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Mantras are also classified as 'Beej-mantra' or 'Näm-mantra'. Beej-mantras are mantras where one recites or chants certain seeds only, whereas Näm-mantras involve the name of the God.
According to an article in 'Shri Pärshvanätha-opasrgahärini Padmävati', Dr Ravindrakumar Jain' has stated that the mantras are also classified in two different ways:
(1) Mantras are masculine feminine or neutral. Masculine mantras are those, which end with the words like vashat or fata. Feminine mantras end with the words like vaushat and swähä and neutral mantras end with the words like namah.
(2) Mantras can also be of these four types: Pinda, Kartari, Beeja and Mälä-mantra. Pinda-mantras have only one letter; Kartari-mantras have two letters, Beeja-mantra has three to nine letters, and lastly Mälä-mantras have many more letters/syllables.
Karma & Mantras: Jain philosophy puts great stress on karma. Man suffers or enjoys as per his past karma. The question then arises how far mantras can help in the annihilation of past karma.
The answer to this lies in the fact that Jains say that some karmas are nikächit karma and some are non-nikächit. Nikächit karma have a strong and sticky' characteristics. They pollute the soul to such a degree that one has to suffer the consequences of such karma, whereas much non- sticky karma can be shed by penance. And as stated above, mantra recitations are also one type of penance and therefore it is useful in annihilating karma. The Mantras also help in the sense that a person who recites the mantras does not accumulate new karma, which is going to help him in the future. As per the Tattvartha Sootra": some sort of repeated thinking or meditation can prevent new karma.
3/1.4 The Qualities of a Practitioner
One must have certain qualities or one must cultivate certain virtues before doing practising mantras. These virtues are: 1. He must be a cool person by nature. 2. He must respect his guru (or scriptures?). 3. He must always be polite and humble. 4. He must be steadfast in his resolve to do his duty and carry on with mantra worship, i.e. he must not give up his mantra practice in case of problems or difficulties. 5. He must have faith in what he is doing. 6. He must be religious.
Those who are quite advanced in mantras and practice with great devotion must also observe the following rules:
Il#põnavzrna Upasragaharini Iladutaati Mata, Page 141, Published by Arihanta Prakashan, Bhavnagar, 1995 2 That Which Is 9/25 Published by Harper Collins Publishers 1994
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