________________
REAL TEST OF MANTRA'S EFFICACY
Dt. 11-09-1982
For a simple and straightforward perosn, prayers are akin to electricity used in charging a battery. If said with sincerity and faith, there will certainly be response from the deities to whom they are addressed.
The real test of the efficacy of a hymn or mantra is whether it has transformed the person who recites is into a pious man and changed his outlook. If prayers grant us only prosperity and position in life but do not develop morality, humility and simplicity in us, their very purpose is lost. A devotee should expect his prayers to eradicate any tendency to misbehave and turn impious.
Prayers will not only mitigate the suffering of a devotee but will also help him lead a righteous life. They will serve as a moral-booster to the devotee and he will hesitate to utter falsehood. Their influence will prevent him from indulging in illegeal activities. He will not become a victim of anger or be seized by pride, jealousy or hatred. Ultimately, his life will become pure and calm.
Everyone with a religious bent of mind should cultivate the habit of reciting prayers of his choice or chant any mantra before he starts his daily routine. A person who is true to the teachings of his spiritual master, will no doubt be paying obeisance to God right through the day's activities. One should not, however, be anxious to know whether the prayers exude their miraculous potency.
'Earnest prayers will make a person godly' Sri Pannyas Rajyashvijayji said in a discourse. The Bhaktamar Stotra, composed by Acharya Mantungsuri and dedicated to the first Tirthankara Adinath, is so signficant that the Jains would not drink even water without reciting it. By praying to God, the hymn states, man would be able to get rid of his wicked instincts and traits, which he would have accumulated in the course of his innumerable births, just in the way the sun dispels darkness of night in a moment.
It is inner silence not to behave
with hatred and boasting.
