Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v2.c4.s4.208

v2.c4.s4.208

Mantra (from the root man, ‘think’) denotes in the Rigveda¹ and later² the ‘hymn’ as the product of the singer’s creative thought. In the Brāhmaṇas³ the word is regularly used of the poetic and prose utterances of the Ṛṣis, including not merely the verse parts of the Saṃhitās, but also the prose formulæ that betray by their style their special and archaic character.⁴