Some thoughts on mantra from the Kulārṇavatantra:
"2. Listen, O Goddess, I shall tell you what you ask me. By merely hearing this [speech] the real nature of a mantra becomes manifest." (this and all following translations by Gudrun Bühnemann). 1.
"2. Listen, O Goddess, I shall tell you what you ask me. By merely hearing this [speech] the real nature of a mantra becomes manifest." (this and all following translations by Gudrun Bühnemann). 1.
"4. Leaving all [other] recitations aside, one should practice the recitation of a mantra. From care[ful practice] comes success, from carelessness an unfavourable result."
"5. Japa is good for a [religious] observance having the objective of worldly enjoyment and liberation. Therefore, O Goddess, one should practice [this] yoga that consists of japa and meditation (dhyāna)."
"6. O beloved one, by japa all [mistakes] are destroyed; those caused by transgression of rules, done knowingly or unknowingly, including mistakes [committed] with respect to the syllable Oṃ."
"7. If one desires success for oneself in this worldly existence, which is full of suffering, one should recite a mantra [and] attain happiness by the worship with five limbs (pañcāṅga-upāsanā) alone."
"12. And for one who has perfected one single mantra in the proper way by means of worship with the five limbs, all mantras become perfected by your grace, O mistress of the kula."
The five limbs - or the preliminary rites - being:
Daily Pūjā at the three times, Japa, water libations, homa, and feeding of Brahmins.
Daily Pūjā at the three times, Japa, water libations, homa, and feeding of Brahmins.
"13. The perfection of a mantra is caused by the power of transmission (upadeśa) [of the mantra], the venerable preceptor's grace, the effect of the mantra, and the [reciter's] devotion."
"14. [Only] a mantra that has been received from a preceptor who [himself] has perfected the mantra can be perfected. Or else, a mantra will quickly grant success due to practice [of japa] performed in previous lives."
"15. O mistress of the kula, also that mantra doubtlessly will be perfected which has been received in the proper way through initiation (dīkṣā) performed in a traditional manner."
Shall I carry on?
"16. One should repeat the mantra enclosed at the beginning and end by the syllables of the bhūtalipi 1,000 times in regular and reversed order for one month; [thereby] one perfects the mantra."
"17. The reciter of the mantra should worship the maṇḍala enclosed at the beginning and end by the syllables of the alphabet connected with the sixty-three syllables by uttering the [respective] syllable of the alphabet."
"18. By the mere repetition of syllables [of the alphabet] doubtlessly crores of crores of mantras are repeated [automatically] because every [mantra] has originated from these [syllables].
"19. The many crores of mantras confuse the mind. Only that mantra which has been received through the preceptor's grace grants all success."
"20. The japa of a mantra causes harm if the [mantra] has been heard accidentally, or transmitted through a glance or deceit, or written on a leaf [of paper, etc.]"
"21. Those who look up mantras written in a book [and] repeat [them] commit an offence equal to the murder of a Brahmin, which causes disease and sorrow."
From this short selection, there are a few nuances that sometimes get overlooked - that there are mantras which are perfect - and others which are not, and also that mantras which are improperly transmitted either don't work or may be harmful.
