A bījamantra is ritually uttered for the invocation of a deity. It is considered the true name of the deity as well as a manifestation of the deity in sonic form.[4] It is also found in religious art, often standing for a specific deity. A bījamantra can be regarded to be a mystic sound made of the first few characters of a given deity's name, the chanting of which is regarded to allow an adherent to achieve a state of spiritual sanctity.[5] These mantras are also associated with the chakras of the body.[6]
The Romanian scholar Mircea Eliade stated that an adherent who chants the semantically meaningless bījamantra "appropriates its ontological essence, concretely and directly assimilates with the god".[7]
Hindu bījamantras
A few of the major bījamantras in Hinduism include:
Esoteric Buddhism contains numerous seed syllables with varying meanings. Depending on the tantra or on the tradition, they may represent different concepts, deities or forces.
The following are some common Buddhist bījākṣaras:[8][9][10][11]
Usually found at the beginning of Buddhist mantras, may signify the body, speech and mind of the Buddha in Tibetan Buddhism (when interpreted as A-u-m)
