Bījamantra

A bījamantra (Sanskrit: बीजमन्त्र, romanized: bījamantra, lit. 'seed-mantra'),[1] also rendered beej mantra, is a monosyllabic mantra believed to contain the essence of a given deity in Tantra and Tantric Hinduism.[2][3] It is ritually uttered for the invocation of a deity, of whom it is regarded to be the true name as well as a manifestation.[4] It is 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]

Examples

A few of the major bījamantras include:

Devanagari	Transliteration	Deity
औं	auṃ	Parabrahma
श्रीं	śrīṃ	Lakshmi
ल्क्ष्मीः	lakṣmīḥ	Mahalakshmi
त्व्म्श्रीः	Mahasaraswati	Mahasaraswati
क्म्लीः	kāmalīḥ	Mahakali
ल्क्ष्मीं	lakṣmī	Lakshmi
ऐं	aiṃ	Saraswati
क्लीं	klīm	Kali
क्रीं	krīṃ	Kali
ह्रौं	hrauṃ	Shiva
श्वीं	śvi	Shiva
गं	gaṃ	Ganesha
हूँ	hūṃ	Shiva
फट्	phaṭ	Destruction
ह्रीं	hrīṃ	Bhuvaneshvari
क्लीं	klīṃ	Shakti
दुं	duṃ	Durga
फ्रौं	phrauṃ	Hanuman
दं	daṃ	Vishnu

Other notable bījamantras include:

Devanagari	Transliteration	Deity
भ्रं	bhraṃ	Bhairava
धूं	dhūṃ	Dhumavati
ह्लीं	hlīṃ	Bagalamukhi
त्रीं	trīṃ	Tara
क्ष्रौं	kṣrauṃ	Narasimha
हं	haṃ	Akasha
यं	yaṃ	Vayu
रां	rāṃ	Agni
क्षं	kṣaṃ	Prithvi

References

Jacobsen, Knut A.; Aktor, Mikael; Myrvold, Kristina (2014-08-27). Objects of Worship in South Asian Religions: Forms, Practices and Meanings. Routledge. p. 74. ISBN 978-1-317-67595-2.
Long, Jeffery D. (2011-09-09). Historical Dictionary of Hinduism. Scarecrow Press. p. 64. ISBN 978-0-8108-7960-7.
Klostermaier, Klaus K. (2014-10-01). A Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism. Simon and Schuster. p. 43. ISBN 978-1-78074-672-2.
Stutley, Margaret (2019-04-09). The Illustrated Dictionary of Hindu Iconography. Routledge. p. 92. ISBN 978-0-429-62425-4.
Goa, Harold G. Coward And David J. (2008). Mantra: 'Hearing the Divine In India and America. Motilal Banarsidass Publishe. p. 47. ISBN 978-81-208-3261-9.
Feuerstein, Georg (2022-08-16). The Encyclopedia of Yoga and Tantra. Shambhala Publications. p. 154. ISBN 978-0-8348-4440-7.
Farias, Miguel; Brazier, David; Lalljee, Mansur (2021). The Oxford Handbook of Meditation. Oxford University Press. p. 795. ISBN 978-0-19-880864-0.

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[1] Jacobsen, Knut A.; Aktor, Mikael; Myrvold, Kristina (2014-08-27). Objects of Worship in South Asian Religions: Forms, Practices and Meanings. Routledge. p. 74. ISBN 978-1-317-67595-2.

[2] Long, Jeffery D. (2011-09-09). Historical Dictionary of Hinduism. Scarecrow Press. p. 64. ISBN 978-0-8108-7960-7.

[3] Klostermaier, Klaus K. (2014-10-01). A Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism. Simon and Schuster. p. 43. ISBN 978-1-78074-672-2.

[4] Stutley, Margaret (2019-04-09). The Illustrated Dictionary of Hindu Iconography. Routledge. p. 92. ISBN 978-0-429-62425-4.

[5] Goa, Harold G. Coward And David J. (2008). Mantra: 'Hearing the Divine In India and America. Motilal Banarsidass Publishe. p. 47. ISBN 978-81-208-3261-9.

[6] Feuerstein, Georg (2022-08-16). The Encyclopedia of Yoga and Tantra. Shambhala Publications. p. 154. ISBN 978-0-8348-4440-7.

[7] Farias, Miguel; Brazier, David; Lalljee, Mansur (2021). The Oxford Handbook of Meditation. Oxford University Press. p. 795. ISBN 978-0-19-880864-0.