The Indian Buddhist Iconography, Mainly Based on the Sadhanamala and Other Cognate Tantric Texts of Rituals c9.s3.25

c9.s3.25

The Mantras or mystic syllables constitute the backbone of Vajrayāna worship, and are of illimitable varieties. The Mantras are mostly unmeaning words but they sometimes reveal the influence of some unknown language. The Vajrayānists maintain that the Mantras are endowed with great powers. "What is there impossible" they say, "For the Mantras to perform if they are applied according to rules?" It is also said that through repeated mutterings of the Mantras such power is generated that it can astonish the whole world. The Mantra has power even to confer Buddhahood or omniscience. The merits that accrue from the repetitions of the Mantra of Mahākāla are so numerous that all the Buddhas taken together cannot count them even if they were to count without cessation for a number of days and nights. By the Dhāraṇī of Avalokiteśvara even an ass can memorize three hundred verses. The Mantra of Ekajaṭā is said to be so powerful that the moment it is uttered a man becomes free from danger, he is always followed by good fortune and his enemies are all destroyed. The repetition of the mantra is however to be done with the greatest care, for instance, it should not be muttered too quickly nor too slowly. The mind at the time of repetition should be concentrated on the letters of the Mantra and should be free from all evil thoughts, and the mantra should not be repeated when the mind is fatigued or tired.