“Mananāt trāyate iti mantra”

That which protects us when contemplated upon is called a mantra.

Mantra worship (mantra upāsanā) is practiced in several ways.

Reciting a mantra aloud is called Vaikhari japa.

Reciting it softly, in a very low tone, is called Upāṁśu japa. This requires good concentration. It is said that this method is 1,000 times superior to Vaikhari japa.

Reciting the mantra silently within the mind is called Mānasa japa. This method is said to be 100,000 times superior to Vaikhari japa. In this state, the seeker goes beyond ordinary concentration and practices with unwavering faith. These three forms of japa are explained in the Śāṇḍilya Upaniṣad.

What is Ajapa japa? 

Among Mānasa japa, the highest stage is Ajapā japa. A healthy person takes about 21,600 inhalations and exhalations in a day—about 15 breaths per minute. Human life itself is determined by this breath. It is said that when japa is synchronized with the breath, mantra siddhi (attainment of the mantra’s power) is achieved very quickly. This is called Ajapā japa. It requires great practice. With sustained practice, the mantra continues automatically even during sleep. For advanced practitioners, this process flows effortlessly along with the breath and leads them to the state of the Self. In this practice, there is actually no deliberate mantra recitation; hence it is called ajapa. It is simply observing the movement of the breath. Through this form of japa, one quickly attains mantra siddhi, dispassion toward sense objects, control of the senses, concentration, and the power of retention.

In the breath, the sound “So” is present during inhalation, and “Ham” during exhalation. If the letters sa and ha are removed from Soham, the hidden syllable Om becomes evident. Likewise, if Soham is read in reverse, it becomes Hamsa. Therefore, meditation on the breath is called the chanting of the Hamsa mantra.

Without any conscious effort, the natural inhalation and exhalation produce the anāhata nāda (unstruck sound) 21,600 times every day. That itself is Hamsa japa. That is Ajapā japa. For the seeker who reaches this state, all doubts disappear. Through the path of yoga, one gains the possibility of transforming from Hamsa to Paramahamsa. This state leads the practitioner to the Turīya (fourth) state of consciousness.

In the Lalitā Sahasranāmāvali, there are two namas:

• Antarmukha Samarādhyā (Nama 870)
• Bahir-mukha Sudurlabhā (Nama 871)

Antarmukha Samarādhyā

An antarmukha (inward-turned person) is one who realizes the nature of the Self and its source, who has attained Brahma-jñāna—a yogi. Since the Divine Mother is properly worshipped (samyak ārādhana) by such inward-turned seekers, She is called Antarmukha Samarādhyā—the One who is worshipped by the inwardly focused.

Bahir-mukha Sudurlabhā

For those who have conquered the senses and meditate inwardly, the Divine Mother becomes easily pleased. For outward-turned people, She is extremely difficult to attain; She does not reveal Herself easily. This means that for those who are enslaved by the senses and distracted by external worldly pursuits, the Mother’s grace is hard to obtain.

The Jagadambā liberates Her devotees from the cycle of old age and death. She possesses a gentle nature toward Her devotees and bestows Her compassionate glance upon them swiftly. Though Her grace is difficult for sense-driven, outwardly distracted people to attain, She becomes very easily pleased with those who are self-controlled and inwardly meditative.

A devotee who meditates inwardly can easily realize that Supreme Power (Parāśakti). No matter how many external rituals or vows one performs, one cannot behold the Goddess without inwardness. For a person to become inwardly focused, practice of meditation is essential. In the initial stage of meditation, one is advised to sit silently with the eyes closed. When the eyes are closed, attention withdraws from the external world and the mind becomes absorbed in the Self. In that state of surrounding emptiness, thoughts gradually stabilize, and as practice deepens, those thoughts merge into emptiness itself. In silence, only one’s own breath is heard.

Within inhalation and exhalation, the sound Soham is subtly embedded. The word Soham means: “I am not merely a part of creation; I pervade the entire creation.” When a person approaches higher stages of silence in meditation, the hidden Om within Soham—that is, Omkāra (by removing the letters sa and ha)—becomes perceptible. The source of all sound is Omkāra. Within Omkāra reside the sounds akāra, ukāra, and makāra. All words in language are formed from combinations of these sounds.

Through practice of meditation, one realizes that the entire creation is pervaded by Omkāra, and that Omkāra is the source of creation. Among all bīja akṣaras, Omkāra is supreme. When a person becomes inwardly focused, immersed in meditation, and in silence concentrates on the breath and recognizes the Omkāra hidden within it, that person can realize within himself the Supreme Shakti—Parāśakti—who is the very embodiment of Omkāra. Ajapa japa is the path to attain this state of realization.

Every living being possesses three bodies: the gross (sthūla) body, the subtle (sūkṣma) body, and the causal (kāraṇa) body. When these three states are transcended, the states of Turīya and Turīyātīta are attained.

When the individual soul (jīva) resides in the gross body, it is in the waking state (jāgrat); when it resides in the subtle body, it is in the dream state (svapna); and when it resides in the causal body, it is in the deep sleep state (suṣupti). Jagrat, Svapna and susupti are identified with gross body, subtle body and casual body respectively.

At the time of death, when the five gross elements (pañca bhūtas) leave the person, the subtle body remains, endowed with seventeen constituents: the five subtle elements (pañca tanmātras), the five organs of perception (pañca jñānendriyas), the five organs of action (pañca karmendriyas), along with the mind (manas) and intellect (buddhi).

(Even while a person is alive, during the state of sleep, although he is unconscious of the gross body, these seventeen constituents remain present. Therefore, he is considered to be functioning through the subtle body. During sleep, sensory awareness exists, and the mind and intellect also continue to operate.)

When the senses, mind, and intellect are all dissolved, the jīva enters the causal body. In the causal body, only citta (pure consciousness/memory principle) and ahaṅkāra (ego) remain.

When one evolves from the causal body into the Turīya state, the ego is completely destroyed, and only citta remains. As stated earlier, in the Turīya state, the sense of duality disappears and the soul realises that it is part of the Supreme Self. In the practice of Ajapa japa the seeker gains control over the senses, mind, and intellect and he transcends from casual body to Turiya state, i.e., Hamsa to Paramhamsa, though he is still alive.

In the Turīyātīta state, the jīva, having transcended all duality, merges as a part of the Paramātman (Supreme Self). For this, the jīva must undergo intense yogic discipline. As stated in Śiva Sūtra (III.25), “Śiva-tulyo jayate”—the yogi becomes equal to Śiva; that is, he attains unity with Śiva.

At that stage, the yogi is liberated from karma, remains beyond pleasure and pain, and his mind breaks free from all bonds of the senses. Only then can that realized jīva—who has attained perfection through yogic practice—perceive the Viśvarūpa (cosmic form) of the Divine Mother, Jagadambā.