The words that a saint or a sage utters are not empty sounds that he makes. They are forces that are released like atom bombs; they can manifest themselves in the physical world and events can take place

Nama Article 7th June 2013

Excerpts from Japa Sadhana – by Swami Krishnananda direct disciple of His Holiness Swami Sivananda

 The Name of God, especially when it is given to us in the form of what is known as a mantra, is a power by itself. It has a shakti of its own, and this is the reason why bhaktas, sages and saints have told us that even a mere repetition of the Name of God has the capacity to produce an effect of its own, though we may not be really meditating, though we may not be in a position to contemplate the actual meaning hidden behind it. The mantra-shakti, or the power of the mantra, arises on account of the fact that is beautifully and scientifically described in a science known as mantra-shastra, which is akin to the science of chemistry in our own ordinary life. Chemical elements act and react upon each other. We know the action between acid and alkali, for instance. Different chemical combinations are supposed to produce different effects. Sometimes the chemical reaction is such that it can produce a tremendous effect. Mantras produce such effect, similar to the reaction of chemical elements, because of the peculiar combination of letters. The mantra-shastra is a secret which tells us that every letter of the alphabet is a condensed form of energy. Sounds are really energy manifest. The sound is not merely an empty form of verbal manifestation, but energy that is made to express itself in a particular shape. And this packet of energy, this tied up form of force, which is a particular letter of the alphabet, is made to come in contact with another packet of energy called another letter. They collide with each other, or, we may say, they act upon each other or fuse into each other - whatever be the process that takes place there - so that the utterance of a group of letters, which is the mantra, produces, by the process of permutation and combination of these letters, a new form of energy which gets infused into our system because it has arisen from our own mind, thought and the recesses of our being. We get charged with that force, as if we have touched a live electric wire. There is special name given to this science; it is gana-shastra, in tantrik parlance. Words are forces, thoughts are things, so they tell us. Words are not empty sounds that we make when we speak or utter a name or give expression to an idea. It is because of the fact that thoughts and expressions are powers by themselves that the words of saints take immediate effect. The words that a saint or a sage utters are not empty sounds that he makes. They are forces that are released like atom bombs; they can manifest themselves in the physical world and events can take place. That is why people go to a Mahatma for ashirvada, or blessings. His words are forces, power that he releases to take immediate effect, or even a remote effect, as the case may be.

 Chant the Mahamantra Nama kirtan :

Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare 

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare