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Mantra and Meditation in Kalarippayattu

Author : Mr.R.Venkatachalam
Date : 11/10/2005
Email your comments to : kathinayogi@hotmail.com

Kalari practitioners, especially those who have reached the stage of an Asan, do lot of Mantra Japa and meditation in order to enhance their fighting skills. Japa means repetition of the mantra for a said number of times – say 1008. Practical experience proves that such meditation and chanting can be really effective in enhancing the fighting skills. Is this just a pagan practice of has any scientific base? The most down to earth answer for this is the YES. Yes, in scientific terms this is known as Autogenic training.

Autogenic Training

In western world autogenic training was introduced by Dr.J Shuutz of Germany around 1910. It is considered as a type of mind - body training. It is believed that Dr. Shultz developed autogenic training from hypnotism and yoga. He identified certain effective components of hypnotism and yoga and incorporated into a new method of self regulation. Is use of yogic principles in his mind-body system is evident from the following:

Again it is assumed that human being is psychosomatic unit (body and mind influence each other) and words or verbal stimuli and their accompanying imagery can potentially alter physiological, cognitive and emotional states. The close connection between the processes of the cerebral cortex and the autonomic nervous system that governs the involuntary action is the basis of autogenic training.
Those who are interested in the autogenic training system may go deep into the subject. This article is written to provide an explanation to the mental aspects of kalari training and as such the above paragraphs are meant to serve the purpose of an introduction.
The Four Stages of Kalari Training

The four stages of kalari training are:

1. Physical
2. Athletical
3. Psychological
4. Spiritual

Anyone will grow up from the time of birth to adulthood - that is physical growth. To grow athletically one has to do physical training related to the chosen event. In our case martial art training in Kalarippayattu. Psychological training is given in the proper way can make a person more adaptive to the situations that he/she encounters. And then the highest level – Spiritual development. The ancient sages of India were wise enough to understand the importance of psychosomatic training in the development of the human individual. As I have stated in other places, they did not try to explain “scientifically” everything that one has to follow to attain perfection in life. For them the end result was more important than the scientific proof. If one follows a good nutritious diet, he/she derives the benefits whether the person is aware of the scientific facts or not.

Kalari Mantras And Autogenic Response

Well. When a student reaches the highest level of kalari training, Asan, in a special religious ceremony initiates him into Guru Kula. Till this happens there is no spiritual bond between the Asan and the student. He then does the Upadesa of a special mantra to the student. This mantra should be repeated by the student everyday, sitting before a lighted traditional lamp, for a said number of times. 1001 or 10001 or ever higher. Higher the repetitions better the autogenic response. (This is the procedure followed at the Sudarsana Kalari Sanghom) The mantra will always be related to the presiding deity of the kalari or any of the special incarnations of the Virat purusha. The Dhyana mantras for kalari usually are related to Goddess Durga, Lord Shiva, Lord Narasimha, and Lord Hanuman and so on. In the epics and Vedas of Bharatavarsha, the heroics of the above superhuman figures are well documented. All the avatars or incarnations of Hindu mythology were fearless warriors who stood up to the challenge posed by the evil spirits. These divine incarnations never failed in their duty of finishing the propagators of Adharma. They never succumbed before their enemies. Nor did they run away. So when you chant the mantra, (of course you should know the meaning of the mantra and the story behind the divine personality represented by the mantra or at least you should have immovable faith in the said divine figure) slowly the autogenic effect takes place. You gain in confidence that your Upasana Murthy will protect you from any kind of evil- whether human or otherwise. This leaves your mind free from any doubts about your fighting skills and any fears that you have about your enemy. This along with the understanding of the karma yoga, the warrior becomes supremely confident of fighting anyone or anything.

This is not a case exclusively for the kalari warrior. The ancient text Mallapurana provides the Mantra for the mallas (loosely translated - wrestler). In fact in India every profession has its spiritual side and there are mantras for every one. There are many such mantras designed to develop different aspects of human personality and you may refer to the ancient text of Sowndaryalahari for more information. This is a part of our syllabus for our long term students.