The Essence of Mantras

Much of today's uncertainty over mantras stems from the debate about their intrinsic meaningfulness or meaninglessness. The source of the issue is our prevalent modern conception of language. Language is regarded to be really and most completely experienced in its oral form in Indian tradition, but the modern approach tends to limit language to the recorded word and then examine it for a one-to-one connection with objective reality. In this book, we review instances of ancient Hindu philosophy of language that was used to investigate the nature of ceremonial utterances against the backdrop of the lengthy dispute over the meaningfulness or meaninglessness of mantras, and a language theory that helps modern minds grasp how mantras in Vedic and Tantric ritual may be regarded as meaningful, powerful, and teleological.