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dhwani, shabda or nada. In its manifest state it has vibrations, but there is also a state when it exists without vibration. This unmanifest sound is called bija, and its manifest form is called nada. When a yogi enters into deep meditation and plunges into the unconscious mind, he gains the knowledge of the subtle sounds of bija mantras.
The first bija mantra is Om or Aum. The three primal sounds, 'A', 'U' and 'M' are the basis of the vocal structure. They combine together to form the sound Aum. From this first seed mantra, other seed mantras were derived. The bija mantras are very powerful, for they get assimilated with the mental processes very quickly. The longer mantras are equally good, but they take time to get assimilated. When the mantra Om, is practised, for example, one enters into a meditative mood very quickly. Another example is the mantra Hreem, which has no intellectual meaning, but awakens the pranas and kundalini shakti.
The bija mantras belong to anandamaya kosha and become expressive when the mind has ascended to the unconscious level. They first influence the anandamaya kosha and the effect comes down progressively to the vijnanamaya, manomaya, pranamaya and finally annamaya kosha. The explosion in this case takes place from the depths. With other mantras, the explosion takes place from the mental or pranic level and that influence is raised to the vijnanamaya and anandamaya koshas. Thereafter it again travels back to the physical body. Ultimately the effect is the same, but when the unconscious mind is directly affected, the experiences are fantastic and vivid. When the pranic or mental body are affected, the experiences are mild, like passing dreams. However, if the aspirant is not prepared, he will not be able to handle the strong effect of bija mantras. Therefore, caution must be practised in their use.
Pranayama may be practised with the mental chanting of a bija mantra, if advised by the guru. Specific pranayamas practised with bija mantras are described by Sage Gheranda in the Gheranda Samhita. He enumerates three kinds of alternate
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