The Fifth Diya: Mantra Japa (Sacred Repetition)
The fifth flame danced to life as Dadi continued:
“Mantra japa mama dridha biswasa” (मंत्र जाप मम दृढ़ बिस्वासा। पंचम भजन सो बेद प्रकासा)
“Firm faith in repeating my mantra,” she translated. “But a mantra is not magic, beta. It’s technology—inner technology.”
She pulled out her worn mala, its 108 beads smooth from decades of use. “When your grandfather had to go abroad for work for two whole years—this was before video calls, beta—I felt completely lost. We had been married twenty-five years and had never been apart for more than a week. Every corner of this house reminded me of his absence. I couldn’t focus, couldn’t find peace. My mind kept circling around worry and loneliness.”
Tarkik had never heard this story in such detail. He reached out and touched his grandmother’s hand.
“An old friend brought me this mala and said, ‘When the mind is shattered, sometimes we need to give it something simple to hold.’ She taught me the Ram mantra. Not long prayers—just ‘Ram, Ram, Ram.’ Sixteen rounds a day, she prescribed, like medicine.”
“Did it bring Grandpa back?” Tarkik asked gently.
“No,” Dadi smiled softly. “But it brought me back to myself. You see, anxiety creates loops in the mind. The mantra broke those loops. Instead of ‘What if something happens? What if he doesn’t come back?’ My mind began saying ‘Ram, Ram, Ram.’ Slowly, gaps began to appear between the waves of worry. In those gaps, I could breathe. I could remember love without only feeling absence.”
She fingered the beads thoughtfully. “Scientists now study this—how repetitive sound affects brainwaves, creates calm. But experience taught me first. The mantra didn’t remove my suffering. It gave me a tool to navigate through it without drowning.”
“Like a life jacket in rough seas,” Tarkik offered.
“Exactly. And just as you wouldn’t wait until you’re drowning to learn to swim, regular practice prepares us for life’s storms. When your grandfather finally returned after those two years, he was amazed to find me calmer and more centered than when he left. The mantra practice had not just helped me through the separation—it had deepened my spiritual practice. Perhaps you could teach Arjun a simple mantra? Not to forget his father, but to find moments of peace within grief.”
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