Question: I have a question that is particularly pointed at the chanting or repetition of mantras.
For people who cannot speak in Sanskrit or Bengali or Odisa language, can mantras be translated into languages of their comfort so that they can repeat it with conviction and knowing fully well what it means?
Most of us are ignorant of what a mantra means. After all it is positive reinforcement of the same thought or desire or wish or blessing or prayer. So why should it be complicated and why can’t it be translated into multiple languages?
Will it be diluted or will it be more empowered?
Answer by Romapada Swami: The entire Vedic process is based on sound.
Amongst the 4 Vedas, there are mantras which can achieve anything one can wish for within the material creation. Before even accessing the Vedas and its mantras, however, one must learn many many many details regarding pronunciation, meter, etc.
Thus, the answer to your above-stated question is “Yes, without precise proficiency in sanskrit pronunciation, this category of Vedic mantras will be ineffective.”
However, there is another category of sanskrit mantras, available to those who have not had the above-mentioned training. These are universal mantras which are available to all and can be incredibly effective, provided they are received in disciplic succession.
Commonly, these mantras focus upon the Holy Name of the Supreme Person.
The Holy name of the Lord is not a material name under any condition. The Vaisnava poet Narottama dasa Thakura writes, “golokera prema-dhana, hari-nama-sankirtana”: the transcendental sound of the holy name of the Lord has its origin in the spiritual world. Being the sound incarnation of the Lord, therefore, the holy name is not an ordinary material sound; it is divine, transcendental.
Also one of our twelve principle authorities, or mahajanas, Yamaraja, confirms this understanding directly in SB 6.3.24 “Even if one chants the holy name of the Lord with improper pronunciation, he will achieve relief from material bondage if he chants without offenses.”
Therefore it the recommended process is that the practitioner accepts the authoritative explanations given in the scriptures and simply chant the mantra which focuses upon the Holy Name, attentively hearing the sound vibrations. By this cultivation the true import of the Holy names will automatically be realized in the heart.
