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of the devatä'. It is better if it is done in pleasant natural surroundings. Once the sädhaka is seated, he must keep his vision concentrated on the tip of his nose. (He is seeing everything, but he is not looking anywhere). His eyes are thus fixed and though he is not thinking about anything, he is fully awake. While reciting a particular mantra his mind should 'see' the letters/syllables and beejs. If he cannot concentrate then he must at least temporarily give up and try again later.
A Japa can be done for any length of predetermined time. Ideally, a sädhaka should decide how long before starting a Japa. Two ghadis (forty-eight minutes) is the ideal time.
Methods to be used: (1) A Japa with the aid of a mälä (rosaries) can also be done. Jains normally use a rosary with one hundred and eight beads. However, for doing the japas of the Uvasaggaharam Stotra, a rosary of twenty-seven beads is used. One can recite the whole stotra whilst moving one bead at every single recitation. Here a twenty-seven bead-mälä means a sädhaka would be reciting the stotra twenty seven times.
(2) A Japa by using fingers for counting: We have three divisions on each of our fingers. There are twelve divisions on four fingers. By moving the finger of the other hand on these divisions we can count one to twelve. Thus twelve Japas can be done this way. However by using both hands one can do Japas in multiples of 12. 12 X 1, 12 X 2 and so on. This way one can do twelve times twelve one hundred and fortyfour Japas. However doing twelve times nine, i.e. counting one hundred and eight will serve in the absence of a rosary.
Shashikant Mehtä in his article Japa-sädhanä states that the sound is the real life force and resides in the navel. That manifests itself in a proper sound form when it reaches the heart, and then to the throat, and it is heard when it comes out of the mouth.
3/1.11 The Yantras
There are many definitions of the Yantra. Indians use the word for a machine. Any machine could be called a yantra. However a yantra in the system of mantra worship is usually a table or a diagram. Pandit Dhirajläl Shah says that a diagram having the concentration of the energy of the worshipped deity is called a yantra.
As stated before, the yantra is a pattern or design on which the mantras can be written or ascribed, through which the deity can be invoked or visualised and worshipped. A single yantra can be used for focusing one's mind and also for meditation purposes.
The yantra provides a medium of visualisation for our energy. The energy that flows in the universe is through channels. These channels are visualised and represented in the yantras. Yantra diagrams can be circular, triangular or quadrangular in shape.
The yantra is a visible form of the symbolism of the mantras. The yantra is the use of various energy patterns, or geometrical designs. The yantra is the energy form of the
1Aɛwat could be god, highest spiritual object or the hidden power in letters (Comparative and critical Study of Mantrashastra by M Jhavery P 71.)
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