New Directions in Mantra Studies: Exploring the Emergence of Mantra Repetition

Many theories understand repetitiveness to be inherent in the concept of mantra itself. Despite its popularity and its significance for South Asian—and, indeed, global—religious history, mantra repetition has been insufficiently defined as an object of research. The peculiarities of the repetitivene...

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Main Author: Dominik A. Haas
Format: Article
Language:deu
Published: University of Fribourg 2025-05-01
Series:AЯGOS
Online Access:https://www.journal-argos.org/article/view/8033
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author Dominik A. Haas
author_facet Dominik A. Haas
author_sort Dominik A. Haas
collection DOAJ
description Many theories understand repetitiveness to be inherent in the concept of mantra itself. Despite its popularity and its significance for South Asian—and, indeed, global—religious history, mantra repetition has been insufficiently defined as an object of research. The peculiarities of the repetitiveness of mantra repetition are hardly ever reflected upon in academic literature. Furthermore, it has been assumed that mantra repetition is a timeless and even universal practice. Consequently, mantra repetition has eluded adequate scholarly analysis: Significant terminological particularities in primary sources have been overlooked and the possibility of historical developments has not been considered. In this article, I survey the current state of research relevant for the study of the emergence of mantra repetition—in particular, the practice of continuously reciting one and the same short formula—from its post-Vedic origins up to the middle of the first millennium CE. I also formulate research questions and hypotheses to guide future studies on the subject.
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spelling doaj-art-4f7f5bc55eda478c8d756eb949dbae3f2025-08-20T01:54:15ZdeuUniversity of FribourgAЯGOS2813-41842025-05-0110.26034/fr.argos.2025.8033New Directions in Mantra Studies: Exploring the Emergence of Mantra RepetitionDominik A. HaasMany theories understand repetitiveness to be inherent in the concept of mantra itself. Despite its popularity and its significance for South Asian—and, indeed, global—religious history, mantra repetition has been insufficiently defined as an object of research. The peculiarities of the repetitiveness of mantra repetition are hardly ever reflected upon in academic literature. Furthermore, it has been assumed that mantra repetition is a timeless and even universal practice. Consequently, mantra repetition has eluded adequate scholarly analysis: Significant terminological particularities in primary sources have been overlooked and the possibility of historical developments has not been considered. In this article, I survey the current state of research relevant for the study of the emergence of mantra repetition—in particular, the practice of continuously reciting one and the same short formula—from its post-Vedic origins up to the middle of the first millennium CE. I also formulate research questions and hypotheses to guide future studies on the subject. https://www.journal-argos.org/article/view/8033
spellingShingle Dominik A. Haas
New Directions in Mantra Studies: Exploring the Emergence of Mantra Repetition
AЯGOS
title New Directions in Mantra Studies: Exploring the Emergence of Mantra Repetition
title_full New Directions in Mantra Studies: Exploring the Emergence of Mantra Repetition
title_fullStr New Directions in Mantra Studies: Exploring the Emergence of Mantra Repetition
title_full_unstemmed New Directions in Mantra Studies: Exploring the Emergence of Mantra Repetition
title_short New Directions in Mantra Studies: Exploring the Emergence of Mantra Repetition
title_sort new directions in mantra studies exploring the emergence of mantra repetition
url https://www.journal-argos.org/article/view/8033
work_keys_str_mv AT dominikahaas newdirectionsinmantrastudiesexploringtheemergenceofmantrarepetition