃ | Shakti |
| दुं | duṃ | Durga |
| फ्रौं | phrauṃ | Hanuman |
| दं | daṃ | Vishnu |
Other notable bījamantras include:
| Devanagari | Transliteration | Deity |
|---|---|---|
| भ्रं | bhraṃ | Bhairava |
| धूं | dhūṃ | Dhumavati |
| ह्लीं | hlīṃ | Bagalamukhi |
| त्रीं | trīṃ | Tara |
| क्ष्रौं | kṣrauṃ | Narasimha |
| हं | haṃ | Akasha |
| यं | yaṃ | Vayu |
| रां | rāṃ | Agni |
| क्षं | kṣaṃ | Prithvi |
ReferencesEdit
- ^ Jacobsen, Knut A.; Aktor, Mikael; Myrvold, Kristina (2014-08-27). Objects of Worship in South Asian Religions: Forms, Practices and Meanings. Routledge. p. 74. ISBN 978-1-317-67595-2.
- ^ Long, Jeffery D. (2011-09-09). Historical Dictionary of Hinduism. Scarecrow Press. p. 64. ISBN 978-0-8108-7960-7.
- ^ Klostermaier, Klaus K. (2014-10-01). A Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism. Simon and Schuster. p. 43. ISBN 978-1-78074-672-2.
- ^ Stutley, Margaret (2019-04-09). The Illustrated Dictionary of Hindu Iconography. Routledge. p. 92. ISBN 978-0-429-62425-4.
- ^ Goa, Harold G. Coward And David J. (2008). Mantra: 'Hearing the Divine In India and America. Motilal Banarsidass Publishe. p. 47. ISBN 978-81-208-3261-9.
- ^ Feuerstein, Georg (2022-08-16). The Encyclopedia of Yoga and Tantra. Shambhala Publications. p. 154. ISBN 978-0-8348-4440-7.
- ^ Farias, Miguel; Brazier, David; Lalljee, Mansur (2021). The Oxford Handbook of Meditation. Oxford University Press. p. 795. ISBN 978-0-19-880864-0.